Exciting Online Projects at Lewis School of English

From theatre sessions on Zoom to English tuition on Facebook groups, Lewis School of English is running online projects with a diverse range of clients. A creative and flexible approach to course design has been central to their success.

The school is supporting the language skills of English teachers in Honduras after submitting a successful bid for the PRELIM (Partnered Remote Language Improvement) project run by the British Council, English UK and IATEFL. The programme pairs accredited language centres in the UK with English teacher associations in 20 different countries.

Limited internet access for some Honduran teachers meant designing a course that ensured maximum accessibility. Learning units were developed on private Facebook groups and WhatsApp to provide asynchronous, collaborative learning on familiar platforms. Live weekly meetings conclude the units and reinforce a sense of community.

Meanwhile, a junior group from Bosnia are developing language through online storytelling. This is being led by the Lewis School’s Theatre Express team - drama professionals who visit schools worldwide to run English-language theatre projects. Now online-only, they inspire students to develop language skills in the virtual classroom through mime, vocal exercises, script writing, character development, performance skills and projects such as radio podcasts.

For Alistair Walker, Owner/Director, the combination of a creative spirit and a broad expertise in online platforms is a potent mix.

“As a school, we’ve always embraced the creative side of language teaching. Between our teachers, teacher trainers and theatre staff, we’re always buzzing with ideas! Since the pandemic began, we’ve expanded our online operations - we now have in-house expertise in Zoom, Moodle, Google’s G-Suite and Facebook learning units among others. This means we can tailor-make courses to meet our clients’ needs, while ensuring an engaging, interactive and communicative online experience for students.”

For more information, visit the school's website.