A look down the lens at IB CP Digital Arts
ACS International School Hillingdon is delighted to announce our plans to create a Creative Design And Technology Centre for students to enjoy.
Now more than ever, the world needs global thinkers and doers. As educators, a fundamental way to achieve this – and to ensure our students leave school with the academic, social and emotional intelligence to empathise and engage with tomorrow’s big issues – is to continually invest in modern, purpose-built facilities.
Off the back of a successful first year of the International Baccalaureate’s (IB) Career-related Digital Arts course, ACS International School Hillingdon is delighted to announce our plans to create a Creative Design And Technology Centre for students to enjoy. This unique space will be a brand-new hub for our Upper School students to study, collaborate, investigate and innovate in the ever-growing field of fine art, visual arts, design and technology including film-making, animation, VFX, coding and robotics. Not only will it be a dynamic learning environment to unlock creativity and invigorate the imagination of our young people, but it will also provide a platform to invite the brightest brains from across the industry who will all have real-life experience, insight and advice to share with our students. We will welcome workshops from industry leading experts and exhibitions showcasing bright emerging talent – this space will enable students and the wider community to share ideas, learn and will be the bringing together of ACS Hillingdon’s ongoing commitment to visual arts, drama and music.
Our world-first two-year sixth-form course, delivered through the CP, first launched for Grade 11 students in August 2021. In order to run the course, we established an exciting partnership with Creative Media Skills (CMS), which is based at Pinewood Studios (the studio which has seen the production of the Star Wars and James Bond franchises) in nearby Slough. CMS provides top level training led by some of the most experienced crew members in the UK, and therefore, offered an attractive practical element to our students.
Since launching, students have completed modules in animation, 3D modelling, game design, visual effects, and computer programming – all vital skills for employers in the creative industries. The course also enabled students to develop a plethora of engaging hands-on skills needed by the film industry, from screenwriting, film production, set design, visual effects and animation, to costumes and make up.
One particular highlight for our students from this academic year was when we visited Pinewood Studios to participate in a professional set-design workshop with Art Director, Terry Ackland-Snow, who has over 50 years’ experience working on blockbuster franchises including Aliens and Superman. The workshop enabled our students to learn specialist skills and develop a portfolio – something which is essential if they are considering pursuing a career in the industry.
And that is, essentially, the main reason why we wanted to offer the Digital Arts course: to prepare young people for successful careers in industry. As a result of the practical way of learning, our students come to lessons with a genuine enthusiasm as they are able to connect their new skills with authentic learning experiences inside, and outside, of the classroom. Ultimately, this nurtures their love of the arts, which in turn drives their success in school.
Students have also reported first-hand a sense of freedom and independence when learning in an innovative industry environment. From filming to animation, they are doing new and exciting things they wouldn’t be able to do in a classroom, but, more importantly, are surrounded and educated by inspiring industry experts, thus building their important professional network from the age of 16.
In July, we will have our first set of Digital Arts results and I’m so excited to share our student successes and achievements with you. Thanks to this rigorous qualification, we will have opened doors to some of the best universities in the world to our students, nurtured a passion for film and the digital arts, and prepared students to be both academic and career-ready, no matter where they go next.
Andy Groark is Head of Creative Arts at ACS International School Hillingdon
