Interview with Simran Kaur, Founder of Stage & Such

Other than the food and beverages industry, education is one of the hot areas in Singapore given it’s aim to become an education hub for the region. How about running a school for kids between six months old and six years old? It may sound impossible, but Simran Kaur, founder of Stage and Such found a niche in the education sector with her company, Stage and Such. We interviewed her on what inspired her to set up Stage & Such, why the company offers services for a niche market and her thoughts on the education industry in Singapore.

BL: Hi Simran thank you for taking time to do this interview. What did you do before setting up Stage and Such?
Simran Kaur: I’ve wanted to own and run a early childhood centre for as long as I can remember. After graduating from NUS Business School, I started working as an assistant teacher at one of the leading international pre-schools in Singapore. I felt that it was necessary for me to be privy to the ins and outs from the bottom up in order to be successfully be able to run my own early childhood institute.

At that point, MCYS was tightening its requirements for teacher qualifications so I began pursuing my Certificate in Pre-school Teaching (CPT) while working. After about 9 months, I was offered a teaching post.

By then, I had quickly come to realize that assistant teachers were involved in and were privy to a host of varied aspects that regular teachers weren’t. We were shuttled between classes on very little or no notice when teachers were on leave and because of that, I had the opportunity to not only work with children of different age groups but also assist teachers who had diverse teaching styles and classroom management techniques.

After about 18 months, I left to pursue my Diploma in Teaching & Leadership full time. During my 2-year course, the extensive practicums coupled with the hands on assignments lent me even more insight into the field.

It was at this time that I also set up Little Angels – a behavioral management consultancy that helps parents deal with their children’s tantrums and other behavioral issues.

When I graduated top of my class and valedictorian in April this year, my lecturer and mentor said to me “If someone with your passion and aptitude for the field doesn’t go out and do something, I would have little hope for the future of early childhood scene in Singapore.” That was my trigger and with a lot of support from my husband and loved ones, I decided that there was no time like now.

BL: What inspired you to set up the Stage and Such?
Simran Kaur: Having completed my education here, I understand the rigorous nature of the school system here. However, I spent a couple of my summer vacations (while at NUS) interning at Canadian & Australian pre-schools in Japan & Thailand. These were real eye-opening experiences for me and possibly the source of my first inspirations (and revelations) that learning could indeed occur without worksheets and stressful spelling tests!

That fueled my desire to bring about a change in the way children learn here and that is also the reason why I went into teaching right after graduation.

BL: Can you briefly tell us about Stage and Such? What does it do?
Simran Kaur: Stage & Such is an exclusive lifestyle type membership for children aged between 6 months and 6 six years. We have a range of classes that develop children’s ability to question, potential to explore and most importantly their aptitude to embrace new and diverse experiences.

Each class is an eclectic mix of music, warmth and creative energy. The mix of classes we offer is deliberate in terms of heightening children’s self-awareness and confidence.

Speech & Drama focuses on developing children’s ability to communicate effectively through the arts.