Children only get one chance at childhood and it is both our privilege and our duty, whether as educators or parents, to ensure that they spend their childhood actively learning and not passively doing, Philip Hallworth, Director Academics, The City School said.
He was speaking to the parents, teachers and educators at the first-ever symposium on Early Years Education, entitled "Thought Leaders" organised by The City School (TCS). He said actively learning the knowledge, life skills and values that will be the foundation for their future - and that they must have fun doing so. We should never underestimate the influence we as educators can have on young lives. Child-centric Early Years education develops confident, resilient, sociable and tolerant young people who then grow up to be the responsible adult thought leaders of our future society, he added.
The symposium convened a platform for renowned experts and influencers to exchange best practices and cutting edge research in designing, developing and managing high performance learning environments for early childhood education.
The symposium drew on a combination of speaker sessions, panel discussions and workshops engaging local stakeholders, early years' practitioners, schools and parents, to set the future direction for this critical area of education. Saboohi Irtiza, GM Early Years Education at The City School, laid emphasis on cognitive learning among young children through interactive play opportunities.