The Learning Lab

The Learning Lab is a private school based in Singapore.

Description

The Learning Lab runs academic enrichment and headstart tuition programs for primary, secondary and junior college students. The Straits Times Saturday Special Report "Cramming for an A" (28 August 2010) revealed that students needed to take a test to enroll. The Straits Times stated as well that The Learning Lab's curriculum was pitched at a level 30 to 50 percent higher than that in Singapore schools. The average waiting time to get in was AbOUT a year.

The school also provides dedicated Gifted Education programs for students who have qualified for entry into the Ministry of Education's Gifted Education Program and pre Integrated Program classes.

Mediacorp's Today in its article January 3, 2012 quoted that almost 300 students enrolled at The Learning Lab scored 260 and above in last year's Primary School Leaving Examination. Students commonly gain admission thereafter into Raffles Institution, Raffles Girls' School, Hwa Chong Institution, Nanyang Girls' High School, NUS High and the other Integrated Program schools.

Four students from The Learning Lab have been awarded the President’s Scholarship by Singapore’s Public Service Commission (PSC) since 2005. 32 have been awarded the PSC’s Overseas Merit Scholarship (Open), the Singapore Government Scholarship (Open) and the Overseas Merit Scholarship (Legal Services).

The centre’s students have been awarded admissions into Ivy League universities in the US, such as Princeton, Harvard and Yale. They have also won admissions into the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge and the London School of Economics and Political Science in the UK, as well as the medicine, law and business faculties in NUS. Several have also been selected for entry into the elite University Scholars Programs in NUS, SMU and NTU.

The Learning Lab has three facilities. These are located at Mountbatten Square, Rochester Mall and United Square. Each facility has an average of 30 classrooms. There are Science activity lab benches and libraries.

The design themes have a futuristic, high-tech slant. Learning wings are named after global cities and hub centers, such as Silicon Valley, Stanford, London, New York, Boston, Paris, Geneva, Stockholm.

Past students have subsequently been awarded President Scholarships and other Public Service Commission scholarships. Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, Oxford and Cambridge are universities that past alums have gone to for undergraduate studies.

Curriculum

Not much is revealed except that its curriculum is pitched at a level 30 to 50 percent higher than in Singapore schools, according to the Straits Times.

Today's article "Glee, Warren Buffett, and much more" reported on 30 July 2011 that The Learning Lab's curriculum teaches children about Hungarian-American financier George Soros, as well as topics such as the United States Presidential Elections, the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix and the sub-prime mortgage crisis, as part of its curriculum for Primary 2 to Primary 6 students.

Also covered are leadership case studies on Warren Buffett, Lionel Messi, September 11 attacks, China's and India's rise, the Glee phenomenon and the entire gamut of new social media - given that "these are must-know issues if our kids are to thrive in their complex new worlds". The Straits Times disclosed that Science experiments and projects included studies on rabbit traits and behavior.

Today quoted that the curriculum was well received, that "kids loved this special exposure as they found it fun to keep on top of global affairs ... and become world-ready".

The curriculum management units are organized along subject and age-group lines. These curriculum management units generate its proprietary teaching materials and case studies.

Leadership Programs

"Nurturing future leaders" is the school's tagline. It encourages students to dream big dreams and set concrete plans to achieve individual aspirations.

Leadership development programs include space camps with ex-NASA engineers and motivational seminars with co-leaders of the Singapore Women's Everest team.

The school sent student contingents to the Harvard Model Congress Asia, as well as the World Scholars' Cup in Shanghai.

The curriculum research units interweave leadership components into the teaching materials. Students develop their leadership, critical thinking and presentation skills as critical success factors for excellence in the real world. Premium is placed on creativity and perseverance as well.

In 2011, The Learning Lab's top three students scored 283, 282 and 281 respectively in the PSLE. They were also the top 3 students nationwide.

In 2010, the school's top 3 students scored 282, 279 and 278 respectively nationwide. They were ranked first, second and seventh respectively nationwide.

See also

• Gifted Education Programme (Singapore)
• Integrated Programme
• Education in Singapore