King Edward’s School

DAVID MIDDLEBROUGH, DEPUTY HEAD (CURRICULUM AND DIGITAL STRATEGY)

At King Edward’s School we recognise the importance of equipping our pupils with the digital skills that they will require throughout their education and later careers. The appropriate use of ICT is at the heart of our curriculum and co-curricular activities and developing our pupils’ confidence and adaptability is key to them being able to flourish in a world full of rapidly advancing technology.

The recent opening of a new Creative Media Suite in the Senior School is one such example of our digital intent. Through our partnership with Lenovo and Microsoft, and with it the installation of 26 Lenovo Legion T5 desktop systems, we’ve been able to fully embrace the opportunities for creative digital media work across a range of activities and subjects. The new facility is widely used across the curriculum, as well as within our co-curricular activities which includes a flourishing esports programme. Pupils can now easily bring more digital media work into their studies, and there are obvious benefits to being able to work with better quality photo and video editing facilities in subjects such as ICT, Drama, Art and Photography. We have also been able to support pupils who want to use these skills in all subjects – whether it is filming a video for a History assignment, putting together an e-news report in English or using Minecraft for Education to explore the world of materials science in Chemistry.

ICT is embedded across the curriculum in our Junior and Pre-Prep Schools. Pupils use apps to enhance their learning, with computer animation becoming an increasingly valuable tool to present complex ideas. Tablet devices are part of the standard toolkit for pupils as they film and construct animations in a range of subject areas, such as illustrating fairy tales in English or explaining volcanic processes in Geography. Our younger pupils are also proficient coders, winning the latest Raspberry Pi competition with their design of a recycle bin that rewarded pupils with house points each time it was used and gave an alert when it needed emptying. kesbath.com

At Prior Park College digital technology is used to quietly support its students. Each student is provided with a Personal Learning Device, not to replace pen and paper, but in support of outstanding teaching and learning. Our Personal Learning Devices, or PLDs as they are better known, facilitate a close working relationship between students and their teachers as they explore their academic curiosities. Full access to the Microsoft 365 package enables students to seek support and feedback from their teachers outside of lessons using Teams.

In class, gone are the days of endlessly copying notes from the board –Microsoft OneNote provides a platform for teachers to capture rich discussion, share editable notes with the students, provide live feedback, and embed screen recordings of worked examples. This digital technology support makes learning, and indeed revising for exams, a smoother, organised process, and one that all our students greatly benefit from. priorparkschools.com

At The Paragon School technology is used in everyday teaching and learning. We teach a bespoke computing curriculum which commences in the pupils’ earliest years when they are in Squirrels Pre-School. Our ethos is that teaching children to think computationally is essential and should begin as soon as a child embarks on their educational journey with us.

Formal computing lessons commence in Year 1. Pupils are taught to use the key Microsoft packages, as well as coding and programming. Other creative skills such as Podcast production and creating a stop-frame animation using tablets are taught from Years 3–6. Throughout the school each classroom has its own Interactive White Board. Pupils from Year 5 are provided with their own Personal Learning Devices to maximise and enhance their learning opportunities, such as researching and word processing, not only throughout their school day but also at home.

Implementing the use of technology in daily life at school supports our long-term approach to ensure that our pupils are knowledgeable and excited about the fast-evolving technological world around them. Our ambition is to foster independent learners, who will leave us in Year 6 as confident digital citizens.

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