Welcome
A warm welcome from Magdalena Modrzewska, the founder of Atelier 21
International Primary School of the Future.
The lack of certainty in the 21st century is such that students today need more than just excellent exam results; in terms of Future Skills, those that are most prized include collaboration, self-regulation and creativity – skills we believe our approach to learning will help to develop. In short, we aim to create knowledgeable, self-aware people with meaningful insight into themselves and the knowledge on how to use their talents to serve both themselves and the world around them.
Regardless of the activity at hand, the expectation is such that we’d like for our children to be engaged in their learning in a meaningful way. Whether our students are carrying out their own research projects or building their financial literacy or immersing themselves in the natural world as part of our Hands On Fridays initiative – the aim is to foster an environment in which they are deeply immersed in the learning experience. Ideally it would be because they were granted some kind of agency that allowed them to be co-creators of their learning experience (which bodes well for developing their levels of intrinsic motivation to learn).
Our school is a response to the mainstream education system’s emphasis on didactic teaching methods and rote learning. In lieu of this, we have opted for an approach that places the student closer to the centre of the learning experience in the hope that they might develop a connection to the world around them while simultaneously empowering them with the knowledge required to thrive in the modern world. As a Reggio Emilia-aligned school with a deep connection to this approach to learning, we aim to cultivate an image of the learner as a competent, curious and involved young person that is capable of building their own success.