St Faith’s pupils steam ahead with learning
Success in this challenging and fast-moving century requires pupils to know how to keep well and safe, as well as understand how to learn and apply their skills collaboratively.
Pupils are encouraged to cultivate strong critical thinking, interpersonal and communication skills in order to develop the capacity to master knowledge and proficiency. These skills have been called ‘21st Century Learning Skills’ and include the attributes of collaboration, cultural awareness, and global awareness.
How is your child being prepared to enter this world?
Let me tell you a little about our STEAM programme and how the children from St Faith’s are already getting ready to fulfil their full potential in this new, fast moving world.
STEAM is an acronym of Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Maths. Maths, Science and Art underpin our curriculum and each have allocated times on the timetable for our pupils to study these topics in great detail. However, in the real world, which we are preparing our pupils for, you very rarely come across jobs which work within such narrow and prescribed roles. The youth of today will need to apply skills from all of these subjects to excel within their chosen career. Our STEAM programme is a wonderful delivery mechanism that addresses a broad range of the curriculum requirements in a meaningful, applied and relevant way. It promotes the personal skills required in the communities and workplaces of now and the future, where collaborating in ever-evolving ways, is paramount. Future job roles will be underpinned by a firm understanding of how to problem solve and adapt to circumstances that present themselves during a project.
Our pupils take part in three whole school STEAM days each year. On these days they work on helping solve world problems faced by those in developing countries. This year alone our pupils have learnt about and created models of devices to help; filter dirty water, build flood resistant houses and create safe hand washing facilities. On all of these days they have worked in small groups of four, with children from a range of year groups to solve these issues. On top of this, each class takes part in one class STEAM day each term. They work in our coveted ‘STEAM Room’ and have all the resources they need at their fingertips to collaboratively solve the problems they encounter. They get a taste of what it’s like to work in the outside world and how teamwork really does aid the completion of projects.
Our desire to give our pupils these 21st Century, interpersonal skills gives them experience and a head start on developing the attributes they need ‘beyond the gates’ of our happy, safe school.