Strand one
Play-based learning
Children explore, create and discover on their own terms. It builds curiosity, creativity and problem-solving far more reliably than being told the answer.
- Home
- Curriculum
A curriculum disguised as a very good morning.
Inquiry-based learning, wrapped in play. Children set off after a question, work it out in a group, and pick up the literacy, maths and science along the way — from 18 months to six years old.
How it’s built
Three strands, running all the way through
Academic readiness on its own isn’t enough. We build it alongside the practical and mental skills that make it usable.
Strand two
Essential life skills
Communication, self-care, problem-solving and getting on with other people. The building blocks a child needs to navigate a classroom — and later, a world.
Strand three
Executive function
Focus, self-control, planning and time management — developed through games rather than drills, and useful for the rest of their lives.
The five learning areas
What your child actually covers
The academic backbone of ShawsPlay — delivered through activity rather than worksheets.
Reading, writing and two languages
Progressive English classes take children to confident reading and writing by K2, while daily Mandarin builds a genuine feel for the language rather than a vocabulary list. Literacy shows up everywhere — including in the notebook where they record how their caterpillar is getting on.
Numbers with something at stake
We put maths into real situations — sharing, measuring, building, shopping. Children end up understanding the concepts rather than memorising them, which is what carries them through primary school.
The world, taken apart
Hands-on experiments, games and a lot of asking why. Children observe, predict, get it wrong, and adjust — which is more or less the scientific method, at three years old.
Room to make a mess
Many materials, few instructions. Children experiment across different art forms, which builds both fine motor control and the confidence to make something nobody asked for.
Coaches on site, twice a week
We partner with Shaws Little League for proper coaching in football, rugby, basketball, athletics and more. Teamwork, resilience and losing gracefully come as part of the package.
ShawsPlay Club
The afternoon programme
For children who don’t nap, a different specialism every day — all included in the fees, at no extra cost.
Outdoor learning
Herb gardens, butterfly gardens and playgrounds — where literacy and social skills develop without a table in sight.
S.T.E.A.M
Question like a scientist, build like a technologist, solve like an engineer, create like an artist, analyse like a mathematician.
Earth Ambassadors
Conservation taught through the term’s inquiry unit — and then actually practised around the campus.
Sports-based play
More sport, less screen. Soccer, rugby, basketball, baseball, hockey, volleyball, golf and athletics.
Code Play
Screen-free coding with tactile robots. No screen time for N2 and K1, and only limited exposure at K2.
Sensory play
Activities that deliberately stimulate all five senses — and with them, language, movement and emotional regulation.
Water & messy play
Water, mud and paint. Motor skills, early literacy and maths, disguised as the best part of the week.
Little Chefs
Real cooking, real knives (the safe kind), real washing up. Maths, sequencing and a much broader palate.
All Play Club activities are included in the school fees — no additional cost
Age by age
How it scales as they grow
The curriculum progresses from Pre-Nursery to Kindergarten 2 without a handover gap — each year builds directly on the last.
18 months – 3 years
Sounds, rhymes and first marks
Letters and their sounds through Letterland, rhymes and games. Pre-reading, pre-writing and the earliest problem-solving.
3 – 5 years
Phonics, writing and excursions
Word families and consonant blends, the beginnings of creative writing, and a more complex understanding of number. Mother tongue lessons deepen, and learning starts moving outside the school gates.
5 – 6 years
Ready for primary school
Multiplication and division, story sums, composition, penmanship and reading at a higher level — plus project work and advanced life skills classes.
Food
Everything is cooked in our own kitchen
Our Head Cook, Aunty Yan, has supervised the Shaws kitchen for more than twenty years. Meals rotate between Asian and Western dishes — chicken rice one day, whole-grain pasta the next.
- No processed food, no sugary drinks
- No pork, no beef
- 100% whole-grain rice and pasta
- Vegetarian and no-salt options on request
- Morning snack, lunch and afternoon snack — plus breakfast for early arrivals
Allergies are checked with every family before a child starts, and you are always welcome to pack your own food.
A day at Shaws
The weekly timetable
Core programme runs 8:30am to 5:30pm. Campuses are open 7am to 7pm.
Core hours 8:30am – 5:30pm
Open 7am – 7pm
3 meals a day
Breakfast before 8am
| Time | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8:00 – 8:30am | Outdoor play | Outdoor play | Outdoor play | Outdoor play | Outdoor play |
| 8:30 – 9:00am | Circle & show and tell | Circle & newsboard | Circle & topical discussion | Circle & topical discussion | Circle & sensory activities |
| 9:00 – 9:20am | Morning snack | Morning snack | Morning snack | Morning snack | Morning snack |
| 9:20 – 10:30am | Letterland / literacy (EN) | Literacy, readers, spelling (EN) | Mathematics | Inquiry-based curriculum (EN) | Inquiry-based curriculum (EN) |
| 10:30 – 11:00am | Shaws Little League | Outdoor play | Shaws Little League | Outdoor / water play | Outdoor play |
| 11:00 – 11:20am | Music | Drama | Music | Drama | Music |
| 11:20am – 12:30pm | Inquiry-based curriculum (CN) | Inquiry-based curriculum (CN) | Language & literacy (CN) | Language & literacy (CN) | Language & literacy (CN) |
| 12:30 – 12:40pm | Music & movement | Music & movement | Music & movement | Music & movement | Music & movement |
| 12:40 – 1:30pm | Lunch & quiet time | Lunch & quiet time | Lunch & quiet time | Lunch & quiet time | Lunch & quiet time |
| 1:30 – 2:00pm | Outdoor play | Outdoor play | Outdoor play | Outdoor play | Outdoor play |
| 2:00 – 3:00pm | ShawsPlay Club | ShawsPlay Club | ShawsPlay Club | ShawsPlay Club | ShawsPlay Club |
| 3:00 – 3:30pm | Afternoon snack | Afternoon snack | Afternoon snack | Afternoon snack | Afternoon snack |
| 3:30 – 4:30pm | S.T.E.A.M | Fun with Chinese | Literacy & practical life | Fun with Chinese | Maths |
| 4:30 – 5:30pm | Outdoor play | Outdoor play | Outdoor play | Outdoor play | Outdoor play |
| 5:30 – 7:00pm | Indoor play | Indoor play | Indoor play | Indoor play | Indoor play |
The programme varies slightly by campus and age group. Ask the school for the detailed timetable for your child’s level.
Watch
A look inside
Two short films from our campuses.
Let them play
How learning through play actually works, in practice.
Carnival day
All five campuses, one very large party.
Questions about the curriculum?
Ask a curriculum specialist
Our curriculum team is happy to talk through the approach, the bilingual programme or what your child would actually do all day.