Page 18 - Education Supp February 2022 Digital

CURRO How do we prepare our children for a world where ‘intelligent’

technology will become a part of our daily lives? At Curro Waterfall
WATERFALL technology is built into the programme from as early as preschool.

prepares R Robotics from a young age

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The Robotics programme starts from as young as five years old in the Castle preschool. These skills are then built
learners for upon in each successive year through a problem-solving approach. In the higher grades the learners have access to
the ‘innovation lab’ and ‘make tank’ where numerous 3D printers and laser cutters are available for use, along
an ‘intelligent’ with various drones and VR equipment. In addition to the technology tools, the school also has various IT labs to
promote an advanced coding culture where learners who are comfortable with Arduino and Raspberry Pi boards
can use these as methods to solve challenges.
world of E Exciting changes in the primary school l
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technology Nelma Els-van Rooyen, Head of Primary School who leads the innovation and technology curriculum for this phase,
says: ‘our primary school tech curriculum is undergoing some exciting changes to stay advanced. Sadly, Lego is no
longer able to provide us with a Robotics curriculum due to the EV3 robots that retired in June last year, but
we have our sights set on BBC Microbit for both IT (coding) and Robotics. Microbit has unlimited project
options where we will incorporate IT and coding into other subjects – such as programming a Microbit to water
seeds and measure the soil moisture in Natural Sciences classes. We are also excited to finally be taking part
in inter-Curro challenges as well as WRO competitions again. Minecraft: Education Edition also brought exciting
updates that will make the competitions more fun, and we are excited to start practising for that as part of 'eSports’.
ENROL B Becoming more and more technology-driven
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According to Lourens Tredoux, who leads the IT department and is an avid promoter of innovation amongst staff
and learners, the school is becoming more and more technology-driven. ‘The aim is to implement technology in as
NOW many of the lessons as possible, as often as possible, across all subjects. Because of this we have a very high level
of technological understanding among the learners, with Anamika Beethasi, when she was in Grade 11, placing
second internationally in Microsoft’s Imagine Cup Junior Virtual AI Hackathon initiative last year, while Daksh
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Singh, Grade 10, is participating in coding lessons and competitions on an international level. This will only
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become more and more common as we implement our strategy,’ says Tredoux.
for 2022 The various technology devices are incorporated as tools with which to solve and address issues and problems. It is
not uncommon to find learners at this school devise solutions at the various expos that address climate or socio-
and 2023 economic challenges, using bespoke code and Raspberry Pi as a part of their presentation. These learners
regard the technology as tools to achieve a purpose and as such it becomes a natural part of their solution. This is
the type of thinking that will produce a future generation of solution seekers in a world of ‘intelligent’ technology.
From 2 years to Grade 12 | Quality education for future leaders
087 287 9469
info.waterfall@curro.co.za