The image of the child

Every child is seen as resilient, confident and competent. We believe that children can express their own ideas, make independent choices and are able to play and work well with others. In this concept resides our focus on the children’s autonomy and on the importance we give to children’s opinions and choices.

The role of the morning assembly is to listen to children’s ideas and take their decisions earnestly. The role of the adult is to support them in the initial planning and to provide open-ended materials, tools and resources which will encourage the children to develop a divergent way of thinking, improve self-awareness, be able to make associations, express their opinions and collaborate within the group.

Teachers and children will start their investigations from open-ended questions, co-building knowledge together.

The Reggio Emila philosophy is highly inclusive and we consider all children as equally important. We embrace each child’s special uniqueness, respecting the child’s right to be welcomed as a whole person. At Aurora, we don’t offer scores, labels and grades that we believe would summarize a child’s personality in a quantitative description. We provide an open and always on-going relationship and communication between families and teachers through various means of documentation.

“The wider the range of possibilities we offer children, the more intense will be their motivations and the richer their experiences” (Loris Malaguzzi) 

Family’s participation

At Aurora, parents are viewed as vital components and contributors to the School’s philosophy and are encouraged to involve themselves in every aspect of their child’s learning experiences. Teachers acknowledge and recognise parents as the child’s primary teacher. Reggio-Inspired programmes position educators as advocates and learners alongside the children as the ‘second teacher’. In the process of learning, teachers, parents and the child are viewed as collaborators. The exchange of ideas between parents and teacher is vital in creating a more positive and productive learning environment.

Reggio inspired teachers take into account the needs and desires of the parents and strive to help them in bettering their child’s education. Keeping in mind that the growth and well-being of your child is a common aim of each of us, we support a constructive relationship with a view to co-responsibility.

Dialogue with our families is really important in our school. We provide different ways to deliver information concerning your child’s life at school:

• Documentation
• Communication through emails and other platforms
• Family assemblies
• Parent-Teacher conferences

“The participation of the families is just as essential as is the participation of children and educators” (Sergio Spaggiari, 2004)

The hundred languages of children

Play sets the foundation for the development of critical social and emotional knowledge and skills. Through play, children learn to forge connections with others and to share, negotiate and resolve conflicts, as well as learn self-advocacy skills. Play also teaches children leadership as well as group skills. Furthermore, play is a natural tool that children can use to build their resilience and coping skills, as they learn to navigate relationships and deal with social challenges as well as conquer their fears. Play is a fundamental value of our educational experience, for us, it is a language that supports discoveries and a better understanding of the world around us. Children are given the opportunity to develop this language and the other ninety-nine through project work.

“Children need the freedom to appreciate the infinite resources of their hands, their eyes, and their ears, the resources of forms, materials, sounds and colours. They need the freedom to realize how reason, thought, and imagination can create continuous interweavings of things, and can move and shake the world.” (Loris Malaguzzi,1996)

Teachers and children work together on projects based on the interests of the class group after an evaluation of the most appropriate theme for the age group. Children are provided with a multitude of opportunities to work through their ideas. They are encouraged to depict their understanding of the world and their ideas through various representations. Working on long-term projects allows children and teachers to explore and investigate a topic together, and in doing so, develop creative intelligence, divergent thinking and improve problem-solving skills.

We consider it essential to teach our children to inquire, as they consider and explore the many possible answers to the same question. At Aurora, we will begin investigating a topic through questioning and focusing on the thought processes rather than an outcome or result to be achieved. Children and teachers will leave for a journey of discoveries building the path as they go.

Environment as a third educator 

“Environment should be considered as the third educator. We have to create a “complicity” with the environment in order to be able to scaffold, together, children’s learning processes” (C.Fabbi, 2004) 

The Classes are designed to support a sense of familiarity, reinforce a sense of safety, and foster exploration and discovery. Every classroom is conceptualized in a way that would allow children to shift from one space to another to work on different projects in a group.  

“Our objective, which we will always pursue, is to create an amiable environment where children, families and teachers feel at ease” (Loris Malaguzzi) 

Aurora’s learning environment and architecture have been inspired by Reggio Emilia in their structure, transformed, and intertwined with Vietnamese cultural contexts and local materials with recycled from ancient pieces and natural materials. 

The piazza (entrance’s foyer): The piazza is the heart of the school organism, where children of all ages meet and play together. “The piazza, the place of encounters, friendships, games and other activities that complete those of the classrooms” (Loris Malaguzzi) 

The Atelier as a place of provocation: underscores the importance of imagination, aesthetics, and the theory of the hundred languages in the formative and knowledge building paths; is a place of experimentation and research, particularly reactive to and in dialogue with the surrounding reality and contemporary culture 

 At Aurora, the atelier system includes atelier of nature, atelier of light, atelier of focus, atelier of digital, atelier of sound, atelier of book. 

The Garden and Outdoor Areas are open-air spaces that the children can always access with diversified learning context setups and invitations. It is called the “classroom without a roof” with the Reggio-inspired philosophy. 

The Multisensory & On-site Kitchen and The Terance: The nutritional education project, which draws content and communicative strategies from the kitchen, tends primarily to create a sense of well-being in children, fostering a balanced relationship between health, taste, and pleasure of being at the table together. 

Multi-disciplinary learning

Children under 6 years of age develop number sense and literacy skills through everyday objects and symbols in their daily explorations. Early mathematical learning is a gradual process of moving from concrete to abstract understanding. Children at Aurora are given endless opportunities to manipulate objects and make sense of the relationships between these. Project and play-based learning is rich in literacy, numeracy, science and art content as these evolve through provocations and investigations.

Through an inquiry-based approach to learning and teaching, children from age 6 develop conceptual understanding and in-depth knowledge of subject areas. Learning areas are not taught in isolation but are integrated into Investigate Research, designed in partnership between teachers and children. This offers a holistic approach where all fields of knowledge are interwoven, allowing children to make connections between learning and the real-world. Aurora’s emergent curriculum is developed from internationally recognised curricula to promote critical thinking, multiple intelligences and global citizens.