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, Cambdrige and IB as well as having excellent teachers gives the a great platform for the students to succeed.

Every student at GENERATIONS has an Individual Learning Plan (ILP). ILP contains the individual learning goals of the student and how these are addressed by the school and at home. Teacher and parents meet to update and discuss the plan and to see what the progress has been with the student overall. ILP focuses on the holistic development of the child.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. Parents are encouraged to inform the school of any specific wishes, namely for Finnish language learning.

GENERATIONS invests mostly on its most cherished resource: its teachers. GENERATIONS is comprised of the highest quality and most accredited teachers from different countries. Focus on maximum quality means the school employs only native speakers as language teachers, only Finnish teachers to be homeroom teachers, and caps the size of all its classes at 16 students. It is very common in a normal class at GENERATIONS to have more than one teacher with the class, providing qualified support based on the assessed needs. The management team and teachers are guided by the Individual Student Plan that each student benefits from, so that all their interests and needs are always catered for. This investment in quality and customised service results in higher fees, which are between 10% and 20% higher than the market.