TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
At BSJ Kindergarten, creative teaching sparks joyful online learning
Change Size
(Courtesy of British School Jakarta)
W
hen Paula enrolled her daughter Emily in Kindergarten at the British School Jakarta (BSJ), she never imagined that Emily would spend her first term attending her lessons online from home.
Paula said that initially she was worried about whether her daughter would be able to participate in the online classes in the most optimum way possible. Yet the BSJ teachers had helped their family to transition smoothly to Kindergarten with a combination of interactive online face-to-face sessions and independent learning activities.
Alia, the mother of Kai, said BSJ’s online learning platform was not only sophisticated but also user-friendly.
BSJ has a dedicated IT Helpdesk team which provides full support for students, parents and teachers who are experiencing technical difficulties during school hours.
“They help with home learning by providing the children with iPads and a learning kit with plenty of materials to spark their imagination and help them in their learning journey,” Paula said.
According to Paula, the activity pack sent to students includes materials for arts and crafts activities, such as chalks, playdough, counting stickers and many more, which truly are helping Emily be creative at home.
“They have been able to adapt and adjust their teaching methods to match the needs of each child and come up with imaginative ways to have the children keep up with the usual curriculum, such as in physical education and music classes, while still offering regular activities like library services and many more,” she continued.
The BSJ Kindergarten is using the United Kingdom Early Years curriculum, which emphasises exploratory learning tailored around the student’s preferences. The school’s teachers are expatriates coming from the UK and Australia, all with Early Years teaching qualifications. These teachers are assisted by a dedicated national teaching staff who receive regular training for best practice in the field.
While classes are fully taught in English, the Bahasa Indonesia programme is available for all classes as language development is a key focus at BSJ Kindergarten. Recognising the importance of holistic development, the school also has specialist teachers for music, physical education and weekly swimming lessons. The two years at BSJ Kindergarten seeks to lay strong foundations for these children to enter primary school.
The BSJ campus boasts a wide range of facilities, including a water play area, changing thematic classroom settings, a kitchen, bike tracks, green area as well as indoor and outdoor facilities. The campus includes an Olympic-sized swimming pool, playground, sports centre and much more.
BSJ Kindergarten’s strong educational infrastructure and skilled staff members have helped its entire faculty and students transition smoothly into the online learning system.
BSJ conducts its online learning programme from 7:50 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. However, the learning day does not consist of only students sitting in front of their laptops all the time; after joining the interactive virtual session with their teachers and fellow students, students will be free to conduct their own independent online learning session at home and will be scheduled in for further one-to-one sessions with the teachers and teaching assistants.
Su, the mother of Deeya, said she was impressed with how BSJ had been able to balance the virtual sessions with independent activities for students at home.
“BSJ has a great plan for students, whereby they will conduct the online class for 15 to 20 minutes only, before allowing children to conduct their activities independently for the next 45 minutes and logging into the next virtual session,” she said.
“This helps my child as it’s hard for her to sit and concentrate for longer periods.”
Meanwhile, Alia said the teaching method had helped her daughter be more independent and take charge of her learning process more proactively.
With a robust nurturing infrastructure combined with creative teaching, BSJ has been able to transform the great challenge of suddenly moving to online learning amid the COVID-19 pandemic into great opportunities that support children to become stronger and more independent learners at home.
