The Sequoia Academy
About The Sequoia Academy.
TSA is an insitution that offer high quality and affordable IGCSE curriculum, as a dual curriculum, to Malaysian students who attend SJK and SK.
Description
We believe every learner is unique and learn at a different pace. Hence, a standardize curriculum that dictate students should learn at a standardize pace in a large classroom is not ideal for nurturing talent.
We think the best form of education should be personalize. By customizing school curriculum, we can educate, inspire and empower Malaysian students to reach their fullest potential.
TSA offer to personalize pre-school education, primary school and secondary school education using a mix of British & Singapore curriculum - (in addition to our national curriculum).
Further we also provide learning support for Bahasa Malaysia and Chinese language.
MRSM have introduced IGCSE curriculum as an additional curriculum to Malaysia curriculum. We share similar belief that with careful consideration so as not to repeat teaching similar content and focussing only on core subjects namely, English, Maths, Science and Global Perspective, students following such dual curriculum will not be overly burden. IGCSE curriculum will be better prepare students to excel at A level and tertiary.
In the course of learning curriculum content, our teaching pedagogy place special emphasis in instilling 21st century skills. These skills are:
1. Oral & presentation skills.
2. Research & collaboration skills.
3. Creative thinking skills.
In a fast changing world where industries and market place demand versatility and new skill sets from their work force constantly, it has become important that we nurture our human capital to be self directed learners so that they may continuously teach themselves new skills. We think 21st century skills are the foundation needed to become a self directed learner.
TSA believe deeper learning happens beyond classroom and blended learning environment, hence TSA learning facilities consist of fully functional laboratories for student to conduct investigative experiment. TSA also have a designing studio where students will work on creative projects using an open ended structure. The studio is equipped with tools like 3D printers, software like i-movie, coding, animation, photography and etc. All this activities aim at nurturing our students creativity.
What would be an ideal school?
Teaching Pedagogy.
TSA generally employs different teaching pedagogy for learners at different level.
At preschool and lower primary education, students generally learn by repetition. Course structure will be more teachers directed, as learners at this level are not ready to assume full ownership of their own education. However, our course structure always have an open ended component so that students may practice their creative thinking skills.
The mission of our teachers is to make learning as fun as possible with clear learning objectives in mind; we think British Curriculum has plenty of books and resources that are suitble to achieve the needed learning goals. The material are well thought out and are presented in thematic manner. Since, children learn by repetition, lessons are delivered thematically throughout the week across different subjects so learners will be familiar with vocabularies and spelling without having to learn by rote.
Beyond learning planned objectives, the ultimate goal of our teacher is to help students learn to become self directed learners.
At upper primary, learners will start to learn how to think critically and creatively. These skills is best nurture by having children engage in individual and group projects.
Project base learning is only effective in a small group settings. Learners will learn how to ask higher order verb questions that help them to think as suggested by Bloom taxonomy. Students are encourage to solve open ended problem.
At secondary, learners will dig deep into conceptual learning. Students will be writing extended essays and they will attempt to solve more complex open ended problem facing the world today.
Every students would constantly be required to make oral presentation.
As already mentioned, in delivering curricum content our pedagogy will place special emphasis in instiling 21st century skills to our students.
Bloom taxonomy verb questions provide
good guidlines in critical thinking.
Our Philosophy
Personalize learning.
We believe an ideal education is one that should be personalize for the very simple reason that each individual is unique and each learn at different pace. Using a iterative mastery and competency paced learning rather than age pace curriculum, students could be nurtured to achieve greater.
Character building.
Obviously, education is not only about achieving great academic results. Beyond nurturing academic achievement, we believe developing character content of a person is equally important.
How character content can be nurtured is best summarize in this words:
“Sow a thought, and you reap an act;
Sow an act, and you reap a habit;
Sow a habit, and you reap a character;
Sow a character, and you reap a destiny.”
― Samuel Smiles
Therefore we are mindful of inculcating the right habits to our learners.
Physical fitness.
Sports will also be an important activity that all students must participate. A healthy body is afterall the most important asset that anyone will ever own.
To nurture the mind, character and physical fitness, we have carefully :
1. selected and incorporate both structured and open-ended structure learning in our curriculum;
2. choose appropriate pedagogy that is inquiry base;
3. employed passionate educators task at making students excited at learning and to cultivate good habits;
4. designed appropriate new age learning space, equipped with all the right tools so that students may apply their knowledge by making real products.
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