Students in the Foothills School Division are getting to learn about failure.

Superintendent Chris Fuzessy says it's all a part of the Innovation and Design learning from Kindergarten to Grade 12.

"How do we continue to refine or solve problems and include failure as a positive part of a conversation because that first prototype is rarely, if ever, the prototype that's decided upon as you iterate ideas and try to work on your products," he explained.

He says at C Ian Maclaren school in Black Diamond, the Grade six class looked at an outdoor classroom design and partnered with Oilfields high school's woodshop to create real prototypes.

"You could see evidence of 'well we started here but we decided to move forward with a different design because we weren't meeting the needs of having shade for example in that outdoor learning space' so it's great to see that coming to life and that's just one of many examples."

He says when you look 30 years down the road at what skills may Abe necessary in the jobs that haven't been created yet, the division is confident that those thinking skills and process sets students up for success in the future.