Reddam House Waterfall, in Midrand, has opened a brand-new STEAM lab – a beautiful, purpose-built space for Preparatory School students to explore Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics.

Quinton Pascoe, the Preparatory School Headmaster, says the new addition to their facilities is in line with the school’s commitment to providing a curriculum that promotes rich, varied and collaborative thinking in an engaging environment.

According to UK’s Institute of Arts Integration, STEAM incorporates the benefits of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths) and integrates the principles through the Arts. “STEAM allows students to connect their learning in the critical STEM areas together with arts practices, elements, design principles, and standards, to provide a whole palette of learning at their disposal. STEAM removes limitations and replaces them with wonder, critique, inquiry, and innovation.”

Reddam House Waterfall’s spacious new STEAM space features aesthetic décor and graphic art, adding appeal and visual delight to the students’ experience. The furniture is unique and attractive, and combined with the artistic design and fittings, the room is far removed from conventional classrooms and STEM tech rooms.

“Our new STEAM room is student-centric, while allowing for collaboration between students, staff, parents, and relevant industry-related stakeholders”, adds Pascoe.

The school promotes creative thinking, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. Analysing, applying and testing their thinking are added components of the new STEAM Lab where robotics and coding activities take place in a fun, hands-on environment.

The students’ journey through the Preparatory School years are enhanced by the STEAM facilities, where children work with:

• LEGO WeDo
• LEGO Spike
• LEGO Mindstorm
• Sphero Balls
• LEGO EV3
• Laptops
• Drones
• 3D printers
• Smart TVs and Smart Boards that enable the children to engage with Inspired schools globally.

The far-reaching options in the new space connect STEAM principles with visual art, digital art, gaming, and core academic subjects (Mathematics, English, Social Science, Natural Science), while elective subject options of Sports Science and Physical Education have their own integration within the STEAM curriculum.

Charles Darwin said, “It’s not the strongest or most intelligent that survive, but those who adapt the quickest.”

We can see that technology is evolving and changing our world at an intensely rapid pace, especially when we consider that the internet only became operational just under 40 years ago. Adapting to this speed of change and need for change is embedded in our School’s DNA, and I’m confident that our children will challenge Darwin’s statement; they will be mentally fit, creatively intelligent, and will have the adaptable academic resilience to navigate and impact the future of our planet,” says Pascoe.