SKIP’S EDUCATIONAL MISSION:

Primary school children attend three hours of enrichment classes in the afternoon at SKIP. We are looking to create an exciting,stimulating and engaging school environment complete with learning structures and tools that promote sound intellectual development and sustained interest in learning.

PUBLIC SCHOOL IN EL PORVENIR:

The systems of poverty confronting families in El Porvenir inhibit children’s early academic growth and cognitive stimulation. This disadvantage is then compounded by the education children receive in the under-resourced and over crowded public schools of El Porvenir. Children spend the majority of the school day copying information from the black board into their notebooks. Little emphasis is placed on understanding, analyzing concepts or building academic skills and problem solving strategies. In 2009 SKIP issued standardised tests to evaluate the academic level of the students. Results showed that the vast majority of students were performing far below grade level.

ACADEMIC PROGRAM:

Reading Workshop:

Learning objectives for the reading programme are twofold. We aim to create fluent readers that are able to apply varied strategies in order to aid textual comprehension and analysis. In all classes, we are currently using a reading workshop model of instruction.

Pre-Literate Readers:

Phonics instruction is practiced in whole group mini-lessons and applied in interactive centers that children attend around the room. In small, guided reading groups, students’ work alongside a teacher, reading a text at their level and working independently to apply word solving and comprehension strategies.

Emergent and Advanced Readers:

Throughout the year various comprehension strategies are modeled in whole mini-lessons and then applied independently by students. Students learn to engage and interact with the text, understanding how to connect, question, visualize, and infer information as they read.

Maths:

SKIP recently implemented the TERC Investigations maths programme in our primary school. This curriculum encourages children’s ability to reason, represent and communicate mathematical ideas through diverse modalities. Fundamentally we are fostering children’s capacity to understand concepts behind mathematical algorithms. Read more about the Maths Programme.

English:

Children study English twice per week as part of the academic programme. Interactive and fun lessons keep the children engaged and excited to learn. We use a very kinestetic and dynamic teaching style, often taking the children outside to play games and sing songs. Click here to read more about English teaching within the SKIP Primary Programme.

SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT:

SKIP has identified the need to provide students with a social emotional learning program to help foster their abilities to solve problemswithout anger or aggression, and treat others with compassion. During the Holiday Club we use the Second Step programme, a violence reduction curriculum which uses role-plays and discussions to help children generate the skills, language and confidence to peacefully and productively solve their own problems.

We also have a clear and structured behaviour management system where we use traffic lights to give children a series of warnings and consequences for disruptive or challenging behaviour. We also use positive reinforcement in the form of star charts. This system is implemented with help from the Psychology Team and we hold regular training sessions and weekly supervision team meetings so that teachers are able to talk about difficulties and work on professional development. The children have responded dramatically to this programme and the change in their behaviour over the past year has been striking.

ART PROGRAMME:

The youngest children on the Primary Programme (Groups 1-3) are currently covering the theme of ‘Animals’ and are using many different mediums to express their thoughts on this topic. They will get the chance to experience drawing, crafts, sculpture, the use of chalks and pastels giving them a first taste to the many ways in which you can create the same concept using many different art forms.

In the older Primary groups (Groups 4-9), there has been more of a focus placed on self-reflection through the topic, ‘All about me’. This inspires the children to create a portal through which they can look into their own and each other’s lives through the medium of Art. From self-portraits to art activities where the children are asked to consider how they are seen by others, the children are given a creative outlet to express themselves. This builds on the limited Art education they receive in schools.

click here to read more about the art programme

SPORTS PROGRAMME:

Similar to Art, children also attend Sports sessions once per week. This was, in part, following tremendous success with the sports programme during the holiday club where we noticed that the children were developing a range of important social skills; learning to wait their turn, work as part of a team, control their frustrations and, of course, the programme also promotes a healthy lifestyle.

The lessons are carefully structured with warm up exercises and incorporates a range of children's games and mainstream sporting activities like football and volleyball. One thing we are keen to promote is to breakdown the gender division in sports which is noticeable in Peru, so the girls play football and the boys have an opportunity to participate in volleyball. This broadens their sporting knowledge and dissipates stereotypical beliefs about gender specific activities.

Click here to read more about the Sports Programme

POSITIONS:

We are looking for both lead teachers and assistant teachers. While previous teaching preferred, we are also looking for people with enthusiasm to learn and engage with children in the classroom. Intermediate level of Spanish is required for those positions, since classes are taught in Spanish.

If you are interested in a teaching position in the primary programme, go to positions available.

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