Haileybury Maker Space and Robotics Lab

Since 2008 the British independent co-educational school Haileybury Almaty has been contributing in the creation of confident individuals, with leadership, collaborative and social skills that will positively impact the development of not only Kazakhstani society but also the world’s community for a better future. Owing to the reason that the school's main aims are to develop pupil’s resilience, curiosity and inquisitiveness with a broad and balanced range of subjects, extra-curricular activities the school created a Maker space and robotics lab to prepare its students for the work of future. The first phase of Maker Space and Robotics Lab was completed by August 2021. Haileybury Almaty is focused on ensuring integration of the successes of the curriculum subject into the Labs programming, and providing support to ensure the Lab serves as a focal point for its students to realize a vibrant, prosperous, equitable and sustainable future. 

Our vision is to enable the creation of a modern, sustainable, technologically advanced, demand-driven and dynamic Maker space and Robotics Lab that meets the needs of the Haileybury students. Kerneu Technologies, builded on the successes of the previous projects in Almaty and surrounding regions from 2015. As part of this, they oversaw the creation of a Maker space and Robotics Lab in the Haileybury Almaty school and curated a range of STEAM activities and programming in the space that will reach the key target audiences, which include pupils, parents and teachers.

The development of the Maker space and Robotics Lab organized according to the following strands: 

1. Physical space and governance 
2. STEAM programming 
3. Robotics activities and organisation of challenges and competitions 
4. Partnership and funding development and sustainability

Specifically, the Maker Space will: 

• Provide Haileybury students opportunities to access STEM education and engineering design practices 
• Inspire school students to pursue further education and careers in STEM 
• Offer opportunities to support the continuing professional development of a school teachers 
• Support the creation of local economic opportunity in Almaty by facilitating creativity and innovation and providing access to tools for new product development and small-scale prototyping The Maker Space and Robotics Lab is sized to accommodate groups of up to 25 people at once, allowing easy integration of visits to the space with school and university curricula. 

The equipment and materials in the Maker Space and Robotics Lab is similar to that usually found in Fab Labs internationally, and includes: 

• VEX V5 System Bundle(represents the fifth generation of educational robotics systems)
• VEX Gaming Field for competitions 
• REV FTC Starter Kit V3 (represents the third generation of educational robotics systems)
• Large CNC router (sometimes called a ‘shop bot’) 
• 24 high spec laptops (HP workstations)
• Laser cutter 
• Electronics workbench 
• 3D printer 
• LEGO Spike Prime Kits (includes educational and competition sets)
• LEGO WEDO 2.0

Computers and software needed to run the equipment and facilitate programming in robotics and STEAM Including the same key pieces of equipment as are found in other Fab Labs internationally will ensure the Haileybury Lab has the same core capabilities, facilitating the creation of connections with other labs around the world, as well as the adoption of international programming and best practice.