How an innovation-focused curriculum helps prepare students for an evolving world
Stamford American School Hong Kong aims to enhance holistic education and STEMinn programme with state-of-the-art facilities at new campus
04:27
Stamford American School’s STEM-focused curriculum prepares students for an evolving world
Creating an inspiring learning environment which prepares students for the future in our rapidly changing world is the goal of many schools and educators around the world.
One such institution is Stamford American School Hong Kong, which first opened in 2017 in the city’s residential district of Ho Man Tin, Kowloon, and offers children aged five to 18 a personalised through-train education from pre-primary to Grade 12.
The private school’s American-standards-based curriculum takes an inquiry-based approach to education – focused on developing the “whole child”, including global citizenship, service learning and building character and social-emotional skills – so they will be engaged and challenged in their studies and can reach their potential. It offers three diploma options, including the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) for its secondary school students.
This autumn will see the school open its second campus about 2km away, in Tai Kok Tsui, in West Kowloon’s Olympic district, to help meet the pre-university demands of Hong Kong’s evolving international school market. The state-of-the-art facilities will enable teachers to continue to focus on the school’s innovation-focused curriculum while nurturing students’ creative mindset and skills that will help them succeed in their chosen careers.
“We’ve grown as a school in numbers,” Andrew Noakes, head of school at Stamford American School Hong Kong, says in the latest edition of EdTalk, South China Morning Post’s recurring video series of interviews in which experts discuss pertinent issues surrounding education. “Demand is high and we have a loyal following with our parents. That’s pushed us to make a greater commitment to Hong Kong with this new campus.
“It will provide an environment for collaborative and individual learning for our Grade 9 to 12 children and prepare them for university studies anywhere in the world.”
The new campus is located in the commercial podium of Imperial Cullinan residential complex along Hoi Fai Road Promenade. The purpose-built space, which spans 75,000 square feet across three levels, will cater for about 550 secondary school pupils.
It will include multiple communal learning spaces and house music studios, drama studios, music practice rooms, a black box theatre, an open auditorium and laboratories for science, art, design and technology, as well as a library and research hub overlooking the promenade and views of Victoria Harbour.
The new campus’ facilities will continue to support Grade 9 to 12 students’ participation in the school’s STEMinn – science, technology, engineering, and mathematics with a focus on innovation – programme, which is embedded in the curriculum from pre-primary level to help nurture children with the technology skills needed to thrive in the digital world. The programme is also focused on promoting sustainability and social responsibility as students develop leadership, problem-solving and analytical thinking skills through hands-on projects.
Technology-related jobs are some of the fastest-growing professions highlighted in “The Future of Jobs Report 2025” published by the World Economic Forum. The Swiss-based think tank’s study also shows that artificial intelligence (AI) – computer systems that can copy intelligent human behaviour – and big data, networks and cybersecurity and technology literacy top the list of rapidly developing skills.
Noakes says that although the school is embracing the use of AI and other emerging technologies, the way that they are adopted in schools should be carefully considered.
“It’s important that we help boys and girls understand the difference AI can make and how it can be used,” he says. “We give them the opportunity to use it as a tool so that it helps to immerse them in an environment that is conducive to inquiry-based learning and nurture their critical thinking skills, which will become increasingly important in the job market.”
Noakes, who joined Stamford American School Hong Kong in January, brings with him 15 years of experience serving as the head of school at institutions in the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates and Singapore.
“A school in its eighth year is different to a school in its first or second, and that is really allowing us to fly,” he says. “This year we had our third cohort of IB graduates and those students have had 25 per cent of their offers come from the top 100 universities around the world. I’m pleased with that and with how we’re developing as a school.”