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United Kingdom Impact Report

Addressing Important Topics Facing Administrators Today

The Power of the Learning Loop

Seesaw, a Learning Experience Platform trusted and loved by 25 million educators, pupils, and families worldwide, is making a profound impact on some of the most important topics school administrators are facing today. Tailored for the early years foundation stage to key stage 2 pupils, Seesaw enables schools to actively involve parents, carers, and family members in what we call “the learning loop”, fostering a collaborative partnership in their child’s educational journey. Engaging pupils in these crucial developmental years can yield positive and enduring effects academically, socially, and emotionally, instilling a lifelong love of learning.

This impact report includes testimonials from educators and school leaders from the United Kingdom, highlighting successful strategies they are employing to implement Seesaw and the positive impact it’s having on their school community and pupil achievement.

Seesaw’s Learning Experience Platform supports OECD Future of Education and Skills 2030 Conceptual Learning Framework from the Student Agency for 2030.

Reference #1: “Students with involved parents or caregivers earn higher grades and test scores, have better social skills and behave better at school.”

Reference #2: “When students play an active role in shaping their lessons, they are more likely to participate, ask questions, have open and candid discussions, express opposing opinions and make challenging statements.”

Reference #3: “Research shows that responsible and positive family engagement with schools improves student achievement, reduces absenteeism and strengthens parents’ confidence in their child’s education.”

Reference #4: “An effective learning environment is built on ‘co-agency,’ i.e. where students, teachers, parents, and the community work together. Teachers play a key role in designing a learning environment that values agency.”

*Source: https://search.oecd.org/education/2030-project/teaching-and-learning/learning/student-agency/Student_ Agency_for_2030_concept_note.pdf

Family Engagement & Communication

Seesaw helps schools develop strong family relationships as partners in their child’s learning. This is particularly critical for supporting families of all types including immigrant families, divorced families, families overseas, and those with non-English-speaking family members. This helps foster a sense of belonging, provides support, bridges geographical gaps, and ensures inclusive participation in their child’s education. Parent–teacher meetings, translation assistance, and involving extended family members all contribute to building a strong foundation for a child’s success in life.

“Not only can families see their child’s work they can also communicate directly with me and see my responses to children’s work. I also use messaging to share individual children’s successes directly with parents, it is so quick and easy to share a photo and type a short message.”

- Helen Mackie, Computing Subject Lead in Year 4, England

“Pupils enjoy sharing work that they are proud of with their families. It helps parents engage and see what their child is learning throughout the year rather than receiving everything at the end. Pupils are encouraged when family members comment on their work.”

- Fiona Batista, P4 Teacher, Scotland

“Children love to share their learning. During the day, they will ask, “Will you take a photo of me with my picture/writing/model to show my mummy?” They then want to see the picture to check that they’re happy with it! Sometimes, they will ask if they can take a photo of their friend to send it to their parents too. It is so lovely for them and their adults at home to experience their learning journey wherever they are.”

- Suzanne Gratton, Reception Teacher, England

“Being able to share the learning experiences and events in the classroom with families in real-time has been so beneficial. It has allowed parents who are not living full-time with their child, to know exactly what has been happening in their little one’s life during the day so they can speak about it when they chat on the phone/next meet. Several have expressed just how connected they feel through the small uploads shared each day.”

- Kirsty Hrabovsky, Principal, Northern Ireland

“We want all our pupils to have equity and we want all our families to be in the loop of what’s happening at school. We want school to be a transparent place where a family member knows what’s happening. We can do that with Seesaw.”

- Kirsty Hrabovsky, Principal, Northern Ireland

“My school has a high level of EAL learners (68%). The ability for families to translate messages and information into their home language is hugely important to us. Since using Seesaw we have seen a big increase in family engagement and we feel this is a huge reason for that.”

- Sarah Jenkins, STEM Lead, Scotland

Pupil Engagement

Seesaw is instrumental in promoting pupil engagement through its versatile features tailored to support diverse learning needs and preferences. Seesaw’s “Daily Check-Ins” enable educators to gain insights into pupils’ interests, well-being, challenges, and situations, fostering a supportive and empathetic learning environment. Seesaw enhances learning experiences by animating diagrams, incorporating audio elements, and allowing for annotations, making complex concepts more accessible and engaging for pupils. Whether documenting a science experiment or a STEM project, Seesaw facilitates hands-on learning experiences, promoting active participation and deeper understanding. Seesaw supports joy and celebration in the classroom, reinforcing positive behaviour and creating memorable learning moments that inspire pupils to thrive academically and emotionally.

“I just love the fact that children who don’t usually engage in homework or tasks respond so well to Seesaw. One child last year rarely completed tasks at home or engaged, but completed all of the tasks and loved the oral feedback she got. She even made videos and recordings after school! It was great to develop parental engagement and she got praise for something she never did before. It was amazing to see the transformation and eagerness to complete everything we did on Seesaw.”

- Emma Chichester, Primary Teacher, Wales

“The Seesaw digital portfolio allows the youngest learners to actively see their growth. Seesaw empowers the children to share their thinking and ideas. It is a powerful tool to demonstrate how they have improved since the beginning of the year.”

- Wendy Brandse, Kindergarten Teacher, England

“A child that I taught last year had started a drawing at school of her dream house. She worked very hard on every detail of the drawing. She uploaded her work to Seesaw and showed her mom at home. She asked if she could use her drawing to construct her dream house using her toys. Her imagination and creativity was incredible. She showed the class during a presentation the next day and the family interaction and transfer of skills were evident.”

- Sarah Molloy, Years 2-4 Teacher, Ireland

“Student agency and ownership of their learning is at the foundation of the Seesaw journal. I love helping teachers set up their classrooms to be Seesaw-friendly so pupils can choose to upload their WOW work anytime. The quiet and easily overlooked pupil can get lost within a regular “raise your hand to speak” type of classroom. With Seesaw, every pupil’s voice is heard. That is truly something special”

- Kirsten Ries, Technology Coordinator, England

“Seesaw has been brilliant for the children I teach in reception. I can share my screen to the board and walk through how to access the activity and what to do when they are on it. Children love recording their answers however they want to, some have recorded videos while some will attempt to write their answers. The app is user-friendly and allows creativity to be a part of their work both in class and at home.”

- Tom Beales, Early Years Foundation Stage Lead, England

School Participation & Attendance

Pupils are much more likely to participate in school when they feel supported by their families and school staff. Seesaw helps increase school participation by creating joyful and inclusive experiences that engage all types of pupils to have a positive learning experience. This helps teachers effectively reach new, shy, or reserved pupils and facilitate remote learning for sick or injured pupils. These factors help foster improved attendance rates and continuous learning experiences for all pupils regardless of their situation.

Pupil Achievement

Seesaw’s Learning Experience Platform correlates with improved end-of-year assessment outcomes by focusing on primary learners’ unique needs. Unlike other products, Seesaw enhances the primary pupil, teacher, and classroom experience with age-appropriate solutions. It equips teachers with tools and curriculum to maximise pupils’ potential during their crucial foundational years. Seesaw fosters critical thinking, comprehension, and fluency assessment, facilitating tailored interventions. It promotes collaboration between families and teachers, aligning strategies with classroom curriculum and empowering educators and families alike to drive academic growth and pupil success through joyful and dynamic learning environments.

“As a school with largely disadvantaged pupils, where parents have had negative personal educational experiences, family engagement has historically been a struggle. Seesaw has allowed parents to view their children’s learning on their devices when it suits them. As work can be presented in audio and video format, it supports parents who may have literacy difficulties. After implementing Seesaw across the school, 95% of parents are commenting and engaging with their child’s learning, and attendance at Parents Evenings has increased significantly.”

Charlotte

Branney, Deputy Head Teacher, England

“We have been using Seesaw for now for seven years. We moved to Seesaw to help with our continuous reporting throughout the year. I have been working with staff to build the capacity of reporting through technology and Seesaw. This helped us move into the pandemic as we were able to move quickly and efficiently into an online realm. From then I have continued my Seesaw journey through the assessment functions now available and making all staff comfortable with building their online resource libraries to better engage our pupils in their learning.”

- Sinead Mcgourty, Year 1 Teacher, Ireland

“One pupil in my class has been absent a lot of the year due to serious ill health. Seesaw allowed this child to engage with learning opportunities when he was well enough to. It allowed him to stay up to speed with what was happening in the class, socially as well as academically. It also allowed me to ensure I was able to pitch learning to his ability and needs, due to missed instruction from absence. Keeping him in the loop of what was happening at school, and keeping me in touch with him and his family, was incredibly important to his return to school full time.”

- Colleen Lynch, Year 4 Teacher, Scotland

“Having digital portfolios of pupil work is invaluable. Pupils, parents, and teachers alike enjoy viewing work and giving meaningful feedback which is cherished by learners. The range of media that is supported makes Seesaw very inclusive and gives every pupil an opportunity to showcase their understanding and achievement. The digital portfolio provides a vital link for families. Using Seesaw’s digital portfolios has really enhanced the school experience for our whole community.”

- Michael Johnston, Acting Principal Teacher, Scotland

“We had a STEM week and our project was to research, design, and build a drum kit. The final stage was to test and communicate their product. We had one child in particular who was very shy and would never choose to volunteer to share their work. Seesaw allowed this child to record a video of them talking about all the key components of the drum kit and then followed this with a fantastic performance. They didn’t want to share their upload with the class, so they shared it at home first. With lots of praise, his mum convinced him to show the class what he did. He was so proud of not only his drum kit, but the huge leap in confidence provided to him by Seesaw!”

- Ali Conway, Year 3 Teacher, England

“Incorporating Seesaw into my classroom has been pivotal in achieving high-quality instruction, and I’ve been passionate about helping other educators do the same. The immediacy of voice note feedback is unmatched, and I’ve been mentoring colleagues on using this feature to create a deeper connection with pupils. Introducing them to Seesaw’s multimedia features, I’ve seen how it can elevate our collective approach to high-quality instruction, as pupils become more engaged and responsible for their learning. I often recommend resources from Seesaw’s activity library, optimising our instructional time. By demonstrating how to craft custom activities, I’ve supported fellow teachers in ensuring instruction is tailored to each pupil’s unique needs.”

Richard Poth, Technology Consultant, England

“A pupil explained the process of adding and subtracting fractions with different denominators using the record feature. The pupil then used this to help with the following homework. The pupils did not need any teacher intervention after they had been taught it. They also could refer back to this whenever they needed it.”

- Lee Farrington, Year 5 Teacher, England

“The Seesaw digital portfolio allows the youngest learners to actively see their growth during the year in Kindergarten. Seesaw empowers the children to share their thinking and ideas. It allows them to reflect upon their learning. It is a powerful tool to demonstrate how they have improved since the beginning of the year.”

- Wendy Brandse, Early Childhood Teacher, England

“Working with a number of children with Special Educational Needs, I need to be able to provide the children with the opportunity to learn in the classroom alongside their peers. Seesaw allows me to remove barriers to learning, such as reading or writing. A boy in my class with autism loves iPads and in particular Seesaw. He is entirely engaged throughout a Seesaw lesson, and Seesaw features regularly allow him to access much more demanding content. I often record the instructions for a task so that he can listen back as much as he needs to, or his response to a question will be recorded to remove the cognitive overload of a written answer. His portfolio is full of work he is proud of, and so are we!”

- Andy Grover, Key Stage 2 Lead, England

Teacher Support, Retention, & Positive School Culture

Schools across the United Kingdom are facing teacher shortages. In light of this reality, keeping existing staff happy and engaged while developing teachers who are new to the profession are critical drivers of positive school culture and academic achievement. For experienced teachers, Seesaw helps to alleviate their workload and enhance their productivity with easy-to-administer assessments, ready-to-teach lessons aligned to their standards, multiple ways to differentiate, and parent communication tools that are seamlessly connected to pupil learning. For teachers new to the profession, Seesaw provides tools that align with effective teaching practices like promoting pupil voice and choice, providing scaffolds and opportunities for differentiation, and lessons based on effective teaching methods (gradual release of responsibility, for example).

Equity & Access

Seesaw serves as a powerful tool for promoting equity and access in education by addressing the diverse needs of all pupils, regardless of their backgrounds or abilities. Seesaw is designed to meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) content accessibility guidelines and equip teachers with the resources and tools they need to implement Universal Design for Learning (UDL), multiply their reach, and personalise learning to ensure that every learner receives the assistance they need to succeed. Seesaw serves as a source of motivation for populations with ASD and ADHD and facilitates the documentation of learning for pupils with special needs, supporting educators in implementing individualised education plans and accommodations effectively. Moreover, Seesaw breaks down barriers related to poverty, educational challenges, and language barriers by providing equitable and accessible educational resources to pupils and their families. For example, Seesaw supports multilingual pupils and their families by providing resources in multiple languages to foster inclusive learning environments. By ensuring equitable support and attention for all pupils, Seesaw promotes inclusivity in education, ultimately empowering every learner to achieve at their fullest potential.

“As computing lead and deputy head of our school, I am always looking for ways to help our staff with workload, but also engage our children. Seesaw enabled us to do both. It has totally changed the way we do things and has cut our workload massively. Our use of Seesaw also enabled us to apply and be awarded part of the EdTech 50 schools in the UK where we were invited to the House of Lords in London and given an award.”

- Miss J Pattison, Deputy Head Teacher and Computing Lead, England

“It has been a tremendous help to myself and my classroom assistants in that we can assess and bring our results together in one place making future planning so much easier for us all.”

- Janet Edgar, Year 1 Teacher, Northern Ireland

“As a teacher, it cuts down the workload of printing photos and sticking them into books. The recording of work is instant and the feedback is instantly recorded too.”

- Katie Watkin, Reception Teacher, Wales

“The parents at our school were feeling quite disengaged with their children’s learning and felt they wanted to see more. Seesaw has helped with this and now the parent engagement is much better.”

- Sophie Perez, Year 6 Teacher, England

“I teach a composite class of children from seven to 11 years old. This makes differentiation particularly important. Using Seesaw means I can record instruction videos and allocate them to specific pupils. This allows me to work with one group of children, while others are listening to my instructions for their activity using their Seesaw journal.”

- Kevin Beattie, Year 3-6 Teacher, Northern Ireland

“Being able to send assignments based on pupil needs across my class means I can more easily identify those pupils who need to be pushed and those who need more help. I’ve seen pupils that can complete a task quicker than others then move on to a more difficult assignment to test their knowledge.”

- Sean O’Connor, Instructional Technology Coach, England

“As a Special Needs teacher, Seesaw has been invaluable in allowing children with additional needs to engage with learning in a fun and active way. The children are taking ownership of their learning and seeing progress on their digital profile.”

- Laura Shaw, Special Needs Teacher, Ireland

“Seesaw provides so many ways for children to express themselves outside traditional reading and writing. It allows you to see a broader spectrum of personalities and skills in your classroom. For children with different needs (e.g. dyslexia), they can respond orally to questions and activities where a written response might be too much for them. This means they can be fully engaged with an inclusive task, not just put up with an amended version which may make them feel othered. It also gives the child the choice of how best to respond, allowing for more meaningful interactions with the content.”

- Roisin Martin, Special Education Teacher, Ireland

“Giving children the voice they so desperately need is one thing as a teacher I am so thankful to Seesaw. It is so much more than just posting pictures or work of the children’s academic studies. It allows children to express their abilities without having a cap on it.”

- Miss J Pattison, Deputy Head Teacher and Computing Lead, England

To learn more about our award-winning instructional platform grounded in research and designed by experts, please visit: https://seesaw.com/awards-press/