Primary Plus

Weekday courses are now available ! 

From April 2019, we are running a new English course for young learners aged 6-12 (suitable for Japanese elementary school years 1-6) using the British Council’s original Primary Plus programme. Primary Plus is based on the principle of effective teaching in a positive environment. We believe these combined aspects elevate English from a short-term outcome to a lifelong skill to enable your child to make the most of their life by equipping them for future challenges.

In Primary Plus, children will tackle real-life tasks, working in groups and crafting researched answers and innovative solutions. The tasks are specially designed to match their developmental age, ensuring familiarity to the situation they learn in. Children communicate and engage with a variety of media, leading them to work collaboratively as well as to become more self-directed.

Based on extensive feedback and long-term development, Primary Plus gives priority to:

  • A 4 skills approach leading to communication in English (with a focus on developing literacy skills)
  • Ongoing development of vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation
  • Building confidence and developing positive attitudes
  • Knowing other cultures to better know one’s own
  • A focus on the whole child: moving beyond language learning through the active promotion of creativity, critical thinking, IT skills and ‘learning how to learn’
  • The integration of IT and ICT skills into mainstream learning
  • Using and range of modern, communicative teaching methods including task-based learning (TBL), communicative language teaching (CLT) and content and language integrated learning (CLIL).

BASIC COURSE INFORMATION

We are offering courses at Primary Plus levels 1 to 4, with placement according to the English ability of students. Courses are for students with a range of abilities, although students must have the minimum English-Language proficiency specified below.

MINIMUM ENTRANCE REQUIREMENTS

Students should be

  • able to write and recognise all the names and sounds of letters Aa-Zz in upper and lower-case.
  • able to read and say simple, phonically-regular words.
  • write their own names.
  • able to attempt to spell phonically-regular words.
  • familiar with basic greetings and able to follow simple classroom instructions (sit down, stand up, listen, open your booklet etc.).

OVERVIEW

Date*:

  • Sunday Course
    Sunday 7 April – Sunday 30 June 2019 (12 weeks) 3hours x 12week (36 hours in total).*
  • Weekday Course
    Wednesday 10 April-Friday 5 July 2019 (12 weeks)  1.5h x 2 days/week (36 hours in total). *

Time: 

•Sunday Course

Primary Plus1 – 9.00am to 12.00pm (including 15 minutes break)
Primary Plus2 – 9.00am to 12.00pm (including 15 minutes break)
Primary Plus3 – 1.30pm to 4.30pm (including 15 minutes break)
Primary Plus4 – 1.30pm to 4.30pm (including 15 minutes break)

•Weekday Course - Wednesday & Friday afternoon (2x Lessons per week)

Primary Plus1 – 4.30pm to 6.00pm (including 5 minutes break)
Primary Plus2 – 4.30am to 6.00pm (including 5 minutes break)
Primary Plus3 – 4.30pm to 6.00pm (including 5 minutes break)

Class Style: Group 
Venue: British Council (Iidabashi, Tokyo)
Course fee: 140,400 JPY (excl tax) Materials are included. No registration fee required.
Age: Children must be studying at Elementary school and aged between 6 and 12 years old.

*No class on Sunday 5 May 2019
*No class on Wed, 01 May & Fri, 03 May
*We offer face to face Study Support every week. This is designed to allow students who are sick or have a school event to be able to catch up on missed work.

How to register

If your child satisfies course requirements for age and minimum English ability, please book our free placement test*. We will give you the registration information after the test.

The child must be accompanied by parent or guardian when they arrive for placement testing and during the time when waiting for the placement test to begin. The child must be accompanied by their parent or guardian when leaving at the end of placement testing.

*Placement test: Brief reading and speaking test
*Booking a level placement slot does not ensure you will have an automatic space on the course. For example, classes may already be full or there may be no suitable options for your child. In these cases, we will provide you with alternative options to study with the British Council where possible.

Sunday Primary Plus 1 is now fully booked.  (as of 12 Feb 2019)
For Sunday Primary Plus 2 and Primary Plus 3, only a few places remain. (as of 12 Feb 2019)

Course information

  • MATERIALS

    Primary Plus materials consist of ‘magazines’ which are short text books that have been created, tested and refined by the British Council globally. This makes them much more up-to-date than regular text books and offers more flexibility in learning. Magazines are supplemented by additional worksheets, some of which are custom made by teachers based on the students’ immediate requirements.

  • COURSE AIMS AND OUTCOMES

    Students are expected to expand their range of vocabulary and knowledge of grammatical structures, while developing good pronunciation. Writing and reading skills are developed during classroom activities and homework tasks, with a classroom focus on communication(speaking and listening) and development of non-language skills (21st skills). 

    There is also a strong desire to have learners become aware of their learning by presenting learning aims in age-appropriate ways, and to reflect on what they have learned and what they wish to improve through self-assessment upon completion of each lesson.

  • ASSESSMENT

    Students’ progress is monitored by the teacher in each lesson as part of an ongoing assessment measurement tool. Children’s performance in four key skill areas is assessed (speaking, listening, reading and writing) and performance in other non-linguistic areas including teamwork, task completion, and behaviour.

    As well as receiving feedback every lesson, at the end of each semester, each student and parent will receive a progress report. Each report will have specific details on areas of good performance, and areas where improvement can be made along with practical advice and suggestions for further development. 

    Finally, you will have the opportunity to see the children's progress at the end of each magazine (Week 6 and Week 12), with an open classroom event to see their presentations and project work.

  • ADDITIONAL SERVICES

    Throughout the semester we will run support workshops for parents. Topics include using materials at home, how to supplement learning and how to effectively help with homework. We also run workshops based on parents’ requests.

    We also provide guidance on how to use additional online resources including the Primary Plus website and other British Council websites and apps.

TEACHING APPROACHES

Primary Plus makes use of three communicative teaching methods: task-based learning (TBL), communicative language teaching (CLT) and content and language integrated learning (CLIL). 

  •  What is CLIL?
    Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) is based on the idea of "using language to learn, learning to use language". This means students learn language while learning about other subjects, for example history, science and geography. 
  • What is TBL?
    Task-based learning (TBL) puts an emphasis on task completion, with freedom to use any suitable language. Very often, tasks will have some real-world connection (for example, solving problems or making comparisons) and students have a chance to repeat tasks in order to make improvements and to have better opportunities for reflection.
  • What is CLT?
    Communicative language teaching (CLT) focuses on interaction and fluency. There is a high level of personalization and a focus on using authentic, real-life texts.  

SAFETY AND SUPERVISION

We regard all students below the age of 18 as children, according to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989. We take our responsibilities towards the children in our care very seriously and we endeavor to make the British Council as safe as possible.

However, we are in a public building which anyone can enter. Parents or guardians should stay with their child until either the class teacher or designated teaching assistant arrives in the classroom.

As we are unable to supervise any children outside class time, we ask parents to ensure that students are dropped off and collected on time before and after classes.

British Council regulations mean that no child can leave the building unaccompanied after class each day. Children must be collected by a parent or nominated guardian. We cannot make any exceptions to this rule.

CONTACT

British Council English Teaching Centre (Tue-Fri 9.30-20.30, Sat&Sun 9.30-17.00)
Email: courses@britishcouncil.or.jp

Related link: Meet our Teachers of Young Learners