Grade 7-12
“get in the game of life, keep growing and expanding and keep being challenged, that’s what makes us feel alive!”
The future will see the emergence of new learning models for student performance and cognition. BenHale’s learning environment is innovative and uses world-class learning strategies and includes key components of the Finland Phenomenon-Based approach to learning which combines curiosity and inquiry to solve real-world problems. At BenHale, your child will not only acquire and apply knowledge but also develop the critical “soft skills” that are highly sought-after by the global business world.
In the business world, our best work comes from collaboration! At BenHale, our student’s problem-solve and learn collaboratively with each other, just like we do in the real-world. Our collaborative learning environment creates the opportunity for our students to understand their differences and express their common humanity and in the process develop empathy and attitudes of servanthood and humility.
ACADEMICS
At BenHale our learning approach is underpinned by the key components of the world-leading, Phenomenon-Based approach to learning experienced in the education system in Finland. This means our students are given the freedom to explore real-world issues and then allow their creativity and curiosity to conceptualize innovative solutions. Traditionally, our children are accustomed to being placed in safe little boxes called subjects. BUT, outside of school, we do not live in a world where there are safe little boxes. A BenHale student is required to step outside the rules of a subject or discipline, and by so doing, end up engaging in a lot. The world is interdisciplinary. BenHale is interdisciplinary and everyone gains from the collaboration and something new is created.
The subjects on offer are:
English, Afrikaans, Mathematics/Mathematical Literacy, Life Orientation, Physical Science, Life Science, History, Business Studies, Dramatic Arts, Engineering Graphics & Design, Information Technology, Visual Art and Tourism.
Our learning framework will give your child the skills they need for their future. There are multiple solutions and approaches. Our interdisciplinary learning environment creates opportunities for your child to take on big problems, such as Climate Change, which, like all problems does not fit into a single subject. Children look at the problem from all possible angles and arrive to better solutions. This demands a deeper understanding of each subject to apply them to one another. The WHY and the HOW. Our students are taught to move away from the separation of subjects and focus instead on real-world problems that spans multiple subjects. Not only does your child learn more deeply about each subject but they are also able to make connections between subjects and acquire the skills to identify and deconstruct problems and engage collaboratively in critical thinking to conceptualize possible solutions.
TECHNOLOGY
Our High School students gain an unprecedented competitive edge over others in the field of Information Technology. BenHale specialises in the discipline of Information Technology and prepares children for real-world careers in the vast field of ICT through our Independent Learning Courses (see Specialist Areas to learn more).
Our coding and technology environment is based upon Open-Source Software, giving students the opportunity to collaborate with other engineers in ways other development platforms could never make happen on their own. Our students are introduced to coding using SCRATCH and SWIFT, popular beginning coding platforms. As student’s mastery of the programming concepts develop, they move onto Computer Science Programs that includes real-world topics such as The Internet of Things (IOT), Big Data, Programming and Algorithms. Our students gain a solid foundational understanding of the underlying technologies that create the intelligence behind autonomous robots, like Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. This approach is essential to maximizing learning and understanding at the point when the students engage in building autonomous robotic models.
In Grades 10-12, our students learn a real-world, Object-Oriented Programming Language that enables them to build real-world mobile apps for Apple and Android operating systems. Phenomenon-Based learning also allows our students to use their imagination and creative thinking to design apps that solve real-world problems.
Soon, BenHale will be integrating Virtual Reality technology into the curriculum. This technology enables learning to become more interactive and deeply engaging.