Posted in Campus Owners on Monday, August 22nd, 2016 For Gladys Ng, owning two Maple Bear schools in Singapore is a dream come true and the pinnacle of a long, meaningful career in early childhood education. Her passion for working with young children saw her work as a preschool teacher and later becoming a vice-principal of a preschool. Her trajectory in education was taken to the next level, however, after a casual meeting in November 2013 with Patricia Koh, now director of Maple Bear Singapore. Mrs. Koh first proposed to her the idea of setting up her own childcare centre under the Maple Bear brand. The rest, as they say, is history: Gladys, her father and several friends joined forces and opened Maple Bear Pasir Panjang in February 2014 and Maple Bear Claymore Connect in August 2015. Gladys believes strongly in the Maple Bear curriculum which she feels is aligned with her own philosophy towards early childhood education: “As an educator myself, I have always believed that children’s learning should not be rushed. Maple Bear provides just that; it encourages children to learn through meaningful play experiences, in a relaxing yet nurturing setting,” she says. Both the Pasir Panjang and Claymore Connect centres have done exceptionally well with their enrolment numbers. With 40% of students coming from expat families, Maple Bear’s bilingual curriculum is particularly attractive for parents. “The bilingual program is extremely important,” says Gladys, “especially in a multi-racial country like Singapore. Many of our children will soon transition to primary schools where they need to have a strong foundation in both Mandarin and English, as well as a good understanding of diverse cultures.” Witnessing the real-life results of the bilingual immersion program has been gratifying for Gladys. She recalls one student who started at Maple Bear two years ago speaking only his native German and left this year to start primary school capable of having entire conversations in Mandarin with his Chinese teacher. Now that’s a success story to make any educator swell with pride!
Recognizing the benefits of having excellent training resources available to Maple Bear schools at all times, Maple Bear Global Schools’ faculty has been diligently working on six foundational videos that are due to be released globally in January of 2021. These videos have been designed and led by our faculty for new teachers and for teachers who just want to refresh and review the basics. TRAINERS CAME TOGETHER TO DEVELOP TOPIC RELEVANT VIDEOS Drawing upon our talent pool of Canadian educators, these training videos were developed collaboratively. Jocelyn McPike, Director of Training and Quality Assurance called together a committee of very experienced trainers and leaders (Claire Maxwell, Beverley Bennett, Arpi Babaian) to discuss and identify priorities, then flesh out the topics that would constitute the core foundational areas. The guiding aim was to enable Maple Bear teachers just starting out on their journey to bring our globally recognized and highly sought after Canadian program to life in their classrooms. The committee identified six key areas that would best serve teachers new to Maple Bear, and those wishing to review the essentials of Maple Bear practice. 6 TOPICS WERE SELECTED TO HELP OUR TEACHERS SUPPORT THEIR STUDENTS The next step was recruiting faculty with expertise in those areas to design, develop and then present the six foundational videos. Here are the six topics and the educators presenting the Foundational Training videos: A guide has been written to accompany the six videos. It will be a companion piece, a support to assist teachers to not just watch the videos, but to interact with them by thinking deeply. There will be guiding questions for consideration, discussion, and planning. Each section will have links to additional resources to encourage teachers to explore the topics in-depth. These six new Foundational Training videos and the guide will be distributed to all Maple Bear schools in December. They will also will be made available on the Maple Bear Global School Intranet and the Maple Bear Digital Learning Community MBDLC. Each teacher who reviews all six videos will receive a completion certificate from Maple Bear Global Schools, further reinforcing the importance we place on the professional development of our teachers. These new online teacher training tools are just one example of how Maple Bear is responding to COVID-19 and assisting its teachers globally as they continue to offer the best of a Canadian education for a global future to their students.
Even in the midst of a global pandemic and the resulting economic downturn affecting countless companies and countries, there are, gratefully, signals of positive growth. Maple Bear continues to dominate the international education sector as the fastest growing school brand in the world. Currently we have schools in 20 countries: Bangladesh, Brazil Bulgaria, China, Hong Kong , India, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, Philippines, Romania, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United States, and Vietnam. Our latest expansion news confirms that investment in Canadian education remains a sound, powerful venture, creating a positive impact on children, on their future and on the future of their country. We are pleased to announce that this year, we will be opening additional schools in Albania, Croatia, Oman, Peru and Serbia. And in 2022, there are additional commitments to open Maple Bear schools in Argentina, Australia, Kenya and Paraguay. Rodney Briggs, President and Founder of Maple Bear Global Schools had this to say about the expansion plans: “The past 11 months have been challenging in a myriad of ways. Despite all the uncertainty, it is clear that reliable, quality education continues to be in-demand. The continued growth of Maple Bear around the world during this time is recognition that parents and investors alike are confident in the Maple Bear model which delivers the best of Canadian education for a global future.” With more than 534 schools signed and opened in 29 countries around the world, we are proud of this accomplishment and excited for the future. And as we look beyond the pandemic, we will continue to share our high quality education system and to raise passionate learners who will make a difference in the world. If you are interested in the possibility of owning and opening a school in your country, please head to our Own A Maple Bear School website.
One cannot ignore the value of diversity within an organization. Maple Bear Global Schools is a Canadian company with tremendous minds and multicultural mindsets, working together to bring the best of Canadian education to the world. With pride, we embrace this unique advantage as we know that with this level of diversity within our global organization comes many benefits that touch all aspects of our organization. Multiculturalism and diversity are foundational to the Canadian identity. This is why the nature of Canadian education is built upon a multicultural approach. Since its foundation in 1867, Canada has had two official languages, English and French. The country has also welcomed immigration and diversity. Maple Bear takes these Canadian values to heart and uses them to inspire the work that we do. Delivering our high-quality Canadian education system to over 500 schools in 30 countries is no easy task. The breadth of knowledge and experiences throughout our network of schools is an asset that we do not take for granted. DIVERSITY AT MAPLE BEAR THRIVES THROUGH ITS PARTNERS Last month, we hosted the first-ever virtual Global Partners Meeting, convening our joint venture partners from across the Maple Bear global network. Each representative introduced their region, as well as their unique features, their strengths and the challenges they face. It was an essential opportunity to strengthen connections, open channels of communication and networking between our partners. Global partner meetings like these will now happen on a regular basis, allowing us to capitalize on the strength of our diverse network through the sharing of best practices and resources across borders. We take advantage of unique perspectives and experiences from our partners around the world. It fosters sharing of ideas, innovation, and creativity, things which can only strengthen our business, our brand, our policies, and the quality of our education model. Maple Bear is the best choice as an educational investment because it has an inherent focus on acceptance and understanding. The curriculum is developed by Canadian academic experts who have strong foundational and first-hand knowledge of an education system modeled on a multicultural and inclusive approach. It is also an excellent choice as a business investment because we are a global brand that benefits from a strong international network of like-minded business owners who are passionate about education. Maple Bear is uniquely experienced in offering an education with a global perspective, while still personalized to local government regulations and each community’s unique needs. Accepting and embracing diversity is a key component to the success and growth of Maple Bear Global Schools. If you wish to know more about opportunities for school ownership, please head over to our Own A Maple Bear School website.
Posted in Maple Bear Global on Tuesday, October 12th, 2021 The Maple Bear Global team is proud of the first-ever global edition of the Maple Bear magazine “The Bear”. The vision of a magazine that could be used throughout the Maple Bear network has been long in the making. Since 2016, Maple Bear South Asia and Maple Bear Brazil have led the way in creating magazines for their own geographic areas. Several of our other regional partners expressed an interest in having a publication to share with both interested parents and potential investors. The intention was set and sleeves were rolled up to get to work on this global marketing project. THE VISION FOR A GLOBAL MAGAZINE COMES TO FRUITION THROUGH COLLABORATION ACROSS THE GLOBE Through extensive collaboration across regional offices, a universal global magazine was produced with the unique ability for each country to modify and customize their version to include content to meet their target audience. Michelle Tice, Vice President of Global Communications, had this to say: “As Maple Bear continues to expand its reach globally and attract more investors, we felt it was an excellent time to centralize some of our regional best practices, one of which being the Bear Magazine, to ensure every one of our partners has access to and can collaborate on these important marketing tools.” MAGAZINE HIGHLIGHTS THE ELEMENTS THAT MAKE A MAPLE BEAR EDUCATION GREAT Our magazine touches on the key aspects that make a Maple Bear education great. Some of the topics we cover include: Feel free to view and read our magazine by downloading it HERE.