GREAT BRITAIN SCHOOLS AND AMERICAN SCHOOLS - English schools

Seven percent of British students go to private schools called 'public' schools. Public schools are expensive and the students must pay their own fees*. There are more than 250 public schools, including Eton. Because public schools usually have smaller classes and bett 757j92h er facilities*, they are considered to offer higher-quality education than most state schools. Most public schools are single-sex boys' or girls' boarding schools* and the fees can be as much as £5,000 per term.

Mark Evens left his expensive public school to go to a state comprehensive school. Here's the differences that Mark noticed.

American schools

America high schools have four years: Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, Senior. At the end of the Senior school holds* a solemn ceremony where students are given their diplomas. To get this diploma students have to total a number of point, called 'credits', which you can accumulate by attending different courses with positive results. Some of this courses are compulsory, but many are optional, and you can choose among some really interesting classes, like photography, childcare, woodwork*, driver training, writing for the school magazine or for the Yearbook, etc. Teachers explain by asking the students questions and making them talk, so the students' role in the lesson is a lot more active. There are only written tests and they are easy; the school buy the students books, but you can't write on the pages and bring them home every day; there aren't homework. For any problem, you can go to a teacher, called 'counselor', who advises* you, but can also act as a friends or a psychologist. Another interesting thing is that the 'class group' does not exist, because students choose which classes to go to, so you can have different classmates in almost every subject. This is good, as you can meet many different people and socialize better. In American schools very importance has given to sports. You can learn almost any kind of sport, from basketball to golf, and the school athletes are extremely popular. There are also lots of clubs for different activities and the schools organize a number of big parties, the most famous of all is 'the Prom'. It's like a film: the junior and senior students buy or hire* the most elegant clothes and cars, even limousines, for this party. The Prom is the dance that most high school students look forward to* for all of this school lives. Boys and girls dream of becoming Prom King and Queen and spend months looking for the perfect dress or tux* to make it the most special night of their lives. For many American high school students prom night is the highlight* of their school life. For others it's a nightmare*. Because the prom is very expensive, two lawyers* set up* a project that make it possible for thousand of girls from poor families to go to the prom. This project, called 'Glass Slipper Project', gives girls ballgowns*, shoes, accessories and even make-up and hairdressing vouchers*, so they can be the belle of the ball*.

DISCIPLINE IN SCHOOLS

A 15-years-old Scottish schoolgirl, Freya McDonald, has made a legal history, by suing* her school. Freya said she was given 11 detentions in nine months by teachers. She claimed* that the detentions disrupted* her education and affected her health*. Freya's family said that the detentions were given for trivial* things. Freya's lawyer said that detention violated the European Convention of Human Rights, which guaranteed freedom. Freya said that she hope to get detention banned*.

Schools use other method to discipline their students. They are:

Lines:   Students write out the same sentence many times.

Detentions:  Students stay in school after lessons have finished to do more work.

Suspension:  Students cannot go to school for a fixed period of time.

Exclusion:    Students must go to a new school.

SCHOOLS IN AUSTRALIA

The huge distances in Australia are also a problem if you want to go to school, especially in Alice Spring. Alice Spring is the very centre of Australia and is surrounded* by the outback*. Many of the families live in remote* stations hours from the town. Alice Spring School of the Air was the first of its kind in Australia. It used the radio to broadcast lessons to students in isolated farms. Many of the students live on cattle stations*. The students use transceivers, TVs, video recorders, CD recorders and computers in order to follow and complete lessons. Eight to ten students meet for a 30-minutes lesson every day. Each student also has short individual sessions* with the teacher to discuss how they are progressing and any problems they may have. They spend a maximum of three hours a week on the radio and most of the work is done via email at home. The Alice Spring School of the Air has a Sports Carnival once a year where all the students, their families and the teacher can meet each other.

VOCABULARY*: