Soon to celebrate its one-year anniversary, Oi speaks to Founder and Principal of Anne Hill International School about her students, teachers and expansion plans for the future
Since Anne Hill International School’s (AHI) opening last year, have there been any new developments or expansions to the facilities?
New developments are ongoing, as we are constantly expanding our facilities. Bearing in mind the grandeur and beauty of the premises and maximizing the spacious areas that we have. More classrooms are being built as we, at Anne Hill International School, do not like overcrowded classrooms. Children need space, an open environment that is bright and cheerful. Each child is an individual and needs their own pace to settle down.
What feedback have you had from parents?
The response and feedback have been simply overwhelming. We have a lot of satisfied and happy parents who have been giving us positive appraisals and wonderful compliments. And now even from our new parents that have visited our school. You will see happy and friendly children and will be greeted and welcomed by our staff and also by me personally.
We have been highly recommended for our facilities and cleanliness. Parents particularly love the outdoor facilities to which we have put tremendous thought into, especially in terms of safety.
How do you stay current on new children’s activities and teaching techniques?
To stay current on both, we at Anne Hill International School have a program covering moral education, teaching our older children to be street smart. We continually conduct workshops on Montessori for our team and we have organized a series of workshops on Jolly Phonics and Mathematics workshops by lecturers from abroad, for both teachers and parents, including various health talks and summer camps.
I travel to Singapore to attend various workshops and visit schools to observe so that I can guide my own team at Anne Hill International School to improve and introduce new teaching techniques for our preschoolers. We are geared towards consistently improving our teaching techniques.
Can you tell us about your teachers?
I am blessed with a great hardworking team! We do not have a high turnover of staff since we set up Anne Hill International School in May 2016. Our teaching staff consists of warm, friendly, caring teachers and teaching assistants who come from various countries like Vietnam, Holland, Spain, England and Singapore. Together we share our views, ideas and comments. Most of all we give TLC (Tender, Loving, Care) to each and every child! To complement the teaching staff, we have a dedicated supporting staff in administration, security, maintenance, cooking, cleaning and accounting.
How are your students shaping the education environment at AHI?
We have a continuous and steady growth to our enrollment from children whose parents are from all walks of life and from different countries. This is a great plus as our children are exposed to multiple nationalities and cultures. There too giving them a wholistic education.
You’ve had decades of experience in education in Singapore, is it different here in Vietnam?
With all my 28 years of teaching experiences all over the world, the most important ‘concern’ for parents is that their child is happy, safe, healthy, well loved, cared for and learning according to their capability and pace. It’s heartening to see the children share their joy of an invigorating day when their parents come at the end of the school day.
Vietnam is no different to Singapore or any other country that I have taught. Education is just as important in Vietnam and most of all is what the school can offer with their services, curriculum and activities.
Where do you see AHI in five years? 10 years?
In the next 5 or 10 years I would like to continue our growth and in keeping with our motto “Learn, grow, play. The AHI-Way.” And possibly even moving forward to having a primary school that our children can transition to, to continue their growth and education with Anne Hill International School.
Anne Hill International School is located at 33 Giang Van Minh in District 2. For more info, visit annehill.school
IMAGES BY NGOC TRAN
