English Language

Department Goals

To develop every Gabrielite to be an empathetic listener, a critical reader, an effective communicator, and an active change agent who empowers self and others to serve the community.

Key Personnel

Head of Department: Mrs Michelle Tan

Level Head (Internal): Mrs Tan Siew Mei

Lead Teacher: Mrs Cecilia Koh

Senior Teacher: Mrs Wendy Chee

National Curricula

STrategies for English Language Learning and Reading

STELLAR aims to strengthen children’s language oracy and literacy skills and to promote a positive attitude towards English Language learning in their foundational years (STELLAR, 2008). 

The English Language Syllabus 2020 for the Primary level focuses on the development, reinforcement and extension of language skills in the primary years through an enjoyment of the language and the promotion of extensive reading; and leveraging oracy, reading and writing skills to develop knowledge and independent use of the language.

EL Syllabus 2020 seeks to develop these competencies in our learners through the teaching and learning of EL to enable them to be Emphathetic Communicators, Discerning Readers and Creative Inquirers.

EL Monitors

As Reading Ambassadors in the school, all Primary 3 to Primary 6 EL Monitors play an active role in their classrooms to share the joy of reading. This is achieved through their termly book talks to their peers, which include book recommendations as well as short excerpts of the books being read aloud. P4 to P6 EL Monitors also promote interesting news articles in the Little Red Dot publications by giving presentations to their classmates on a termly basis.

EL Fiesta

We believe that stories are powerful tools for meaning-making and connection. Our English Language (EL) programme leverages the joy of storytelling to ignite students’ passion for reading and language. Beyond engaging classroom experiences, signature events such as our EL Book Fairs and the much-anticipated Book Character Day—where students come dressed as their favourite literary characters—bring stories to life and foster a vibrant reading culture. 

National Library Board (NLB)

The school continues to build a strong partnership with NLB, which supports the school through the provision of reading resources and activities. Every year, we continue to participate in the NLB Read for Books event, a charity book drive aimed at raising awareness of reading and sharing the gift of reading with the less privileged.

Competitions

Gabrielites are given the opportunity to participate in various competitions such as the Singapore Moo-O Awards (a digital storytelling competition), Mythos Junior Orators (a storytelling competition), NewsMaker Awards (Digital Video News competition, Creative Writing Programme (CWP) and The Queen's Commonwealth Essay Competition. Such competitions allow our students to hone their speaking and writing skills while realising their full potential.

Some of our achievements are listed below: