Apple Distinguished School
“Change it, challenge it or re-design it.”
Archers College is a boutique learning institution with the main goal of striving to be as different as possible in the educational field. Our motto is:
“Change it, challenge it or re-design it.”
Our teaching methodology is focused on making learning real and relatable. We believe that learning should never take place in one way, nor be restricted to one lesson or concept. Our institution firmly holds true to its values of ensuring we take into consideration the skills, habits and knowledge we need to rely on in 5,10, 15 or 20 years from now. We teach these habits, skills and content.
Demographics
95 Students
11 Educators
Private/Independent School
Pre-K to Grade 7
Success
We have experienced tremendous success since first introducing iPad devices in our institution in 2018. As a school, we hosted educational workshops for parents, Cupcakes and Coding sessions; educating families on how valuable it would be to implement the use of iPad devices in the lessons.
Our school now operates on a one-to-one iPad basis school wide, learners enter our school daily with an Apple iPad in hand, ready to tackle the lessons ahead. Gamified “homework” tasks and learning platforms encourage our children to want to do the extra tasks, further enhancing their skills and understanding of school-taught concepts.
Most of the time, assessment tasks assigned take the form of Clips videos, iMovie, Keynote and Canva submissions and presentations.
Apple Certified Educators
All educators have successfully completed the Apple Teacher Training.
iStore Education Excellence in Education Awards
Five student awards and iTeacher Award
iPad Devices for Students & Teachers
One-to-One iPad devices school wide for teachers and students
Apple Products and Services
One-to-One iPad school wide for students
One-to-One iPad school wide for all teachers
iPad integration in all lessons
Dedicated iPad sessions school wide focusing on the Everyone Can Code and Everyone Can Create Curriculums
One-to-One iPad school wide for students
Vision
Our vision is defined by the following: Connection, Collaboration and Creativity. Re-defining our methodology and pedagogy at Archers College, with Apple Education as the transformational tool in our classrooms and in all we teach and do, brings learning to life everyday.
Students are immersed in their learning and fully engaged in lesson content and it is our vision to continue to grow from strength-to-strength.
In our vision of striving to break the norms of traditional educational systems, Apple Education and iPad devices specifically, have allowed us to re-define the way we teach and assess children. Learning should always be impactful and we strive to achieve this in all we do.
TECH
EVERYONE CAN CODE
In a world that is fully immersed in the 4th Industrial Revolution, we fully incorporate technology in our classrooms on a day-to-day basis. Our Pre-Preparatory and Grade R learners are exposed to coding, using coding apps such as Code-a-pillar, Code Spark and Scratch Junior where logic and coding concepts are enhanced.
In the Junior Preparatory Phase (Grades 1 – 3), Robotics and Coding foster a culture of collaboration and teamwork, critical thinking as well as problem-solving amongst students. Robotics lessons build on simple engineering principles whilst promoting an interactive scientific and creative learning experience.
In the Senior Preparatory phase, Robotics and Coding extend on the principles of coding and computational thinking already covered in earlier grades. Through the use of computational thinking, students learn to solve more complex problems systematically.
In partnership with Think Ahead, Coding and Robotics form part of our weekly timetable.
Learning
It is our goal to make every lesson a learning adventure and Apple iPad has made this achievable. Children engage with their iPad devices whether indoors, outdoors, or in odd places (even on top of jungle gyms to illustrate the concept of positioning in English language or marking up a photo of the triangular pitch for Mathematics to illustrate a certain shape).
Sphero is a tool we use to map out directions from place-to-place (Geography), measure the Area and Perimeter of various shapes, or bring home-made chariots to life in a chariot race. Learners are encouraged to explore their truest creativity, and their designs in Clips, Keynote, iMovie, Garage Band continue to show daily growth, creativity and application of learnt concepts at school. Our designated Digital Mastery lessons are centred around the Everyone Can Code and Everyone Can Create Curriculums. Extension activities are assigned on the iPad to children to work through at their own pace in the afternoons.
Our Project-Based Learning Approach at our school is fully supported by the use of Apple iPad, from beginning research being conducted, to scavenger hunts using QR codes, to solving puzzles and code, to presentation and feedback via Apple TV. Educators use their iPad devices to bring lessons to life, assess, remediate, and to engage in our Professional Development Platform online.
What's Next
As an institution with continuous innovation as our focus and vision, we only strive to continue moving forward in leaps and bounds in implementing the use of Apple Technology in our classrooms. We strive to implement Apple Curriculums as part of our school curriculum, and training remains in the forefront to ensure we move ahead in our direction.
It is our current goal to work along with our Apple Team to apply to become an Apple Authorised Training Centre for Education.Connection, Collaboration and Creativity remain our focus for all teaching and learning that takes place at Archers College, and continuing to only improve on and grow in our use of Apple Technology in our classrooms will help us achieve all we have set out to achieve.
Links
A short of iPad technology being fully integrated in the classroom – https://www.youtube.com/shorts/4KZu5GrTug8 | https://www.youtube.com/shorts/mvHj7crk2jg
Project-Based Learning task involving the iPad, starting off researching
information, and fact-pulling – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5G_9EWORFk
Click on the featured link to view more of our Apple Technology integration journey and all projects highlighted in the text – https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1KLvPR21sAbIrdWcxQmRVgrbpQCnXTlO6
Click on the featured link to view iStore Education video on Archer’s College – Apple Distinguished School – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkvA2M5lYJ8