Interview with Kingsway College School PARENT, Erum Hasan

The reason I picked KCS was because we were looking for a school that would have a more personalized approach to learning. I found that they constantly promoted a personalized approach. They like to identify the strengths of each student, their weaknesses, and build on that. They like to identify the strengths of each student, their weaknesses, and build on that so that learning is not the same process for everybody. I had visited a lot of different schools, and I walked into the lobby, and it's not a very scientific answer, but I felt something… and I just found that I felt like it was going to be a second home for my kids.

The part that is the most important is that my children feel recognized by their school teachers as people, as individuals. And I think that that will give them and help foster a sense of self-esteem, which will carry them through life because it's happening at a very formative stage. And kids need that from people other than their parents, other adults who see their sense of their accomplishments, who recognize their abilities.

I think for my children, the thing they appreciate the most about the school are all the unique extracurricular and social activities that the school promotes. And this is always the most fun for them. It allows them to step out of their very academic selves and experiment with their own personalities and their own skills.

The other aspect that they really enjoy is that, anything that they are passionate about individually, is something for which they can find a voice at the school. For instance, my children are really interested in social justice issues. So one was able to present to the whole school about Black Lives Matter, whereas another student, my other child, was able to form a diversity club at the school. And so anything, any issue that is really close to their heart and that they're deeply passionate about is something that is supported by the school in ways in which it can have a positive impact on them and the community at large.

What I appreciate most about the school are really the teachers. I mean, the teachers are phenomenal. They are really in a class of their own. I've never seen this cohort of teachers, and it's not like you get one good one and then a few bad ones. They're just generally very good, involved, communicative teachers. They're very clear. They're very open to conversation.

There is a parent community that is really supportive of one another. And if you need help, someone will pick up your kid or drop them off. It's a very nurturing, sharing environment. You realize you’re raising your children in a village, and KCS provides a village, outside of that.

The school is really committed to learning. The teachers are always undergoing different kinds of training. Sometimes I see adjustments in the senior management's roles, and you can really see how committed the school is to constantly face the new challenges that come about, face the challenges of tomorrow and adapt their learning and be open to the kinds of new ideas that come forth.

There's a community service club at the school, and kids are supported in identifying different ways in which they can support different marginalized groups or projects or organizations that may need their support. The other element is also the way I see the school nurture students and how to interact with one another, the way they deal with conflicts among students, the way they deal with challenges, I really am impressed by how well the student body gets along with one another.

My experience with the teachers and administration has really been excellent. The teachers are very approachable, and there isn't necessarily a fixed date when you can talk to them. If you feel like there's issues arising or you want to discuss something with them, they will be accessible.

You're getting a school that is really focusing on the whole student. So you are getting an education for your child that is looking at them as a full person with lots of different skills and abilities who's supporting them in their academics and really helping them to achieve more and more, learn more and more, but also a school that is nurturing their social identities, nurturing their roles as citizens, nurturing them as artists. And for me, that is really an incredible educational model.

My children love going to school. Their friends love going to school. School is a place which brings them joy, safety, comfort, laughter, learning. And so for me, that is the biggest thing that I want for my children; to have happy children.