Of all the basic human rights, the one of education is perhaps the most crucial. When you empower someone with the gift of education, you empower them for life. You set them on a path to gain knowledge and equip them with skills that facilitate life as a whole. And the process begins at a very early age because the right imprint at an early age makes the journey ahead smooth. Apart from parents, educational institutes are the ones who share the responsibility to nurture the young members of a global society.

Based out of Singapore, One World International School (OWIS) aims to develop inquiring, compassionate, reflective lifelong learners who respect all cultures and care for the world. The school believes that every child should have equitable access to best-in-class future-proofed education. Working on this principle, it offers an excellent international education to children from the age of 3 to 18 in a nurturing multi-cultural environment at a moderate fee.

The Beginning and the Expansion

OWIS opened its first school in Singapore in 2008 and is now regarded as one of the fastest-growing schools in Singapore with a multicultural student population of over 70 nationalities on campus. OWIS has two campuses in Singapore – one at Nanyang, providing an international education for children from ages 3-18. OWIS’ East coast campus, on the other hand, located at Mountbatten, caters exclusively for early learners from ages 3-6 and is underpinned by the English National Curriculum. The campus opened in January 2020.

The vibrant Nanyang campus officially opened in January 2018, on 32,000 sq m of colourful gardens and lush, green learning spaces and provides cutting-edge facilities, equipped with the latest technology. The school has grown from 250 students in 2018 to 1300 students in its Nanyang campus as of March 2020. This astounding growth of OWIS in such a short period is a testament to the school’s teaching staff and management, the culture, values, and teaching methodologies that focus on putting children at the centre of learning.

Growing with Trust

OWIS is part of the prestigious Global Schools Foundation, a Singaporean, not for profit organization that was founded in 2002 to provide high-quality, affordable education to students in global communities around the world. The Global Schools Foundation model aligns with high standards for teaching and learning. As a member of the GSF, OWIS is proud of being a leader in international education.

In February 2020, OWIS was awarded a 4-year EduTrust certification, under the EduTrust Certification Scheme administered by the Committee for Private Education, Singapore (CPE). This prestigious award is a huge vote of confidence from the Singaporean regulators and it endorses all the work done by the OWIS team.

The school was in particular commended by the Singapore regulators for its vision, mission, values, and culture and how this is embodied by everyone at OWIS. The EduTrust certification is a significant milestone in the school’s journey to provide an exceptional educational experience for its multicultural student community.

Head of the School

Mrs. Michelle Dickinson is the Head of One World International School in Singapore. Her role includes providing strategic direction on the school’s development, assessing teaching methods, curriculum development, day-to-day management of the school, and more.

With almost 20 years of school leadership experience, Michelle has been an educator in the United Kingdom, India, China, Ethiopia, and Singapore. Before joining OWIS, Michelle was the Head of Learning Support & Assessment at Sandford International School in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where she developed curriculum and assessment practices. She has also previously held key positions at British School Beijing and Dulwich College Beijing in China, Oasis International School in Bangalore, India, and Churchfields Primary School in London, United Kingdom.

Under Michelle’s leadership, OWIS introduced the International Baccalaureate® (IB) Diploma Programme (DP) to students in Grade 11 for the 2019 – 2020 academic year. OWIS also celebrated impressive IGCSE results from the 2017 – 2019 cohort.

Michelle believes that children learn best when they are having fun and are engaged in practical, real-life activities. While outstanding academic achievement is one of the ultimate goals, she feels it is just as important to build self-esteem, instil character, and encourage a global outlook in every child. Michelle believes that learning transcends the classroom environment and is passionate about educational visits and extra-curricular experiences.

The OWIS Difference

The first years at school are when children learn to communicate with peers, to express their needs and wants, to negotiate, and to share. In Early Childhood, a child builds the foundations for their learning – in terms of personal skills and academic learning and starts to feel confident about themselves and the world around them.

OWIS creates a proficient learning culture for its students through

• Personalized learning – each child is considered as an individual and all their accomplishments are celebrated.
• A focus on the five areas of Approaches to Learning (thinking skills, research skills, social skills, communication skills, and self-management skills) – developing the whole child so that they are happy, settled and have foundational skills to build upon
• Quality, engaging resources that are intentionally chosen to enable inquiry and skill development.

OWIS also conducts regular and frequent professional development for all academic staff.

A Customised Curriculum

OWIS offers internationally recognized curricula such as the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (IB PYP) for students in Early Childhood 1 to Grade 5, the Cambridge IGCSE for Secondary students in Grades 6 to 10 and the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) for students in Grades 11 to 12.

The school provides their early learners an environment where they can develop academically, socially and emotionally. Through the PYP, the teachers focus on conceptual learning through inquiry (as opposed to knowledge-acquisition based learning) where students can lead the direction of some of the learning, guided and assisted by the teacher.

A lot of emphasis is put on student agency that means that the learner is placed at the center of learning and is responsible for making choices that drive the learning. This allows students to develop a passion for their education that traditional methods of learning struggle to maintain.

OWIS goes beyond the traditional methods of teaching, in an endeavor to craft global citizens out of young students. To do so, the school relies on:

Personalized learning – All the Early Childhood classes for children from ages 3-6, have a maximum of 18 students per class, allowing for personalized learning time with teachers and meaningful connection with each student. All Primary and Secondary classes have a maximum of 24 students per class.

“Small world” learning environment – The early childhood facilities include inside and outside play and learning spaces, specially designed to accommodate the young students, with equipment and classrooms built to scale. In this “small-world” learning space, children feel safe, secure, and develop a sense of belonging.

Inquiry-based programme – Inquiry-based learning programme features play-based learning activities, sensory activities, and imaginative play areas that allow children to learn through play along with more formal activities, offering an important balance between self-inquiry and structured learning. Role-playing learning opportunities enable collaboration and teamwork and help our early learners to relate to the world around them.

Kindness-driven learning – Children are taught to be compassionate, empathetic, and tolerant. Students are encouraged to be thoughtful models and leaders of kindness through the Kindness Leaders program and an elected Kindness Council.

Ready for the Future

OWIS recognizes the role that technology plays in the quest to create authentic learning situations in the classroom. It leverages technology as a tool to enhance individual and group learning outcomes. State-of-the-art security and surveillance systems use cutting-edge technology to monitor activity on OWIS campuses and alert the proper authorities to defuse any potential threat to students or staff quickly.

At OWIS, every member of the community is valued and respected. This community is at the heart of all its activities: the cultural festivities, celebrations, House system, and in all the classrooms. Together, the community tries, lives, teaches to be everything that’s associated with its name “One World”.

“Being one with the world in terms of our curriculum and having high standards, appreciating nature – we try to reflect that in our environment here. Being really good communicators, creative thinkers, critical problem solvers and also being good

collaborators. Those core skills are the things that our students will need for the future so we build that into our curriculum,” says Mrs. Dickinson.

She continues, “At One World International School, we understand the critical importance of early childhood education. The right programme will lay a strong foundation for your children’s cognitive, social, and emotional development.”

To learn more about the IB PYP curriculum and the difference OWIS’s approach to early childhood education can make for your child, please visit www.owis.org or email them at admissions@owis.org