Pie for... Altena College Sleeuwijk

We have been working with Altena College in Sleeuwijk, The Netherlands for many years. This secondary school is not only offering Anglia Exams to their own students; hundreds of primary school kids from the region join as well.

Anglia Coordinators Patty van Beest and Jannie Penhoat with the pie. Not on the picture: Renko Dekker.

"We started with Anglia during one of the first years that Anglia was offered in the Netherlands, probably around 1997. Anglia was just offered to our exam students back then. We had 17 students taking exams on different levels. This past year we had 655 students taking an exam at Altena College. All students from every class and every level can participate these days.

Anglia in the upper levels
From grade 4 it is possible for all students to improve their levels.  There are many pupils that try a higher level every year, until they have reached the level they need for their future education. Vmbo(t)-4 pupils can also join, because MBO colleges often take the Anglia level into account, or even exempt successful Anglia candidates from English lessons at the MBO college. From grade 4 Anglia participation is on a voluntary basis and pupils can apply for extra practice. Students that are very good at English use Anglia to show their skills, it is a chance to get an extra international document to confirm their talents.

In this respect Anglia fits perfectly well in the talent policy of the school, especially because everybody can join at the level that suits him or her best. This means for example, that a Vmbo-t 4 pupil can take the Anglia Proficiency Exam at the same time  as a Vwo 6 pupil. Business exams are also popular at our school.

Anglia in havo 3 en atheneum 3
In havo 3 and atheneum 3 Anglia is offered as an extra course for half a year, in addition to the regular English lessons. In this way the important elements of the first 2 years are dealt with again and pupil scan deepen their knowledge. At the end of the lesson series the Anglia Exam is taken in January. Participation in the exams and the lessons is compulsory in havo 3 and atheneum 3. The levels taken are 6 up to 8.

Since 2016-2017 we have started to expand our Anglia Program in the following ways:

Anglia – Elementary school
Children from ‘group 8’ of the elementary schools from all over the region get the opportunity to follow 10 lessons of English at Altena College. The interest for this project is enormous. During our pilot, 110 students signed up. The following year we were able to give 180 students the opportunity to join this program and at the moment we have 216 students participating. The levels vary from level 3 up till level 7. In June we have a festive graduation ceremony where (grand)parents, brothers and sisters are welcome to join the graduate.

The elementary school students are being taught by higher level Altena College students. Those students have taken Anglia exams before and are now part of the A-Team (Anglia-Team). They get a financial reward and a certificate, which they can use in motivation letters for selection procedures in higher education.

Anglia in the first year
From February up to June pupils in the first year follow 10 Anglia lessons. The lessons are taught by teachers of English. Every pupil works at his or her own level, so that they experience an extra challenge or extra support.

Anglia in groups 2 en T3
All pupils in groups 2 en vmbo-t 3 can take part in Anglia on a voluntary basis. This is increasingly popular, because all pupils have already taken part in Anglia in the first year, so they are familiar with it. The puplis can also choose extra lessons.

Plans for the future
The Altena College has the predicate ‘Business School’. The students in havo 5 and atheneum 6 can choose to follow the course ‘Fundamental Accounting’. This year we will offer those students a ‘package deal’. They get a good discount if they follow the accounting course and take an ‘Anglia Business Exam’. We will offer them lessons to prepare themselves for the Anglia exam.

This school year two of our teachers will follow the training to become a Speaking Test examiner. The speaking tests is an extra part of an exam that we would like to offer to our students. We would also like to offer the CITE Exams for our (future) A-team members."