Dear Parents,

Over the past few weeks we have presented to students, parents, faculty and staff our ideas and plans for the proposed Design and Engineering Centre. You will all have received a brochure, STEP INTO THE EXTRAORDINARY, (http://www.aisb.ro/capital-campaign/) that outlines the curriculum expectations and plans for re-designing the space vacated by the Early Childhood classrooms when they move to the new building at the start of the next academic year. This space will be a giant leap forward in preparing our children to be more engaged in their learning and inspiring them in the fields of creativity and future employment. This uniquely designed, innovative space with a new way of teaching and learning, will offer students a fully immersive experience. This will be a state of the art learning hub that will combine academics and creativity with the power of doing.

Technology, through social media, video games, and virtual reality, is increasingly directing us away from experiencing the everyday world; the Design and Engineering Centre’s objective is to reverse this trend by using technology to help us better understand the world around us, to solve everyday problems through experiential learning and use our innate creativity to improve our quality of life. There has been much discussion in educational quarters on 21^st Century thinking, but little has been done to achieve the objectives. Such a framework of thinking centers on ‘creativity and innovation, critical thinking and problem solving, communication and collaboration’.

(Framework for 21st Century Learning – P21; www.p21.org/our-work/p21-framework)

Importantly, “Creativity is not the opposite of discipline and control. On the contrary, creativity in any field may involve deep factual knowledge and high levels of practical skill. Cultivating creativity is one of the most interesting challenges for any teacher. It involves understanding the real dynamics of creative work”

https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2015/04/22/sir-ken-robinson-creativity-is-in-everything-especially-teaching/

I absolutely agree with the above framework; our education at AISB should follow this dictum.

1. Fundamental subject knowledge and skills must be learnt – traditionally the 3R’s – reading, writing, arithmetic; coupled with interdisciplinary and cross-curricula conceptual analysis
2. The 4C’s – creativity, critical thinking, communication and collaboration
3. Life and Career skills
4. Information, media and technology skills

So, for us to provide an environment that affords our students opportunities to create, innovate and be inspired, we need our community’s help, in every possible way. We need your support through your expertise, through your contacts, through your financial resources, and most importantly, through your personal time to become engaged in this project.

We are sure that this culture of change will guide our school through its next stages of development and create an educational environment that is more than just a school; our students’ hopes, aspirations and triumphs depend upon it.