Interview with Jannie Penhoat, Altena College, Sleeuwijk (NL):

"Anglia steps empower both teachers and students!"

Jannie Penhoat, Altena College

As Anglia Coordinator of one of the most active Anglia schools in our network, Jannie Penhoat is also one of the most knowledgeable teachers. An interview with this energetic and dedicated colleague goes straight to the heart of the matter: how can Anglia make a difference for teachers and students? Jannie is very clear:

“Anglia empowers both teachers and students
to learn English in a more understandable way.
And students can choose the level,
so they can show they are better than expected.”

Her secondary school offers Anglia not only to their own students, but also to primary school leavers interested in making the move up with an Anglia Certificate, so that the connecting school knows the English level of the incoming students in more detail.

“The Anglia Steps are clearly described in the Handbook for Teachers, which is a very helpful tool in understanding how to learn English and how to teach English.”

Students teach Anglia
After teaching Anglia herself for more than 15 years she started the project with the neighboring schools, involving her own 16 – 18 year old students that had already gained experience working with the Anglia system. “At our school, Altena College in Sleeuwijk, all pupils take an Anglia exam in the first year, some students even take one every year, so they have a thorough understanding of the step by step system. They love to share this knowledge with younger pupils. So they visit regional primary schools to promote Anglia and then teach at our school. It is inspiration both ways.”

New technology
Covid has shaken Dutch  education in a fundamental way. At Altena College all  teachers and students switched to Teams and Zoom in March 2020. Now everybody is slowly returning to physical lessons. Jannie hopes lessons have been learned from the online experience. “There are interesting opportunities online and it is good to see that Anglia Roosendaal has quickly adapted to the new situation. The Anglia step by step system is very well suited for online learning, it gives students the tools to focus on what is really important in language learning.”

CAT, CART, CARAT
Last year Jannie took the Anglia CARAT Course to sharpen her in depth knowledge of how Anglia can help students to better understand how to improve active skills, writing and speaking. Based on the “Guide to Writing” it analyses the different elements of student development, especially at the higher levels, but starting at Elementary. “This could be a big step ahead, with a focus on the underlying structures, which students understand, it would help them enormously.”