Searching for an ideal preschool?

Preschool is extremely important in my opinion, but my reason is probably not quite in line with what most people think.

In our society, where primary school goers have to get up way earlier before the sun does to get to school to sit at their desks for hours to learn how to answer ridiculously difficult Math and Science questions, I say please, let the children have a wonderful time in their preschool years.

Yes, I acknowledge that they have to learn the fundamentals of everything then (or face not being able to catch up in Primary 1), so it’s crucial to find a preschool that offers our kids a chance to play and learn, a chance to have a childhood and be prepared for the rigour expected in primary school.

When searching for an ideal preschool, that is, one that meets our expectations, there are a few things that we look out for – the preschool’s beliefs (how well these are aligned to ours), the approach taken in terms of teaching, good teacher-student ratio, and a safe and clean environment.

If you live in the East, I have good news for you because British Council has a new Preschool in Tampines! While it’s impossible for me to ever enroll my kids there because I don’t fancy the long journey to the East every day, I thought I’d let you in on what it offers. The British Council Preschool adopts the play-based approach and is influenced by pedagogies of Montessori, High-Scope and Inquiry-based learning – everything in line with what I believe in and practise!

Children will explore, discover and learn, and eventually drive topics to be discussed and researched in class.

And there’s even a corner dedicated to pretend play – which is so important in the development in young children!

You could say that the British Council Preschool offers the best of both worlds as they use the best preschool practices from both the United Kingdom and Singapore and they provide holistic, hands-on and concrete learning, with a strong emphasis on Language and Literacy.

When I think of British Council, I think of English. You know, like Queen’s English. And I bet you’re thinking the same thing. Well, you’ll be glad to know, they teach Mandarin at the British Council Preschool too! And in fact, the same British Council approach of learning through involvement in a language rich environment is applied in the teaching of Mandarin. There are two teachers, one English and Mandarin- speaking (co-partners) and they are present in class the whole time, offering a bilingual environment.

What I really like about the British Council Preschool is the small class size. Because they believe every child is unique, they also believe in providing the best possible care and attention for your child, and the good teacher-student ratios are specially arranged to facilitate this. In Nursery 2, each class has 14 children and in K1 and K2 – 16 children. Two teachers will be present during class.

The classrooms are all air-conditioned and feature custom-designed furniture for young learners. They are also equipped with the latest learning technology including Interactive White Boards and Digital Visualisers. *WOW*

Oh and check out this room for indoor physical activities!

In line with keeping everything real, field trips are conducted twice a term. In the week that the learning journey takes place, the whole week will be devoted to the theme that surrounds the place the children will be visiting so that the children will be fully immersed in the theme where they will explore, discover and learn, and be the ones that inspire areas to be researched.

The British Council Preschool follows the MOE school term of 40 weeks, but they add 6 weeks of Holiday Programme, run by their own pre-school teachers and British Council Enrichment team. *hooray* Term fees cover all 46 weeks of school term and the learning journeys, so there will not be a need to pay anything additional. That totally saves the effort to look for enrichment programmes during the school holidays!

Are you all set to register your child? 🙂 Here’s the information you need!

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Programme

Nursery 2	Year the child turns 4
Kindergarten 1	Year the child turns 5
Kindergarten 2	Year the child turns 6

Operational hours:

Morning session: 9am to 12noon

Afternoon session: 1pm to 4pm

School Terms and Fees

	Term 1	Term 2	Term 3	Term 4
School Term	11 weeks(including one week of holiday programme)	12 weeks(including two weeks of holiday programme)	11 weeks(including one week of holiday programme)	12 weeks(including two weeks of holiday programme)
School Fees	S$2550	S$2550	S$2550	S$2550

Miscellaneous Fees

Registration              S$500 (Waived for registrations within 2014)

Medical insurance    S$45 per annum (optional but conditions apply)

FPS insurance           1% of total amount payable

There is no requirement for security deposit.

Uniform

Polo T-shirts	S$10
Boy’s shorts	S$15
Girl’s culottes	S$15

School Bus

Transportation can be arranged at a separate fee.

Registration

A completed copy of the registration form must be submitted along with the following documents:

1. A copy of child’s birth certificate
2. A copy of each parent’s identification card
3. Parents’ and child’s entry, re-entry permit, or passport (foreigners only)
4. Other authorised persons, if any. Please provide full name, contact and ID number
5. Child’s Medical Insurance Certificate, if applicable

If you’re interested to take a FREE tour of the preschool, click here to sign up or call  67839209 should you require more information.

British Council Preschool (Tampines)

Address: 11 Tampines Concourse #01-02/03/04 Singapore 528729

Tel: 67839209

British Council Singapore Facebook Page

British Council Singapore Twitter: @sgBritish

British Council Singapore Instagram: @sgBritish

 

Disclosure: This is an advertorial. All opinions are mine.