We picked ISKL because, like many parents, I have spoken to, it’s a ‘feeling’ one gets from the moment they walk through the front gates. Whether it is being greeted by the security guards with their smiling faces, or the reception staff at the office who take the time to stop what they are doing and look you in the eye when they speak to you, it happens instantaneously.

On our first visit to ISKL, our children were spoken to with kindness, respect and a genuine interest in who they were as individuals. This simple, yet often overlooked exchange, set the scene for how they would later be nurtured in their classroom environments. We are now in our third year at ISKL and each and every year they have been taught by exceptional teachers.

The ISKL early childhood program truly takes the philosophy of developing the whole child through play-based learning seriously. Within weeks of my children commencing in Prep Junior and Prep Senior, their teachers knew in great detail about their interests and strengths, as well as their family and social history. They gathered information through attentive 1:1 and group time in creation station spaces, readers and writers workshops, math sessions, discovery centers, and the extra-circular programs of art, music, physical education and world language.

On top of the high-quality academic program ISKL offers, our children have been exposed to celebrations and rituals from around the world! This is probably the part that we will all miss the most. From the flag parade to specific cultural celebrations like Deepavali and Hari Raya, they have dressed up, showed up, and learned first hand about food, customs, and traditions that they would never have been lucky enough to otherwise.

So while we leave Malaysia ready to go back to our home country Australia, I am confident that I can say our children have been given the absolute best start to their education and we will miss ISKL immensely. The Melawati Way has become part of the way that our family thinks about ourselves, each other and our environment both on and off the campus. This is a testimony to a school that walks the walk and doesn’t just talk the talk.

Thank you to all of the ISKL community we have had the privilege of one being a part of. You are different. Keep being different and teaching our kids about the importance of differences.