Elementary School Prospectus 2023

Prep 1 to Grade 6 4 to 12 years

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PROSPECTUS 2024

To Learn, Inspire and Serve

MISSION VALUES

Enabling students to learn how to learn and to learn how to live as Lasallian people for others.

Faith, Service, Community, Excellence, Respect

VISION

TABLE OF CONTENTS Welcome 4 About SJI International 5 Our Ethos 6 Curriculum 6 Our Campus 8 Learning Experience 10 Pastoral Care 12 Year Group Placement 13 General Information 14 Admissions 15

WELCOME TO SJI INTERNATIONAL A COMMUNITY LIKE NO OTHER

Dear Prospective Parents and Students,

St. Joseph’s Institution International is a coeducational school with a Lasallian Catholic foundation.

We offer a holistic, values-driven, international educational experience to a truly diverse student body of over 40 nationalities rooted in the context of Singapore. Our community welcomes students, teachers, parents, friends and supporters of all faiths and cultural backgrounds.

Drawing upon the best practices of leading international schools, as well as the ethos of the global network of Lasallian schools, the Elementary School enables students to flourish as members of an ambitious learning community that also promotes shared values and a genuine spiritual awareness. Our students thrive as members of a learning community that promotes shared values and a genuine spiritual awareness.

As a Lasallian Catholic School, we believe that character education lies at the heart of what we do.

On the facade of our main High School building, you will read ‘Enter to Learn, Leave to Serve’. That motto describes very clearly the mission of our school ‘Enabling students to learn how to learn and to learn how to live as Lasallian people for others’.

Our core values of Faith, Service, Community, Excellence and Respect are demonstrated daily by all members of the community, be it within the classrooms, playgrounds, theatre, music rooms or sporting facilities.

We are a school where people are important and relationships are valued. Our team of nurturing and highly experienced teachers create an environment where children feel safe, inspired and supported. Our students are empowered to become resilient and critical thinkers, to develop their own curiosity and enthusiasm for learning, as well as to recognise excellence and how to achieve it.

We are also blessed with a very supportive parent community who are actively involved in their children’s education. They play an important role in the school through the Parent Support Groups and as our wonderful Class Representatives, ensuring close collaboration between home and school.

I hope that this prospectus provides you with some insight into what life is like at SJI International. However, nothing can take the place of an on-site visit to our campus. So, I warmly invite you to contact our Admissions Team who will be delighted to arrange a time for you to visit and to see for yourself what makes our school such a special place.

I look forward to welcoming you to our community.

BROTHER LAWRENCE HUMPHREY, FSC Brother President

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ABOUT SJI INTERNATIONAL

Established in 2007, St. Joseph’s Institution International offers a holistic, values-driven and international educational experience to a diverse student body of over 40 nationalities rooted in the context of Singapore.

As a school with a Lasallian Catholic foundation, our community welcomes students, teachers, parents, friends and supporters of all faiths and cultural backgrounds. Today, we celebrate a community of over 2,000 students across two schools on one campus.

The Elementary School caters to expatriate children from early years Prep 1 - 2 and Grade 1 – 6 (ages 4 – 12); while the High School caters to both Singaporean and international students in Grades 7 – 12 (ages 12 – 18).

OUR VALUES

A SCHOOL OF THE DE LA SALLE BROTHERS

While welcoming children from all backgrounds and faiths, our ethos, values and principles have a firm foundation in the Catholic faith and the tradition of the De La Salle Brothers dating back to 1680. Guided by St John Baptist de La Salle, Patron Saint of Teachers in the Catholic Church, the Lasallian mission extends to more than a million students in over 1,100 schools around the world.

Provision for Catholic families at SJI International includes after-school catechism classes, daily prayers and weekly Mass in the school chapel, regular opportunities to attend the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and other celebrations to explore and deepen their faith throughout the liturgical year. We are currently supported by a Brother President, four Lasallian Brothers including a Campus Faith Coordinator on the teaching staff.

Community Excellence Respect Service Faith

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OUR ETHOS

Learning to serve others the Lasallian way

Learning at SJI International involves challenging and inspiring experiences inside, and frequently outside, the classroom that develop a genuine interest in the academic disciplines and encourage personal development.

Besides obtaining academic qualifications that open the doors to the best universities around the world, each student leaves school with a spiritual dimension, as well as interests and hobbies developed through sports, adventure, music and drama activities. These broad experiences nurture a sense of self-worth and promote life-long inspiration.

CURRICULUM

To achieve our Vision, Mission and Values, we have developed a curriculum that synthesizes the best of innovative thinking with the best of traditional thinking.

Our teachers continuously adapt and enhance instruction and pedagogy to ensure learning is relevant and responsive to our international community, and to ensure we are able to support all learners. Our learners are engaged, empowered, and globally minded.

A strong sense of moral responsibility is reflected through an active commitment to the service of other people, particularly the least fortunate.

Our dedicated teachers use a child-centred, active learning approach, and strive to support the maximum development of each student. Teachers communicate with students on an individual level while celebrating each student’s unique learning style, encouraging them to think and to act rather than to simply respond to the situations they encounter. The learning environment requires intellectual creativity and active class participation, providing students with opportunities for self-discovery, inspiration, exploration, and experimentation.

INTERNATIONAL PRIMARY CURRICULUM

The International Primary Curriculum (IPC) is an engaging curriculum designed to develop globally competent learners who develop an informed and critical perspective, and who are empowered to take action within the world.

The International Middle Years Curriculum (IMYC) in Grade 6 challenges our students to think more broadly and to connect subjects and themes in innovative ways. Centered on a big idea or conceptual theme, students are guided to make meaning through a personal and global perspective.

Both the IPC and IMYC challenge our students through rigorous subject, personal, and international learning goals, supporting them through the research and inquiry process to develop deep conceptual understanding.

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LANGUAGE ARTS

Our approach to Language Arts develops avid, lifelong and independent readers, and inspired writers who have purpose, voice and agency. Our students are effective communicators and critical thinkers who are able to analyse, understand and build relationships with the world around them.

The Language Arts curriculum is designed to ensure that our students have a firm foundation in the language conventions of phonics, spelling, comprehension skills, grammar and handwriting. This underpins the learning and development that takes place across all our subjects. Essential to this programme is teaching through the Readers and Writers Workshop approach and Units of Study, which provide an authentic experience for students to bring together all of their skills, knowledge and understanding.

MATHEMATICS

Our Singapore Maths curriculum emphasises the development of problem-solving skills that lead to conceptual understanding and reasoning. We believe that mathematics is a language that is used to support thinking in a logical way, and help us explore and understand the world. These skills are vital to our future-orientation students who are living in an age of innovation, invention and scientific discovery.

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*The Bilingual Programme launches in 2024 initially opening to Prep 1-Grade 1, progressing up a grade level each subsequent year to Grade 6.

1 Sanctuary of Divine Love Chapel

2 Cecilia Block

3 Gabriel Block

4 Pavilion and Play Area

5 Raphael Block

6 Multipurpose Court

7 Elementary School Hall

8 Lawrence Da Silva Sports Complex

9 High School

OUR CAMPUS

Our beautiful, landscaped 7-hectare campus is centrally located in the Thomson suburbs, easily accessible by both public and private transport.

Students and staff can get to school via our Thomson Road Entrance or Toa Payoh West Entrance. The Toa Payoh West Entrance is a 5-minute walk from Caldecott MRT Station and Bus Stop 52559, which serves Bus 235.

The school’s facilities encourage maximum engagement and provide inspiring learning spaces. In the Elementary School, we have the Cecilia Creative Arts Centre consisting 2 Music Rooms, 4 Practice Rooms, 2 Art Rooms, an ICT with Recording Studio and a Multi-Purpose Room. All students in Grades 1 - 6 are provided with an individual Chromebook, whilst Prep 1 and Prep 2 students have 1:1 iPads to enhance their learning.

The Lawrence Da Silva Sports Complex includes a 25m swimming pool, indoor sports hall, fitness room and rock climbing wall. Outdoors, the school offers dedicated courts for basketball, netball and tennis, and a large FIFA and IRB approved turf field for track and field enthusiasts.

Every student is encouraged to be active at SJI International. The Lawrence Da Silva Sports Complex provide facilities for students to maximise their sporting activities within and outside our curriculum.

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9 2 3 4 1 5 8 6 7

Situated within the Cecilia Block are music and art rooms, the Chinese Centre, digital technologies laboratory, a multimedia studio, a multipurpose Hall.

THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL LEARNING EXPERIENCE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

Underpinned by The Virtues Project™

The Virtues Project is used at SJI International Elementary School both as a vehicle to make the school values accessible for the children and as the basis of our Behaviour Policy. The Virtues Project is based on the beliefs and virtues valued by diverse cultures and world religions. Its mission is to provide empowering strategies that inspire the practice of virtues in everyday life. The Virtues Project enables us to address not only our Lasallian values, but also to meet the personal development goals at the heart of the International Primary Curriculum.

(Please find more information on the Virtues Project here: www.virtuesproject.com)

Assertiveness

Caring

Cleanliness

Commitment

Compassion

Confidence

Consideration

Cooperation

Courage

Courtesy

Creativity

Detachment

Determination

Diligence

Enthusiasm

Excellence

Flexibility

Forgiveness

Friendliness

Generosity

Gentleness

Helpfulness

Honesty

Honor

Humility

Idealism

Integrity

Joyfulness

Justice

Kindness

Love

Loyalty

Moderation

Modesty

Orderliness

Patience

Peacefulness

Perseverance

Purposefulness

Reliability

Respect Responsibility

Self-discipline

Service

Tact

Thankfulness

Tolerance

Trust

Trustworthiness

Truthfulness

Understanding

Unity

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CASS

This programme is designed to give students opportunities for development beyond academics in areas such as personal responsibility, the building of self-confidence, acquisition of new skills and to encourage a balanced lifestyle. It also reflects the Lasallian ethos of our school “Enter to Learn, Leave to Serve.” CASS stands for Community, Activity, Sport and Service. The explanations below summarise the big picture for each section.

COMMUNITY

Volunteering within the school community offers the chance to make a difference to people’s lives and to use your skills and experience to help your school community. You can use this opportunity to become involved in a project that you care about.of the International Primary Curriculum

ACTIVITY

There’s a hobby or activity to suit everyone, so choose something you are really interested in. Developing a skill helps you get better at something that captures your imagination and gives you the confidence and ability to use this skill both now and later in life.

SPORT

Doing physical activity is fun and improves your health and physical fitness. You may already participate in a number of these sports in or outside school.

SERVICE

Volunteering within the local community gives you the chance to make a difference to the lives of local people, animals or the environment. There are many projects you might become involved with or you could start your own.

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PASTORAL CARE

As a Lasallian Catholic school, pastoral care is central to our ethos and identity. Our Mission Statement calls for all of us in the SJI International Community to work together to enable our children to become people of integrity and people that show care and concern for others. The Patron Saint of Teachers and the school, St John Baptiste de La Salle, stressed the need for teachers to touch hearts.

In following the lead taken by our Patron, we aim to ensure that our children feel that they matter, are highly valued and loved. We care for our children with the development of the whole person as a high priority. The foundation and inspiration for the care offered to our children come from a commitment to Gospel values. Our pastoral systems, through class teachers and our pastoral care team, aims to ensure that each of our children flourishes during their formative years with us.

Our classes are the centre of our work in pastoral care with class teachers enabling the establishment of a deeper relationship with each child and their family. The development of social and emotional skills takes place through the IPC units and explicit teaching of a Well-being curriculum. We work positively with our students, using the language of the Virtues as an integral part of the activities and processes that form our character education programme.

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13 Age of student (turning within year) SJI International Grade Equivalent grade in other educational systems UK Singapore USA/ Canada Australia New Zealand China Japan Korea Malaysia SJI International Elementary School 4-5 5-6 6-7 7-8 8-9 9-10 10-11 11-12 Prep 1 Prep 2 Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 Grade 4 Grade 5 Grade 6 Reception Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7 Kindergarten 1 Kindergarten 2 Primary 1 Primary 2 Primary 3 Primary 4 Primary 5 Primary 6 Junior K Kindergarten Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 Grade 4 Grade 5 Grade 6 Preschool KG/Prep Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Kindergarten Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7 Kindergarten Kindergarten Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Kindergarten Kindergarten Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 Grade 4 Grade 5 Grade 6 Kindergarten Kindergarten 1st Grade 2nd Grade 3rd Grade 4th Grade 5th Grade 6th Grade Kindergarten Kindergarten Standard 1 Standard 2 Standard 3 Standard 4 Standard 5 Standard 6 SJI International High School 12-13 13-14 14-15 15-16 16-17 17-18 Grade 7 Grade 8 Grade 9 Grade 10 Grade 11 Grade 12 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10 Year 11 Year 12 Year 13 Secondary 1 Secondary 2 Secondary 3 Secondary 4 Secondary 5 Tertiary Grade 7 Grade 8 Grade 9 Grade 10 Grade 11 Grade 12 Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10 Year 11 Year 12 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10 Year 11 Year 12 Year 13 Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 1st Grade 2nd Grade 3rd Grade 1st Grade 2nd Grade 3rd Grade Form 1 Form 2 Form 3 Form 4 Form 5 Form 6

YEAR GROUP PLACEMENT

GENERAL INFORMATION

ACADEMIC YEAR

January to December

SCHOOL HOLIDAYS

February: One week

March/April: Two weeks

June/July: Five weeks for Summer holidays

September: One week

October: One week

December/January: Five weeks for Christmas holidays

SCHOOL HOURS

8.00am – 3.00pm (Monday to Friday)

OUR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL COMMUNITY AT A GLANCE

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ADMISSIONS CYCLE

Children must be residing in Singapore with at least one parent who is in possession of an appropriate immigration pass. A child must hold a Dependant’s Pass, a Diplomatic Passport, Singapore Permanent Resident Pass* or a Student Pass.

For details and enquiries, please contact:

Elementary School Admissions admissions.es@sji-international.com.sg (65) 6353 9383

*Permanent Residents are required to take Chinese as their second language and will be subject to the Ministry of Education Mother Tongue Language Policy upon admission to Grade 7 in the High School

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739 students 22-23 maximum class size 107 teachers 62 Teaching Staff 14.4 Average years of teaching experience 33 Teaching Partners 12 Leadership & Administration 45 nationalities 33% Catholics 5 Lasallian Brothers

ADMISSIONS

As a Lasallian Catholic school, in an international setting, our admission principles reflect our aim to ensure a balanced intake for our school which acknowledges our ethos and heritage. We enrol students who are able to fully participate in the life of the school, in accordance with our mission statement. We review all of our applications to seek to enrol students who will embrace our school ethos. Further information regarding our entrance criteria is available on the school website.

We accept applications up to 2 years (24 months) in advance of the desired date of enrolment. Applications are placed in the Admissions Pool for consideration of a place as vacancies arise. All applications are to be submitted through our online Admissions System.

Our main entry point for the Elementary School each year is Prep 1, Prep 2, and Grade 1. For all other Grades, places are subject to vacancies.

Applications are assessed against the Entrance Criteria. Applicants who meet the Entrance Criteria will be shortlisted for the admission assessment and interview.

If no vacancies arise, applicants will remain in the Admissions Pool and the application will be automatically rolled over to the next Grade and year until the end of Term 1, Grade 6.