LEH Foshan is a diverse and inspiring community of learners. We encourage independent and creative thinking from a very young age fostering students into becoming globally minded leaders of tomorrow.
The opening of LEH International School Foshan Prep School this academic year has further extended our top-quality British education to younger children from Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and other expatriate families who are living and working in the Greater Bay Area.
This week, we chatted with our Head of Prep School, Ms Mandy Bateman, to learn more about our Prep School life.
Mandy Bateman
Head of Prep School
How is life in Prep School?
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FUN! All our students learn by example. This means that if you have a happy, carefree, responsible adult in your everyday life, students will see this and start to mimic it. They will want what you have. It is easy for them to be within a group of friends at school and follow the crowd but teaching them skills like empathy and doing kind things for others or being able to say things to help others feel better is a gift that will keep on giving.
Through our thematic curriculum, we nurture, develop, and grow our students helping them to become real-world-ready through engagement with a modern, curriculum and classroom practices that fully immerse them in the dialogue of learning and improvement, creating well-rounded and principled citizens who value diversity and culture. Our thematic curriculum is developed to enable teachers to enjoy teaching and learners to enjoy learning.
Good teachers look for every available opportunity to increase student learning. The classroom and playground environment are always part of the teaching resources. Students and teachers spend most of their day in school classrooms and outdoor areas, and it’s our responsibility as educators to foster an environment and atmosphere that enhances learning.
Developing a classroom and playground environment conducive to learning is a process that entails planning the physical space, getting the students to cooperate, creating a communal environment, and finally maintaining a positive classroom and playground climate and culture. Here in prep school, we are constantly developing and reviewing how we can adapt to the environment we use to benefit all our students.
What are key moments of a day in Prep School?
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There are many key moments during a prep school day, as the whole day is spent learning, whether it be inside a classroom or outside on the playing field or even eating lunch. I am sure if you asked a student, they would say break and lunchtimes are key times, as they really love the food here at LEH. Mealtimes are always full of laughter and chatter, international mealtimes are nutorious for learning about others, it is when people are more relaxed and will spend time discussing stories and sharing good ideas.
A key time of the day for me is the moment in a lesson when a student has that lightbulb moment of learning, where they understand the concept of what is being taught and they can put all pieces together from all the other thematic lessons that have happened during the day. The smile that always graces the face of the student and the teacher is priceless.
Another wonderful key moment is playtimes, as we are family here at LEH there are never any age boundaries at playtime, all the students play together no matter what year group they are in. Football is very popular, and girls and boys play together or sometimes even against each other. The laughter and smiles that come from playtimes is infectious.
That 15 minutes of playtime in school ensures that students come to the classrooms with happy faces. Observations show that our students display better behaviour when they are given their share of playtime. They forget their troubles on the playground and unwind after being in a disciplined classroom setting. Having time out refreshes them to focus on their lessons again once playtime is over. And the benefits of learning through play extend from playtime to inside the classroom and link in with our thematic curriculum.
Playtimes happen three times per day, morning, lunchtime, and afternoon, they are not structured, and all students have free access to equipment and activities such as football basketball, and games. All the key stage 2 classes are together playing, this creates a bond between all year groups.
Please tell us about your favourite time of the day.
My personal favourite times of the day are early morning sunrises or late afternoon sunsets, I adore the different colours the sky shows us during these times. However, my favourite time of the day during school must be English lessons, I may be a little biased as I trained as an English teacher many years ago now, but the pleasure that comes from hearing a beautiful poem, reading an exciting story, or even penning your own adventure must be one of the best parts of the day.
Although I do know that many of our students feel the same way about mathematics, music, drama, and other subjects. If you asked most of our students about their favourite lesson it is a very mixed answer some of the students won't choose a favourite.