Vernus International School, based in Dubai Silicon Oasis, continues to create new and exciting ways to deliver the rigours of the US Curriculum. This year, children will be immersed in virtual reality experiences, as the school has developed teacher guides aligned to the California Curriculum.
Vernus recognises that in today’s world, children need a variety of skills and dispositions to succeed in future employment, higher education, and to be positive, active members of society.
Virtual Reality allows teachers to immerse their students in immersive experiences of the natural world. For example, students can visit Petra in a single VR encounter and experience a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In addition, children can see where the Nabataean people lived around the 6th century BCE. The experience is remarkable.
Virtual Reality set to become a central feature of Vernus International School’s curriculum
This strategy is designed to get students to formulate questions instead of answering them. This will promote laterally thinking and curiosity.
The school already adopts a project-based learning approach to the curriculum, and the virtual reality experiences will complement this.
The teacher guides are separated into sensory and learning experiences, so the children develop a range of critical thinking and literacy skills, and most importantly, have fun!
This 360°approach to learning has proven to be popular with local parents
Commenting on the school’s popularity moving into Year 2, Founding Principal Heath Bailey commented: “We’re excited about the new academic year and the curriculum experiences that children will get. Virtual Reality allows children to be immersed in experiences that are memorable, and they bring the curriculum to life. We’ve aligned these experiences to the California Curriculum and our project-based learning approach so that there is genuine rigour in the curriculum and resources.”
This 360°approach to learning has proven to be popular with local parents, who have long sought a different type of education; one that focuses on life skills, creativity and innovation through project-based learning.
The Vernus Passport capturesthe core pillars of literacy, learning, and life skills, mapped to the California State Standards, infused with project-based learning, and enriched with dimensions that enable children to develop strong character traits. This model underpins everything the school does from a curriculum, assessment and teaching and learning perspective.