Tan Poh Yok
Founder & Director
Education Consultant
Co-Founder, Coalition Against Bullying for Children and Youth (CABCY), Singapore
Qualifications
Bachelor in Early Childhood Studies (Honours)
Master in Education (Learning Support and Special Needs)
Poh Yok has been in the teaching profession for more than 30 years. She started off as a teacher and counsellor in the 1980s, working with students from disadvantaged backgrounds. In 1988, she transited into early childhood education and was a pre-school Principal for around 20 years. Poh Yok continued her passion in early childhood by being involved as the Curriculum Consultant to several pre-schools in Singapore, customizing developmentally appropriate, child-centered curriculum to suit the needs of individual centres as well as providing teacher training support to these centres.
Poh Yok has been training teachers in Singapore and overseas for the past 20 years. She specializes in modules such as Classroom and Behaviour Management, Supervision and Leadership, Character Education and Special Needs. She is also involved in conducting teacher and parent training workshops and seminars, setting up pre-schools and providing educational and curriculum consultancy services to organizations in Indonesia and Cambodia.
Poh Yok is also an Advocate for Anti-bullying policies. She is the Co-Founder and pioneer member of the Coalition Against Bullying for Children and Youth (CABCY), Singapore. She has been involved in anti-bullying projects such as conducting workshops for students, teachers and parent support groups as well as participating in school events to raise awareness and educate schools and the public on anti-bullying issues.
In the past 5 years, Poh Yok expanded her interest and passion in working with young children to that of working with mothers and babies. She is a Certified Infant Massage Instructor, awarded by the International Association of Infant Massage (IAIM).
Rebecca Tan
Founder, Music & Curriculum Specialist
Rebecca has enjoyed music as far as she can remember. Her first experience in group music lessons started at the age of 5. She was then singled out by her teacher for having the potential to learn at a faster pace. Rebecca started individual lessons thereafter and sat for her first ABRSM exam at 6 years of age. She believes early music education and passionate teachers were instrumental in building a good foundation in her musical journey, enabling her to grow as a music lover and musician.
Rebecca’s formal music training began in Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) under the tutelage of Mr Timothy Ku. During which, she obtained her DipABRSM (Diploma of The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music) and LRSM (Licentiate of the Royal Schools of Music), and graduated with a Diploma with Distinction. She then trained to be a Secondary School Music teacher at the National Institute of Education. Having gained some work experience in Secondary schools, she decided to further her studies and was offered a place in reputable schools such as the Royal College of Music and Birmingham Conservatoire in UK. She graduated with a Bachelor of Piano Performance with First Class Honours from Birmingham Conservatoire, having studied with renowned pianists Mark Bebbington and David Quigley.
As a performer, Rebecca’s experiences include NAFA’s concerts such as “All about Piano”, “An Afternoon with 19th Century Music” and masterclass with Geoffrey Saba. She has also performed with the NUS piano ensemble and was a guest pianist in the Esplanade Recital Studio. In Birmingham Conservatoire, Rebecca was selected by her tutor to perform in the Lunchtime Performance Series and English Music Festival.
As an accompanist and chamber musician, Rebecca actively does piano accompaniment for ABRSM examinations, competitions, auditions, MEP exams and vocal performances. She also plays for weddings and gigs with chamber ensembles. Rebecca was the piano accompanist for the arts programme “KnockOut” on Okto, where she worked with artists Sheikh Haikel and Annabelle Francis, and vocalist William Lim. She was also invited by Singapore Lyric Opera to be their accompanist.
As a church musician, Rebecca has played regularly for worship services since the age of 9. She has also been playing the organ for church since the age of 15. In addition to that, Rebecca has been the accompanist for the church choir in the past 5 years. She attributes her proficient improvisation and sight-reading skills to her experiences in playing for church since young.
As a teacher, Rebecca has taught the General Music Programme in Secondary School where she developed the curriculum in keyboard skills for the school. She also taught ‘O’ Level Music and designed and delivered the various components of the programme such as Music History, Music Analysis, Composition, and World Music. The cohort she taught achieved outstanding results with at least 75% Distinctions and the lowest grade being B3.
Rebecca also does freelance piano teaching, and has taught students ranging from 5-22 years of age. She has a special interest in developing resources and activities for her lessons. One of her major projects in Birmingham Conservatoire was to create a series of music games which help learners to improve in note recognition, rhythm, and harmony. Her project was highly commended by her tutors, who indicated interest in marketing the products in the UK.
Tabitha Tan
Founder, Early Childhood & Special Needs Specialist
Tabitha Tan holds a Master of Education (Early Childhood Education) from National Institute of Education, Singapore. She also holds a Bachelor of Education specialising in Special Education from Flinders University, Australia. She is a member of the Golden Key International Honour Society. Tabitha is also a qualified preschool teacher, having obtained a Diploma with Merit in Early Childhood Education from Ngee Ann Polytechnic.
In the early childhood industry since 2006, Tabitha is a practitioner of inclusive education. As a teacher in a mainstream school, she worked closely with parents of children with special needs and specialists to formulate individual education plans (IEP) and learning goals to cater to the children’s specific needs and integrate them into the regular classroom.
During her years of teaching, Tabitha was a finalist in the Ministry of Education-Association for Early Childhood Education Singapore (MOE-AECES) Outstanding Kindergarten Teacher Award in 2010. Her class projects were awarded the MOE-AECES Outstanding Kindergarten Innovation Award with Distinction in 2009 and Merit in 2010.
Following that, Tabitha was a Curriculum Consultant to several preschools from 2014 to 2016. She developed integrated curriculum packages for each school, and conducted teacher training for the implementation of the curriculum.
Having enjoyed singing from a young age, Tabitha was a lyricist and music coordinator for a musical production staged by the drama company in Ngee Ann Polytechnic. Tabitha continued her role as a music coordinator when she was a preschool teacher, training and preparing the children for the year-end musical concert. She also played the piano for school celebrations and daily assembly.
Tabitha has a special interest in early intervention and has worked with children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Asperger’s Syndrome, Pervasive Development Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified, Dyslexia, Auditory Processing Disorder, Mild Intellectual Disability, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and speech and language impairment ranging from ages 3 to 16.
Caris Ee
Teacher
Caris started learning piano at the age of eight and completed her ABRSM Grade 8 piano examination in 2017. She was the leader of her Guzheng CCA in Secondary School at West Spring Secondary School and completed a Guzheng Grade 6 examination in 2014.
She graduated with a Diploma in Music (Classical Music) at LASALLE College of the Arts, under the tutelage of Mr Aloysius Foong. While studying in LASALLE, she participated in several performances organised by the Classical department including at Aureus Music School, Mount Elizabeth Hospital and Alexander Hospital, Lunchtime concerts, as well as the Piano Voyage 2019: Into the Underworld.
Caris has a special interest in working with children with special needs. She plans to pursue further studies in Psychology or Special Education in order to combine her knowledge of classical music with psychology in her teaching practice.
Kimberly Sim
Teacher
Upon graduating with a diploma in New Media from Republic Polytechnic, Kimberly embarked on a promising career in graphic design and illustration. However, in 2017, her experience in teaching arts and crafts revealed her true calling in early education and clear aptitude for working with children.
As a performer, Kimberly is multi-talented and versatile, having done a variety of performances that showcase her skills in singing, acting, and dancing. She has successfully completed a two-year acting programme under The Young Company at the Singapore Repertory Theatre, sung in an a cappella group under The A cappella Society’s Youth Voices and done several plays and musicals, including The Fall (2018), Aida (2019) and Seussical (2019).
Kimberly holds a Bachelor of Arts in Musical Theatre from LASALLE College of the Arts. She hopes to spread her love and appreciation for music to children in the many years to come.
Vernis Chua
Teacher
Vernis started her music journey at the age of five. Starting with group lessons in Yamaha music school, she has enjoyed making music since a young age. Currently studying piano performance in Yong Siew Toh conservatory of music, she has experiences in ensemble playing and accompaniment. She has had experience playing other instruments such as the electone and clarinet.
For Vernis, teaching the piano is about showing the joy of music to her students. It is also about them forming a love for music at a young age. She enjoys imparting knowledge about music to her students, and seeing them enjoy their lessons.
Vernis was a relief teacher at a primary school and also taught individual piano students upon graduation from junior college. She believes in exploring the joys of music together with her students and helping them develop a fond relationship with music from a young age.
Race Lim
Teacher
Since childhood, Race had been very interested in music. After attending music and rhythm classes when she was 3 years old, she started learning the piano at the age of 5 and the guzheng when she was 7 years old. Race completed her ABRSM Grade 8 Piano in 2019 and is currently preparing for her diploma.
Through various volunteering projects with her school, Race has worked with children of various ages, backgrounds and special needs. This sparked her interest in working with children. She hopes that she can help more children to, like her, discover the joys of music from a young age.