Learning Technology
Over the past few years, the role and use of technology in learning has evolved rapidly and we are now comfortable that well specified and well used technology offers major benefits for pupils through their school life.
At Claremont we see three different elements of this: the availability to all pupils of a consistent, reliable and high-quality laptop; the use of the Microsoft Teams environment throughout their learning both in school and at home; and the presence of fully interactive screens in all our learning spaces for use by both teachers and pupils. These are underpinned by continual investment in our infrastructure and in skills and training.
Microsoft Teams and OneNote
At the heart of pupils learning is the Microsoft Teams environment. Pupils and their teachers are connected by the Teams and through this work is set, shared, discussed, reviewed and assessed. Teachers will set exercises and assignments and pupils will respond with handwritten or typed responses, sketches or comments which are visible immediately to the teacher who can guide, coach and comment in real time but leaving a permanent record for reflection and revision. OneNote provides the structure and tools for this, and the pupils’ laptop and stylus enable them to engage easily and in a way which suits them. As the year progresses this OneNote builds up into a combined, comprehensive electronic record which brings together the “exercise book”, the teacher’s materials, the workings and the assignments – together with all of the pupil’s reflections and teacher’s comment and review.
When all of this is combined with increasing use of on-line resources and on-line texts, we expect to see those cumbersome and heavy rucksacks full of books much reduced!
Interactive Classrooms
Traditional projectors and screens in classrooms have been ‘one way’ – they transmit from teacher to pupil. The interactive screens we’ve installed provide two major advances over this traditional technology. Firstly, teachers and pupils can write, sketch or draw on the screen directly for the whole class. But more importantly our wireless connections allow any of the pupils to connect to the screen. This enables small groups to work together around a screen, allows individual pupils to showcase their work and allows a teacher or pupil to project from anywhere in the room. All of this supports a far more collaborative and reflective approach to learning which is so important in preparing pupils for the world of work.
Pupil Laptop Schemes
All of our pupils from the start of Year 3 through to the end of Year 13 will need to have their own device or laptop.
Year 3 – Year 6
Pupils will use a Lenovo 500w Yoga Gen 4, this must be purchased or rented through the Easy4u rental scheme, please note that all orders for devices must be placed by 30 June 2024.
CLICK HERE to read the Easy4u instructions on ordering your device
Devices will all be delivered to school during the summer, prepared and checked, and issued to pupils during the first few days of autumn term.
Devices can of course be used at home, and we will provide advice on connecting to your home Wi-Fi as well as guidance on keeping your children safe on-line.
Year 7 – Year 11
Pupils in senior school will use a powerful Microsoft Surface Pro computer which provides both a conventional laptop and a stylus and writable tablet format. The Surface provides an excellent and professional quality experience which will help prepare them for both higher education and the world of work. This must be purchased through the Easy4U purchase scheme below.
Please note that all orders for devices must be placed by 30 June 2024.
CLICK HERE to read the Easy4u instructions on ordering your device
Devices will all be delivered to school during the summer, prepared and checked, and issued to pupils during the first few days of autumn term.
Devices can of course be used at home, and we will provide advice on connecting to your home Wi-Fi as well as guidance on keeping your children safe on-line.
Sixth Form
Pupils in the sixth form will continue to need a device both in school and away. However, we believe that pupils at this stage in their education should encouraged to take ownership of the choice of technology which suits them and their learning – and aspirations for life after school.
To this end we operate a full ‘bring your own device’ scheme. Pupils should choose their own device and bring that into school. The choice of device might be guided by the subject they study – many students studying art, media or similar subjects might choose Apple Macbook; those studying computing or DT might choose very high end devices, those studying humanities might choose lightweight but simple laptops. Some may choose to use a tablet in school and a desktop at home.
We do consider it very important, however, that the device chosen includes a tablet and pen mode – our styles of teaching will continue to require students to annotate and write on documents on screens and maintain their handwriting as well as keyboard skills.
Equally, the Easy4U scheme remains open to parents of pupils entering the sixth form and a Surface Pro provides an excellent device for most subjects and, moreover, a device which will serve them well in their first few years of Higher Education.
General
All pupil use of IT, including these devices, is subject to the school’s acceptable use policy.
The safeguarding of our pupils is critically important. To this end we make no apologies that the school, under our IT acceptable use policies, provides filtered and monitored internet access on site and is able to monitor internet uses from school devices wherever they are connected to the internet. We also insist on and provide appropriate anti-virus and anti-malware systems to protect both the pupils and us.
As part of the Microsoft Teams environment all pupils have access to substantial OneDrive cloud storage and should use this to store all of their work to ensure that it is accessible from anywhere and that it is securely backed up.