Why is GENERATIONS the most expensive school in Macau?
GENERATIONS was created to give young people living in Macau access to an innovative education designed to meet internationally recognised standards of academic excellence. We have carefully selected an outstanding teaching team that delivers personalised learning in small classes, within a modern and effective learning environment. Our aim is for every student to be well prepared to meet the challenges of higher education successfully—whether in Macau or overseas, including at leading universities around the world.
A premium-quality educational project naturally carries financial costs, which we work hard to keep in fair balance: affordable enough for families, while ensuring the long-term sustainability of an excellent education. For this reason, we do not believe it is accurate to describe GENERATIONS as an expensive school when considering the facilities, opportunities and individual support we provide, as well as our continuing commitment to meet the legitimate expectations of families who choose GENERATIONS.
More accessible than it may seem GENERATIONS is not necessarily the most expensive international school in Macau. In most year groups, its tuition fees are broadly comparable with those of other premium international schools, although exact comparisons naturally depend on the grade level and the services included.
In addition, through corporate discounts already available to employees of a growing number of partner companies, GENERATIONS can in some cases be a more accessible option than other high-fee schools in Macau. Parents are warmly encouraged to contact GENERATIONS to learn about the opportunities currently available. Expressions of interest can also help the school engage with employers and expand its network of corporate partnerships and employee benefits.
Quality and individualisation—not scale GENERATIONS is positioned at the higher end of the market because of its deliberate investment in quality and individualisation, rather than size. Classes are capped at 16 students, allowing our international teaching team to know every child well and tailor learning to each student’s strengths, needs and individual pace. The school also maintains a very high teacher-to-student ratio and a well-established wellbeing team, including specialist support whenever needed across different aspects of personal, social and academic development.
This means that students who need additional learning, language or wellbeing support can receive it promptly. At the same time, students who are ready for a greater challenge are given meaningful opportunities to extend and deepen their learning, rather than being limited by a one-size-fits-all approach.
In short, by choosing GENERATIONS families invest in a highly personalised educational experience: small classes, strong relationships, specialist support, and the capacity to nurture and challenge every student.
What are the Values and Story of GENERATIONS?
Generations International School was founded by Macanese families, with centuries of presence in Macau. The vision of its founders is to create a School that celebrates and preserves the best of the Macanese heritage, while also benefiting from the best educational systems and practices from an international standpoint. It is for this reason that all three major languages spoken in the city are mandatory in the curriculum, and are taught taking into account their cultural context, making Generations a truly Macanese and trilingual school.
The School celebrates the Macanese heritage while always promoting knowledge regarding China, the Greater Bay Area, and the Portuguese speaking countries, among other regions of the world.
What is the GENERATIONS Curriculum?
Kindergarten follows SISU Kids programme based on the Finnish Early Childhood Education and Care model.
Primary follows the SISU Students programme based on the Finnish Common Core Curriculum and Cambridge International Curriculum in English Language, Mathematics and Global Perspectives.
In Lower Secondary we follow the International Baccalaureate (IB) Middle Years Program and in the future, we will have the IB Diploma Programme in Higher Secondary. In all levels of education, we comply with the local Macau Education Bureau (DSEDJ) requirements.
What are the benefits of the Finnish System?
When planning the school, the founders conducted extensive research on the best educational systems in the world, and compared them with what they perceived as being specific needs Macau children and families could have.
The internationally acclaimed Finnish system and its approach and balance between high academic achievement and emotional and physical wellbeing presented itself as a wonderful combination to offer families from Macau and abroad. Generations implements the Finnish methodology, approach and curriculum, with the first two being very inquiry based, and focusing equally on academics and life skills, promoting independence, resilience, and passion for learning. This methodology is applied throughout all grades, with particular focus on Kindergarten and Primary. In Secondary, the IB program complements the Finnish methodology beautifully as it is guided by the same principles, making it a seamless transition.
In order to ensure the adequate and truthful application of the Finnish system, all homeroom teachers in Kindergarten and Primary are Finnish, with a multinational group of native speaking language and subject teachers.
What is the Finnish Methodology and its benefits?
Finnish methodology focuses on creating individuals who can communicate, work and operate in any situation and with any people. The Finnish education system has received outstanding academic results in global rankings, but still values and develops the skills of the students to become responsible individuals who are resourceful and innovative.
In the Finnish system students practice the skills to become active learners who not only master the academic content but can apply it in various situations in different ways. Instead of being a passive learner and focusing on memorizing, the focus is on applying the knowledge in different contexts.
Is the curriculum taught in Finnish?
The main language of the School is English, with the second and third languages being Portuguese and Chinese respectively.
The Finnish language may be taught based on interest shown by parents and students, as an extra-curricular activity or club and parents are encouraged to inform the school of any specific wishes, namely for Finnish language learning.
What are the strengths of the Finnish teachers?
Finnish teachers are required to have a five-year Master’s degree in Education from selected Finnish universities. Teachers’ profession in Finland is also highly valued. This has resulted only 10-15% of applicants being accepted into the teacher training programmes. The strength comes from being innovative and having the professional capability and autonomy to arrange the teaching the best way they see from their professional point of view.
What distinguishes our Kindergarten from others?
The GENERATIONS kindergarten focuses on life skills from the beginning of the school path. The ages 3-8 are considered as the sensitive period of creating self-esteem, interaction skills, curiosity and fostering the love for learning.
The daily life in the GENERATIONS kindergarten focuses on inquiry-based learning of different phenomena and learning the skills of becoming a confident individual, while utilising all three languages of English, Portuguese and Mandarin as ways to effectively communicate.
What are the benefits of Cambridge and IB?
Having Cambridge International Curriculum on selected key subjects such as English language and Mathematics ensures the comparability and compatibility of the learning content with other educational systems. By adopting Cambridge and incorporating it with SISU Programme we ensure the effectiveness of overall GENERATIONS educational programme.
IB’s Middle Years Programme (MYP) promotes similar pedagogical practices and goals that students already start familiarizing in the SISU Programme in Primary. This creates a clear continuum from Primary to Secondary.
Based on research information, the IB Diploma Programme (DP) gives the best tools of any other programme for Higher Education studies and gives the best possibility for admissions to the top universities at the end of the Secondary school.
What are the benefits of having a maximum of 16 students per class?
The relatively low number of students in a class ensures that the teacher can give more individual focus for each student. This way the teacher is more aware of the individual needs of the student and their specific style of learning, which results in better learning results.
How does GENERATIONS compare to traditional schools in academic results?
The approach to learning and education in GENERATIONS is different from traditional schools but not with compromising the academic results. Academic excellence is of outmost importance.
The mindset and philosophy in GENERATIONS is to teach the students how to apply the content they have learned in different situations instead of only memorizing and learning by heart. Following world-class educational programmes and their requirements in SISU, Cambridge and IB as well as having excellent teachers gives the a great platform for the students to succeed.
