Ms. Amy-Leigh Hood is the Western Co-Principal, Early Childhood Education (ECE0 at Yew Chung International School of Hong Kong (YCIS). After her studies and working as a Kindergarten teacher in South Africa, she decided to expand her early childhood teaching experiences and moved to Hong Kong. Here, she talks to Ritzy about her background, her typical day at school and school selection tips. She also shares with us the Twelve Values of the Yew Chung Approach which help students build a strong foundation and range of skills from an early age, as well as her strategies in equipping students for future development.
Could you tell us about yourself and your journey in YCIS? What brought you there?
I grew up in South Africa, being involved in and exposed to many different ways of schooling through my school years and community work that I engaged in. I knew from a young age that I wanted to work in education. After my studies, I began working as a classroom teacher in a Kindergarten. I soon realised that I wanted to expand my teaching experiences and deepen my understanding of early childhood education, which led me to move abroad.
My husband and I moved to Hong Kong 11 years ago as I was offered a job at YCIS ECE. We have three wonderful young children of our own and are embracing the opportunities afforded to us while we live in Hong Kong. It is amazing to hear our children learn how to speak Mandarin and to learn from our colleagues and friends about different cultures and perspectives. I started as an ECE co-teacher in our four-year-old programme and became a team leader while teaching a full-day programme. I then taught an Infant and Toddler class before moving into full-time leadership as a campus coordinator. I then moved into an Assistant Principal before becoming the Western Co-Principal.
What are the 12 values that your school emphasises? How does this approach to education help students build a strong foundation and range of skills from an early age?
We have been fortunate to partner with Dr. Stephanie Sanders-Smith from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Her research has really highlighted and articulated our daily work with young children. The Yew Chung 12 Values highlights the importance of how we as educators view children and the approach we take in our interactions with them. It is important that we view children as competent and capable individuals who are worthy of our respect and admiration. That we interact with them through relationships that are authentic, respectful, and trustworthy, as we know children who feel safe and secure within an environment are able to learn and engage on a deeper and more meaningful level.
By providing this foundation of safety and security, we can then build upon it by providing significant learning opportunities for children through intentional provocations, enriching environments, and co-constructing. This strong relationship foundation also allows us to further develop children’s multilingual abilities while strengthening their home language and communication abilities. Providing children with opportunities to initiate play ideas that are of interest to and are meaningful to them allows them to develop skills that support their foundation learning, skills, and knowledge.
As children engage in our programme over a period of time, we see strengths in resilience, problem-solving, communicating and negotiating, self-regulation, critical and creative thinking, and pro-social skills emerging. Having these skills as a foundation on which they can build is essential to their further learning and development.
What is a typical day like at the school as a principal?
My day starts early as I check in on messages and emails from home. Once I arrive at school, I make my way to my office to drop off my bags, have my green smoothie, and then join any one of our five ECE campuses to welcome children for the day and greet families. This is one of my favourite parts of the day as I connect with our families and children. After gate duty, I usually pop back into the office to check in with Ms. Lo, my Chinese Co-Principal partner, before heading to spend time in the classroom, support a teacher or work on one of our many projects.
Just this last week, my mornings have included checking in with families, helping to fetch a classroom turtle for another class to spend time with, attending a budget meeting, working on some new initiatives around technology for Early Years, creating some Professional Development and some planning for a big event we have coming up on our TKO campus.
I spend my lunchtime catching up and connecting with colleagues. I love hearing about what their classes have been exploring in the morning. In the afternoon, I usually work closely with Ms. Lo or our leaders on projects, planning, brainstorming, or developing different aspects of our programme and try to pop into a classroom or spend time in the outdoor spaces on campuses. While my days are always busy and never really the same, I am so grateful to be a part of the work we do as we support children and families in different ways. It’s heart work for me.
How does Early Childhood Education in YCIS equip students’ future development? Can you tell us your strategies?
Our approach to Early Childhood Education allows us to ensure a strong and deep foundation of skills is developed for students that promote being responsible and respectful members of a wider community where they are able to interact, work with and innovate with others as well as access the knowledge and information they need. This strong foundation allows students to exponentially increase their knowledge and skills as they move through the year levels. The skills adults need to succeed today are most likely different from those our current ECE students might need when they are adults. So equipping them with a solid grounding in the ability to be critical and creative thinkers, have the social skills to work effectively with others, initiate and innovate ideas and reflect on their learning is a focus for us. It is important that the children with us at YCIS ECE learn how to learn! A child-centred, play-based approach strongly linked to the Yew Chung Approach allows us to do this.
What school selection tips do you have for prospective parents?
Think about what is important to you as a family for your children and the types of experiences you would like them to be a part of for their first five years. We know that choosing a school for your child is a big decision. Visit the school, ask the questions you might have, and ask to speak to the school leaders. Reflect on the values you would like to instill in your child and find a school that strongly aligns with what they say and what they actually do each day!
Look at what the school offers regarding multilingual learning and engaging and inviting environments that promote curiosity and ownership. Listen to how the school speaks to your child and about children – children should be viewed as worthy and deserving of our respect and admiration, celebrating who they are as individuals. Be intentional in seeking out a school that promotes community and ways to support you as a family as you raise your child through their early years.
