Together making a difference

THE CONCEPT OF SYAFAAT CHILD SCHOOL


Background
Syafaat Foundation is concerned with education for young generation in Lombok, Indoneisa, and is establishing a school for early year (2 up to 5 years old) children. Such school is well-known as "Pendidikan Anak Usia Dini (PAUD). The foundation is located in a strategic area 3 km outside of Mataram, the capital of West Nusa Tenggara Province. Being surrounded by beautiful panorama of Lombok's country side, the foundation is a perfect location for establishing nature based education for early year children.

Education for early year children (PAUD) is aimed at providing stimulation for children (from just born up to 6 years) to help their phisical and spychological development before entering formal education. PAUD helps create situation in which children can learn their environment through playing. For instance, at PAUD children are introduced with various floras and faunas, and taught to interact with others. The children are also taught to look after themselves, and led to be self supporting.

Challenges
Despite the importance of PAUD for children's pre education, many parents do not bring their children to PAUD. The parents may have some reasons, such as:

1. PAUD is an expensive education
2. PAUD is still percieved just as a children's place to play.
3. Lack of children's motivation
4. Lack of proximity

Opportunities
A number of circumstances provide opportunities for Syafaat Foundation to start-up a child school. These include:
• The location of Syafaat Foundation, which is close to the capital and situated with rice field and mountain views, is a perfect place for such a nature-based education for early year children.
• The increasing number of early year children with lack of support to acquire pre-education in the villages around the foundation.
• The increasing number of female workers in Lombok resulted in the early year children acquire insufficient attention and guidance from their parents when staying at home, particularly during working hours.

SYAFAAT Child School


1. Study Model
​Syafaat Child School (SCS) will be a nature based school with several main concepts as follow:

2. Learning while playing in the nature
Children will be guided to play and learn with various things they see and find in the nature, such as sand, plantation, and fruit. The children will be taken to play in countryside in order they can develop their imagination and creativity related to nature..

3. Learning model
Children will have 25% indoor activities where they are introduced about things using particular means such as pictures, idols, photos, and movies. Further, the children will have 75% outdoor activities where they can discover the things that they learnt in their class.

4. Mini Zoo
The children will be involved in the establishment of mini zoo where they can learn to look after animals such as chicken, birds, rabit, goats, ducks, and iguana. In such mini zoo, the children can observe animal's behaviours and develop their imagination and affection towards animals.

5. English Day
Englisah day will be given once in a week. In English day the children are taught some English songs, and told Enghlish stories. They also watch English child movies and learn to English words..

6. Entrepreneurial Activities
The children play model as seller and buyer to help develop their imagination about becoming entrepreneur and self supporting.

2. Programs
Syafaat Child School (SCS) will open two programs including playground, and play garden. Playground is a program for children where they have a three-hours playing and learning from Monday to Friday. This program opens at 09.00 and closes at 11.00. In this program, children are guided and taken cared by profesional teachers (10 children are guided by one professional teacher and one assistent teacher).

Play garden is a program for children whose parents having whole day work. The children stay in the foundation for 10 hours (from 07.00 to 17.00). For this program, children are taken cared as they are at home: they are provided with meals and sleeping rooms. This group of children joins playground program from 9.00 to 11.00 and fruther having lunch and midday sleep. In the afternoon, the children play while learning following their caretaker's guidance. Ten children are guided by a professional teachers and two assistance

3. Facilities
Syafaat Foundation has a number of facilities to support the SCS, including:
a. Three learning and playing rooms
b. a swimming pool for children
c. a land (ricefield) for practising agriculture
d. fishpond for fishery
e. a wide ground for outdoor activities
f. 24 kid sleeping rooms
g. an office

4. Future facilities and programs
• Library
• Playing ground
• studying while playing
• Marching band and traditional dance
• Outdoor activities

Agenda

The Syafaat Child School will be starting in September 2014. Recruiting profesional teachers and child caretaker will take place on September. Before starting up, the teachers and child caretaker will follow a three-months job training on October, November, and December. Those who pass the three months job training will be recruited as SCS teachers and child caretakers.