World's Largest Pre-School in Singapore Boasts Percussion Play Instruments
Project:
The Early Learning Village located in Lorong Chuan, Singapore is the World’s Largest Pre-school. The 50,000 sq ft campus is a collaboration between the Australian International School (AIS) and the Stamford International School and is purpose built for children aged between 18 months to six years.
Project Team:
- Cognita - Client
- Bogle Architects - Design Architects
- Kompan – Supply Partner
- Percussion Play - Manufacturer
With a capacity to take 2,100 children, it has more than 100 classrooms and over five buildings with ‘play decks’ on the many different levels, on which 6 large outdoor play areas are situated, all under 75% UV covers. Said to be a “first-of-its-kind Reggio Emilia-inspired preschool,” the mega campus takes up a space equivalent to seven football fields, and is open to all nationalities.
Children in the same year group are housed on separate floors, and classrooms are clustered in groups of four to create small communities within each level, so the children’s experience is similar to a small village school. Each classroom has an adjoining ‘Discovery Space’ tailored to each grade level to ensure that small students are always kept active in body and mind.
The children are encouraged to go out onto the play decks anytime they like, and the rustic theme of the playgrounds, the warmth of natural wood timbers, and bright, airy open spaces all provide endless opportunities to learn whilst playing. Despite its size, special effort has been made to ensure that the campus remains a cosy and intimate place for the children. The play decks have been designed to promote play and social interaction outdoors, and immerse them in music, art, and play - all the facilities and resources needed to stimulate young minds.
Spread over the ‘play decks’ and play areas are a number of Percussion Play outdoor musical instruments including; 2 Duo Kasindas, 3 Rainbow Sambas, 6 Sansa Rimbas, a Bell Lyre, Babel Drum and Rainbow Cavatina. The outdoor musical instruments are available for the children to play and improvise on during recess, allowing them to discover the fun of music making regardless of their musical ability.
Music features highly in both schools. Those children attending the American school receive weekly Suzuki violin lessons, and the Australian school runs a music literacy programme known as the Orff approach, which combines music, movement, drama, and speech into play-based learning.
The Orff Music Literacy Program
The Orff approach combines music, movement, drama, and speech into play-based learning for our Early Years students. This child-centered method treats music as a fundamental system like language, and it holds that just as every child can learn language without formal instruction, they can also learn music through a gentle and friendly approach. It creates a music learning environment that mirrors a child’s world of play, allowing them to feel at ease while learning new instrumental or abstract musical skills without feeling evaluated or judged.
