English Language
CS1 Scaffolding Stretch: Making Room for High-Ability Learner Growth
Date: 16 March 2026
Time: 1400-1530
Venue: Online (Meeting details will be sent via email before the event)
Presenters:
1. Ms Chen Xiaoying Serene (Seng Kang Primary School)
2. Ms Tan Hui Hong Joyce (Seng Kang Primary School)
3. Ms Khoo Xin Hui, Myra (Huamin Primary School)
4. Ms Wong Thin Chee Frances (Fuhua Primary School)
How does one stretch High Ability Learners (HALs) within the national core language curriculum? This session invites the audience to learn from the approaches of three schools with different learner profiles: Fuhua Primary, Huamin Primary and Seng Kang Primary.
Across all three schools, the emphasis is on purposefully designing learning experiences that challenge HALs. By arousing their curiosity and encouraging deeper thinking, HALs are given opportunities to apply language to real-world contexts and to create meaning and connections.
Presenters will share the frameworks underpinning the distinctive programmes they have developed to respond to the needs of their HALs and explain how these extend upon the STELLAR curriculum and align with national curriculum outcomes and initiatives. Concrete examples of instructional material and pupil work will be used to illustrate how purposeful design provide challenge and scaffold for such learners.
To urge on fellow teachers embarking on similar journeys, presenters will also share details and insights from their curricula development efforts. By the end of the session, they hope that they would have not only demonstrated how they have made room for high ability learners to grow, but also how their endeavours have enriched the language learning for other learners in their schools.
Serene is a Senior Teacher for High Ability Learners in Seng Kang Primary who believes in shaping thinkers today so they can become leaders tomorrow. She designs meaningful learning experiences to spark curiosity, build resilience, and stretch potential. Guided by purpose and passion, she wishes to empower every learner to become a bold dreamer, deep thinker and a leader with heart.
Joyce, Level Head (English), Seng Kang Primary, is passionate about growing students’ appreciation for the English Language. An advocate for high ability learners, she believes that well-designed curriculum and thoughtfully crafted programmes which meet the needs of these students are key to ensuring that their experiences of learning in school are rich and meaningful.
Myra is a Senior Teacher (Learning Needs/High-Ability Learners) at Huamin Primary School. She spearheads STELLAR-integrated high-ability learning (HAL) initiatives, embedding purposeful differentiation within the national curriculum to make advanced thinking accessible and meaningful for all learners. She is also co-lead of the whole-school Philosophy for Children (P4C) approach to strengthen critical and reflective thinking for all while ensuring high-ability learners receive appropriate stretch. Myra also contributes actively at AST through the HAL NLC. She believes strongly that HAL lesson planning can be fuss-free, practical, and easily adaptable for teachers at all levels.
Frances, Lead Teacher (English Language), has taught in both secondary and primary school. She often teaches high-progress classes and has an interest in pushing the development of such students. No stranger to HAL curriculum development as she has attended several courses conducted by the Gifted Education Branch, Frances welcomes opportunities to work with GEB colleagues to refine her ability
to pitch and differentiate for this learner profile.