Experiential Learning

At St. Nicholas’, we believe that learning is not only confined to the classrooms, but should and could take place anywhere. Our students are provided with abundant opportunities to cultivate creativity, critical thinking and problem solving skills. While our reputation for academic excellence is what grounds us, the stunning breadth of extra-curricular experiences is what truly distinguishes a St. Nicholas’ education. We guarantee that children will receive a one of a kind educational experience throughout their years at St. Nicholas’.

Performances

Throughout all years at St. Nicholas’, students undertake major theatrical productions and performances, including musicals. Performances prominently feature all students in K1 to K3 as every child has the opportunity to perform on stage to all parents at our annual Christmas Variety Show. We also offer unique chances to audition for major roles such as: master or mistress of ceremony and lead actors or actresses. Our teachers help all children uncover their talents and find their creative voice through music, dance or drama. The children also perform regularly to the community at our Open Day and many public venues every year. The culmination of the students’ performing arts journey at St. Nicholas’ ends with a final performance at their graduation ceremony.

To celebrate our 45^th anniversary, all our students, faculty and alumnae successfully staged the musical: “In Search of the Secret of Wisdom”, which is an original production about positive education and character strengths. The musical was such a smash hit that we will rerun the show again for our upcoming 50^th anniversary.

Visual Arts

The visual arts at St. Nicholas’ enhance and encourage students’ creativity, critical assessment skills and resilience for revision and refinement. We use a variety of media to create a personal, meaningful piece of art that instills a sense of discovery and self-realization in our children. At any given time, you can see this process come alive on our campus, with student artwork that provokes, questions and astounds. Every year, we also hold a large-scale art exhibition to showcase their masterpieces.

Our arts program is not only about creating magnificent artwork, we also provide opportunities for children to observe and learn from various masters of art. Our students have toured Art Basel, an international art fair staged annually in Hong Kong. We also organized tours to Van Gogh Alive, a multi-sensory exhibition experience that brought all of his masterworks to life. Our young artists also participated in the UBS Junior Art Hub, an education arts program inspired by the theme of sustainability encouraging them to generate their own masterpieces in a visually dynamic space. As part of the UBS Mega Art Project, our students created the “Coloring the Future of Hong Kong”, setting a GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS^TM title for the ‘Largest Coloring Book’.

Outdoor Education

Go outside and play

Our “second campus” is without borders, which helps children develop a lifelong love of the environment.

Children enhance their learning in science, geography, math, art and other subjects while having fun visiting various museums, community buildings, exhibitions and festival fairs. Outings and field trips are an integral part of learning at St. Nicholas’. Every year, we also hold a parent-child picnic and parent-child games day to allow bonding among families, enhance home-school communication and build community and wellbeing. We ensure children enjoy lots of unstructured play time.

Our uniform group, Happy Bee, also get to experience camping outdoors together with their parents. It is a rare opportunity for them to learn vital survival skills and develop interest in the nature. Click here to learn more about Happy Bee.

Green Education

We are stewards of the earth’s resources for the benefit of all, and it is our collective responsibility to care for these resources now and for future generations.

At St. Nicholas’, students conduct independent studies, dealing with various aspects of sustainability on our campus, for example, recycling efficiency, food waste and composting. With the help of the NGO, Food for Good, children also help plant and harvest organic produce from the Garden, in which they then cook various dishes for their parents to create a farm-to-table experience. During Earth Week each April, children participate in various activities including creating upcycled artwork, raise awareness among families about environmental protection and work on a wide range of ecological projects. We educate our students about the importance of protecting our Earth through various ways of recycling and up-cycling different materials. Children help collect and bring in items as suggested, in which they will use to up-cycle and create new learning materials and art pieces.

We were also the first kindergarten in Hong Kong to participate in the Hong Kong Inter-School City Nature Challenge organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) to find and log plant and animal species in and around campus. Students learned about and contributed to urban biodiversity data in Hong Kong. Representatives from WWF and Greenpeace also give presentations to our students every year about the importance of nature preservation.

STEAM

Innovation lies where science, technology, engineering, art and math (STEAM) come together. At St. Nicholas’, STEAM-driven projects encourage our students to see a world that isn’t divided into subjects, and seek solutions where creativity and the sciences intersect. Preparing children to succeed in tomorrow’s world is our top priority.

Our innovative inquiry-based STEAM program is designed to create opportunities for students to develop the core skills needed for success in the STEAM subjects. These subjects are fully integrated into the inquiry units and are aligned with applicable transdisciplinary themes for authentic applications. In addition to focused study on the core strands of sciences including life, earth, and physical sciences, students gain an overall understanding of how scientists think and work within the scientific community. The overall focus is delivering innovative student-driven outcomes and integrating problem-solving and critical-thinking across the curriculum.

At our annual Science Fair, you will find all the projects created by our students, such as construction of simple machines and structures. Students engage in design thinking through both individual and team projects. This approach to learning brings creativity to life while developing skills such as problem-solving, coordination with others and project management skills. Deep learning for the students comes during the evaluation phase where students learn how to improve their work; this phase often is the beginning of further exploration, not the end.

In our STEAM curriculum, children start with learning about anatomy and their own self. They then move on to study zoology and study about different animals. Botany is also part of the curriculum, where they examine plants all the way from seeds to fruit. Students also study the earth in Geography, in which they learn about various land and water forms, continents, countries and cultures.

Global Experiences

Connecting students worldwide through Global Experiences
Our Global Experiences help students explore the world, learn new skills and set their sights higher, developing a truly international perspective through outstanding online, in-school and worldwide experiences. From our in-school projects to expeditions in mainland China and Asia, we inspire your child to be ambitious in their learning. At St. Nicholas’, we believe that learning should not be confined to the classroom. Global Experiences worldwide events bring students from across the world to work together on service, leadership or personal adventure experiences.

To celebrate Peace Day each year, we collaborate with a number of schools around the world and take part in the Peace Crane Exchange Project. Every student folds an origami crane, writes a message of peace on its wings, and then exchanges it with another student somewhere in the world. This project builds friendships, strengthens hand-eye coordination and writing skills, teaches geography, exposes students to new languages and cultures, and empowers youth to make a difference in their community, country, and world. We have already developed partnerships with schools in the US, UK, Switzerland, Thailand, Poland, etc.

Students at St Nicholas’ also participate in Level Up Village, a program to globalize the classroom and facilitate seamless collaboration between students from around the world via pioneering Global STEAM enrichment courses. In each course, children are connected with peers in other countries – students exchange video letters with their global partner students and collaborate on projects. It was truly an eye-opening experience for our children to work with others in the US, France and Africa.

Global Campus Online

Your child can lead their own learning through access to information, videos and challenges linked to our school-based curriculum. In the secure and moderated online environment only accessible by St. Nicholas’ students and monitored by our team, students can submit photos and videos documenting their work and teachers can respond interactively as well. Our team of educational experts and teachers has designed the Global Campus Online to complement our curriculum and extend your child’s learning.

Professional Development

Our faculty has ample opportunities to travel to different countries to attend various Montessori or educational conferences, seminars and workshops and acquire latest research and knowledge on various teaching practices and pedagogies. We are also fortunate to have developed numerous school partnerships around the world. Our team has toured many Montessori schools and other preschools, such as Qingdao Amerasia International School in mainland China, Child House Forest Nursery School and Fuji Kindergarten in Japan, Joiner Montessori Preschool and Jian Sheng Preschool in Taiwan, Chiang Mai Montessori School in Thailand, Country Montessori School and Montessori School of Denver in the United States, Galaxy Montessori in Canada, Montessori for Children in Singapore, etc.

Over the years, we have welcomed Professor Charlotte Wood-Wilson, Director of the Montessori Teacher Education Program at Oklahoma City University, Professor Kin-Bao Young, Vice-President, and Professor Hsiao-yun Chang from the Department of Infant and Child Care of the National Taipei University of Nursing and Health Sciences (NTUNHS) to our campus. We were honoured to have invited qualified educators from Taiwan and mainland China visit our school, including International Montessori Education Institute, Joiner Montessori Preschool, Jian Sheng Education Co., Jian Sheng Preschool, Haikou Beibei Preschool and Haikou Daiyu Preschool. We shared each other’s teaching experiences and the global development of Montessori education. It has been fruitful and inspiring to exchange ideas and practices with experienced professionals worldwide, which broadened all our international perspective.

Experiential Learning in Action

There’s a creative place within us all that wants to come out. There’s space at St. Nicholas’ to let children experience it. Take a look.