What To Expect At Our Open House
When you are starting to look for an international school in Singapore for your children, you want to gather as much information as you can about a range of options. You can discover a lot from online brochures and the printed prospectus, but there’s nothing to compare with visiting a school in person, talking to staff and students, and finding out more about facilities. Open days are a great opportunity to learn about the subjects on offer and the school’s ethos as a whole.
You can certainly do all this at the Australian International School (AIS) — one of the key international schools in Singapore that caters for Australian children, but also welcomes students from many other countries. Our Open House gives you the opportunity to spend the morning getting to know more about what goes on here and to get a feel for how we operate, our style of teaching, and the range of other activities available.
Open Houses
The AIS has two Open House mornings, one for ages 2 months to 6 years and the other for those aged 7 to 18. The schedules for both are the same, beginning with registration, followed by a welcome from the school’s Principal, Dr Eddie Groughan, and then a tour of the campus with the academic staff, students and Admissions team. During the tour, prospective students and their parents will experience classroom activities with the school’s leadership team to see how things are done. At the end of the tour, guests will be served refreshments and have more opportunities to talk to staff about the educational process.
2 months to 6 years
At AIS, children are constantly learning in a spectrum of different subjects thanks to our interdisciplinary approach. Your child will experience specialist programs that include Speech and Drama as well music, developing abilities such as motor skills, which are especially important for younger children. These programs are designed to ensure your child’s daily mental and physical exercise is well balanced.
One of the most fascinating aspects you’ll discover is the new AIS Early Learning Village, carefully designed with young learners in mind. It aims to provide an environment completely supportive of every child’s learning journey.
The classrooms are inspired by Reggio Emilia, an approach to education that comes from northern Italy. This philosophy focuses on preschool and primary education. The approach is student centered so that children have myriad opportunities to develop and fulfill their potential.
Each classroom has an outdoor play space attached to it where children can explore with water and sandpits, sensory play equipment, and creativity project tables. These areas are flooded with natural light and are accessible via child-sized doors.
The classrooms are situated close to one another in small groups. Children are taught cooking skills in a dedicated teaching kitchen and each cluster has a resource area and mini-library.
The motivation behind this is to stimulate the imaginations of young children and encourage them to experiment and explore in a safe, secure environment.
7 to 18 years
The AIS curriculum has been developed to support children from Early Years to Elementary and then Secondary education. The same principles apply across the board, in that children are encouraged to learn in classroom sessions and then to take part in activities that include a number of sporting disciplines and the opportunity to get involved in music, theatre and other arts pursuits.
Naturally, academic study is significant and all-important subjects are studied during the Elementary years to prepare students for moving on to the Secondary school.
At the Open House, you will be able to find out more about what’s available for your child and discuss the options with staff, especially when it comes to choosing subjects for later years. The school follows the Australian Curriculum for Years 6 to 8 that moves students on to the Cambridge IGCSE in years 9 and 10. Students are then prepared to follow either the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme or the New South Wales Higher School Certificate in years 11 and 12.
Arts and sport
Music, drama and many sporting activities are a normal part of education at AIS, with dedicated teaching staff to encourage participation not just within the school but also in events and competitions outside it.
As well as extracurricular activities, the school is also involved with a programmes of language education to help equip students for future careers in a global economy. At the Open House events at the Australian International School, you can talk to staff about what’s available and discover the best options for your child.
