SPARK Certification for Pre-schools

The search for a suitable kindergarten or childcare centre is no elementary matter for parents, who might consider issues such as teaching standards, class size and programmes, cleanliness, safety and how well the school is managed. To help parents with this process, in November 2010 MOE launched SPARK, or the Singapore Pre-School Accreditation Framework. This is a quality assurance framework aimed at raising the standards of local pre-schools and giving parents an objective guide to the island’s pre-schools.

There are now 69 SPARK-certified kindergartens and childcare centres, which have been endorsed by MOE after a rigorous assessment of their programmes and facilities. The external appraisal is carried out by qualified assessors who are experienced educators well-trained in early childhood education. Pre-schools which meet the mark are awarded SPARK certification, which is valid for three years.

Apart from offering quality assurance to parents, SPARK is also a means for pre-schools to benchmark themselves against the best practices in the pre-school sector. “It provides a structured approach for our pre-school to examine the effectiveness of our education programmes,” states Mrs Doris Yeo, principal of the PAP Community Foundation Kindergarten (Bukit Panjang), which was SPARK-certified in November 2011. “It has set a good learning pace for the staff and also creates a cohesive learning and teaching environment for all.”

A mark of quality

As Mrs Fong Yoon Fah, Assistant Director for Pre-school Education, explains, SPARK is an endorsement of quality for pre-schools that enable the holistic development and well-being of children aged four to six – that is, from Nursery to Kindergarten 2. “Quality is not just about the pre-school’s programme,” adds Mrs Fong. “It is about how processes are put in place to enhance teaching and learning. It matters how the leadership and management bring the programmes, teachers and resources together.” Indeed, leadership quality is one key criterion for SPARK assessors, who also evaluate planning and administration, staff and resource management, curriculum, pedagogy, health, hygiene and safety, before giving the thumbs-up.

After a pre-school is deemed to have met SPARK’s standards for health, hygiene and safety, assessors spend another two days with the school. They interview the principal and teachers, observe lessons, inspect the physical environment and go through relevant documents for the administrative processes to thoroughly understand how the pre-school carries out its educational programme. They then submit a report to a MOE committee for endorsement..

SPARK is not mandatory for pre-schools, but it has certainly has benefited those which applied. Sharing her experience, Ms Tessa Tay, supervisor of Pat’s Schoolhouse (Mount Emily), which received the certification in September 2011, says, “It helped us identify our blind spots, areas which we might not have looked at.”

For Mr Seet Lee Kiang, general manager of Kinderland Educare, which runs five SPARK-certified Kinderland centres, the application has helped drive further improvements in the pre-school’s programmes. “The process has been very enriching,” he reflects. “Our teachers and staff have continued to forge closer bonding and share ideas which contributed greatly to the growth of the centres.”

Building on strengths, working on weaknesses

Pre-schools which do not make the cut can review their practices based on the assessors’ feedback and reapply for SPARK assessment when they are ready. Pre-schools can also sign up for a quality assurance consultancy programme, in which experienced early childhood education practitioners guide the pre-school to help plug gaps in their processes.

SPARK thus provides the impetus for pre-schools to raise their game and help parents narrow their search for a quality experience for their children. This double benefit is why NTUC First Campus (NFC) applied for SPARK and has since obtained certificates for seven of its centres. As Ms Lynn Heng, Group Professional Leadership Officer of NFC explains, “We applied for SPARK to demonstrate our commitment to provide quality programmes for our children, support our staff to embrace a culture of continuous quality improvement, and also assure parents that our pre-schools are able to meet the mark in all aspects of pre-school education.”

SPARK certification is just one of various criteria which parents can use to select a suitable pre-school for their children.Mrs Fong advises, “Besides the child’s affinities, parents should also consider curriculum approach, physical environment, fee, distance from home and convenience of transportation.”

Parents can also talk to the principals of their shortlisted pre-schools to find out more about their programmes and get a feel of the school’s approach towards collaborating with parents. As the saying goes, “It takes a village to raise a child” – parents and pre-schools can work together to develop every child’s passion for learning.

To view a list of pre-schools which are SPARK-certified, please visit the Pre-school Link Portal.