Educate
The Young

Inle Heritage Private School

Inle Heritage Private School (IHPS) offers a forward-thinking and holistic education with a focus on student-centered learning. Housed in sky-high bamboo structures and a green backyard, we currently teach preschool and elementary level - with plans to expand to middle school next year (Grade 5) and high school level in the near future.

Critical Thinking

IHPS is an officially registered private school that follows the government curriculum but infuses it with innovative and student-centered teaching methods.

We offer extra English, Art, Music, and PE classes as well as Environmental Studies during which students are encouraged to be curious, to ask questions and explore their green surroundings. Our well-stocked library also plays a key role in helping them to learn more about the world, develop their imagination as well as their language skills.

 

Our teachers are learners, too: they attend intensive training during the school year and the summer break to develop their teaching skills to meet the standards IHPS sets for itself.

We also believe that we cannot educate our children without reaching out to their parents. Through effective communication, regular parent-teacher meetings as well as monthly sessions with a specialist in child development and psychology, we work closely with families and together aim to make our school a better place for everyone to learn, grow and thrive.

Creativity

We believe spending time outdoors fuels creativity. Our compound has a expansive playground, a football pitch, a fruit and vegetable garden, and chickens our students are encouraged to tend to, a sandbox for preschoolers, and much more.

Students also develop their creativity with exciting arts and crafts projects using a wide variety of materials such as clay during their weekly pottery making class. During their music lessons, students learn music theory, how to read music and play both traditional and modern instruments.

Sustainability

The school’s unique bamboo structure reflects the curiosity and sustainability that we nurture in our community. It is a fantastic support for informal education and offers a chance for students to develop a better sense of responsibility towards their environment to hopefully become the green leaders of tomorrow. From the youngest age, we teach our students to care for the environment and practice good, green habits such as recycling, reducing plastic use, waste disposal and gardening.

Heritage

Heritage is the final component of the four pillars Inle Heritage Foundation and IHPS are built upon. It is important for students to learn about their cultures and share them with others. In engaging with the local communities and teaching our students about the different cultures, traditions as well as traditional arts and crafts, through school trips and on-site workshops, we encourage them to become better citizens of the world.

School Life

The school year at IHPS starts in June and runs for nine months. Preschool runs from 8.45 to 3pm, five days a week. Elementary School runs from 8.45 to 4 pm. Lunch and snacks are served daily.

At IHPS, we promote a sense of community by having students participate in feeding the chickens and caring for the garden. Students have rotating responsibilities, such as: line leader, board eraser, sweeper, energy hero, weather monitor, chair stacker, etc. Our aim is to develop civic responsibility, independence and creativity.

For KG – Grade 4 students, each day starts with assembly: they gather under the flag, sing the national anthem and the national students’ song. Then, our principal delivers a short, positive precept that encourages students to think about their life at school and outside of school. Usually, it’s about valuing independence and preserving it by being a good citizen—which begins with being a good student. Other days, it’s about patience, empathy or moral responsibility.

Facilities

Our school has an expansive playground, kitchen/canteen, multi-purpose room for our library and the music classes, football grounds, a fruit vegetable garden, a chicken coop and more on its four-acre site. Each has been designed with sustainability in mind.

Students engage in their community by taking ownership: feeding the chickens and taking care of the garden. We plan to add obstacle courses, carpentry, basket-weaving, environmental studies and sports to the schedule. Our aim is to develop civic responsibility, independence and creativity in our students.

Our programme

IHPS follows the government curriculum but offers extra classes and activities in order to stimulate new passions and personal growth.

Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.” (Benjamin Franklin)

We encourage our teachers to create innovative lesson plans and teaching aids, to develop and teach critical thinking skills, integrate more hands-on learning, and discussion in the classroom as well as outside for students to develop a growth mindset, empathy as well as their curiosity and creativity.

We also believe that in order to offer a better quality learning environment, class size matters. For that reason, all our classes are limited to 25 students maximum.

The bamboo story

Our building's remarkable architecture is inspired by the phrase "learning stops when you stop asking questions". We want its striking appearance to inspire people to constantly learn and ask questions, to care for their local community but also to think bigger.

Bamboo as a material is a great alternative to wood because of its better sustainability. Unlike wood, which is dwindling in supply for many reasons, bamboo is abundant in Myanmar.

We have chosen to use this material not only to nurture curiosity among our teachers, students and their families, as well as the local community but also to inspire them to live more sustainably, and for our students in particular to embody sustainable living in their daily lives at IHPS.

Meet our Principal

Aung Kyaw Swar is former Principal of IHHVTC and founder of A Little Eco-Lodge. After working for a few years in tourism, he studied Environmental Engineering in Bangkok and then worked in business development before coming back to Inle Lake to focus on his first passion. He suffered from long delays in his education, so he saw a need for alternative ways of learning and finding jobs. He calls the young IHPS students ""gems in the forest"", whom he hopes will keep their natural and cultural heritage alive.