New Academy crèche – holistic early childhood education

Over the last three years, the Academy has run a successful early years programme to facilitate learning through play for young children in a healthy and happy environment. We have now extended this programme to non-faculty children, in keeping with His Highness the Aga Khan’s vision to offer “broad, holistic, early childhood education on a secular and non-denominational basis at the highest standards of excellence. The objective is to have a curriculum of proven calibre, taught by competent teachers, to help lay strong foundations for a child’s continuing educational growth." – His Highness the Aga Khan, The  Ismaili Centre, Dubai, 2003.

Facilities

Currently, there are 11 children between 18 months and 5 years in our Academy crèche. Housed within the campus, children enjoy open shady play and learning spaces in landscaped gardens. The crèche is equipped with a range of multi-sensory resources including sand and water play areas, musical instruments, indoor and outdoor climbing frames, a dress-up corner, sports equipment and toys, puzzles and books. Lunchtime food is made on-site in the campus canteen using fresh, locally-sourced ingredients and prepared to the highest standards of hygiene.

“My son has settled into the crèche very well and enjoys the daily company of his friends and teachers. He benefits from access to the resources provided and from experiences in and around the lush, green campus. I am happy to see that he is continuing to develop his self-management skills as helping the children to become independent is a focus area of the crèche,” says Chloe Hill, a new parent.

Pedagogy

Our pedagogical approach is based on a blend of good practice from various international early years programmes including Montessori approaches to learning. We emphasise inquiry-based, play-oriented holistic learning, focussing on students’ cognitive, social and physical development. A typical day’s activities at the Academy crèche might include free play; structured play and exploration; nature walks; gardening; music and movement; listening to stories; cooking and sports. Our young learners also benefit from interaction with Academy specialist teachers, enjoying sessions in art, swimming, music and storytelling.

A note from our crèche supervisor, Sophia Daredia

“Youngsters are fascinated by the notion that a tiny seed can emerge from the ground as a plant. I used that fascination to teach our kids more about the science behind growing living plants. The age-appropriate, hands-on lessons were engaging and gave them a chance to get up close and personal, learning how seeds turn into plants. When kids enjoy what they're learning, they're also more likely to remember it in the future.

The children were taken to see vegetables growing in our campus plant nursery here at the Academy. Then they planted their own coriander and spinach saplings in the crèche, which allowed them to get an intimate look at plant growth. They grew kidney beans in transparent cups to see how roots and stems form and sprouted moong dal on kitchen towels to understand the plants’ need for water. As a guest lecturer, we invited Ms. Roshni, the Academy’s horticulture consultant, to give more information on plants for this age group level.

Crèche students also collected leaves found in and around the campus, sorted them according to size and then enjoyed painting them and creating prints with the leaf impression. Other activities included making salads with fruit and vegetables, observing and sorting pulses and making mosaics with seeds. The children have understood that plants are useful to us in many ways and have even been involved in making paper.

Now that our students are such experts about plants, they plan to share their new knowledge with grade 2 students who are just beginning a similar unit of inquiry on plants themselves!”

There are four places left at the Academy crèche for this semester, and we welcome applications! For any inquiries, please write to admissions@agakhanacademies.org or call 040-66291313 to book an appointment to come and see what makes us different.