English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL)

The ESOL Department provides courses that address the English learning area of the New Zealand Curriculum and the curriculum of the International Baccalaureate. Students who study English through the ESOL department have pathways to English literacy for NCEA and university entrance. ESOL is not a learning support service at Rangitoto College. It is a curriculum subject that leads to level 2 NCEA (English) and IB Diploma level.

There are ten different courses in the ESOL department. Eight courses address the New Zealand Curriculum and prepare students for the optional IB pathway at Rangitoto College. One course is purely part of the International Baccalaureate. The department also has one course that prepares international students for the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) examination.

Some of our courses are not mainstream English in the New Zealand Curriculum. These courses aim to provide students new to the high school culture of New Zealand, and for whom English is not their first language, a way in which to build their everyday and basic academic language knowledge, as well as their cultural knowledge of New Zealand schooling.

The bulk of our courses replace English department courses in a student’s timetable and ensure that a range of objectives in the English learning area in the New Zealand Curriculum are met by students.

Participation in most courses in the department is not dependent on a student’s year level (grade). Entry into and progression between courses is based on English language proficiency. Students and parents must remember that any year level numbers that appear in timetable codes are not indicative of the academic level of any course and are not the course names. These codes are purely administrative. English is a compulsory subject at Rangitoto College, except for year 13 students.

These are the courses we currently provide in the ESOL department.

Courses Provided

Download a copy of the courses our department provides by clicking here.

ESOL, UEL and UER have helped me to improve my vocabulary and grammar. They have also helped me to think outside the square when reading a book or watching a movie.

- Emily Wong, alumna

Glenn Murphy

Bachelor of Arts (BA), Graduate Diploma in Teaching (Secondary), Graduate Diploma in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (all University of Auckland)

I have been teaching since the end of 1994, starting in Malaysia. I took up my first New Zealand appointment in 1995 at Rangitoto College, with a long-term relieving role in the English and Social Sciences departments. I spent thirteen and a half years at Orewa College, including five years as the head of the languages department there, being a dean at year 9 and year 10, and a short intermission of one and a half years living and teaching in England, where I trained to be an ESOL teacher in London.
In 2009, I returned to Rangitoto College as head of the ESOL department. From 2019 to 2021, I studied part-time at the University of Auckland so I could upgrade my ESOL knowledge in a brilliant GradDip. TESSOL course. The knowledge I gained reinvigorated me and stoked my passion for the field of language teaching. Language and culture are intrinsically intertwined. One cannot learn a language without ‘learning’ the culture(s) to which that language belongs. Culture is the filter for our perspectives on the worlds we engage with and I am constantly fascinated by the way our students deal with the challenges of growing their linguistic and cultural knowledge.
My experiences learning, travelling, teaching English, geography, social studies, religious studies (in England), and even a little bit of Spanish, building my knowledge of English language learning, and now leading an ESOL department with over 400 students, have provided me with a wide perspective on teaching and learning.

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Academic • Academic Departments

English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL)

Courses Provided

- Emily Wong, alumna

Glenn Murphy