Moscow Schools – Small schools, small class sizes

This is the second report from the recent BSF Champions visit to Moscow.   I will be posting more as and when I get around to it.

Students talk about desert islands at School #1298, Moscow

Each class in the Moscow schools we visited were around the same size as ours – between 27 and 30 students.  However, for core subjects such as Maths, Russian Language, Sciences, and ICT, these groups were always split in half so that there were no more than 15 in each group.  The smallest teaching groups were reserved for the teaching of English (as a foreign language) where classes were divided into 3, so that each group had no more than 10 students.  English Language teachers are consequently much in demand in Russian schools.  As pay rates are set by individual head teachers, MFL teachers are often are paid better than other subject teachers!

Teaching groups are never divided by ability – we saw no evidence of setting in any school we visited (with the exception of PE – more on this in a future report!).  However, students need to reach a certain level of competency before moving on to the next year.  Students not making this grade are kept back and repeat the year in the same grade, much like in the USA.  There are also “advanced” courses that only more able students can follow.

The small classes mirrored Moscow’s small schools.  The schools we visited ranged between 300-600 students, with 550 students being the standard size.  This gave schools a homely feel, and it could also be felt in the positive relationships between staff and students, as the teachers knew and had taught most of the students.

Students at School #1920 Moscow perform "little red riding hood"

The teaching of English Language was a real strength in the schools we visited.  I saw some great lessons,  clearly demonstrating the confidence of the Russian students which was in evidence throughout our visit, and the positive relationships between students and with their teacher.  The level of proficiency in English is also very high.

Below are more photos from various lessons with small class sizes…

Moscow Schools – Museums

I am going to post some of the things we saw in Moscow Schools during therecent  BSF Champion’s TIPD visit bit by bit over the next few weeks…

Students in national dress explain their traditional ways of life

Moscow Museum Schools

Every school we visited in Moscow had a museum, and some had several.  The museums were a source of pride for the school, and were often filled with items either made, or donated by the students, parents and teachers.

The museums were used as teaching rooms when students were studying a related topic.  The students also make very knowledgeable and articulate tour guides when visitors come to the school.  Below are a few photos of some of the school museums we saw.

Student gives guided tour of Pushkin Museum

Schools in Moscow often have very good links with their National and local Museums, and regularly send groups of students to them to conduct related lessons or to learn directly from the historians working there.  Some schools had agreements for their students to make use of museum archives when working on projects.

Things to think about for our new BSF school…

Would it be good to have a museum as part of our new build?  Where should it go?  What would it be about?

There are more photographs in this article – click on the link below to see more.

BSF Champions head to Moscow

The BSF Champions group is heading off in search of inspiration slightly further afield next week. The group is heading for Moscow as part of a British Council funded TIPD trip to look at inspirational building design in Russia’s Capital.

This is an interesting development as we originally approached the British Council to help fund a fact finding visit to Harlem,  New York.  They curiously redirected us from West to East, explaining that Moscow is apparently in the midsts of a massive school rebuilding programme, and they have assured us that there is lots to be seen there.

We have a very busy itinerary planned for  half term week, visiting the Ministry of Education, various schools and teacher training colleges.

I’m not really sure what to expect, as I have never visited Russia before, and probably much of what I think I know about the place is out of date.  I am optimistic though that it will be a useful and interesting trip!