AIS offers first-class education, embraces diversity and innovation
- AIS celebrates its diverse student population of more than 50 nationalities, representing a microcosm of Australian society, all while developing individual aptitudes
Country Business Reports interviews and articles by Discovery Reports
If an investment in education always pays high returns, selecting the best school for one’s children multiplies those returns tenfold. With the goal of unlocking the maximum potential of every one of its students, Australian International School (AIS) brings out the very best in each learner. Through its expertly curated welfare programmes, co-curricular activities and academic offerings, AIS yields well-rounded students and seasoned candidates for the highest-ranking universities around the world.
“We’re intentional about everything that we do,” says Andre Casson, head of school. “Through positive education, we equip our students with the skills and resilience to bounce back when they get knocked down. We choose which sports and other extracurricular activities our students partake in. We also have a very robust academic programme producing students that have achieved 45 in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme and go on to Oxford, Cambridge or the Ivy Leagues.”
For more than 27 years, AIS has firmly rooted itself in Singapore as the country’s only southern-hemisphere school with an Australian-based curriculum. From Infant Care at the Early Learning Village until year 12, AIS offers students aged two months to 18 years a genuinely international education. AIS celebrates its diverse student population of more than 50 nationalities, representing a microcosm of Australian society, all while developing individual aptitudes.
“Our success is that we know our kids,” Casson says. “We do benchmark testing to determine the students’ natural abilities. We’ve got in-class assessments through tests, observations or comments about engagements with co-curricular programmes. We engage with the students in terms of their welfare through diagnostic tools, asking them how they are feeling about themselves, school and life in general.”
By next year, AIS endeavours to become Singapore’s school of choice, with its distinctive curriculum giving a special edge to its students. Its unparalleled language programme offers Chinese, French, Indonesian and Spanish. Some students who enter as learners of English as an additional language may also continue learning in their mother tongue.
Another advantage of AIS is that it allows students to apply to their prospective universities with their final test results instead of predictive grades. Its southern hemisphere-based academic calendar also gives students a six-month break post-graduation instead of a full gap year.
Additionally, AIS provides students the option to choose their pathways, be it through acquiring technical and further education – or TAFE – qualifications, a higher school certificate or a vocation pathway to further enhance chances of entering their university of choice.
AIS does not stop there. Inspired by his experience studying at Harvard Business School, Casson pushed to establish innovation labs that eventually contributed useful improvements to the school. Among the labs’ successful projects are a filterable data dashboard that allows teachers quick access to student information and the Flipped Classroom approach.
Flipped Classroom is an instructional strategy wherein students learn new concepts at home, and then work through what they have learned in a classroom setting. This made it easier to switch to a home-based learning system amid the Covid-19 pandemic, as the approach had already established a strong Google Classroom presence. The project then gave rise to AIS Online, which now allows for flexible learning alternatives for students who cannot be physically present within a classroom.
“Winston Churchill once said to never waste a good crisis. Covid-19 was a crisis. Let’s not waste what we’ve learned from this, and let’s not lose the innovation that we put in place to allow us to be better,” Casson says.
In line with the AIS’ drive to mould wholesome, future-ready graduates with comprehensive skill sets, AIS is open to partnerships with other international educational bodies and key industry players within the region.