Guiding children with developmental learning needs is a very big challenge for preschool educators. It requires not only patience and understanding, but the ability to approach learning issues creatively and effectively.

The staff at NurtureStars had the opportunity to keep abreast of new developments and ideas on inclusive learning at this year’s combined online Professional Development Day on 22 July 2022 for three preschools in the Crestar Education Group (CEG).

Together with educators from two other CEG brands, Kinderland and NurtureStars, they learned new insights to “reach new heights in their profession as early childhood educators”.

Billed with the theme “Understanding children: Insights into inclusivity and diversity”, the programme was organised by KLC International Institute and had three concurrent topics. It was focused primarily on inclusive education to support the Early Childhood Development Agency’s (ECDA) initiative to equip more educators to identify and better guide children with developmental learning needs.

Dr Carol Loy, Director of Curriculum & Professional Development, Kinderland, ELFA and NurtureStars, in her opening speech, said: “We believe that every child must be given the opportunity to develop at his or her own pace. It is our professional undertaking to learn to understand the different learning needs of every child. We can then cater our teaching according to their strengths and differences.”

Besides the two topics on inclusive education, participants also had the opportunity to participate in a synchronous-learning workshop on “Agile Problem-Solving in a Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous (VUCA) World”. The session was specially designed to help them become more responsive and creative in addressing the evolving learning needs of preschool children.

Ms Ngoo Jin Shi, Educarer (Chinese), NurtureStars Jurong, said after attending the event, “I have learnt a lot more about diversity in young children, and that we have to adapt creatively to meet the specific learning needs of each child.”