eNews

Newsletter • 1 - 2015

Contents:
INTRODUCTION
1.

Message from the Founder

ETONHOUSE INTERNATIONALEDUCATION GROUP - NEWS & EVENTS
2.

New Campus Opening

3.

Singapore’s First ‘Heritage Pre-school’on Sentosa
First EtonHouse Kindergarten
to Open at Hwa Chong
EtonHouse Celebrates 20
Wonderful Years

4.

Hong Kong
Official Opening of E-Bridge Pre-School
Myanmar

SINGAPORE
5.

Photography as a Tool for Teacher
Inquiry
Inquiry as a Journey, not a Destination

6.

Inquiry - Seeing the Extraordinary in the
Ordinary
Inquiry an Engaging and Powerful
Learning Tool

SINGAPORE/CHINA
7.

The Power of Inquiry
Inquiring into Language

CHINA
8.

Inquiry, an Engaging and Powerful
Learning Tool
Inquiry at EtonHouse Hong Kong

JAPAN
9.

How Children with Learning Challenges
Influence Our Inquiry Based Programme

INDONESIA
10. The Inquiry Process at EtonHouse
Jakarta
INDONESIA/MALAYSIA
11. Inquiry at its Best
Inquiry - as a Tool for Constructing
Knowledge
CAMBODIA/INDIA
12. Inquiry at EtonHouse Cambodia
Inquiry - an Engaging and Powerful
Learning Tool that Encourages
Exploration

As parents and educators, we understand thesignificance of the early years. There is enough evidence
and research that highlights this. Increasingly many
policy makers and Governments are realizing this as
well and putting in place specific initiatives to enhance
the accessibility, affordability and quality of the earlyyears in an effort to enhance birth rates, encourage avibrant workforce including women and more importantly
enhance the social and emotional success indicators of
its society such as lower school drop outs, crime rates
etc.
The Starting Well Index launched by the Economist
Intelligence Unit notes- “Consciously setting aside a time
to stimulate young children’s development is a relatively
new phenomenon. Until the 1980s, preschools in mostcountries were largely focused on providing simple
child minding. But as economies
shift towards more knowledge-based
activities, awareness about childdevelopment—the need to improvetheir social awareness, confidence
and group interaction skills, and toprepare them for starting primaryeducation—continues to grow”.
President Obama rightly calls goodquality early childhood provisions a‘national priority’, a way to enable amore accomplished workforce and toenhance the opportunities to succeed
amongst all classes of society. In
Singapore too, there has been a slew
of initiatives announced by the Early
Childhood
Development Agency(ECDA) to continually enhance thechildcare and kindergarten provisions through theallocation of more sites, more investment in teacher
training and development, schemes to support small
and medium sized centres to enhance efficiencies etc.
It is interesting to note that Scandinavian countries thatrank the highest in the quality of their early years spend
the largest percentage of their GDP in the early years
as compared to other countries. Quality in the earlyyears is measured amongst other factors by teacher
qualifications, health and safety and a well-defined preschool curriculum.
This edition of the newsletter highlights our emphasis
on a well-grounded curriculum in the early years andbeyond with inquiry as the cornerstone of how young
children learn at EtonHouse. The inquiry based learning
approach encourages children to drive their own-1-

learning, gives them myriad opportunities to think, create,transform and reflect. These life experiences present
opportunities to create and strengthen connections
between the synapses of the brain. In the first three yearsof life, the brain’s capacity for making these connections
is the highest it will be in the lifespan (Phillips, 2000).
The EtonHouse Inquire Think Learn curriculum is inspiredby international best practice such as the Reggio Emilia
Educational Approach that started in Italy after World War
II by an educator and philosopher called Loris Malaguzzi
who dedicated his life to the development of a remarkableeducational community of teachers and learners.
At EtonHouse, the community of pedagogists andteachers appreciate the responsibility they have towards
the children in their care. They continually work towards
introducing innovative practice in their settings, creating
standards in early childhood toinspire and challenge young
children to equip them with 21st
century skills to succeed in the
future and develop into confident,
curious, competent, responsible
and sociable global citizens.
A case in point was the openingof our campus at Upper Bukit
Timah that established a new
standard through its innovative
design concept. The building,an erstwhile furniture showroom
was transformed into an earlyyears paradise with many
new and interesting design
features carefully planned byour pedagogy team. The new‘heritage school’ on Sentosa Island will be another
innovation that we can’t wait to share with our parents
and children. Please read about them further on in thisnewsletter.
EtonHouse celebrates its 20th anniversary this March. It
has been a remarkable journey for all of us and one thathas been especially rewarding. I would like to express mysincere gratitude for your support throughout the years
and I look forward to many more decades celebrating ourjourney towards excellence in educational practice.
I wish you and your family a very happy Easter!
Ng Gim Choo
Group Managing Director
EtonHouse International Education GroupE t on Hous e I n ter n a tional Ed u c at ion Grou p - News & Event s

New Campus Openings
Singapore

Bilingual Pre-School at
215 Upper Bukit Timah

EtonHouse Pre-Schools at Robertson Walk and 215 Bukit Timah successfullycommenced operations in November 2014 and March 2015 and received avery strong response from parents, educators and the members of the media.

New Campus at Robertson Walk
The campus at Robertson
Walk opened in November
and welcomed many new
families into its beautifully
designed learning spaces.
With an experienced andwell established bilingual
teaching team from theearlier EtonHouse campus
on Outram Road, the preschool opened its doors toa bustling community of learners in January 2015. At the opening, Emelia
Prayogo, Director of Pedagogy delivered talks to a packed room of parents.
Apart from Mandarin, the pre-school also offers Japanese as a second
language programme. The
new Principal Madonna
Lee and her team ofteachers
continue
tostrengthen the excellent
teaching and learning
environment in the school.

Spanning 29,000 sq. ft., theEtonHouse Pre-School at
215 Upper Bukit Timah had
its grand opening on the
30th and 31st of January.
With
many
innovative
features such as the indoor
garden, sensory corridors,
atelier, rooftop garden andspecialist studios for art
and construction, the new
EtonHouse campus has set
benchmarks in innovative
design in the early years. Offering a strong second language programme, thispre-school provides a strong bilingual foundation in the early years.

For more details e-mailRobertsonWalk@
etonhouse.edu.sg or call+65 6221 1050

Check out this amazing centre at 215 Upper Bukit Timah Road, Singapore
588 184.
For more details e-mail 215BT@etonhouse.edu.sg or call +65 6762 3322

-2-

E t on Hous e I n ter n a tional Ed u c at ion Grou p - News & Event s

Singapore’s First ‘Heritage Pre-school’ on Sentosa Islandchildren’s interpretations of Singapore’s history, a wonderful celebration of the 50
golden years through the eyes of young children.

The
newcampuson
Sentosa Island
will commence
operationinAugust 2015.
Spread over
32,000 square
feet, this earlychildhood
campusishoused in a 3-storey conservation house with pre-war colonial style architecture.

Offering the established EtonHouse inquiry-based bilingual programme forchildren from 18 months to 6 years of age, the innovative use of the property willserve the demand for a high quality early years programme amongst the residents
of Sentosa and neighbouring areas.
Set in tranquil surroundings amidst lush greenery overseeing the Sentosa Golf
Course, this campus will feature a large multi-purpose hall, an indoor play area, an
atelier, library, recycling corner and sensorial corridors, apart from outdoor spaces
to offer an integrated and dynamic learning environment.
Open House:
Saturday, May 30th & June 6th
9 AM to 3 PM

In keeping with the historical perspective and architecture of the property, theschool will feature a heritage centre to offer children and families a glimpse of
Singapore in its early years of inception. With special features and artifacts fromthe past, the centre will offer young children a unique perspective of history andat the same time initiate many new discoveries and learning that will enrich theirearly years in myriad ways.

33 Allanbrooke
099981Road,

Singapore

For more details, e-mail sentosa@
etonhouse.edu.sg or call +65 6377 3322

The opening will also coincide with Singapore’s 50th anniversary and EtonHouse’s
20th anniversary. The ‘heritage centre’ will also evolve into an exhibit to include

First EtonHouse Kindergarten EtonHouse Celebrates 20
to Open at Hwa Chong
Wonderful Years
The first EtonHouse Kindergarten at
Hwa Chong opens in April 2015. A muchanticipated opening, the centre is acollaboration with the Hwa Chong Alumni
Association and is within the premises of
Hwa Chong.

EtonHouse completes
20 years in March 2015.
From one school in
Singapore to over a 100
in 12 countries - whata remarkable journey
it has been! We thankthe EtonHouse families,
friends and staff for theirwonderful support overthe last two decades.
Each one of you has
contributed significantly to the EtonHouse story.

Offering the renowned EtonHouse
Inquire Think Learn (ITL) curriculum,
the kindergarten programme will bedelivered entirely in Mandarin in the early years (Nursery 1 and 2) and thereafter
in a bilingual English and Mandarin environment in the Kindergarten years.
There will be an added emphasis on Chinese cultural experiences such as Chinese
Art (painting, Calligraphy), Performance Art (music, dance, drama and songs),
literature (stories, rhymes and poems) and festivities. The learning environmentis created for children to experience the beautiful Chinese culture and tradition ina warm, home-like space, featuring unique art pieces, musical instruments andengaging and meaningful resources.

There will be a series of events to celebrate this milestone. The first celebration
was held on the 12th of March at the first EtonHouse campus on Broadrick
Road. Here are some glimpses.

The programme will make reference to the EtonHouse learning goals as wellas MOE’s ‘Nurturing Early Learners’ framework for the six areas of learning(Aesthetics & creative expression, discovery of the world, language & literacy,
motor skills development, numeracy and social & emotional development) in theplanning of children’s learning and development.
The programme offered at EtonHouse@ Hwa Chong is unique in its delivery andwill lay a strong bilingual foundation in the early years developing competentand confident global learners who can effectively communicate in English andMandarin.
Saturday, April 25th & May 9th
Address: 681 Bukit Timah Road, Singapore 269782
Email: hceh@etonhouse.edu.sg-3-

E t on Hous e I n ter n a tional Ed u c at ion Grou p - News & Event s

Hong Kong
Second Campus in Hong Kongsea views. Offering a high quality international early childhood education, theschool will showcase many innovative design features such as an indoor garden with an innovative climbing frame, sand pit, pebble garden and othercommon areas such as a recycling area and ateliers of art, music, light, building and construction, thus offering children many different expressions ofthought and language.

After the successful launch of
the first campus
in Hong Kong,the second kindergarten
will
open in September
2015.
Situated in theprestigious Sinoland and K.WAH
project
Mayfairby the Sea located in the picturesque waterfront of Pak Shek Kok, Tai Po.
The property offers residents access to a stellar environment with panoramicOpen House:
Saturday, May 30th & June 6th
9 AM to 3 PM
LG/F Kindergarten, Mayfair By The Sea I, 23 Fo Chun Road, Tai Po, HongKong
For more details, e-mail enquiry@etonhouse.com.hk or call +852 2353 5223

Official Opening of E-Bridge Myanmar
Pre-School
EtonHouse
International
Pre-Schoolin
Yangon opened
its doors on the
18th of January,
making it thefirst EtonHouse
campusin
M y a n m a r .
Situated in the heart of Yangon, thecampus offers a beautiful learning
environment integrating the indoor
and outdoor spaces. Attended
by Chief Minister of Yangon,
U Myint Swe, Minister U Kyaw
Soe (Ministry of Energy, Yangon
Division), Singapore Ambassador,
H.E. Mr. Robert Chua Hian Kongand Member of Paliament U Soe
Han Linn, the opening was a
grand success and reinforces thedemand for high quality early years
provisions in Yangon.

The official opening of E-Bridge took place on the 28th of February at 615 B
Edgefield Plains. The Guest of Honour at the event was Dr Janil Puthucheary,
Member of Parliament for Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC.
E-Bridge at 615 Edgefield Plains started operations in August 2014 to avery positive response and currently
operates at full capacity with anenrolment of 127. It is one of the 3
E-Bridge centres in operation. E-Bridge
Pre-School is a member of the
EtonHouse Group under the enhanced
Anchor Operator Scheme (AOP)
announced in January 2014 that aims
to increase access to affordable andgood quality early childhood care andeducation.

http://www.etonhouse.com.mm/en/-4-

Eton Hou se in Singap ore

Photography as a Tool for Teacher Inquiry
EtonHouse @ Mountbatten 223
by Suzanne Rossouw, Atelierista
While we associate theword ‘inquiry’ to the typeof learning we aim tofacilitate in our children, it
is not limited to children.
There is a great needfor teachers to also takeon the role of inquirer or
researcher. Through theuse of tools and records,
teacher inquirers study
the learning that takes place, in order to maketeaching and learning visible.
Photographic documentation, as inspired by
the work done in Reggio Emilia, is a powerfulwords.

tool with which teachers can makevisible the children’s learning andtheir own research. Imagebased research promotes
andrequirescarefulobservation by the teacher.
Moran and Tegano (2005)
suggest that intentionaluse of photographs canhave the same subjective,
interpretive potential as‘Photographs are not passive artifacts,
but represent active forms of meaning
with layers of potential interpretations.’

When photographs are studied with others, theystimulate dialogue, reveal various perspectives
and evoke questions. Suchdialogue can in turn motivate
teachers to reexamine theirpedagogical approach and finddeeper meaning in their work withchildren.
Continuous cycles of creating andstudying photographs, and making
visible their intended and shared
meanings, allow teachers toengage in meaningful classroom
research.

Inquiry as a Journey, not a Destination
EtonHouse @ Vanda
by Ng Shu Ping Principal. Photos contributed by Denise Teo, Senior Teacher.
The
art
of
inquiry learning
is underpinnedby the imageof the child aswell as that oftheeducator.
The way weseechildrenand the way we
see our roles
as educators in
the classroomtransforms theentire learning
process.
Theemphasis changes from content to metacognition,
understanding our own thought processes. It is not
so much what children learn but how they approach
their learning. In an inquiry-rich classroom, children
are supported in finding relevant information,
determining a reliable source, asking questions,forming and testing hypotheses and expressing apoint of view. Children have a strong drive to know

and understand,
to
share
and
articulate ideas.
“Childrendonot wait for our
permission to think.
Indeed, children are
bursting with ideas that are always impatient to escapethrough language (and we say a hundred languages) toconnect and communicate with the things of the world.”~ Louis Malaguzzi, Founder of the Reggio Emilia
Approach
We take the leadfrom children andwe act as partners
in their learning.
We don’t answer
their questions asthat denies children
the opportunity andjoy to discover it forthemselves.
The

adult plays a crucialpart in the learning
process. We observe
and learn about how
they learn, we listen,
we offer suggestions,
we ask questions, we
engage in a continual
dialogue of reflection,
we
help
make
plans, we provide
resources, we keep
momentum
going
when needed, weteach them how to find information,
we value their opinions andsuggestions and we support theirideas.
This is real learning; focussing on
the process not the answers. For
when our children know how tolearn, the ‘what to learn’ is limitless.

-5-

Eton Hou se in Singap ore

Inquiry – Seeing the Extraordinary in the Ordinary
EtonHouse @ 717 Mountbatten
by Renee Sim Principal
Inquiry is an approach towards learning; it involves
a process of active exploration, questioning andmaking discoveries. It responds to the interests,
ideas, questions, and curiosities of the children.
(EtonHouse Inquire Think Learn framework)

Examples of how this looks like in our practice:

At EtonHouse Mountbatten 717, the way we workaround the notion of inquiry is interconnectedwith our image of child. It is our belief to support
children to be inquisitive explorers, self-directed
and enthusiastic learners. The role of educators is
to offer opportunities in the learning environment
for active exploration and discovery. We believe
learning takes place when children are given timeand space to work individually or in a group to
test out their own theories, work through trial anderror, question their hypothesis and reflect on theirthoughts.

The educator takes on the role of a
facilitator and researcher during thisprocess. Educators listen, observe anddocumentchildren’s
conversations,actions and thought processes – seeking
to see the extraordinary out of theordinary.

Inquiry – An Engaging and Powerful Learning Tool
EtonHouse @ Robertson Walkby Madonna Lee, Principal
Inquiry is the cornerstone of how young children
learn. Research into Brain Development throughthe Canadian Centre for Excellence in Early
Childhood Development, has focused on theneurobiological, behavioural and social influenceson young children (Mustard, 2010). The research
has shown that life experiences create andstrengthen the connections between the synapsesof the brain (Porter, 2007).
In the first three yearsof life, the brain’s
capacity for making
these connections is
the highest it will be in
the lifespan (Phillips,
2000). At 3 years of age
children’s brains havedouble the number ofsynapses of an adult.
Sometimes connections
are created and they

are strengthened and continue toexpand. Other times, the creation
occurs but when the connection
is not used it is eventually pruned(Shore, 1997; Nelson, 2000).
Tasks such as stencils andworksheets have limited outcomes
and hence inhibit creativity andproblem solving
skills.
Neuralp a t h w a y s
need
to
be
strengthened andexpanded upon in order for
the individual to reach theirtrue potential.
Inspiring thechild’s interest and engaging
their passion for learning isessential. Pedagogues facilitate
this through experiences thatfacilitate the child’s natural desire-6-

to explore, imitate andplay.
As educators andparents we recognise“the importance of thesocial phenomenon ofchildhood and relatethat understanding towhat kind of society
childrenof
today
live in and what kindof society they willencounterinthefuture” (p. 134. Dahlberg, 2005). The world of
today’s children is fast paced, multi-dimensionaland ever changing. The days of completing one
fixed outcome based task at a time are in the past.
Through engaging in Inquiry, a powerful learning
tool, children forge connections between ideas
and concepts and gain a deeper understanding of
how the world works and their place in it.

Eton House in Singap ore/ China

The Power of Inquiry
EtonHouse @ Claymore
by Lisamarie Hughes, Principal
How do young children learn?
How do teachers respond?
We believe that children bringto any learning encounter, an
existing body of knowledge
constructed from their pastexperience and interactions
with the world. This knowledge
forms the foundation for ongoing learning.
Through purposeful listening and observationof children’s interactions with peers, adults andmaterials, our teachers are able to reflect on andevaluate the child’s current level of skill, knowledge
and interest. In developing a profile of each child’s
learning style and their existing knowledge base,teachers plan subsequent learning experiences
designed to extend and complicate children’s
thinking.
We believe that children learn best when
the learning experiences are relevant andmeaningful to them.
Play based inquiryisacknowledged
worldwideasavehicle for learning.
We see inquiry as theintegrative
device,which
supports
children in making
meaning
(e.g.
a
water
experiment
may offer children opportunities to observe,
use mathematical andscientific understandings
as well as participate in asocial group).
How do we plan ourinquiry based curriculum?
At EtonHouse Claymore,ourcurriculumisorganisedaccordingto the EtonHouse: Inquire – Think - Learn
Curriculum Framework. Our observations ofchildren’s interests, behaviours and ‘wondering’
about the world informs the experiences we plan.
We then link these experiences and the children’s
participation to the goals from our Inquire-ThinkLearn Framework to ensure we are accountable
for learning. Teachers create many opportunities
across the day, week and year for each childto explore a wide range of hands-on learning
encounters which aim to integrate rather thansegment the learning content. The children andeducators together coconstruct understanding ofconcepts so as to embedlearning as a powerfulexperience.
Wethenmake the power of inquiry
visible through our panels,
portfolios, newsletters andexhibitions held for thecommunity.

Inquiring into Language
EtonHouse @ China
by Debra Liu, Director of Pedagogy, China

Junyi’s aeroplane picture
showing wings like thecharacter飞Children talking about the wings of an
aeroplane as they draw

Luna inquires into differingmachines that fly, by making
a helicopter out of playdoughHaoxuan’s picture showing different styles of wings-7-

E tonH ou se in China

Inquiry, An Engaging and Powerful Learning Tool
EtonHouse @ Times Residence, Chengdu
by Carol Hutchinson, Principal
Active involvementin
learningbuildschildren’s
understandingofconcepts and thecreative thinking andinquiry
processesthat are necessary
to become lifelong
learners.
Inquiry
based approaches
reflect a view of thechild as a constructorof their own knowledge actively
learning rather than being a passive
recipient of someone else’s.

At EtonHouse Times
Residence
Chengdu,our students love to
ask questions, it is oneof the ways in which
they make sense of theworld and their place init. As educators we findquestions are also a
powerful tool to promotechildren’s thinking andlearning. They exercise
their sense of agency
and encourages children
to develop valuable andcomplex problem-solving
skills.

As
EtonHouse
Times Residence,
our
staff
see
themselves as colearners working
with the children
as they learn.
Childrenhave
the time, spaceand resources tobecomedeeplyinvolved in theirinvestigations,and learning is richer and more effective when it
develops over time. There are opportunities forplanning, and reflection through their experiences.

An Inquiry on ‘Movement’
EtonHouse @ Hong Kongby Allison Banbury, Principal
to children, and reflecting on and analysing what
we have ‘heard’, we ensure that the experiences
we plan will provoke questions, exploration andinvestigation, and offer challenge to the children’s
thinking.

At EtonHouse Tai Tam. we acknowledge thatchildren are curious with an innate need tocontinually make sense of their world. Using their
sensory explorations as a foundation, our children
build conceptual understandings as they gain
knowledge through first hand experiences. We
know that these experiences are most meaningfulwhen a strong connection is made with thechildren’s interests. As teachers, we observe thechildren’s interactions with the materials, spaces
and people within their environment. ‘Listening’

In our Pre-Nursery class, children have been
deepening their knowledge and understanding of‘fast and slow’ as part of an inquiry into movement.
This particular focus arose from the children’stransport play, in which thechildren expressed theirinterest in the speed of
the vehicles. The teachers
created an environment inwhich the children could,
amongst other things,
inquire into the effect theirpace of movement could
have on their musical andart compositions. They
also had the opportunity
to investigate the speed
at which various materials
would roll down an incline;-8-

making predictions andtesting their theories.
This
inquiry
waspowerful and engaging
as it built on children’sinterests and enabled
them to play with theirown ideas and testout their own theories
throughavarietyofcrossdomain
experiences.

EtonH ou se in Jap an

How Children with Learning Challenges Influence Our Inquiry
Based Programme
EtonHouse @ Japanby Angela Fitzpatrick, Principal

Having children with special
developmental needs in our school
has made us look at inquiry basedlearning through a different (nonverbal) lens.
For the core teacher within thisclassroom, it has made them reflect
on the importance of inclusion of
all children and how each child’s
identity impacts our curriculum.
It has made the teachers lookclosely at the class programme,
environment and revisit learning
outcomes for the children as agroup and as individuals.
By reflection and revisiting learning
goals and data gathering, theteachers discovered that they wererelying on children’s verbal skills to support theinquiry programme and that the children with nonverbal skills were being overlooked.

Once teachers looked through the lens of the nonverbal child, they soon discovered that they had
individual and group intereststhat they as teacher did not
notice.
The interest that was discovered
was symbols and forms of written
print. This included the alphabet,numbers, colours and children’s
names.
By redesigning eachcore area of play to the needsof the non-verbal children,
teachers noticed a huge change
in the classroom dynamics.
Children were calm and busy
doing their work, and weretaking an interest in each otherand developing new friendships.

-9-

The teachers discovered that children began
to explore the classroom and had confidence intrying new activities andwere coming up with theirown ideas of play andcreations. Teachers gained
new insights to children’s
cognitive development.
Languagedevelopment
was strengthened and turntaking and negotiation skills
were evident, making aclass room of total harmony
for all children and teachers.

E ton Hou se in Ind onesia

The Inquiry Process at EtonHouse Jakarta
by Dorothy Rose, Teacher

Ruilin is looking at our “Ready, Steady,Grow!” book to see the process ofplanting.

Ashika and Kenneth are working together toreplant their bean plants.

The inquiry-based approach to teaching andlearning is indeed a powerful learning tool that has
the potential to increase deeper understandingof children’s interested topics while in active
engagement within the prepared stimulating
environment where purposeful materials aresupplied for provocations which foster dispositions
and motivation towards real life practical learning.
Effective inquiry is more than just asking questions.
Inquiry-based learning is a complex process
where children formulate questions, investigate
to find answers, build new understandings,
meanings and knowledge and then communicate
their findings and understandings to others“Our bean plants are growing!”

Yi Han is the team leader in charge ofwatering the bean plants.

using their ‘100 languages’ for example throughpresentations, drawings, arts etc.
Inquiry based learning provides the teacher andthe children an opportunity to work together, to test
and to reflect on the newly acquired knowledge,
dispositions and skills gained in research andprojects. This method allows teachers to observeand evaluate the learning taking place and to planfor future provocations that provide useful links
and connections.
The learning experiences gained through inquiry
based learning cultivate in children fluidity inproblem solving, curiosity to know more and thepersistence to find solutions; thinking ‘out of the

Nelson is watering and discussing theplants with his team members.

box’. All thesearenecessary
attributes
forunderstanding theworld and global
issues preparing
children to become
agents of change
inthefuture,concerning earth’s
sustainability andas care takers of
the natural world.

Kylie is drawing the signage
for her team group - “Sunshine
Group”.

Children from the Sunshine Group’s drawing andwriting of a sign board for their chilli plants.

“Our wheat grass is growing!”- 10 -

Our project
today.

plansforE ton Hous e in Ind onesia/ Malaysia

Inquiry at Its Best
EtonHouse @ Surabaya
by Diana Carnemolla, Teacher

The Claude Monet Class has been interested ina variety of activities to begin Term 3 including
planting, Jack and the Beanstalk and making
paper. However, it seems that we have made abreakthrough into understanding our big idea.
A child asked a question after we were watering
our bean plants, “How does our bean drink thewater?” As a teacher, I explained how the bean
is beginning to form roots in the soil and thatthrough the roots it can drink the water.
The child struggled to understand thisconcept and simply replied, “Ohh” andwalked away. I realized that this child(and probably others too) needed
something more visual to understand.
The next day, I had the children sit
down and we examined pieces oflettuce, looking at the lines all around it.
We then put pieces of lettuce in cups,
added water and they then chose acolour to add to thewater. The following
day, the children wereamazed to see what
had happened to the lettuce as
it radiated colour throughout andthe lines in the lettuce were now
vibrant colours. At this point,
when the child that originatedthe question began looking at thepalms of her hands and tracing
the lines, it seems that she
understood the experiment andwe may now be heading into new directions.
Children play an active part in the learning
process. They develop and improve not only theirprocess skills, but also their cognitive learning andcommunication skills. There was collaborative
teamwork involved in this experience as thechildren chose their colours, pouring water andhelping each other to ensure all the pots hadenough water inside.
They made connections that all living things needwater to sustain them. Thisapplies to all living things.
Somechildrenevenlooked at their hands andsaid “we have veins likethe lettuce!” A wonderfulexample of how children
develop theories and theirthinking to make sense of
the world around them.

Inquiry – as a Tool for Constructing Knowledge
EtonHouse @ Malaysia
by Clair Elizabeth Blake, Head of School
Biographies andMeeting
Jane
Goodallthem efficiently to the learner(the transmitting knowledge
approach).

working with others, dialogue, articulating
understandings and perspectives, which further
supports (new) meaning making.

Being engaged
in an inquiry
within a domain
means
that
there is neither apre-determined
set of requisiteknowledge andskills, nor a predefined
end
point to learning.
Instead, it meansthat EtonHouse
Malaysia inquirers are constructing knowledge
based on what they know already, what questions
they are pursuing, and what emerges throughinvestigation and interaction with others. This viewcontrasts sharply with the practice of dividing a
subject into a list of simplified facts and delivering

Questionsshouldarise
out of the child’s lived orvicarious experience (building
dispositions of curiosity).
We as teachers should
scaffold this learning and takechildren onto new learning
experiences. These learning
experiences
are engaging,hands
on
and involve‘creating’ or

Our inquiries support reflection, articulating theexperience to self and others. They offer positive
attitudes to learning and to the learners; feelingsof success are imminent and there are definitely
powerful interactions. Just recently, our inquiry
into ‘biographies’ led us to meet Doctor Jane
Goodall herself.

representing.

At EtonHouse Malaysia, weconsider the environment, thematerials are diverse (open
ended), challenging; real-life. Ourclassrooms invite collaboration,- 11 -

E ton House in Cambod ia/ Ind ia“Be Curious Always! For Knowledge Will Not Acquire You;
You Must Acquire It.” Sudie Back
EtonHouse @ Cambodia
by Kaithri, Principal
At EtonHouse Phnom
Penh(EHIS),
weembrace inquiry-basedlearning experiences aspart of our provision fora meaningful curriculum
for the children and it
concurs with our beliefs
on our Image of a Child;as being competent,
curious, unique individuals, social cultural beingsand communicators of hundred languages Below
is a glimpse into what this looks like in our practiceat EHIS.
Inspired by the K1 children’s daily conversations
and interest, the children and educator achieveda shared understanding to design their own classcalendar.

As part of the provocation they went
on a hunt around the school to lookout
for various types of calendars.
The children were encouraged
to pose questions that they had
discussed as a class earlier; about
the purpose of
the calendar inpeople’s lives– embracing
the image of a child being
curious and unique.
During the hunt, children
observed that certain dates
were marked off as special
days/holiday/events
andthey wanted to investigate
more about the significanceof these dates. They continued to work together toindicate important dates for the class community
such as school events, friends’ birthday on thecalendar, as such the image of a child being asocial cultural being; working as a team was put
into action.
Children then, invited theirparents to the class to share
more about special eventsand this supports children to
make authentic connections
through their inquiries too.
The teacher capitalised on
the children’s interest andunderstanding and continued
to work on designing theclass calendar advocating
the competent child at work.

Inquiry - an Engaging and Powerful Learning Tool that
Encourages Exploration
EtonHouse @ India

In an environment wheretraditional rote learning
has been the approachforcenturies,
Serraand Vivero have given
importance to Inquire,Think and Learn. Children
are encouraged to talkabout, question, discuss,and engage in discussions and voice the opinions
and views that arise thereon.
Reiterating this idea, Sowmya Belliappa, Academic
Coordinator, Vivero says “Our unit - ‘Celebrations
Reflect Values and Cultures’ led to many
interesting anecdotes by the children. During one

such circle time session, oneof the children said ‘Teacher
when I celebrated Diwali
with my parents, we burst
fire crackers and the rocket
went high up in the sky’. To
this a child added, ‘I wish to
go on the moon in a rocket’.
One idea led to anotherwhich took the inquiry further
into learning about the Solar
System which turned out to be a great learning
experience for our children.”
It is important to establish a classroom culture inwhich new ideas triumph and take the unit of inquiry
to a different dimension.
A result of this would be
the several viewpoints,
multipleperspectives
and ideas that children
bring forward.
Dhara Sanghvi, PRM,
Serra Aundh,Pune
says “During the unit
- 12 -

of inquiry: ‘Marine World’ the teacher along withthe children discussed and explored the topic‘sources of water’. This resulted in a conversation
amongst the children as to where does water
come from and how does water flow? Taking this
discussion forward with the help of an experiment,
the teacher provided a funnel, pipe, bucket andsome water for the children to explore. Children
excitedly observed water flowing and concluded
that water flows from a higher to a lower level.”
The focal point should not be memorizing but
giving children the creative freedom to explore
and investigate, which makes learning deeper andmeaningful.