WHY learn with us?

Through Learning Time with Shaun & Timmy your child learn with the world’s English experts and will benefit from British Council’s 75 years of teaching experience.

Your child will be thoroughly engaged through the unique and entertaining stories of Shaun the Sheep & Timmy. Their memorable stories provide context for children to learn and remember English.   

In addition to teaching your child English, we develop their essential skills, self-expression and ability to make decisions. As a result, you'll notice a development in their imagination, creativity and communication skills.    

What are the course stages and what will your child be doing in class?

Please note that the names of the course stages may differ depending on your location. 

COURSE STAGE: LAMBS AND KITTENS

Age: Lambs: just turned two years old; Kittens: two to three years old (2+)

In this course stage your child will: 

  • Begin to enjoy stories in English.
  • Begin to enjoy rhymes and songs in English.
  • Enjoy rhythmic patterns in rhymes and stories.
  • Demonstrate listening by trying to join in with actions or vocalisations.
  • Explore new sounds in English.
  • Express himself/herself through physical action and sound.
  • Copy familiar expressions in English.
  • Understand a simple instruction in English.
  • Begin to organise and categorise objects.
  • Notice and be interested in the effects of making movements which leave marks, e.g. through colouring or finger painting.
  • Say some counting words randomly in English.
  • Imitate and improvise actions.
  • Move whole body to sounds in music or a rhyme.

COURSE STAGE: PUPS AND CUBS 

Age: Three to four years old (3+)

In this course stage your child will:

  • Listen to stories in English with increasing attention and recall.
  • Begin to be aware of the way stories are structured.
  • Identify main story settings, events and principal characters.
  • Explore the meaning and sounds of new words in English.
  • Join in with songs and nursery rhymes in English.
  • Enjoy rhythmic patterns in rhymes and stories.
  • Hear and say the initial sound in words in English.
  • Begin to describe the texture of things.
  • Respond to simple instructions in English.
  • Sometimes give meaning to marks as they draw and paint.
  • Use some number names and number language spontaneously.
  • Begin to represent numbers, using fingers, marks on paper or pictures.
  • Enjoy joining in with dancing and ring games.

 

 

COURSE STAGE: DUCKS 

Age: Four to five years old (4+)

In this course stage your child will: 

  • Join in with repeated refrains in songs and stories.
  • Be able to follow a story with pictures or props.
  • Be aware of the way stories are structured.
  • Listen to stories with increasing attention and recall and anticipate key events.
  • Extend vocabulary by grouping and naming objects.
  • Say the alphabet.
  • Begin to talk about size of everyday objects, e.g. big, small.
  • Give meaning to the marks they make as they draw, write and paint.
  • Use three fingers (tripod grip) to hold writing tools.
  • Understand and use some positional language.
  • Look closely at similarities, differences, patterns and change.
  • Recognise and recite numbers in order to 15 and use some number names accurately in play.
  • Count and record using marks they can interpret and explain.

 

COURSE STAGE: OWLS

Age: Five to six years old (5+)

In this course stage your child will: 

  • Identify and describe main story settings, events and principal characters, and suggest how a story might end.
  • Imitate a familiar story.
  • Start to innovate and change a familiar story supported by an innovative approach from Talk4writing.   
  • Represent a changed story through chosen form of expression e.g. art, drama, dance/movement, IT or writing.
  • Invent a new story and represent it through desired expression.
  • Extend vocabulary by grouping and naming objects.
  • Order and sequence familiar events in stories and/or familiar steps in an everyday task.
  • Be aware of own feelings and describe some of them.
  • Describe self, identify abilities, and express preferences and opinions.
  • Recreate roles and experiences in play situations.
  • Link sounds to letters, begin to segment sounds in simple words and blend them together to read.
  • Say the number that is one more than a given number and recognise the numerals 1-20.
  • Find the total number of items in two or three groups, by counting all of them, and record using marks they can interpret and explain.
  • Use a pencil effectively to form recognisable letters and attempt to write short sentences in meaningful contexts.

 

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