Curriculum Philosophy

What does Curriculum mean?

In general, the curriculum refers to the experience that an individual undergoes and experiences. According to Dewey (1959) it is the sum total of everything that a learner experiences such as: the planned activities, the lessons, the learning journeys, the assessments, the classroom interaction, the physical compound, the canteen food etc.

It also encompasses the experiences that are not planned and are hidden from view or not as easily defined, such as: the culture, the language, the social norms within the school, the unseen code of conduct between seniors and juniors, the interaction between teachers and students etc.

Curriculum experience in NHPS

In Nan Hua Primary School, we believe that we nurture the whole child. While there is emphasis in the ultimate product of education in the child, we try not to lose sight of the Purpose, Processes and experiences of nurturing the child.

We try to focus on the development of the child with the end goal of raising an individual, who is educated, not just someone who has gone through the education system.

What Assessment means in NHPS

Assessment refers to the gainful gathering of information and feedback about any given experience with the subsequent intention of effecting a change.

In schools, this most often refers to the learning of students.

At NHPS, we believe in the intentional collection of information about student learning. Assessments are treated as such – not just for the marks yielded but for the ways in which students respond: What the responses means, what difficulties do the students have, what they can currently accomplish, what needs further assistance to improve that learning etc.

We look to more than numbers and test scores. All assessment done in Nan Hua should bear the hallmarks of collecting information, data, and evidences of students’ learning, progress and development. The emphasis is not on the results and achievements but how these results were developed and achieved.

Eventually, we believe that everyone in NHPS should begin to appreciate that students’ learning is more than what their marks reflect. Assessment as a means of understanding learning and not testing – that is what we believe in NHPS.

Hopes and Visions for our NHPS students

We hope that when Nan Hua Primary School students leave us, they go as individuals who have gone through a myriad of experiences that allows them to realise their potential as leaders of character who serve with a heart in the world at large.

That they do not become vessels of accumulated knowledge, content and information but grow into discerning, wise, cultured, social and morally well-adjusted individuals.

They may not be the finished articles who are fully accomplished and excellent but they eventually become successful in their lives.