Education is a joyful thing. It allows us to always have the lovely faces of our children and to always be brave and motivated to move forward.
Since the opening of BMH Pre school in 2015, we have witnessed the growth of over 2,000 children aged 2-6 years old, which makes us proud and happy, but also aware of the heavy responsibility that rests on our shoulders.
Although we still have a long summer before the next school year, we are already "on the move". With the leadership team in place, we are confident that the next school year will be a fresh start.
Zhou Yanfang （Angela）
Head of Pre School
She has two
bachelors degrees, one in early childhood education and a second in
Chinese language and literature. She has 17 years of early childhood
education experience, including 13 years of early childhood teaching
and management in New Zealand, and was one of the members of
the founding team then Curriculum Coordinator and then Chinese
Head of Huili Nursery Hangzhou (local branch of Wellington College) after returning to
China. From her more than ten years of overseas studying, living and working
experiences, she has thorough knowledge and understanding of Western culture and
mainstream early childhood education models such as EYFS, PBL, Reggio, etc.,
together with extensive hands-on practice, and she is very familiar with the curriculum
structure, teacher development and community building.
BMH
Luo Yuefei （Roy）
Deputy Head of Pre School
He has a masters
degree in early childhood education from Beijing Normal University.
He has 22 years of pre school education experience, starting from
being a class teacher at Guangdong Country Garden School. He has
engaged in teaching and management in high-end international
kindergartens such as British Royal Kindergarten and Guangzhou
Huangpu Kindergarten Affiliated to Sun Yat-Sen University. As a male early childhood
educator, a specialist in inquiry learning and teaching English as a second language,
he has solid knowledge base and rich front-line experiences, thanks to his many years’
services in high-end private kindergartens; he understands parents needs and is very
good at listening and communicating, and he has insight of blending western teaching
pedagogy and Chinese traditions.
BMH
Rajan Chana
English Teaching Supervisor
M.A. in English
Language Teaching, and B.A. in Child and Adolescence Studies. Mr.
Chana started his teaching career in a nursery, and has a particular
bonding to young kids. He is in charge of teaching, especially English
teaching. He will be responsible for connecting English teaching in
Pre School to that in Prep School to establish BMH's own English teaching system, and
providing guidance for Pre School local and expatriate teachers on English teaching.
BMH
Diana Choy
Inquiry Learning Supervisor
M.A. in Education, IB
Workshop Leader and IB School Visit Team Member, is in charge of
inquiry learning and teachers’ professional development. She will be
responsible for deepening inquiry teaching in Pre School, further
improving local and expatriate teachers’ ability and cognition of
inquiry teaching, and enhancing the characteristics of inquiry learning in Pre School.
BMH
Lauren Petersen
English Curriculum Coordinator
She comes from a famous school in South Africa.
She has been engaged in early childhood English teaching in
Shanghai since she came to China. She is familiar with the language
needs of Chinese children and is a conscientious and enterprising
teacher.
BMH
Families of current students have already met with both Heads of Pre School on various occasions in July and we have received a lot of positive feedback from parents and children, which has given us confidence in this bilingual, experienced and comprehensive team.
We have also interviewed the two Heads of Pre School as we approach the new school year, so we hope you will get to know and understand more about this new team.
Why did you choose to work in pre-school industry ?
I chose to work in pre school education because of my experience studying in New Zealand. When I first arrived in New Zealand, I studied psychology at the University of Auckland and learnt a lot about child psychology and was fascinated by the case studies and theories. While marvelling at the cognitive and learning abilities of children, I also realised that every individual's growth and development begins in early childhood, so I had the idea that I wanted to teach the younger stages.
*Ms Angela was in New Zealand
So I began to take part in many social practices and community activities related to early childhood in addition to my studies. I slowly gained insight into the importance of early education and how only a solid, well-rounded foundation laid in early childhood can provide the security for future life and learning. So I took the plunge and re-joined the campus to study my second undergraduate degree, Pre-school Education. Now in my 17th year of teaching, I am more convinced that preschool education is a promising career. I will be in this profession for the rest of my life.
As one of the few male pre-school educators in China, I have been working in pre-school education for 22 years since I graduated from university. Many people have asked me why I chose this profession. In fact, at the beginning I only enrolled in the preschool education major out of curiosity.But a month before graduation in the pre school internship, let me feel the kindergarten teacher's greatness, the children's lovely, especially the parting of the children's sincere feelings deeply touched me.
When I graduated from university in 2000, I decided to choose the career I liked - to become a kindergarten teacher. This is a decision that I am still very proud of.
What do you think the greatest advantage of your abundant teaching experience is ?
I have benefited a lot from my years in pre-school education. From a personal point of view, I have found my own direction in life, which is very valuable.I think that once you love pre school education, it is hard to leave the industry.
From a professional point of view, we are dealing with lively and lovely children. It is so fascinating to learn about them, to explore them and to further investigate the relationship between teaching and learning.I really enjoyed the process, especially the discussions with the teachers on how to make the curriculum refined, interesting, rigorous and dynamic.I was fascinated and inspired by the way our ideas collided. What a blessing it is to turn a hobby into a career that I love!
My 22 years of experience in the profession has given me a deep understanding of the industry. The importance that society places on preschool education, the importance of ages 2-6 to a person's lifelong development, and the expectations of parents ...... These remind me all the time of the great responsibility of our profession.
The biggest reward for me personally is that I have found the right direction for my life. From graduation to now, I have stayed in the preschool industry, doing what I love and being with children. And I will continue to do so in the future.
How would you guide the overall development of pre school after joining BMH?
First of all, I feel very lucky to be here at BMH. Because this is a team that is committed, passionate and loving. As the leader of this team, what I want to do is to help BMH take a step up in its own right. Help the team to do overall improvement and optimisation in theory, including introducing some of the more cutting-edge pre-school education concepts and methods from home and abroad, and integrating them with the learning pathways of our local bilinguals.
Furthermore, teaching and learning in pre-schools is not limited to the classroom and the school. We want to create a learning community that requires the participation of everyone involved, including the 'environment' as a third teacher.
The Mission Hills Group's rich resources, attractive ecology and diverse community will all be included as participants in our preschool curriculum, creating a unique childhood for each preschooler. Children, teachers, and parents will be engaged and the community will be active - this is what our BMH pre school will look like in the near future.
BMH is a loving, warm team with a group of professional and dedicated Chinese and foreign teachers. First of all, it is a great honour to be part of such a great team which already have a great foundation.
I would like to combine my work experience, my understanding of internationalised education and the actual situation of the pre school in the coming days to help take BMH to another level on all fronts - more refined management, a more combatant team, a deeper inquiry curriculum, and an overall improvement in English teaching ......
