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More Than Fair
During a visit to Fairchild Academy's second campus,
Jo Allum discovers that there really is a smile on every face
I
n February 2016, the first Fairchild
Academy opened in Tin Hau – just
over a year later, the school is
celebrating the opening of their
second campus, in Sai Ying Pun.
Conveniently located opposite the HKU
MTR station, and just down the road
from a branch of Classified, this area
now has a nursery that befits its up-
and-coming status.
The school’s curriculum is a
balanced mix of Canada’s British
Columbia and Ontario teaching
frameworks, with a good dose of
Reggio Emilia added in. What all
source curriculums agree on, and
what Fairchild focus on most, is that
the best outcomes, and the happiest
children, come from a play-based,
child-centered environment. It’s not
just the academic development of the
children that concerns the teachers
at Fairchild – much importance is put
on the children’s social skills; how
they interact with each other and their
teachers. While there is a structure to
the teaching day (circle time, healthy-
snack time, messy play etc.), there is
lots of uninterrupted – though properly
24
www.playtimes.com.hk
supervised of course
– free choice and
free play. There are
‘shared discovery
spaces’ so that
children age two
to six can interact
with each other, and
many of the toys
are open-ended:
blocks, shapes and
different materials,
to enable truly
creative play.
The dream of
the founder, Joseph
Fung, is to form a through-school;
currently they accept children age six
months to six years. And with a strong
team of educators on the board, this
looks like a definite future possibility.
Vice Principal Betty Yau, Head of Early
Childhood Education Kathy Nutting
and Head of Education Dave McMaster
between them have over 100 years of
educational experience. They are not
currently a ‘feeder’ into any particular
Hong Kong school or group of schools,
and they don’t have any ‘graduates’
yet, but Kathy
firmly believes that
children who attend
Fairchild are given
a strong foundation
for learning, and
will be capable of
success wherever
they go. “Literacy and
numeracy are woven
through everything
we do; there are just
many more ways to
learn without copying
everything down,”
explains Kathy.
There are Mandarin immersion
classes, in traditional characters, and
Chinese language is a key part of the
development. “If you want your child
to be fluent and literate in Mandarin by
grade school, you have to start young,”
says Kathy.
All fixtures and fittings, toys and
materials, are natural, high-quality
and environmentally friendly. Mainly
Canadian-sourced, the furniture is
constructed of soy-based glue and
buffed with beeswax, for the inevitable
moments little mouths get involved!
However, you can’t beat Ikea for the
accessories! “When you create an
environment that is safe, appealing, and
age-appropriate, the children do the
rest,” Kathy explains. “Our educators
don’t stand at the front and disseminate
information. Children have to be excited
to learn; learning should always be fun,
from age zero to 100!” She goes on to
say that “‘A smile on every face’ is our
motto – not just the children, but the
educators, teachers and parents as
well.” And judging by the faces I saw
on my visit, they are well on the way to
achieving that.