Creators International School: The Growing Importance of STEM Education

For children who love asking why, solving problems and understanding how the world works, a traditional curriculum can sometimes feel like it only scratches the surface. Creators International School, a new STEM-focused school in Benahavís is built around exactly that curiosity, welcoming students aged 7 to 18.

At Creators International School, STEM education is central to the academic model. Following the British curriculum through to IGCSE and A-Level qualifications, the school gives students opportunities to explore Mathematics, Science, Physics and Technology in greater depth, tackling challenging problems and ideas beyond the standard syllabus.

We spoke to Head of School Joseph Short about the importance of deeper STEM learning, how Creators goes beyond the British curriculum, and how the school prepares students to think independently in an age of AI.

Why STEM Education Matters More Than Ever

I think STEM subjects are increasingly important because they teach children far more than a body of technical knowledge. They teach them how to analyse information, recognise patterns, test assumptions, work logically and solve problems when the answer is not immediately obvious.

We are also living in a world that is becoming more scientific and technological every year. Whether students eventually become engineers, doctors, entrepreneurs, economists, researchers or something completely different, they will be making decisions in a society shaped by data, artificial intelligence, automation, energy, biotechnology and computing.

For us, a strong STEM / STEAM education is therefore not simply preparation for a particular career. It is part of preparing young people to understand the world around them and participate intelligently in it.

Going Beyond the Traditional Approach to Maths and Science

Children who are genuinely fascinated by Mathematics or Science often want to go much further than the curriculum requires. They ask questions that lead beyond the lesson, and they are often capable of understanding ideas considerably earlier than we might traditionally expect. If we continually tell those students, “You will learn that next year,” or “That is not on the syllabus,” we risk extinguishing precisely the curiosity that education ought to encourage.

At Creators, we want students to be able to follow that curiosity. If a twelve-year-old is ready to explore a more sophisticated mathematical idea, there is no educational reason to prevent them from doing so simply because of their age.

Depth also matters. We are not trying to race students through qualifications for the sake of acceleration. The objective is to give them time to investigate difficult ideas properly, make connections between topics and experience the satisfaction that comes from genuinely mastering something challenging.

STEM Education as Preparation for Life, Not Just a Career

There is sometimes a perception that STEM education is primarily about preparing children for careers in technology and engineering. But the value of strong STEM foundations is much broader than that.

One of the greatest benefits of Mathematics and Science is that they train habits of thought. Students learn to distinguish evidence from opinion, to question assumptions, to recognise when information is insufficient and to change their conclusions when the evidence changes. Those are enormously valuable skills in almost any field.

A student might eventually study law, medicine, economics, business, architecture, politics or philosophy. The ability to think quantitatively, interpret evidence and construct a logical argument will still be extremely powerful. So I would describe STEM education as intellectual preparation rather than simply vocational preparation.

Taking the British Curriculum to a Deeper Level

The British curriculum provides the structure and ultimately leads students towards recognised IGCSE and A-Level qualifications, but we do not regard the specification as the limit of what students should learn. In practice, that means spending more time on the reasoning behind ideas, introducing more demanding problems and allowing students to explore topics beyond the standard curriculum when they are ready.

In Mathematics, for example, students might encounter non-routine problems, mathematical proof, Olympiad-style questions or ideas normally introduced later in their education. In Science, we want students not simply to remember facts but to understand models, design experiments, analyse evidence and explain why a scientific conclusion is justified.

Computing and technology similarly go beyond simply learning how to use software. Students should understand programming, algorithms, systems and the principles underlying the technology they use.

The important distinction is that greater depth does not simply mean more work. It means more intellectually demanding work. Our team has worked hard to build a curriculum that is a balance between what is best about the British system but also adding in extra material that may be found in other educational systems across the world.

Challenging Students Beyond Age-Related Expectations

We start stretching students from the beginning, although that looks different for different children. In the younger years, much of the emphasis is on establishing extremely strong foundations: numerical fluency, algebraic thinking, scientific reasoning, problem solving and the ability to explain ideas clearly.

Once those foundations are secure, students increasingly encounter problems where the method has not been given to them in advance. That is a significant change. Instead of asking, “Can you perform this calculation?”, we might ask, “What mathematics could you use to solve this problem?”

Some students will begin working beyond typical age expectations quite early. Others may develop that capacity later. We do not believe acceleration should be automatic or simply based on age.

The principle is that when a student demonstrates genuine mastery, we should continue to challenge them rather than artificially holding them at a particular level.

We have also structured our lessons so that there is the possibility to move seamlessly between certain year groups should the need be there. We understand that some of our children will likely be ready for university and similar levels of study early so we need to take that into account also. So students may sometimes be in higher years where there is need.

Building Strong Foundations in Maths, Science and Problem-Solving

Developing Independent and Resilient Thinkers

Studying Maths and Science teaches children to be comfortable not knowing the answer immediately. That is actually an extremely important intellectual skill.

Difficult Mathematics and Science require students to break complicated problems into smaller parts, identify what they know, recognise what they do not know, test different approaches and sometimes abandon an idea that is not working. They also learn that intuition can be wrong and that conclusions need evidence.

Over time, that produces a particular kind of intellectual resilience. Instead of seeing a difficult problem and thinking, “I cannot do this,” students begin to think, “I do not know how to do this yet, so what can I work out first?” That mindset is valuable well beyond the classroom.

Learning to Understand the Thinking Behind the Answer

In STEM subjects, reaching the correct answer is often only part of the process. We place considerable emphasis on explanation. A student being able to write the correct number at the bottom of a page does not necessarily mean they have understood the Mathematics.

We regularly ask students questions such as: Why does this method work? Can you prove it? Could you solve it another way? What assumption have you made? How would you convince someone else that your answer must be correct? Teachers will also deliberately ask students to present and defend their reasoning. In Science, the same principle applies. We want students to distinguish between an observation, an interpretation and a conclusion, and to be able to explain what evidence supports their claim.

Ultimately, we want students to move from saying “I know the answer” to saying “I can explain why this must be true.”

Nurturing Academic Curiosity and Individual Strengths

One of the advantages of very small classes is that teachers can know students extraordinarily well. We can see not only who performs strongly in examinations, but also which student becomes fascinated by number theory, who constantly asks questions about astrophysics, who enjoys programming outside school, or who has an unusually strong instinct for experimental science.

Once we identify that interest, we can give students opportunities to develop it through additional problems, competitions, independent projects, reading, mentoring or increasingly advanced material.

We also want students to encounter subjects at a sufficiently high level that they can discover interests they may not yet know they have. A student cannot know that they love theoretical Physics, for example, if they have never been given the opportunity to experience it. It is also identified as part of our admissions process.

Bringing STEM Subjects to Life Through Practical Learning

What a typical STEM learning experience looks like at Creators 

There probably should not be one single “typical” STEM lesson. Some lessons would involve very precise direct teaching because certain ideas need to be explained carefully. Others might involve students investigating a problem, designing an experiment, programming something, analysing data or working together on a larger challenge.

We particularly like activities where several disciplines come together. For example, students might design a self-sufficient research base and have to calculate its energy requirements, water consumption, structural constraints and cost. That brings together Mathematics, Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Computing and engineering thinking within one problem.

The important thing is that practical activity has genuine intellectual purpose. We do not want experiments simply because they look exciting. Students should be predicting, measuring, calculating, analysing and drawing conclusions from what they observe.

That said, we still have a robust curriculum for all other subjects too. So it is not just STEM subjects that we focus on.

Teaching Technology Through Underlying Theory

We try to separate tools from principles.

Particular programming languages, software packages and technologies will inevitably change. The underlying ideas: algorithms, logic, abstraction, computational thinking, data structures and mathematical reasoning, are much more permanent.

Students should certainly work with modern technology, but we do not want their education to become a training course for whichever software happens to be popular at that particular moment.

If students understand the fundamentals properly, they can learn new technologies remarkably quickly. Our objective is therefore to produce students who are technologically capable but, more importantly, technologically adaptable.

Preparing Students to Think Critically in the Age of AI

AI actually makes deep understanding more important rather than less important. When information and answers are almost instantly available, the valuable skill becomes knowing what question to ask, whether the answer makes sense and whether the reasoning behind it is reliable.

Students need to be able to interrogate an answer rather than simply accept it. They should be asking: What assumptions has this made? Is the evidence sufficient? Can I verify this independently? Is there another explanation? Does the result make mathematical or scientific sense?

AI can generate code, but a student still needs to understand what the code is doing. It can solve an equation, but a student should still understand why the method works. I think the danger is not that AI becomes capable of thinking. The danger is that young people become accustomed to outsourcing their own thinking. Education therefore has to become increasingly focused on judgement, reasoning, creativity and intellectual independence.

Creating the Right Environment for STEM-Curious Students

To parents whose child loves Maths or Science but who are unsure whether a highly STEM-focused education is right for them, I would say that a STEM-focused school does not mean a child has to have already decided that they want to become a scientist or engineer.

The students who are likely to thrive here are curious. They enjoy asking questions. They like understanding how things work. They often enjoy difficult problems and are willing to persevere when something does not make sense immediately.

They certainly do not need to arrive knowing everything. In fact, I would much rather have a student who is genuinely curious and willing to think than one who has simply learned how to achieve very high marks.

We also remain a broad school. Students study a full and varied timetable with specialist equipment for each of the subjects because a complete education needs more than technical expertise. But if a child genuinely loves Mathematics, Science or Computing, we want this to be a place where that enthusiasm is treated as something to nurture rather than something they have to pursue largely outside school.

Beyond Academic Results: Preparing Students for the Future

Beyond academic results and university pathways, I hope students leave Creators intellectually confident.

By that I do not mean believing that they know everything. In many ways, the opposite is true. I hope they become comfortable recognising what they do not know and confident that they have the tools to investigate it. I would like them to be curious, rigorous and independent thinkers.

I want them to be able to encounter a difficult problem without immediately looking for somebody else to tell them the answer. To question evidence. To explain their reasoning. To change their minds when the evidence requires it. And to have the persistence to work on something difficult for a long time.

Of course, we want excellent examination results and we want students to progress to outstanding universities and careers. But the more important outcome is that they leave school as young people who know how to think. That is ultimately what we want a Creators education to provide.

Creators International School opens in September 2026

Families curious about a deeper, more demanding approach to STEM education are warmly invited to visit the school, meet the team and see the vision in person. Get in touch to arrange a visit and find out whether Creators is the right fit for your child.

About Joseph Short, Head of School

Joseph Short grew up in Liverpool, UK, and studied Mathematics at Lancaster University, where he also completed a master’s degree in the subject. With a longstanding passion for Mathematics, Physics and teaching, he naturally went on to pursue a career in education.

After completing his master’s degree, Joseph joined the Teach First teacher training programme and spent two years teaching in an inner-city school in Liverpool. The experience helped him develop as a resilient and resourceful educator before he began exploring international teaching opportunities in Spain.

His first international teaching role took him to Seville, where he worked as Lead Mathematics Teacher for two years. Having fallen in love with Spanish life, culture and, naturally, the weather, he decided to build his career in Spain. He subsequently completed a second master’s degree in Educational Leadership and Management from the University of Manchester before taking his first leadership position at an international school in Murcia.

Joseph spent more than four and a half years in Murcia, initially as Head of Faculty for Mathematics and Computing. He later moved into a whole-school role as Head of Data and Student Progression, marking his transition into senior leadership. He subsequently became Head of Secondary School at an international school in Marbella.

It was during his time in Marbella that Joseph discovered Creators International School and was invited to become the school’s founding Principal. He is now helping bring Creators’ educational vision to life as the school opens its doors for the first time.

Outside of school, Joseph is married and enjoys walking in the mountains with his rather large dog. His love of the outdoors has also inspired his involvement with the Duke of Edinburgh Award, which he has established and coordinated at four of the five schools where he has worked. He has also put the programme in place at Creators and looks forward to seeing it become an important part of school life.

Frequently Asked Questions About Creators International School

What is Creators International School?

Creators International School is a school built around a strong academic focus on Mathematics, Science, Physics and Technology. It follows the British curriculum while extending learning beyond the standard syllabus, with students working towards recognised IGCSE and A-Level qualifications.

What makes Creators International School different?

Creators places particular emphasis on depth and mastery in STEM subjects. Rather than treating the curriculum specification as the limit of what students can learn, the school gives them opportunities to explore more demanding problems, make connections between subjects and investigate ideas beyond what would traditionally be expected for their age.

Is Creators International School a STEM-only school?

No. While Mathematics, Science, Physics and Technology are central to the school’s educational model, students follow a broad and varied timetable. The school emphasises that a complete education requires more than technical expertise.

What curriculum does Creators International School follow?

Creators follows the British curriculum and prepares students for recognised IGCSE and A-Level qualifications. Alongside the core curriculum, the school introduces additional material and more advanced concepts where students are ready for them.

Is Creators International School suitable for children who are particularly good at Maths or Science?

The school is particularly suited to children who are genuinely curious about Mathematics, Science or Computing and enjoy exploring difficult ideas. However, students do not need to arrive already knowing everything. Creators places a strong emphasis on curiosity, perseverance and a willingness to think rather than simply achieving high marks.

How can families apply or arrange a visit to Creators International School?

Families interested in Creators International School, which opens in September 2026, can get in touch directly with the school to ask about admissions and arrange a visit ahead of opening.

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