Pre-Nursery

Learning and Pedagogy

Our campus offers the renowned EtonHouse Inquire.Think.Learn curriculum inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach in Northern Italy. Children are respected as capable and competent thinkers and each individual’s unique characteristics and learning styles are valued to create a responsive curriculum based on inquiry. We acknowledge that children are sophisticated thinkers and communicators and encourage them to express themselves using multiple languages which may include speaking, singing, movement, drawing, designing and music. Our holistic and integrated curriculum has been highly valued by parents over the years, producing happy, confident, curious and socially conscious graduates with a genuine lifelong love for learning.

We believe the features of an effective high-quality early childhood education programme must include:

• The child as central to all decision making and planning
• The pedagogical consideration of listening to children
• Positive, respectful, reciprocal relationships between children, parents and staff
• The integration of knowledge, skills dispositions and attitudes
• Proactive social justice strategies
• Play as the central mode of learning and development for the youngest children
• Intellectually, socially and emotionally satisfying experiences
• The active participation of families
• A responsive and well-resourced physical environment
  

Curriculum Learning Goals

Our early childhood curriculum framework is organised according to the following Early Learning Goals:

• The child in a social and cultural context: understanding self and others
• The child as a communicator (incorporating speech/language; multiple literacies and the symbolic languages – visual and performing arts)
• The thinking child: building an understanding of the world (critical, creative and logical thinking, mathematical, scientific and technological understanding)
• The physical child: building health, safety and physical understanding
• The child as a change agent: building environmental understanding

What does our Pre-Nursery Programme look like? 

The Pre-Nursery programme promotes the holistic development of the child with a deep emphasis on being part of a close-knit community apart from home. It encourages the children to learn about who they are with and through others, with play as a central mode of learning. Children are encouraged to discover new things about their world through a wide range of sensory and literacy experiences. Children will learn different ways to communicate their ideas, thoughts and feelings through a specially designed bilingual curriculum that is highly responsive to their individual needs and interests. 

Portfolios As Assessment Tools

Our teachers maintain portfolios or learning profiles for each child in their class. Throughout the week, our teachers observe children’s interactions with materials, peers and adults to ascertain their interests, ideas, skills and understandings. Observations (of skills; dispositions; knowledge and behaviour) are recorded in the child’s portfolio as evidence of your child’s learning and development. These portfolios are available to the child at any time and form the basis of the parent-teacher discussions held twice annually.

Our Educators

All our class teachers and Mandarin teachers hold the minimum of a Diploma in Pre-School Education – Teaching. Many of our teachers also hold a Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education. This ensures the children are supported by a highly qualified and dedicated teaching team that nurtures confident and competent learners.

At EtonHouse, we have a dedicated research and development centre with pedagogists who focus on quality assurance and professional development of the teaching staff. Our teachers thus have access to continuous professional development and the latest research and thinking in the early childhood sector.