Whilst teaching in an international school comes with many perks, there are also some unique challenges faced by this kind of environment. International education is at the heart of Monster Phonics: with its founder and CEO, Ingrid Connors, alongside her husband, Ian Connors (COO), being experienced international teachers and leaders. In fact, Monster Phonics was first developed from within an international school in Thailand.
For all school curriculums which teach the English language, Monster Phonics’ unique colour-coding system supports children to understand the complexities of phonics. It has particular advantages for children with EAL, reflected in rapid gains for our new Monster Phonics schools with high levels of EAL students.
Let’s look at how Monster Phonics can help with some of the challenges faced when teaching internationally:
A high population of transient students within international schools means that we are constantly playing ‘catch up’ when children join at various points in their school journey. They often come from different countries, curriculums or schools with varying approaches to the teaching of phonics. Many children have had limited exposure to phonics skills, even going into Key Stage Two, one of the many challenges of teaching phonics in international schools.
Monster Phonics offers detailed assessments to identify the gaps in a child’s knowledge and comprehensive planning and resources to rapid intervention support. The new Phonics Kit Bag has further enhanced the programme with targeted interventions for children 7 years and above, who are still struggling with phonics.
It’s August and new staff have arrived, all keen to begin, coming from different countries, schools and curriculums, as well as having varying levels of experience in teaching. You have one week to get all staff ready to deliver effective lessons. Monster Phonics understand this challenge and have created comprehensive training as part of the programme. From on demand core training, how to videos, live webinars, as well as bespoke support for your school, we aim to ensure all staff are confident in the delivery of phonics.
Consistency is one of the main challenges for teaching phonics in large international schools, with vast numbers of classes per year group. One of the standout features of Monster Phonics is that it is very easy to use, making the challenge of consistency far easier; comprehensive training support means all staff understand the programme. The website was designed with teachers in mind: planning is detailed, and resources are ready to use, all available at the click of a button.
International schools typically have a high number of children with English as an additional language, making the learning of the English language an even greater challenge. Monster Phonics knows this; in fact, it was developed in a setting like this. The unique colour-coding system makes the phonics system easier to understand and remember. The proof is in the impact on our schools, those with high numbers of EAL students have reported up to a 40% increase in their phonics results!
