Jumeirah English Speaking School
Jumeirah English Speaking School embraces Education Perfect for enhanced individualised learning
Jumeirah English Speaking School (JESS), in Dubai, UAE, became one of the first schools to use Education Perfect (EP) in the Middle East. Over the last ten years, JESS’ teachers in the Language Department have embraced EP’s benefits, including differentiated tasks for students, instant marking and feedback tools, targeted practice of language skills, and “extremely effective” vocabulary learning.
The Challenge
Jumeirah English Speaking School (JESS) is a top British International School located in Dubai, recognised as a world leader in international education. The school incorporates two primary schools and one secondary school in two locations. The secondary school (ages 11-18) has over 1,000 international students.
Across its three schools, JESS’s staff work cohesively to deliver every international student high academic results, a supportive social environment, and a strong sense of belonging.
JESS has educated students from ages 3-18 since 1976. The school’s staff and students hail from over 70 countries to form a thriving, respectful community in and outside of the classroom.
JESS first began its search for advanced online support over a decade ago. The school was looking for an innovative way to encourage independent learning and to reinforce students’ understanding of vocabulary and lesson structures.
Ben Gale, Head of MFL at JESS, is one of many JESS teachers that utilises EP’s digital resources.
“We were looking to address some common challenges faced by teachers of languages,” Ben says.
These challenges included:
- Lack of student motivation and engagement with content
- Generalised feedback that doesn’t suit individual needs
- Limited visibility when monitoring students
- Feedback takes too long and isn’t always effective
- Inconsistency in homework tasks across Departments
- Inability to assess gaps in knowledge across a class
Boosting student engagement
EP supports increased student engagement by individualising resources to student needs, and prioritising constant engagement. By creating activities that are quick and focused with short breaks and instant rewards, students quickly accrue ‘points’, which count towards larger rewards.
“In school, we incorporated Class and House competitions and rewarded House points for participation. Students also participated in global EP competitions and many were rewarded with certificates,” Ben says.
EP’s points system creates a constant loop for positive feedback, encouraging engagement, while also boosting language comprehension levels.
“Student engagement and enjoyment improved, as did overall progress especially in comprehension. [They’re] able to pinpoint gaps in their own learning and pick activities to broaden their knowledge,” Ben says. “Students also enjoy the competitive nature of the tasks and accruing points.”
EP boosts JESS’ student engagement beyond the classroom, too. Learning tasks are set for homework and extension work, content can be used for classroom icebreakers, 24/7 access allows for holiday engagement, and all progress is immediately monitored and sent to teachers.
“Regular assessments and immediate feedback mechanisms help students track their progress.”
EP’s engagement features used by JESS include:
| EP Engagement features | Benefits |
|---|---|
| School Competitions |
|
| Dash (in platform gamification) |
|
| Interactive Smart lessons |
|
| Classroom and school student scoreboards |
|
The Solution
Implementing EP in classrooms
JESS reached out to EP to explore their challenges and discuss potential solutions. JESS was subsequently provided with a free trial of EP and an introductory training course for its teachers. After this initial experience, JESS subscribed to EP’s platform for a range of Language classes, including Arabic, Spanish, and French.
For each class, EP created new resources, content and lessons on request and updates as needed.
“Education Perfect was extremely supportive in creating content that matched learning in the classroom, uploading student details so they could log on easily and organising classes so teachers can distribute tasks quickly. Support was always on-hand as teachers trialled the resource.”
“Education Perfect is a comprehensive and innovative platform that transforms language learning into an exciting, personalised and effective journey.”
Tijani Souaissi
JESS Teacher French
Supporting vocabulary and differentiation
Incorporating EP’s tools into the Language Departments curriculum has led to several benefits, the foremost being the platform’s vocabulary tools and individualised student content.
“Educational Perfect incorporates vocabulary glossaries that are directly linked to topics being studied in class. Learning activities to practise reading, writing and listening specific vocabulary allowed students to reinforce their understanding,” Ben says.
“Vocabulary learning became extremely effective as words are tested intermittently to ensure students can demonstrate progress.
“Specific vocabulary learning tasks are set regularly in which students can improve their comprehension ability through a mix of reading, writing and listening memory recall activities.
“Gone are the days when we only set vocab lists. The range of tasks available on EP helps us further student learning.”
EP has enabled JESS’ teachers to add new content and broaden their range of glossaries to better adapt to individualised student learning needs.
“Differentiated tasks set to match individual needs have meant that all students can access the learning and feel confident to drive their own knowledge,” Ben says.
“The platform provides detailed insights into strengths and areas for improvement, allowing for targeted practice and refinement of language skills.”
The Impact
In the 2022-2023 school year, 2,328,943 questions were answered by JESS’ students across 6,267 hours spent on the platform. From September 2023 to November 2023, 766,980 questions had been answered by the students, across 2,201 hours spent on EP.
Student results in languages (iGCSEs and IB) have continued to improve through the use of EP. Key areas of improvement include reading and listening comprehension.
“Education Perfect learning is constant and as a result, our growth is constant. EP is one of our department backbones. Students will ask, ‘To help us revise, will you set an EP task?’ They complete the task when they are away from us, therefore their learning continues to grow,” Ben says.
JESS’ use of EP has evolved over many years. Teachers have embraced the various opportunities presented on the platform, completing training to ascend their own levels of EP proficiency.
Due to the school’s successful usage, it is also looking to implement EP into additional departments.
“The school is looking to extend usage across other Departments. Education Perfect is always very keen to provide support, training and advice,” Ben says.
Ultimately, EP helped JESS overcome its existing challenges with:
- Incorporated pre-built vocabulary glossaries to save teachers time
- Intermittent testing to ensure consistency and show student learning
- Student engagement through in-platform activities and instant points system
- Student-specific learning paths and differentiated tasks
- Peer-review features and other feedback tools
- Comprehension-style assessments
- Professional Development opportunities for teachers
- Continuously updated content
- And more!
“[EP] is one of the most essential tools for a language teacher. It offers a comprehensive set of features and resources covering all skills to enhance language learning experiences.”
Carolyn Andres
JESS Teacher of Spanish
Summary
Over ten years ago, JESS searched for an advanced online resource that supported independent student learning and reinforced vocabulary comprehension. With students hailing from over 70 countries and spread across JESS’ three schools, JESS focused on finding a solution that supported its cohesive, inclusive structure. They required a digital resource that encouraged student engagement by ensuring consistency in homework, assessing gaps in individual student knowledge, monitoring time spent on learning, and providing quick, effective feedback.
After a free EP trial and introductory training for JESS’ teachers, the school’s Language Department subscribed to EP. This encompassed a range of Language classes, including Arabic, Spanish, and French.
For over ten years, EP has successfully met JESS’ requirements. The platform has provided individualised learning pathways for students and has supported the evolving needs of the school’s staff.
LAST UPDATED
Feb 15, 2024
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