Articles about school life

ISSPb starts a new academic year 2025/26
I watched a film on the plane on the way back to St Petersburg this summer. It was a French film, the translation into English

Why International?
We are the International School of St Petersburg, but what does it mean to be international? There are many other schools in the city with

Who is a native speaker?
A native speaker is a person who has spoken a particular language since childhood and uses it in everyday life. Native speakers usually have a

What are A-Levels?
A-level (Advanced Levels) are a two-year programme in the UK, taken after GCSEs and typically completed by students aged 16 to 18. They are key

OGE in Grade 9: Compulsory Subjects and Examination Rules
What Is the OGE? It is an an abbreviation for “Basic State Examination”. It forms the core component of the State Final Attestation (SFA, or

The Art of Reading
One question we often receive when parents are considering enrolling their children at ISSPb is, which textbook do you use when teaching English? Could you

Why Learn History?
History is one of my favourite subjects of interest. I found it so interesting that, when I was in school myself, I didn’t even see

The importance of developing an Open Mind in children
In today’s ever-changing world, developing open-mindedness in children is more crucial than ever. Open-mindedness, the willingness to consider new ideas, viewpoints and experiences, is a

Effective Methods of Improving Children’s Literacy
The Ozhegov Explanatory Dictionary defines the concept of LITERATE as: 1. Able to read and write, as well as be able to write grammatically

Echoes of Code: How Chess moved into the sphere of AI
Modern chess AI is the result of centuries of evolving ideas. From music boxes and punch cards to algorithms and strategy—from Babbage and Lovelace to

Top of the table
I started teaching in August 2009. It was an outstanding school in Leeds. Even though I had just spent a year working on my PGCE

The Benefits of Learning Russian in a Multicultural World
One of the first things students learn to do when they acquire a new foreign language is learn how to talk about themselves. They must

Travelling Broadens the Mind
I have heard the title of this piece a million times when I was at school back in the noughties. My teachers, parents and family

Building “mental toughness” at school
Perseverance is a word that is often overlooked. From a very young age, most of us are told that we can do anything we want if we set our mind to it. But what happens when we really want something, but our mind is working against us?

Reciprocal Teaching in School
Reciprocal teaching is a special educational procedure where students take on the roles of teachers – they become the organisers and conductors of the learning process. This pedagogical approach heightens both independent and initiative-driven student activity, which in turn cultivates leadership skills and fosters responsibility.

Do we really need teachers?
I had recently seen a news story back in the UK about a school in London that will be trialling a teacherless AI school. It

How a Teacher Assistant Can Make a Difference in Students’ Lives
Being a Teacher Assistant (TA) is more than just a job or a title. It’s a commitment to passion to help students succeed. This role

The role of fairy tales in life
“If you want your children to be smart, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be smarter, read them even more fairy tales.“—

Investigative Skills: A Pathway to Life Long Learning
Investigation is a word that has quite a lot of meanings and so people have differing ideas of its exact definition. I hope to touch

Teaching, and Learning, Through Adversity
As a teacher, and a student of life, it is often expected to work though our own personal challenges as well as assist students through

The case method in the practice of school education
We often hear that our education is divorced from practice, that it bears no relativity to life. However, learning at school is effective precisely because

Meaningful, not Mean, Mathematics
Mathematics has always been a source for understanding the world for humankind. In the last two thousand and five hundred years, the history of mathematical

The Art of Humility: Life is filled with obstacles
This past week, I participated in an 8km obstacle race that I thought I had in the bag. As an Ironman athlete, I was confident

Learning The Language
‘To have another language is to possess a second soul’ Charlemagne For me learning languages was always more than an exercise at school, it was
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