I was a mediocre student

I was a mediocre student in primary school.

I improved in secondary school. Got into college and finally started to do well. Eventually got into Harvard for my PhD in physics.

Along the way I noticed something.

Most of my classmates who topped primary school fizzled out in secondary. Many who topped secondary did not do as well in college. Most who topped college discovered that Harvard PhD programmes are full of people who used to be top of their college.

Education is a long-distance race, not a sprint.

This observation became the thesis behind everything we have built at ChildFirst over the decades.

The preschool years are not for proving your child is ahead. They are for building the foundation — independence, the right academic foundations, the human capabilities AI cannot replicate, the habits that compound over 15 years — that lets your child still be competitive when the race actually matters.

Peak too early and you may not have the stamina for the next 15 years.

I have watched 30,000 children come through our schools. The ones who thrive at 14 are almost never the same children who were 'tops' at 6. They are the children whose parents understood the difference between a sprint and a marathon — and chose the long view.

Which kind of preschool experience are you choosing for your child?