ADS|X will create a holistic on-campus unique and exciting opportunity for staff, students, parents and visitors to experience innovative learning with Apple technology.

Repton Al Barsha, part of the prestigious Repton Family of Schools in the UAE has today launched the Apple Distinguished School Experience Centre (ADS|X) on campus. Centered on the themes of environmental awareness, sustainability and nature, the ADS|X will focus on three interactive learning journeys: ‘Celebrating Differences’, ‘Our Home and Beyond’ and ‘Finding Solutions in Nature.’ Beginning from 31^st October 2021, the innovative experience center will be available for use and exploration by parents, visitors and students across Junior and Senior Schools.

ADS|X will combine world-class learning experiences with a biophillic design aesthetic to create a flexible learning space that gives parents and visitors the opportunity to gain insights into their child’s learning experience on campus.  It will also create a collaborative workspace for students, enabling them to be creative and experience a personalised learning journey.

An eco-friendly display will introduce visitors to thought-provoking ideas and knowledgeable insights through each theme. They will be able to explore new information, connect ideas and deepen their understanding of how they can utilise Apple technology to gain deeper insights into the world around them.

Zoe Woolley, Headmistress of Repton Al Barsha said, “As an Apple Distinguished School, we are proud to establish the Apple Distinguished School Experience Center. Digital literacy is an integral component of a student’s educational experience and provides them with an interactive medium to reach new heights of potential. We aim to enhance their critical thinking, diversify their environment and help them develop skills of the future. The combination of talented educators and innovative technology has the opportunity to create an empowering classroom experience for students and teachers alike, and we are thrilled to showcase this to our parents and wider school community.”

The stimulating learning journeys will follow three key stages focused on nature, sustainability and environmental awareness, with underlying themes, which explore diversity and inclusion. Through ‘Celebrating Difference’ in key stage one, Reptonians and parents will celebrate the life and work of illustrator and storyteller, Eric Carle exploring the life-cycle of the butterfly through an immersive Augmented Reality (AR) experience. The engaging journey celebrates diversity through Apple’s ‘Everyone Can Create’ curriculum allowing learners to explore the beauty of difference culminating in their creation of an animated collage to share with the world.

The ‘Our Home and Beyond’ learning experience aimed at key stage two, inspires future astronauts aspiring to be the next Hazza Al Mansouri, teaching them about the intricacies of space exploration and the vulnerability of our home, planet Earth through a unique AR experience comprising of scale models of planets on iPad. With Swift Playgrounds, learners will be able to program their own version of the Ingenuity – the Mars drone by NASA sent to scout Mars’ landscape nurturing essential skills like critical thinking and problem-solving. Then, using the ‘Clips’ app, learners can create a mobile video report documenting the success of their mission.

Inspired by the United Nations’ Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs), the final key stage will focus on ‘Finding Solutions in Nature’, highlighting the practice of biomimicry and looking towards nature for inspiration to solve problems in sustainable ways. Reptonians and their parents will use iPad, powerful microscopes and informative presentations to create an interactive journal to solve some of the world’s most pressing environmental challenges through collaboration and solution generation.

The Apple Distinguished School Experience Center’s flexible and innovative design will also accommodate space for school presentations and special Apple Distinguished School events. Furthermore, ADS|X will enable the Al Barsha campus to creatively showcase the school’s success to parents and visitors, reflecting the digital literacy values of Repton Al Barsha as an Apple Distinguished School.