Since the beginning of the year, KLCII has been actively promoting its service for mass Continuing Professional Development programmes for the early childhood (EC) sector. To date, it has organised two one-day, large-scale training for EC educarers and educators, providing customised learning tailored to the needs of childcare and preschool centres.

The first was a one-day centralised training programme organised in March this year for 191 educarers and teachers from 13 Skool4kidz childcare centres. It featured three separate workshops for principals, preschool teachers, and early years educarers.

On 3 July 2017, it organised a one-day training programme for four EC brands under the Crestar Education Group. Kinderland, Elfa, Nurturestars and Skool4kidz closed all their centres on that day to allow 563 staff and teachers to attend four different workshops, three at the Singapore Expo Max Atria and one at the KLCII Serangoon Campus.

It was a biggest gathering of staff and teachers of its kind for KLCII. It organised and co-ordinated the entire training programme, packaging the workshops and assigning 9 highly-qualified and approved professional lecturers and facilitators, mostly with extensive experience in the EC sector, to conduct them.

Staff and teachers from Kinderland, Elfa, Nurturestars and Skool4kidz

The theme for the mass learning exercise was “Building a Strong Foundation for Continuous Learning”.  The workshops were based on the Early Childhood Development Agency’s (ECDA) Continuous Professional Development Framework and the one at the KLCII Serangoon campus is from E2i.

A total of 297 educators including seven cluster heads, 36 senior principals, principals and vice principals, and 6 senior teachers, attended the English workshop on “Creating a Self-directed Learning Environment”. The takeaways from the 8-hour session include designing quality,  developmentally-appropriate learning environments for children 4 – 6 years to help them feel secure, comfortable, welcome and ready to explore and learn.

“Using Picture Prompts to Stimulate Thinking and Promote Oral and Aural Chinese Language (CL) Skills” was another. 161 Chinese teachers attended to learn about using picture prompts to help stimulate thinking and promote oral and aural Chinese language skills.

90 English and Chinese teachers attended the 7-hour Music and Creative Expression during Routines and Activities for Infants and Toddlers” session, in which they learned a broad set of skills to use music as a tool to communicate with and engage them in back-and-forth interactions in a fun and creative way.

Teachers attending the English workshop

For 33 cooks and cleaners, it was opportunity to learn more about “Strategies in Attending to Infant and Toddlers during routine care” a 7-hour bilingual workshop at KLCII Serangoon Campus funded by the Employment and Employability Institute (E2i). It is designed to equip them with the basic knowledge on hygiene and safety, so that they can support and sometimes assist teachers in daily routines and care for infants and toddlers.

33 cooks and cleaners attended “Strategies in Attending to Infant and Toddlers during routine care”

Feedback from the participants was positive. They enjoyed the networking with colleagues from other brands in the Group, especially the sharing of ideas and knowledge.

Sandy Tan, the Principal from Nurturestar at SAFRA Tampines, who attended the “Creating a Self-Directed Learning” workshop, said it was refreshing to learn new ideas on how learning corners can be designed to engage children so that they can learn more effectively.

“All the areas covered are most beneficial for the children, and I will be sharing them with the teachers,” she added.

For Tasico Virgie Ross Del Mundo, Nursery 1 teacher with Skool4kidz at YOB, the takeaways from music and movement workshop was beneficial as the attention of children is very short and they are difficult to engage.

“Music and movement activities help us to engage the children more effectively so that they can learn in a fun way. When I use a musical instrument with appropriate pitching of my voice for nursery rhymes, I can get the children to be fully engaged as they explore the wonderful range of sounds, lyrics and body movements.,” she said.

Music and movement class by teacher Ms Huang Wen Hui

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