Whilst working on the continued implementation of the GEMS Innovation Strategy, I thought I'd look back to some of the work we did at Royal Dubai School. I dug up these happy memories! Some common factors that stand out and that I will now take forward are:
1. The children are always involved and at the heart of the innovations.
2. Everything is a team effort!
3. The more authentic the challenge, the better the learning.
4. Opportunities for global collaboration are a basic curriculum entitlement.
5. Showcasing success leads to more success for our children!
4. Opportunities for global collaboration are a basic curriculum entitlement.
5. Showcasing success leads to more success for our children!
Now back to work!
Children of GEMS Royal Dubai School go Supersonic
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3rd October 2010 by Wendy Berliner - Director Parental Engagement : Over two amazing days in November, 40 children from GEMS Royal Dubai School, aged between 7 and 11, attended the inaugural BETT Middle East technology show in Abu Dhabi.
These lucky children were the only ones in the whole of the UAE invited to take part in the World Class Learning exhibition, sponsored by Promethean and run by world-renowned expert on future learning, Professor Stephen Heppell. Not only that, but the children also worked with the Bloodhound Supersonic Car team, led by former land speed world record holder Richard Noble OBE and his Chief Engineer, Tony Parraman. The Bloodhound SSC aims to be the first car to break the 1000mph barrier in 2012. The budding young engineers were challenged to design, build and race a working model car, based on the same technological principles as the real Bloodhound.
Whilst working on their designs, the children also used digital cameras, iPads, iPhones, laptops and Promethean boards to record their learning and share their experiences in real time with their parents, friends and the world at large. Visitors to the exhibition witnessed video conferences with children in Hong Kong, Turkey and the UK, in a variety of languages, including Arabic, Turkish and English, as young learners collaborated to improve their designs.
To crown it all, the eight children who produced the winning cars at BETT, will have their names engraved on the real Bloodhound SSC. They will be joined in the history books by two other GEMS RDS children, who were successful in the ‘Design the next Bloodhound’ competition: Kalen Burns (winner, 4-7 category) and Anas Larabi (runner-up, 8-11 category). This competition was open to all children in the Middle East.
All in all, these lucky children enjoyed two days of truly world class learning, on a global platform. This is not the future of learning. This is learning now – at GEMS Royal Dubai School!
Royal Dubai School children lead the way at BETT Middle East 2011
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On 25th October 2011, 20 children from Years 5 and 6 joined Professor Stephen Heppell’s ‘New Worlds of Learning’ team on the centerpiece ‘Teach Live, Learn Live’ at the BETT Middle East technology exhibition at ADNEC, Abu Dhabi.
The talented, hi-tech children used an innovative new iPad application, ‘100 Faces in 100 Places,’ to interview delegates and build up a published database in real time. They also used the school’s own iTunes app and Twitter and Facebook accounts to share their learning with the school community as it happened.
They were visited on the stand by leading dignitaries, including the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and the Egyptian Minister for Education, who were very impressed by the outstanding skills and confidence levels displayed by the children. Some of the children were interviewed by the media and also by a leading educational publisher from the UK, who is now working with GRDS to produce more cutting edge materials for mobile learning.
Well done to everyone who took part!
RDS Students Centre Stage at BETT 2012 Technology Show - London Olympia
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On Wednesday 11th January, Year 6 students Alice Dickson and Alfie Appleton joined Professor Stephen Heppell, via video link, on his central feature ‘New Worlds of Learning’ stand at BETT 2012 in London.
They were featured on the big screen at the show, discussing how they learn through the use of technology at Royal Dubai School. The discussion was also broadcast live on BETT Radio!
Alfie and Alice also collaborated remotely with Year 7 students from Lampton School in London, who were on the stand with Professor Heppell, comparing their schools and how they use ICT to help them learn.
Well done to Alfie and Alice for displaying outstanding levels of confidence and talking so knowledgeably and articulately about their learning. True RDS ambassadors!
Year 5 Student wows the 'experts' at GESS Al Nadi Conference
On the evening of 29th November 2011, GRDS Year 5 student, Melania Mihalcea presented to around 80 distinguished members and guests of GESS Al Nadi at The Address Hotel, Burj Khalifa. GESS Al Nadi is ‘The networking club for the Gulf’s leading educationalists’ and Melania, aged 10, was invited to the autumn event to showcase her leading, innovative work on the theme for the evening: “Mobile Learning – Knowledge in the Hand.”
Melania, originally from Romania, and who speaks English as a second language, presented her work on the GEMS Royal Dubai School app for iPad, iPod Touch and iPhone - the only school app in the whole region. She used an iPad to show her writing and video about the History of the UAE and the 40th National Day celebrations. She then went on to demonstrate how she had published this on the app, through the iTunes store, so that it could be shared with the whole school community and the wider world – knowledge in the hand!
After the presentations, Melania joined the four other speakers for a round table question and answer session. Again, Melania showed stunning levels of maturity and self-confidence in fielding more questions than some of the adult speakers! One guest asked her, “What do you do when the technology breaks down – doesn’t that stop you learning?”
Melania calmly replied: “I just try to be resilient – you can’t give up! Also, we still have pencils and paper and each other – there are many different ways to learn.”
We are very proud of Melania, not just for her outstanding academic talents, but also for being a great ambassador for our leading school and for stepping outside her comfort zone and achieving something which many adults would not even attempt!
End of Key Stage Two Sats results
3rd October 2010 : Mikal Kooiker, 11, achieved results five years ahead of the performance expected for his age and began work on the GCSE maths curriculum aimed at students aged between 14 and 16.
Mikhal was part of a group of the school’s top mathematicians taught separately as part of the school’s drive to challenge its highest achieving students by enabling better differentiation of activities and topics. The group was taught by Phil Redhead, GRDS Director of Curriculum Development and Innovation.
As a result of the investigative, enquiry-based programme, together with a strong focus on child-centred, independent and personalised learning, the children in this group achieved levels far above UK, UAE and worldwide standards.
The pedagogy employed ensured that the children's learning would be for life and the success was not a result of harmful cramming for tests. The children developed not only their investigative, mathematical and study skills, but also essential skills involving teamwork, collaboration, creativity, self-awareness and self-discipline.
Cutting edge technology was also made available to further promote personalisation and to enhance the students’ engagement and progress. iPod Touch devices helped to make learning more fun, providing a modern and familiar medium to help the children enjoy their studies in a fast-moving, competitive environment.
The nine students in this group were working between 3 and 5 years above expectations. Progress was rapid over the year, with some children moving through two whole levels, four times the expected rate.
Mikal, aged 11, said: “What motivated me to perform well in maths at RDS was firstly the one to one attention given by my teachers and secondly the iPod technology used during lessons that made it simpler to understand concepts and gave me a better overview of how to solve equations.”
Mikal’s mum, Riska, added: “We are very proud of what Mikal has achieved. We believe that RDS enabled this by providing the correct environment and tools to challenge him. He was allowed to go beyond the normal levels set for primary school and encouraged to take the higher level exams and discover his potential.”
Mr. Paul Debnam, Upper Key Stage Two Leader at GEMS Royal Dubai School said, “We are so proud of our children. They worked extremely hard all year and got the results they deserved. They really took responsibility for their own learning, working towards targets agreed in one-to-one learning conferences and collaborating with each other as a tightly-knit unit. I know all of them will go on to even greater things in the future and I am looking forward to hearing about their successes in their respective secondary schools. I am also very proud of the Year 6 team, who pulled out all of the stops to ensure that these high achievers were able to flourish and reach their potential.”
Mikhal was part of a group of the school’s top mathematicians taught separately as part of the school’s drive to challenge its highest achieving students by enabling better differentiation of activities and topics. The group was taught by Phil Redhead, GRDS Director of Curriculum Development and Innovation.
As a result of the investigative, enquiry-based programme, together with a strong focus on child-centred, independent and personalised learning, the children in this group achieved levels far above UK, UAE and worldwide standards.
The pedagogy employed ensured that the children's learning would be for life and the success was not a result of harmful cramming for tests. The children developed not only their investigative, mathematical and study skills, but also essential skills involving teamwork, collaboration, creativity, self-awareness and self-discipline.
Cutting edge technology was also made available to further promote personalisation and to enhance the students’ engagement and progress. iPod Touch devices helped to make learning more fun, providing a modern and familiar medium to help the children enjoy their studies in a fast-moving, competitive environment.
The nine students in this group were working between 3 and 5 years above expectations. Progress was rapid over the year, with some children moving through two whole levels, four times the expected rate.
Mikal, aged 11, said: “What motivated me to perform well in maths at RDS was firstly the one to one attention given by my teachers and secondly the iPod technology used during lessons that made it simpler to understand concepts and gave me a better overview of how to solve equations.”
Mikal’s mum, Riska, added: “We are very proud of what Mikal has achieved. We believe that RDS enabled this by providing the correct environment and tools to challenge him. He was allowed to go beyond the normal levels set for primary school and encouraged to take the higher level exams and discover his potential.”
Mr. Paul Debnam, Upper Key Stage Two Leader at GEMS Royal Dubai School said, “We are so proud of our children. They worked extremely hard all year and got the results they deserved. They really took responsibility for their own learning, working towards targets agreed in one-to-one learning conferences and collaborating with each other as a tightly-knit unit. I know all of them will go on to even greater things in the future and I am looking forward to hearing about their successes in their respective secondary schools. I am also very proud of the Year 6 team, who pulled out all of the stops to ensure that these high achievers were able to flourish and reach their potential.”
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