Early Years – 2020-2021

Early Years​

Welcome to Early Years

The Early Years Programme at OCAC Suzhou provides a nurturing environment for children aged two to five.  With inspiration from the Reggio Emilia approach and guidance from the IB PYP curriculum, our students discover the joy of learning through a balance of play and structured activities.

Characteristics of the Reggio Emilia Approach:

  • The participation of families
  • The collegial work of all personnel
  • The important of the educational environment
  • The presence of the teaching team
  • The learning and advocacy for children
 

It is a way of observing what the students know, their innate curiosity, what drives them as learners, and what challenges them.  It is the teacher’s responsibility to record these observations, and through careful reflection, develop appropriate ways for children to expand their academic and social potential.  “Early learning in the PYP is a holistic learning experience that integrates social-emotional, physical and cognitive development. In the PYP classroom, it takes place in dynamic environments that promote play, discovery, and exploration. It provides schools with a thoughtfully designed way to give 3-to-5-year-olds stimulating, supportive interactions with their teachers and the effective use of curricula.”

Children at OCAC Suzhou have many opportunities to build, explore, and fully engage in open-ended play. The IB and Reggio approaches nurture children’s growth and foster social-emotional, cognitive, physical, and creative development.

Information regarding Early Learning in the PYP obtained from ibo.org.*

As a career educator, I have amassed experience through a Master’s degree program in preschool education from Nanjing Normal University, a Bachelor’s degree in Management from Nanjing University, and 18 years of work experience at bilingual and international schools. It is with great pleasure that I have the opportunity to give you a little window into our Early Year’s program here at OCAC Suzhou.

In the Early Years, we are a tight-knit family of professional educators, with extensive IB experience, who aim to create a caring and unique play-based learning environment for our students. Our facilities include a very large outdoor play area, multi-purpose rooms, a library, a dance studio, and a pool. This year, we added more specialist teachers to ensure that the students were learning from the experts of each field, including library, PE, visual arts, and performing arts. Our goal is to cultivate life-long learners who are knowledgeable, caring, and creative.

I consider myself very fortunate to work alongside such wonderful families and educators. On behalf of our learning community, I want to invite you to become a part of our family.
Mo Yinghua
Mo YinghuaHead of Early Years
Our Early Years curriculum is representative of play-based and inquiry-based approaches, as well as the concept-driven approach of the IBPYP which is integrated with our school mission and vision. We have a distinctive dual language programme where we encourage using English with home language support. Students are given time and space to process, and we allow them to draw on known languages when collaborating and learning keywords in students’ native language. Acquisition of new language and development of language is aligned with vocabulary related to each UOI (Unit of Inquiry).

In Early Years, children generally pick up language required swiftly through story-telling, rhymes, songs and THRASS (English). Students’ agency is highly encouraged and appreciated in our young learners for them to be confident enough in their learning journey. To motivate meaningful interaction and development of the whole child in all areas, we provide an environment for children to develop age-appropriate concepts and skills that are related to the IBPYP Key Concepts and Approaches To Learning Skills.
Sue Sapoan
Sue SapoanDeputy Head of Early Years
Previous
Next
We believe it is important to remember that young learners do not come as blank canvases. Each child has their experiences, relationships, environments, family dynamics and self-interests. We’ll consider these facets when working with young learners. Each child is given time to contribute to their learning through interaction with their peers, displays of ability and peer mentoring.

Through the IB Primary Year Programme’s (PYP) inquiry-based approach and inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach we endeavour to foster children's learning through the development of all their "languages" and by creating an environment to support this way of thinking and being.
Jacqueline A. Abul and Jiang Minfang
Jacqueline A. Abul and Jiang MinfangEarly Years PYP Coordinator and Deputy PYP Coordinator
"Both of my children go to OCAC Suzhou. The younger one is in K1, and the elder one is in G1. My elder daughter transferred here when she was in K3. When she first came here, her English was not good enough. The dual language immersion advanced her language proficiency quickly and she was able to perform the graduation ceremony in English. The IB Programme develops children’s independence and self-discipline in the Early Years Programme. I strongly agree with the school philosophy, and my children’s progress makes me sure of my choice."
Parent Testimonial
"I felt insecure at first, because the teachers would not "live cast" the class through photos, nor update me when my child drank water or went to the bathroom. Regardless, pleasant surprises came as time went by. Now, my child is able to read quietly, pose valuable questions, motivate herself to look for answers and talk to her foreign classmates in English naturally. Her confidence makes her shine bright!"
Parent Testimonial
Previous
Next