Business Partnerships

"The education and child care sectors are populated with people committed to the services they provide and the people they work with. The better people also inevitably have good business skills in addition to their passion for the service.

We founded and developed Busy Bees from a single site over 25 years ago to the largest private provider of early years’ care in the UK. We had a chequered history of investment support over that time, experiencing good and bad, both locally and internationally. It was vital that during our next stage of development we worked with people who had a deep understanding of education and business. The people at Knowledge Universe enthused the existing team not only with their business skills and deep experience, but also with their belief in the importance of early years’ education. They have not let us down!"

John Woodward
CEO, Knowledge Universe^®, UK
Group Managing Director - Busy Bees, UK
(Founder and former CEO, BUSY BEES)

"I founded Learning Vision in 1990 when, as a working mother and stockbroker, I could not find a suitable preschool for my children. The initial learning curve was steep. Looking back, I am proud of having established the Learning Vision brand to be the largest employer-sponsored childcare services provider to major corporations and institutions today, and a leader in the early childhood education sector in Singapore.

We are thrilled to have joined Knowledge Universe in 2007. Since then, my staff and I have been exposed to many opportunities ranging from business expansion to best practice sharing and personal development. The Learning Vision business has been further strengthened since. With the vision and financial backing from Knowledge Universe, we have even seen one of our dreams come true. After 7 years of rigourous research, with Knowledge Universe’s encouragement, we have successfully set up Odyssey, The Global Preschool in Singapore, to offer innovative experience-centred, problem-based learning experiences for children in a state-of-the-art setting. Without Knowledge Universe, that vision would have taken us longer to achieve!

Henry Ford once said "Whether you think you can or think you can't - you're right". We believe in the power of imagination to alter lives and at Knowledge Universe, this applies to everyone in the organisation, from the children we educate to our staff and the senior leadership."

June Rusdon
CEO, Knowledge Universe^® SE Asia
(Founder and former CEO of Learning Vision)

"One could say that Brighton Montessori was an enterprise founded ‘straight from a mother’s heart’! Like any mother worth her salt, I wanted the best Montessori pre-school education for my two children and this led to the birth of Brighton Montessori in 1995. Over a span of 18 years, we have touched the lives of thousands of children and I am proud that Brighton Montessori has grown to become a leading quality brand of Montessori pre-schools in Singapore.
 
As a trainer to my teaching staff, my belief is in drawing the best from each teacher. As a specialist in curriculum design and development, I am delighted that our unique curriculum incorporates special “Brighton” elements that have proven effective in both preparing children for formal learning and developing curious, confident, vocal and independent problem-solvers; most importantly, instilling in every child a wonderful love for learning.
 
In 2011, Brighton Montessori joined Knowledge Universe Singapore with the desire to serve more families. I am indeed delighted to be part of a larger family where we can together, advance our vision to inspire young minds and further my founding philosophy that each child is special and unique with precious qualities that can change the world. In the words of Maria Montessori, 'The child is both a hope and a promise for mankind.'"

Connie Cho
Chief Development Officer, Knowledge Universe^® SE Asia
(Founder and former Director of Brighton Montessori)

"I embarked on my exciting career in education in Singapore as a certified school teacher in 1971. It was during my first year, as I struggled to help my weaker 6 to 9 year old students cope with simple successes, when it dawned on me that, ‘education should have begun much earlier for them.’ This ‘thought’ led to my dream of having a wonderful place for children where childhood successes could be celebrated daily. I wanted my dream school to be the best place on earth for children.

After ten years in my role as Lecturer and Head of Department at the National Institute of Education, I decided to realise my dream in 1988 with the birth of Pat’s Schoolhouse with its pioneering Bilingual Immersion programme - with two language teachers in the class at the same time throughout the day. This was a first such initiative in Singapore.

Since then, we’ve grown by leaps and bounds and increased our enrolment from 7 students to 2500. In 2007, I decided Pat’s Schoolhouse should become part of Knowledge Universe to grow the preschool business in Singapore and beyond. I was delighted to join one of the world’s largest private education organisations to make a greater impact in the way we influence the lives of children not only in Singapore, but worldwide.

I have not looked back since joining Knowledge Universe, and at the heart of it all, Pat's Schoolhouse is now stronger and bigger only because we have together remained true to my founding philosophy of making a difference in the lives of children."

Patricia Koh
(Founder and former Managing Director of Pat’s Schoolhouse)