At Investigator College, 2024 is shaping up to be an exciting time for the Junior and Middle School, as new programs, new opportunities, and innovative approaches to learning come to life for students in their formative years.
The Junior and Middle School at Investigator College will buzz with excitement and creativity as students from Reception to Year 8 benefit from a renewed focus on Innovation, Sustainability and Community – both within the classroom, and beyond.
Focusing on the development of skills and capabilities that move beyond the core of traditional learning, Investigator College has aspirations to foster and empower the next generation of entrepreneurs, critical thinkers and community leaders through new approaches to learning, combining proven classroom practices with opportunities to extend the development of skills into a range of areas beyond
the core curriculum.
The approach, which is being championed by the appointment of key staff including Enterprise and Innovation Coordinators, Mr Lucas Lane and Mr Andrew Ayliffe, new Head of Junior School, Mr Grant Bock, and new Head of Middle Years, Mr Tom Hancock, builds on the success of existing programs and positions 2024 as a year of excitement and exploration for students as they are presented with new opportunities to pursue passions, interests and ideas that encourage future-focused thinking, creativity and real-life problem solving.
A new entrepreneurial program spanning Year 5 to Year 8, poised to be introduced this year, will be the flagship for the new approach, providing students with the opportunity to devise and develop solutions to address a range of real-world problems.
Woven in and through a number of traditional curriculum areas, students will use science, mathematics, engineering and language as the foundation for exploring a range of concepts including design thinking, project management, iterative creativity, ethics, adaptive mindsets and collaborative refinement, as they create working solutions to address environmental challenges, design products to meet community needs, and harness the changing nature, role and capability of technology.
Underpinned by engagement with industry, and the utilisation of new technologies including robotics, 3D modelling and 3D printing, the new program has the backing of research from the Association of Independent Schools South Australia (AISSA) and is a first-of-kind program for the Fleurieu Peninsula, with the potential to yield enormous benefit to students as they embark on transitional years of schooling and move into the Senior Years of their secondary studies.
Mr Lucas Lane, who is moving into a new position as one of Investigator’s two Enterprise and Innovation Coordinators is enthusiastic about the program and it’s benefits for students.
“The program is all about future skills – complementing an excellent approach to core teaching and learning with new opportunities to apply knowledge that lead students to explore, investigate, create, test, evaluate and reflect in new and interesting ways,” he said.
“It’s engaging and it’s fun, but it’s also a great way to develop skills that are, and will continue to be, increasingly important in the future.”
“Having the ability to work with others, to look at a problem creatively and collaboratively, and to manage the production of an effective solution through iteration and refinement has benefits both in the classroom and in the workforce – and we’re excited to be bringing these opportunities to our Junior School and Middle Years students.”
“We’re excited to see the results of some of the projects students will undertake as part of this program and about what it means for both our current students and our students of the future. It really is about
Investigator College providing the best possible education, and being willing to try something new and exciting, especially as students begin to think about high school or life beyond school,” Lane said.
For more information about Investigator College’s Entrepreneurship Programs, or to arrange a tour, please visit www.investigator.sa.edu.au/tour, or phone (08) 8551 0900.
