LHA TECHNOLOGY NEWS May 2022
Lostock Hall Academy prides itself on being an academy that engages in educational research and embraces change to secure the very best education for its students. Therefore, we are delighted to share with parents in this newsletter how the ‘technology in education revolution’ that enabled students to keep learning through two lockdowns, is being sustained at LHA, shaping independent, digitally literate and confident learners, primed for successful futures.
Educating the Future: Why Technology is Here to Stay at LHA
The ICT strategy for now and the future at Lostock Hall Academy
The vision at LHA is not to replace high-quality teaching with devices but rather, enhance what we know about effective learning and teaching with technology. We have asked ourselves: will developing the use of student devices at LHA help students know more, remember more and do more? The answer is a resounding YES!
The power of being able to research a word, concept or textual reference not fully understood, ensures that our students are shown how to be active learners who enjoy ‘growing themselves’ by deepening their own learning. Teachers at the academy enjoy the discussions that arise out of this active learning and seize the opportunity to address misconceptions and steer students towards high-quality reading on topics.
An educational journey interrupted by the pandemic has led to a national fear of learning gaps and created a need for assessment by teachers to be continuous with students being asked to recall previous learning repeatedly. This year we launched a 1:1 device scheme to the incoming Year7 students. The success of the scheme has cemented the academy’s strategy to continue the roll out.
Student devices in the classroom provide a myriad of opportunities for this best learning practice to be carried out effectively, in a way that motivates students to learn. Through online sites such as Quizlet and Kahoot, Microsoft softwares and adaptive software packages, teachers have never had such a wealth of assessment information at their fingertips. This is powerful knowledge for our teachers and leads to reteaching and embedding of learning that is important core knowledge for students. Furthermore, through the use of devices in the classroom we encourage independent recall practice in our students. The ‘ClassWork’ feature within our school platform, Synergy, enables staff to share their teaching resources with students. This means that outside of the classroom, whether they are in the school library, at home or at the other side of the world, students are able to access and revisit the classroom curriculum at any time. Accessibility to the curriculum is a known vital factor in ensuring that students are successful independent learners. At LHA, our students carry their classroom and all the resources it contains on their device. Students also carry an international library within their device and the opportunity to immerse themselves in the cultural capital that supports understanding in the classroom.
Staff have been delighted by the creativity that technology in the classroom can inspire and have been impressed by our students’ fearless attitude to delving into the edtech world. Our teachers receive continuous training on how student devices can enhance student learning as part of our mission to ‘educate the future’ and ensure that they thrive in the work places of the future. Vive La Revolution!
The pandemic has truly shone a light on the role of IT in our schools. With no pre-existing handbook for delivering the curriculum remotely IT truly cemented its role in the future of education. Not only is LHA embracing this seismic shift by integrating IT into the classrooms it has also started to create great spaces in our IT department. The project is well underway and will be complete for September 2022. For students who are not part of the 1:1 device programme the IT suites are being refurbished for their use and a new IT Support Services desk is being established physically to enable students and staff to access the best possible support, mirroring our Student Support Services desk on the floor below. The service desk will provide a great space for hardware and software support and for our students who borrow specialist equipment to support their learning on a daily basis, they’ll be assisted by our amazing IT staff. As we go forward with our young people over the next few years, it’s important to reflect on what we have learned and make sure we build on our newly found skills and redefine what outstanding facilities look like to support the new landscape. At LHA we are constantly striving to provide great opportunities and spaces for learning.
Refurbishment of the IT Suites and the New IT Service Desk
Anyone working at Lostock Hall Academy knows that our students love their devices. Enter the Learning Resource Centre at lunchtime and you will see our students supporting each other with homework, revisiting classwork and loving their learning. However, we wanted to know, specifically, what our students love about learning on their devices. Here’s what our students said:
“In Art Mrs. Murray shows us how to use Photopea and create digital art. It’s amazing!”
“In Geography, Mrs. Williams shows us how to research properly and shows us where we can find articles to read that help us understand the world more deeply.” “I like Reading Plus, but I also like going back to the reading from my English lessons. Last week, I re-read a scene from ‘Romeo and Juliet’ with my friends at lunchtime!”
“Mr. Purdon’s History lessons are great. We all collaborate on the same PowerPoint. Group work on devices is fun! We also make and save timelines with images which helps with revision.”
‘‘ In Art Mrs. Murray shows us how to use Photopea and create digital art. It’s amazing!‘‘
Student Voice at Lostock Hall Academy
“Every week in Media Studies we use our devices to take photos and make media products. I have made a magazine on Canva!”
“We use our devices a lot in Maths: Mrs. Archibald checks our answers on Dr.Frost, We show our working out on digital whiteboards and we use the “Spanishcalculator.”is really fun! We use Quizlet and online games to recall our knowledge from previous lessons. We also read authentic Spanish and communicate with Spanish schools.”
I feel the commitment from the Leadership Team, Teaching Staff and Technical Team at LHA to make digital technology an integral part of the Teaching and Learning experience for our students, is the best I have ever seen.
For example, creating timelines. Using an app called Sutori students can now create a timeline for subjects that can incorporate images, audio, video and even hyperlinks to make a dynamic presentation and resource far beyond what could be achieved with paper and pen.
I have over a decade of experience working with schools to embed technology into their curriculum.
Finally, let us not forget the enjoyment factor. Using technology in the classroom can add even more fun to lessons. You only need to witness a lesson where students are participating in a Kahoot quiz to see this.
I do not think I need to elaborate on the impact that technology has had on society and what it will be like in the future, but I would like to say that being “Digitally Literate” is an important skill that most of us will need to navigate an ever-changing technological landscape. Integrating technology into the school curriculum will play a big part in helping your child to do this and it is a credit to all the staff involved at LHA that we are making that a Thefocus.devices have a myriad of practical uses in and out of the classroom, but we are mindful that we do not use technology for technology’s sake. For example, if a pen and paper do the job better that is what we will use and there are many times when that is the right choice. However, there are numerous ways that technology can enhance learning when compared to these “traditional” Formethods.example, imagine a student watching a science experiment in class. Traditionally they would watch this and then be asked to write about it. During this process some of the important details might have been forgotten or misheard, written work and future recall of this might suffer as a consequence.
This could then not only benefit their current work, but also be stored and used as a revision resource. There are many situations like this where using a device is an excellent choice for teaching and learning when compared to previous “traditional” ways. We also use many apps that can take teaching and learning strategies to another level.
Mr STEMPurdonFaculty - Computer Science
Digital Technology -
An integral part of the Teaching and Learning
Now imagine that the student uses the video camera on their device to record the experiment. They can now take this and watch it several times, pausing at the main points to make notes, or even annotate direct to the video. They could then quickly collaborate with a peer by sharing this over the internet and obtain further input and ideas.
‘‘ It has really helped with some of my subjects and we do some exciting things in lessons. We recently did some really cool stuff with them in Art. Gabriella ‘‘
Year 7 Digital Leaders
‘‘ To support the roll out of the 1:1 device scheme a number of Digital Leaders were appointed to facilitate feedback both to staff and students and also this group of technical giants offer support to their peers.
Lucas ‘‘ ‘‘ Being a Digital leader has really increased my confidence and ability when I am using laptops, software and the internet Jaidon (Digital Leader) ‘‘ ‘‘ One of the best things about the laptops is that I have access to more resources for Homework and Oliviarevision.
‘‘ Using the digital whiteboard software on the devices is really easy and makes a big difference. We used to have to bring in a board, pen and wiper and then get dirty hands from using it. With this there is no mess and we can save anything we write if we want to use it later.
‘‘ I really like being able to help people and being a Digital Leader has given me a great opportunity to do this. Kaden (Digital Leader) ‘‘
In addition to the reading for learning programmes above, LHA is proud to support an online library where students can choose from over 1,500 titles a book to read for pleasure. Students simply enter the library by entering their school email address and the password lhalib. Log on with your child and enjoy browsing our vibrant collection.
Online Reading for Learning
All students at Key Stage 3 participate in the online reading scheme, Reading Plus. At LHA, we passionately believe that reading for learning progress does not stop at the end of Year 6 and therefore, our students follow this rigorous reading comprehension programme from entering in Year 7 to the end of Year 9. The programme is particularly effective because it allows students to choose from a wealth of online reading material and presents to them a dashboard full of information about their progress. By using this adaptive platform students make the connection between reading consistently and furthering their own progress across the curriculum. In Key Stage 4, students continue their reading for learning journey by using the online programme Century Tech. The artificial intelligence of this online platform ensures that throughout Key Stage 4 students are constantly revisiting their reading curriculum and strengthening their skills for GCSE success.
Click link to view the E-Library https://lostockhallacademy.eplatform.co/
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The year 7 students have been doing a class project/competition in their Spanish lessons. They have been preparing a video log describing their school in Spanish. The students have worked in pairs creating scripts and making and editing videos to show what Lostock Hall Academy is like. We are creating these videos to show our future partner school what school life is like here in the UK. students have tried really hard and have been making videos around the school site showing all the excellent facilities at Lostock Hall Academy. have been some excellent VLOGs created. L SubjectLomaxLead
Mrs
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MFL Vlogging in Spanish
