There’s no denying that the quality and selection of international schools on offer in Singapore is impressive and yet, choosing the right school for our daughter, Lana, was surprisingly more challenging than we had expected it would be.
As, arguably, the foundation stone of her future education, we were looking for somewhere that would guarantee she received a solid grounding but we were also mindful of the fact that, at the end of the day, she was only three. The most essential thing for us therefore, was not what she would learn about, what curriculum she would follow and what developmental milestones she would hit but how she would learn and most of all, how much fun she would have in the process.
Quayside Isle Preparatory School’s focus on learning through exploration and discovery and the excellent teacher to pupil ratio that allows this approach and focus were key factors in our decision.
To date we have been extremely happy with our choice. The passion of the staff for both their teaching and their pupils is hard to miss; the fact that you rarely step over the threshold of the school and see a face that you don’t recognize results in a warm, family atmosphere where both kids and parents alike know not only the names of everyone in the class but most kids in the school and whilst, it would of course be nice to have more outdoor space, the amazing location of the school, with easy access to beaches, jungle and more results in a privileged learning environment with plenty of local options for weekly field trips.
Just a few weeks into her time at Quayside Isle Prep, Lana was telling her Granny about the insect module they were studying in school and a recent trip to the Butterfly and Insect Kingdom. “So have you learned about spiders yet?” asked her granny, to which Lana replied: “Granny! A spider is NOT an insect! It is an arthropod!” There is plenty of evidence of how much she is learning but, in the process, she is definitely having fun, both inside and outside of the classroom. What more could we ask for at this age?