Aiming High

As an innovative, future-focused centre of educational excellence, pupils at Kent College are quite literally aiming for Mars. Isabella Taylor investigates

While Kent College has enjoyed a long history, the school is perhaps best known today for its innovative approach to education. The first school to introduce Macbooks for all students in the local area, has resulted in a broadening of Sixth Form pathways. The school not only offers 21 A Levels and 5 Cambridge Technicals but has also introduced the International Baccalaureate. For 11 years the college has regularly been in the top 10 IB Schools in the UK and the majority of graduating students go on to Russell Group universities or world renowned International universities.

The college is well aware that the skills students need when entering the workforce are constantly evolving and that the curriculum needs to be designed to give students the skills they need to thrive in an uncertain future. Last September, Kent College launched an Innovation Class embracing different subjects from design to physics and geography to business studies. The class is taught across the board from Junior to Senior School and is a problem-based learning course centred on a real-world problem. This year’s theme is Mission to Mars.

In the interdisciplinary curriculum for years 5 to 8,Innovation class teachers lead students on a journey, weaving together knowledge that visiting teachers impart and help to drive conversation and collaboration. Students are challenged to consider how they can get to Mars, how they can live there sustainably and build a community and what they need to accomplish for their mission to be a success.

The Innovation classes encourage the skills the pupils will need in the future. Curiosity, creativity, self-confidence and risk taking are encouraged, while craftsmanship, commitment and collaboration are required if the students are to successfully reach Mars.

www.kentcollege.com