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 purchased or rented by parents using schemes which the school has established with major IT companies.
Year 3 – Year 6
Pupils will use a cost-effective laptop bought through the school’s scheme. The use of the device will grow as the child progresses through the prep school with Year 3 dedicated to learning basic user skills and growing in confidence in their use of the device and common applications.
The cost of the device including comprehensive support, insurance, repair and maintenance and all the software the pupil requires pre-installed is approximate £1000. This can be spread over the 4 years of prep school at a cost of roughly £5 per week or £21/month.
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.
The cost of the device including stylus, case, comprehensive support, insurance, repair and maintenance and all the software the pupil requires pre-installed is approximate £1900. This can be spread over the 5 years of senior school at a cost of roughly £8 per week or £32/month.
The Schemes
For both the above schemes we are finalising details and re-procuring to ensure that the schemes over best value for money for parents. Once we’ve selected a supplier, they will create a purchasing portal for you which will provide all details about the different options, about financing, and about the comprehensive insurance, repair and warranty built into the schemes.
All devices on the scheme are delivered to the school and will be issued to pupils (and parents) in time for start of term with full software installed and configured to meet the needs of students and ready for the pupils to sign in and connect to the school.
Devices can of course be used at home, and we’ll provide advice on connecting to your home Wi-Fi as well as guidance on keeping your children safe on-line.
Sixth Form
Once pupils reach the sixth form then we feel it’s appropriate for them to make their own choices of device – with our support and guidance. These may vary according to the subjects they are taking or the routes they expect to follow after school.
General
All pupil use of IT, including these devices, is subject to the school’s acceptable use policy and we’ll provide that to you when we provide full details of the scheme – our aim is to provide this to you early in May.
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.