Early Years

We warmly welcome children aged 3-6 years old to our Early Years Programme, which is a part of the Primary School at ISH. The Early Years consists of our Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten classes.

Our Early Years classes all have a homeroom teacher and a Pedagogue that supports the class throughout the day. We have one Pre-K3 class with 14-16 students aged 3-4 years old, two Pre-K4 classes with 16-18 students aged 4-5 years old, and two Kindergarten classes with 18-21 students.

Our school day starts at 8:30 in the morning and finishes at 14:20 in the afternoon, with early dismissal on Friday's at 13:30. For additional care, early year students can join the Morning Club that runs from 7:00-8:15 in the morning and the After School Care Programme (ASCP) that runs after school until 17:00. The overall goal for our Early Years curriculum is to encourage students to:

• Be confident learners who make choices and use their voice
• Develop understanding of themselves and the world around them
• Be curious and independent in their learning
• Develop problem solving skills through play
• Inquire and ask questions
• Sustain their interests and extend their understanding and knowledge
• Be independent in everyday tasks

In the Early Years, we design our learning experiences and environment to accommodate children with various educational experiences and backgrounds to support each child’s development. These learning experiences integrate and support social-emotional, physical, linguistic and cognitive development. We aim to inspire our early learners to explore and try new things on their own fostering independence. At ISH, early year students learn through play-based inquiry and various transdisciplinary learning engagements which include art, math, dramatic play, early literacy, physical education and music.

Through developing our learning environment and seeing it as the “third teacher” we create a safe and secure learning environment that supports inquiry and a sense of well-being. Students have daily access to our secure outdoor playground and opportunities to explore the nearby park and local forest area.  

Much of the learning in Early Years takes place in the classroom. Students also use outside areas for learning and take regular field trips and community outings out of campus within every unit of inquiry, for instance museums, the local forest, nearby park etc. Parents may be asked to volunteer to support these outings. Early Years children also go to specialist subjects  - Physical Education (P.E.), Library, and Music, which are all taught by single-subject teachers.