Wealden Times | WT200 | October 2018 | Kitchen & Bathroom supplement inside

Education
Where children experience a
world of opportunities
Open Morning
Saturday 6th October 2018 - 9.30am-12.30pm
Call 01304 611215 or email admissions@northbournepark.com
to request further information.
Northbourne Park School, Betteshanger, Deal, Kent, CT14 0NW
www.northbournepark.com
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of learning and self-expression
which can be especially important
in the teenage years.
A study by the University
of Sydney found that active
participation in the arts
increases students’ motivation,
engagement in class, self-esteem
and improves wellbeing. There
is no limit to creativity in art,
it is an open-ended doorway
to expression. It allows us to explore and express personal
feelings and responses to the world. Art can both soothe
and energise the mind, qualities we need more than ever
before in our globally connected, fast-paced digital world.
But for art to be an effective part of STEAM it has to be more
than just a stand-alone subject. At ACS we physically bring
art into science, where an art class might work in the science
lab, and we invite the art students to express the science being
conducted using any medium they like. This shows them how
they can express scientific learning and approaches through art,
which piques the interest of students studying both subjects.
At ACS Hillingdon students use apps like Hopscotch
and Floors as an arts-based way of learning to code. This
cross-curriculum approach, combining art, technology and
computer science, nurtures logical thinking, problem-solving
and persistence, encourages collaboration and communication,
and provides the opportunity for students to develop practical,
future-focused skills, in an imaginative, fun and creative way.
We find that including art in STEAM makes all the subjects
more lively and relevant, and builds exactly the qualities
universities want, without narrowing students’ options.
Hannah Wagner, a current ACS Cobham student, who
was recently awarded a summer research programme at the
University of Surrey to study electrical engineering, commented:
“It’s widely acknowledged that fewer girls are entering
the engineering sector – so I’m proud to have been
selected for this placement. I think to get more girls into
STEM subjects we need first to remove the mentality
that we only enjoy and excel at certain subjects.”
Beyond the school years there are a wealth of statistics which
demonstrate the economic significance of the creative arts;
just think of the film industry, or the gaming industry which
between them contribute £92bn a year to the UK economy.
Given this and how much we value our business entrepreneurs
and innovators, it is astonishing how compartmentalised
the approach to art and science has become in education.
Last year, university admissions officers said the top two
reasons why students fail in their first year at university is not
being able to think and learn independently and being unable
to manage their own time. Exam cramming and narrowing
of subject choice has removed the spark and creativity from
learning. Russell Group universities have inadvertently
played their part in reducing the support for arts subjects by
specifically highlighting the value they place on ‘hard subjects’.
The STEAM approach, combining all the core
subjects, will help address this issue and develop a
generation who can express new innovative ideas and
become our future entrepreneurs and innovators.
wealdentimes.co.uk
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