NUVU AT KELVINSIDE ACADEMY SHOWS WHAT THE FUTURE OF EDUCATION COULD LOOK LIKE

It's official! We launched our first full-time innovation school outside the U.S. in Glasgow, Scotland with our partner Kelvinside Academy. This moment came after a two year partnership between NuVu and Kelvinside Academy to rethink the future of learning and develop a hub for furthering our mission of creative learning.

NuVu Innovation School, which officially opened its doors on October 10, provides a unique learning environment designed around creativity, innovation and enterprise. The new school is designed to face up to the challenge of a fast-moving jobs market and inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs and innovators. The school will be a nexus for student innovation, R&D on studio pedagogy, teacher professional development, and corporate training.

Partnerships are already in place with a number of companies, including leading international infrastructure group Balfour Beatty, which built and constructed the specially designed £2.5m innovation school, to use NuVu as a learning hub to develop the workforce of the future. 

At NuVu, pupils engage in hands-on problem solving, working on collaborative projects to develop creative solutions for real-world social and environmental problems. 

The new school presents a challenge to the Scottish Government by providing an example of what a new national curriculum around digital skills and future learning could look like. It also could provide a solution to teacher shortages, as instead of being taught passively by a teacher, pupils learn by doing and utilize 3D modeling software, 3D printers, laser cutters and a range of industry-standard tools to make their visions a reality, with industry and academic experts acting as mentors to help pupils find their own way through the process. 

NuVu first launched in the UK with Kelvinside Academy summer schools in 2017 and 2018. Now, the model is fully embedded within the curriculum.

NuVu will not only provide a unique learning environment for Kelvinside Academy, but talks are already underway to open its doors to pupils at local schools as well as exploring NuVu hubs in local authorities across the UK. NuVu will also be implemented for teacher CPD throughout Scotland and corporate team building experiences for businesses. 

NuVu Innovation School Director, David Miller, believes the Innovation School will become a beacon for what schools of the future could look like. 

David will work closely with Kelvinside Academy Rector Dan Wyatt to embed NuVu core philosophies throughout the school. He said: “The education system hasn’t changed in more than 40 years, but the world has. I believe the new Innovation School will resolve a huge tension in education; everyone knows the model has to change but until now, there’s been no viable alternative. We believe this powerful learning model could and should become mainstream and we hope the Innovation School will serve as a case study for government and policy makers of what can be achieved. 

“This is just the beginning, but the momentum is with us. The current system intensifies the idea that people leave school as a success or a failure, and for some, it can take many years to recover from this binary view of the world. Our model encourages a growth mindset. There are always ways to improve. There’s no specific target or outcome; the NuVu model empowers children and frees them from the depressing constraints of assessment. 

“The design, technical and meta-skills being developed and enhanced in the Innovation School – together with an agile mindset – are exactly what a range of Scottish businesses and academics are telling us they need.” 

To find out more about NuVu at Kelvinside Academy, visit www.kelvinside.org/innovation-school/what-is-nuvu-