We are thrilled to announce the launch of `The Hive' our Lego Education Innovation Studio, which was officially launched by The Mayor of Godalming, Cllr Penny Rivers and her consort, Paul at the start of the autumn term. We are very grateful to the Friends of St Hilary's for their generous donation to this.
Read below the launch from the perspective of our Year 2 parent, Mrs Gardiner.
Being a Year 2 rep, I was very lucky to be invited to the opening of St Hilary’s Lego Education Innovation Studio – THE HIVE - by Mr Fairbairn. I was not sure what to expect of the morning but I definitely did not expect The Mayor of Godalming to be there for starters. We met in the parents lounge for teas and coffees and then moved across for the opening of The Hive which the Mayor did by cutting a beautifully tied red ribbon.
Year 3 pupils got to scamper in ahead of us and the name of the hub became very apparent as soon there was a buzz of activity in The Hive and I am not sure who was happier, Mrs Whittingham and Mr Fairbairn finally getting to see all their hard work paying off, or the children - pure pleasure and excitement on their faces - because what awaited them inside was the most beautifully organised room of Lego which is every child’s (and some adults) dream!
The children were then ushered out and we got to hear from Mr David Gregory – Head of Innovation for Lego Education on what an Innovation Studio is and the learning philosophy behind it. There are only 59 Lego Innovation studios in the UK and most of these are only in Senior schools, colleges and Universities – he was very excited that St Hilary’s had seen the importance of exposing our children from a very young age to this form of alternative education, as he says it is crucial in the ever changing world we live in and I agree!
St Hilary’s chose to focus funds raised by the Friends of St Hilary’s (FOSH) in order to provide pupils with the opportunity to engage in 21st century skills including critical thinking, creativity, collaboration and communication, through a hands-on learning approach. This will be achieved through STEM (Science/Technology/Engineering/Mathematics) subjects using Lego Education 4Cs learning approach (more on this later). St Hilary’s will be working with Lego Education over the next three years to develop ‘The Hive’ as a hub for training educators and engaging children.
Here are some snippets of the presentation:
The World Economic Forum drew up a list of jobs for the future and the following character traits and knowledge will be needed:
1. Complex problem solving
2. Critical Thinking
3. Creativity
4. People Management
5. Coordinating with Others
6. Emotional Intelligence
7. Judgement and Decision making
8. Service Orientation
9. Negotiation
10. Cognitive Flexibility
It is estimated that 65% of children entering the primary school system today will ultimately end up working in completely new job roles that don’t yet exist.
The Lego education 4Cs learning approach is designed to address and develop the above skill sets into education through play and systems are designed for playful learning:
1. Connect
2. Construct
3. Contemplate
4. Continue
Mr Gregory also recommended we all watch the following TED Talks which I found fascinating
Sir Ken Robinson: Do Schools kill creativity: THIS IS BRILLIANT and funny and the most watched Ted Talk of all time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY
Tony Wagner:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvDjh4l-VHo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54gzmxlPbsA
It’s also worth googling Alt School which is a start-up school system in Silicon Valley, America.
But back to why I as a parent really valued the morning spent in The Hive - seeing first-hand the ways St Hilary’s is trying, and recognising the importance of, different forms of learning alongside the more traditional main stream education.
I know ALL our children are greatly going to benefit from The Hive – my daughter had her first lesson in it on Friday and could not stop talking about it and to be fair, neither could I – I had to build a duck and a robot that could drive and turn which was connected to an iPad. All I can say is thank goodness I was partnered with Mr Fairbairn, who basically gave me a lesson in robot building and I was beaming like a 6 year old when our robot completed the task that was set for us.
I think we need to have a parents Lego club at The Hive now!