At Inspirasi, we know our values will help us stand out.

Our leadership and educators have an obligation to demonstrate our core values everyday as Inspirasi is a moral habitat where we work collaboratively to pass these values and beliefs to our students.

Out learners have an obligation to practice these values, assess their own behaviour and reflect how their actions can make a difference to others around them.

Our parent community has an obligation to support us at school and at home to help mould our student’s resiliency and attitudes, especially in these times of change.

We know that an out-standing educator can help improve student outcomes. We also know for that to happen, there needs to be a positive connection between the teacher and the learner.

The question we in Inspirasi asked is this - What are the fundamental attributes of an out-standing educator to allow for these positive connections to be made?

After more than 20 years of research and experience in the education sector we have found that an out-standing educator needs 8 fundamental attributes that will help make a huge difference in the student’s learning journey. 

Educators need to be Earnest, Funny, Firm, Enthusiastic and Consistent. They need to subscribe to Timeliness. Must be Open-minded and must inherently be Researchers.

These qualities aptly form the term “E F F E C T O R”.

In our quest, to seek innovative ways to hire and train EFFECTORs, we partnered with Deloitte (Singapore) to look at cutting-edge HR practices of more than 20 successful corporations across the worlds, including Google, Face-book and Apple. We have today a unique and innovative playbook to hire and train EFFECTORs from within our communities and beyond.

The EFFECTOR^TM model for recruitment

This is a human-centered approach which is commonly used in design and management frameworks. The approach keeps the experience of the candidate in mind throughout the hiring process.  At all times throughout the hiring process, the approach seeks to identify EFFECTOR qualities. Throughout the journey, a teacher persona is created to reflect teacher types - pinpointing who they are, what they like, what they do in the relevant education context and what EFFECTOR qualities they demonstrate. The candidates that best demonstrate most of the EFFECTOR qualities are selected and recruited.

The EFFECTOR^TM model for training

Studies show that while organisations invest a lot in learning, these learning outcomes don’t always translate into better performance. Here the main problem is that learning is often treated as a one-off activity, when instead it should be continuous. It is with this in mind that the EFFECTOR^TM model uses the very innovative Bersin’s Four-E approach to create a continuous learning culture in successful organisations.

 If there is one area of focus that they all subscribe to - its competency-based learning, where students progress in class at their own pace and depth.

At Inspirasi our curricula will vary depending on the country we are in and the local regulatory requirements. But not our approach. Inspirasi schools focus on mastery where clear learning outcomes for each child is defined based on their ability. We provide our learners with the feedback they will need to progress.

Our curricula will be project-based and our students will be doing projects all year round. These projects will be aligned to the United Nations Sustainable Goals (UNSDGs) where our students will acquire knowledge, and apply them to solve real-life problems in their own communities. The project-based approach also focusses on developing research, analytical skills, collaboration, and presentation skills.

Because Inspirasi is a network of schools across borders, our students will be involved in projects with Inspirasi students in other countries. Besides making international friends and networks, this will help with their holistic development as they will be exposed to different cultures. In many ways each Insiprasi school is an international-national school.

STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics) will sit central in our school program in guiding student inquiry, dialogue, and critical thinking.

The rigour of our program will continue to look to academic success as we appreciate that this plays a role in their phase of their educational journey and choice of universities. Sports and the Creative Arts will complement the overall program. Every student will also learn to play chess.

In the early years, we will draw from the Singapore education system to ensure the fundamentals are set right, after all Singapore is constantly rated as number one in worlds PISA rankings by OECD. You cannot code if you cannot do math, nor can you present or share an opinion if you cannot write properly or have no interest to read. So our focus will always be on the foundations of literacy and numeracy.

As our students progress to the middle and high school, there will be a continued focus on their academic performance. Students will also be learning about organisational skills and time awareness. Our Program will help them understand how to negotiate around conflicts, and they will learn to self-advocate. Our Program will look to cultivate individual passion while helping our students make safe and ethical choices.

Both formative and summative assessments will play a role in helping our students progress. Parent engagement will play a key role as we believe parents are partners in the learning journey of our students.

Technology will play a key role in enabling teaching and learning.

Chess

The average gamer plays for about 6 hours of video games every week. The debate as to whether video games are good or bad has been going on for a long time and will continue.

In Inspirasi, we offer an alternative to video games; Chess.

The history of chess can be traced back nearly 1500 years. Siegbert Tarrasch a German chess player once said “Many have become chess masters, no one has become the master of chess.” Made popular by players like Bobby Fisher, Garry Kasporav and very recently  Magnus Carlsen and the Netflix series, the Queens Gambit, Chess is a game of strategy, patience and logic.

All Inspirasi students will learn to play chess through our comprehensive, structured and modular programme designed by world class chess players. 

Research has shown the chess increases brain activity and can  help  improve a player’ IQ. It is a game that teaches and improves the student’s analytical and problem solving skills as players are always thinking two or three moves in advance. It is a game of patience and strategy where players look at their own vulnerable positions, making sacrifices with the aim of cornering the opponent. Every move is a unique step and requires a sense of creativity. It helps improve memory as players need to memorise sequences and the logic behind those many strategies. Research even suggests that chess can improve reading skills of the student as the cognitive processes for both activities are similar.

During the pandemic, our team in Inspirasi huddled and re-examined work and learning environments in our schools as well as others across the globe. We saw how communities became more health conscious than ever before. Therefore in our schools we always advocate stringent health and safety policies in our daily activities. 

Facility management in Inspirasi schools is not just about painting walls and replacing tiles. It is about building our expertise around health and hygiene. Our schools work with independent safety auditors to ensure good health and safety standards.

We have all now seen the vulnerability of our environment.  Inspirasi school designs levitate to eco-friendly concepts as we understand the role of our infra-structure in helping accelerate carbon-foot print reduction. Recycling is emphasised. Each time we open a new school, we look at efficiency around our features and operations that will support the United National Sustainable Goals (UNSDGs). 

A school building reflects the school’s culture and brand, and therefore we insist Inspirasi’s position on the environment must be physically evident and not just reflected in words on our website or brochures. 

When we establish an Inspirasi school, our team looks to the careful design of space to ensure sterile and unused areas are activated to reduce densities. These are turned into pleasant, green areas that will prevent over-crowding and allow the students to spread out and just to hang out. These spaces are also carefully composed for ease of movement promoting meaningful connection and collaboration without crowding. We aim for every Inspirasi school to be accredited with local green building councils. 

A lot of thinking in an Inspirasi school design goes into the need to reunite communities fragmented and scarred by social distancing through colour, appropriate lighting and expanse. 

Inspirasi schools are unequivocally aimed to promote the physical, mental, and emotional aspects of our students and teachers as they interact.

In 2021, SIS was named by Capital Finance as the “Best Educational Institution in SE Asia” for the impact the Group has brought to the communities where our schools are established.

Our schools mirror these best practises and processes.

These international networks and close partnerships with international organisations provide us with vast opportunities to tap on education consultants and schools across the world for sharing and collaboration purposes. Our relationships with the Ministries of Education in the country we establish our schools allow for informed updates on changes to curriculum and practices. Our good relationships with local and international universities provide us with opportunities to show case the talent of our graduates.

Our internal systems and processes are the main drivers for the creation and implementation of the unique culture of collaboration between all our schools. This includes regular meetings between our educators from different schools to share learning points and best practices and having access to a shared central repository of teaching materials and teaching methods guidelines.

Our comprehensive feedback systems allow us to gather feedback from principals, teachers, students and parents for improvements all year round. Comprehensive on-boarding and induction programmes for our educators to blend into the Group’s pedagogy and culture.