Empowering students through the IB difference.
The Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, recently announced his plan for education, which involves a commitment reimagining the National Curriculum’s approach to numeracy. While I agree with the premise, surely this represents an opportunity to review whether the National Curriculum as a whole, is giving students the tools to leave school as empowered individuals with not just the academic knowledge, but the emotional intelligence needed to engage with tomorrow’s big ideas and issues.
This means that we need to not only look at what subjects are mandatory for students to study, but what content is being taught, and more importantly, how it is being taught. If we are to properly support the next generation of global thinkers and doers, we must move away from content-driven learning and look to create learning environments where students are inspired to ask great questions and are supported to find their own answers.
But, in the UK, we have an education system that is quite traditional and unable to do anything different quickly. What concerns me greatly, is our attachment to traditional assessment systems, and the belief that standardised assessments are the answer to predicting a young person’s future potential. When you really think about it, it’s baffling, isn’t it? Just because you may know the right answer to a question, that shouldn’t be a signifier, at the age of 16 or 18, that you are going to be successful later in life.
For many young people, this form of assessment is not capturing what they really know, or what they can really do. We need to think about how we can allow young people to demonstrate their mastery, their skills, knowledge, and understanding in a myriad of ways.
That’s why, we offer the International Baccalaureate (IB), because we believe that it offers authentic learning experiences, that span across multiple subjects, not just mathematics. We do this through cross-subject units of learning, which can connect art to maths, and science to history. From this well-rounded approach to education, our students gain a deeper, genuine understanding of not just the subject but the wider world around them.
I think the authentic learning experiences that we offer at ACS Egham are what makes it such a special place. Our entire school community – not just students, but teachers and parents too – is committed to learning. And, while our buildings are home to decades of tradition, it is balanced beautifully with dynamic and innovative approaches to learning that place students at the centre of the experience. I want to ensure that every ACS Egham student has access to amazing technology that supports personalised learning so that they all have the opportunity to be visible with their thinking. This gives more control of the learning journey to the student, and better prepares them to face an unprecedented future, where they know how to learn, adapt, be flexible, ask great questions, and most importantly, collaborate with people.
MARK WILSON IS HEAD OF SCHOOL, ACS EGHAM
