Singapore now boasts of the world’s largest pre-school in which doting parents can admit their tiny tots. The capacity of this school is 2,100 children.
Christened ‘The Early Learning Village’, the pre-school is a collaboration between Australian International School (AIS) and Stamford American International School (SAIS). Spread over 50,000 square metres, with five buildings and more than 100 classrooms, it is the world’s largest pre-school for children aged 18 months to six years, both schools said.
The campus is located next to AIS in Lorong Chuan. The school is equipped with diverse features, including outdoor play decks, a swimming pool, music room and other features.
Though both the schools are in one location, they operate independently and offer different curricula. Stamford American offers the International Baccalaureate and US curriculum from August to June, while AIS offers the Australian curriculum from January to December.
In this pre-school, children in the same year group will be housed on separate floors, and classrooms are clustered in groups of four in order to create small communities within each level.
Both schools said that sharing the facility has helped them benefit from economies of scale.
Michael Day, Stamford American’s early years’ principal, said, “If we had set up schools separately we wouldn’t have been able to have such an amazing facility that we can both share.”
This pre-school has opened its doors to all nationalities, including Singaporeans. More than 80 Singaporean children are currently enrolled. The fees of the school vary depending on the age of the child and number of days attending.