Blog | OWIS - Singapore

Each morning your child will arrive, ready to learn, to be warmly greeted by their class teachers. Once they have unpacked their bags, they organise themselves and prepare for the day. Our students collectively call out the day, date and timetable as they learn to make better sense of the calendar and their world. This teaches them to take ownership of their time and experiences and also ensures that they feel prepared for the day. We start the day with quiet reading and reflect upon the day’s global news as well as student announcements and events; all while creating a positive mindset for the day ahead.

In a traditional classroom, students are encouraged to retain information through memorisation. It's a passive method of learning that may help a student achieve an adequate test score. But information gained in this manner is often forgotten, because the child who 'learned' it had no active role in gaining the knowledge - other than that of leaning over a tablet or copying words from a whiteboard. There is little-to-no inquiry-led learning in this type of classroom.

When the pieces of an early childhood education come together well, they lay the foundation for a successful school career for the child. They will be able to enter their later school years confidently and ready to tackle the challenges that lie before them. At OWIS, our early childhood teachers remain the foundation for this education. They understand how to immerse students in our material, guiding them to explore and learn about their world in exciting new ways each day. Our students finish their early childhood education ready to succeed in their primary education.

Here are just a few ways that our teachers demonstrate their expertise and the things that make OWIS unique.

Parents relocating to a new country face many critical decisions when it comes to choosing what's best for their families. One of their primary concerns is selecting the right educational setting for their children. If they're planning on returning to their country of origin, they usually look for an institution that offers national curricula, with the goal of helping their child make a smooth transition back to a home-country school. Whatever part of the world they hail from, most parents want a school that provides world-class education. They can find it at an IB school.

At One World International School, we encourage parents to connect with the school community. This can begin even before your child is enrolled. Visiting the school ahead of time allows parents to meet teachers and other students, giving them an up-close look at our school culture and programmes. It allows families to get a feeling of the school environment and also to understand whether it would be the right fit for their child. Families who want to get better acquainted with us have multiple ways to do so.

At OWIS, we offer curricula specific to the early years, primary school, secondary school and high school. Students enrolled in our secondary school programme will follow a curriculum that culminates in the IGCSE examinations at Grades 9 and 10, one of the most popular secondary school curricula offered in Singapore and throughout the world. Globally, there are more than 70 subjects, including 30 languages, available through IGCSE. This curriculum is considered to be excellent preparation for both A Levels and IBDP subject courses.

One World International School offers a rigorous, well-rounded curriculum for secondary school students (grades 6-10). During a typical week, students take part in a variety of activities within and beyond the classrooms.

At One World International School, we make use of inquiry-based learning, which means we encourage our students to be active participants in the classroom, where they are encouraged to ask questions and explore topics that interest them.

In other words, we let children's natural curiosity be the engine that drives their ability to acquire knowledge. Teachers don't merely deliver information to his or her class and expect children to react to it. Instead they help students explore the subject in relation to the real world.

As a parent, one of the most important decisions you will make for your child is the decision to enrol your child in a pre-education programme. With multiple early childhood education philosophies such as Reggio Emilia and Montessori, there is much to consider when selecting a preschool or daycare in Singapore.

What does Warren Buffet do in his downtime? He plays bridge and ukulele. You can find Richard Branson kite surfing, former Twitter CEO Dick Costolo making honey and the actor Liam Neeson fly-fishing. These are just a few examples of the different hobbies enjoyed by successful business leaders and celebrities. This wide range of activities demonstrates just how important hobbies are to personal growth, learning and innovation– and that’s why OWIS encourages all students to pursue their own hobbies and co-curricular activities.