Our Curriculum
At Caterpillar School Bali, we believe every child is unique, capable, and full of potential. Our curriculum is designed to nurture curiosity, confidence, and compassion, helping children grow into joyful learners and responsible global citizens.
Inspired by the strengths of Finnish education, aligned with the British Curriculum and Pearson International Standards, and enriched by Montessori principles, our program provides a balanced and meaningful learning journey for every child.
Teaching Philosophy
NURTURING MINDS. BUILDING CHARACTER. INSPIRING LIFELONG LEARNING.
At Caterpillar School Bali, we believe that children learn best when they feel safe, valued, and inspired. Our teaching philosophy is rooted in respect for each child, trust in their natural curiosity, and the belief that meaningful learning happens through experience, relationships, and purposeful play.
We draw inspiration from the strengths of Finnish education, the structure of the British Curriculum, the global benchmarks of Pearson International, and the child-centred approach of Montessori principles. Together, these influences shape a curriculum that is balanced, joyful, and meaningful.
Our goal is to nurture confident, compassionate, and capable children who are ready for future learning and for life.
OUR BELIEFS
CHILD-CENTRED: Every child is unique. We honour their individuality, interests, and strengths, and create learning experiences that build confidence and a sense of belonging.
LEARNING THROUGH PLAY: Play is the foundation of learning. Through purposeful play, children explore, imagine, create, and make sense of the world around them.
INQUIRY & EXPLORATION: We encourage curiosity and questions. Children are active explorers who investigate, discover, and construct their own understanding.
STRONG FOUNDATIONS: We build essential literacy, numeracy, and thinking skills through meaningful, engaging experiences that prepare children for future academic success.
WELLBEING AT THE HEART: Inspired by Finnish education, we nurture wellbeing, mindfulness, and emotional balance so children grow as happy, healthy, and resilient individuals.
GLOBAL STANDARDS, LOCAL HEART: We follow the British Curriculum and Pearson International Standards while embracing our local culture and values to develop global citizens.
INDEPENDENCE & RESPONSIBILITY: Guided by Montessori principles, we support children to become independent, responsible, and capable learners who take ownership of their choices.
CHARACTER & GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP: We nurture kindness, respect, empathy, and integrity, values that help children contribute positively to their community and the world around them.
PARTNERSHIP WITH FAMILIES: We believe learning is a partnership. We work closely with families to support each child's growth at school and at home.
We believe that when children feel seen, supported, and challenged, they grow into confident, compassionate, and capable learners, ready for life. This is the heart of who we are. This is The Caterpillar Way.
Finnish Education Model
Inspired by Finland's world-renowned approach to early childhood education, we take the best that Finland has to offer and combine it with other best practices in our progressive, emerging curriculum. It enhances children's perspective, active participation, curiosity and creativity, embodying the importance of play and exploring.
The National Curriculum
The British national curriculum ensures children at Caterpillar reach their potential in terms of academic development. With daily phonics sessions and a focus on the development of Maths and English so that each child at Caterpillar will gain the skills needed to succeed.
Pearson
Based on the latest English National Curriculum (2014), with an international approach, the programme is written with learners of English as an additional language (EAL) in mind. The programme includes a range of subjects including English, Mathematics, Science, and Global Citizenship, for children aged 3 to 11
Eight Signature Practices
The heart of how every Caterpillar child learns and grows:
INQUIRY LEARNING
Children explore real questions, investigate, and discover answers through meaningful experiences.
PROJECT-BASED LEARNING
Learning is connected through projects that encourage creativity, collaboration, and deeper understanding.
REAL LIFE PRACTICE
Children learn by doing, through practical life skills that build independence and confidence.
LEARNING CORNERS & JOURNALS
Inviting spaces let children explore at their own pace, and learning journals help them reflect on and celebrate their growth.
CHARACTER BUILDING
We nurture kindness, respect, responsibility and resilience, so children grow with strong hearts and values.
MINDFUL & WELL-BEING
Mindfulness and gratitude practices help children develop emotional balance and self-awareness.
KIDPRENEUR (PP & PRIMARY)
Children are empowered to think creatively, solve problems and create value through our Kidpreneur Lab.
The Caterpillar Curriculum Comprises of 5 areas of learning:
1. Healthy ways of living
Encouraging the development of positive wellbeing, social skills and physical development.
Indonesian Culture
To embrace and instill appreciation towards the unique richness of the culture surrounding us, we are implementing Indonesian Culture as part of our teaching and learning, starting from the Pre-K level. Students will be introduced to the arts, way of living, values, and language of Indonesia (Bahasa).
Extra Curricular activities
We also offer a wide range of extra curricular activities, with weekly swimming lessons and music lessons, yoga, sports and arts with specialist teachers.
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Finland's Education Model
In Finnish early childhood education, learning is understood as a lifelong process. Free play is a natural way to learn physical, emotional, social and intellectual skills. Every child has a right to be heard, seen and listened to as an individual and as a member of their community.
Caterpillar School Bali has followed Finland's Education Model since 2023. Finland's holistic approach is grounded in the belief that 'childhood is a valuable period of life'. Children are respected as individuals and whole persons, so emphasis is placed on their overall growth, development, health and wellbeing, not just on academic skills.
Informal Assessment
At Caterpillar School Bali we employ varied tools and strategies for assessing children learning. All teachers adopt best and current practices to assess learning and plan their interactions with the children. Some of the tools used for informal assessment include observation, portfolios, anecdotal notes and checklists. Screening assessments give teachers valuable information about where children are developmentally. They sort information based on defined criteria and help determine individual learning goals.
The reporting to parents is done through Progress Reports Cards at the end of every term, four times a year. Parents also have an opportunity to witness their child’s learning journey through the interactive learning platform ' Seesaw'. Each parent has access to their child’s portfolio, which is an evidence of learning.
About Seesaw
Seesaw is a digital interactive learning platform that gives families a window into what's going on every day in their child's classroom. Parents get notified when there are new posts in their child's journal. They can view posts and add likes and comments.
At Caterpillar School Bali, teachers post daily on Seesaw. Once they are logged into the app, families can check their child's portfolio every day starting from 4.pm. Parents can also download their child's pictures or videos once it's shared.
