Anne Pang was born and raised in Hong Kong. Married to a British expat, she and her husband chose Woodland Pre-Schools for the early education of their two sons. Her eldest son Samuel Jenkins was at Woodland until 2014, while her youngest Matthew completed preschool this year.
How did you come to choose these preschools for your children?
When we moved back to Hong Kong when our eldest was 18 months old, we researched several nurseries and preschools around Central and Western District. We found Woodland was recommended often; it also had a good track record of placements with our desired primary schools.
We first attended Woodland’s old campus at Scenic Villas. When we met the School Head, Kitty, we liked the school and signed up immediately. Samuel had a wonderful journey throughout his time with Woodland, finishing preschool at Pok Fu Lam. With the great experience we had with Samuel, we knew we’d be placing Matthew with Woodland when the time came. When Woodland opened a neat and cosy campus in Kennedy Town, it was just super convenient for us.
What classes did your children attend?
Both boys started in Wrigglers and stayed on until they finished preschool, before moving on to primary school. For preschool, they started with half days. Later we added two afternoons, increasing to five full days. The school provides a very flexible arrangement in this regard.
How have you seen your child develop through their time at preschool?
Apart from seeing them thoroughly enjoy school time and come home happy every day, their development in all areas has been amazing – from playing with flour, finger-painting and making dragon boats out of tissue boxes, to experiencing calligraphy and writing numbers in Chinese; we’ve also seen them progress from drinking from a sippy cup to pouring a glass of water independently. They’ve also gone from learning the names of colours, to writing their own names ever so carefully in Grandma and Grandpa’s Christmas card (and teaching us the sound of each letter). And they’ve grown from toddlers mumbling gibberish to articulated little people telling us what they and everyone else did in school that day!
What do you think your child has enjoyed most?
Matthew loves his time at school because he gets to play with all his friends and participates in all sorts of fun activities every day. He loves his teachers. The other day we were watching TV and it showed Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa briefly. Matthew excitedly shouted out “I know that! We learn that in school!” Then he proudly showed us an excellent portrait of his friend that he drew in class. Throughout the years, we’ve met many wonderful teachers and staff; they’re the reason our children have had such a great journey with Woodland.
Find out more at woodlandschools.com
See more in our Schools section:
Bumper guide to international schools in Hong Kong
The 6 Ps of finding a school in Hong Kong
This article first appeared in the August/September 2018 issue of Expat Living magazine. Subscribe now so you never miss an issue.
