Making the most of ICT opportunities

Technology is now firmly embedded in education, but how it is used can vary from school to school. Naace member schools have a common theme however; recognition that ICT can be an enabler, a facilitator and a superb enrichment tool. We take a look at two of the original Naace Feature Schools, one inner-city and one rural, to find out about each school’s approach to ICT.

Snowsfields primary school
Snowsfields school in South London strives to deliver a curriculum that uses technology as an integral part of teaching to helps to support learning for children of all ages. Matt Rogers, ICT subject leader and teacher, offers some insight into life at Snowsfields:
    
“Over the course of the past two years we have worked extremely hard to ensure that our pupils are given access to, and allowed to explore a range of different software and hardware to help scaffold their own learning. This has ranged from the use of interactive communication tools within our Early Years and Key Stage 1, to social media devices such as Twitter and Blogger in Key Stage 2. This has ensured that our children are given the chance to explore the ever-changing digital world around them, whilst working within the safe and secure environment of our School.
    
“Alongside this, adopting the use of social media has ensured that we are constantly developing and reflecting on our e-safety policy and curriculum to make sure we are advising our pupils how best to safely access and explore the web. In collaboration with our pupils, we also developed a school Intranet page, which hosts links and tools, which the pupils felt, would be useful when using ICT both in school and at home. The pupils still have their say over how this Intranet is developed and as such is updated on a regular basis to suit their changing requirements.
 
“As well as the development of communication using ICT, we have also adopted the use of cloud based learning within Snowsfields. As we are a London based school, we have access to a range of tools through the London Grid for Learning (LGfL), and so to build upon these and integrate them into our teaching we have begun to use an Operating System within our school called ‘Joli Cloud’.

Transforming your laptop or desktop PC into an iPad inspired computer – a huge hit with our children, and one of the key drivers behind its success. We have found that this has not only enhanced the use of online applications, but also transformed a host of otherwise redundant laptops, and given them a new lease of life within our setting – allowing us to invest our limited finances into other project areas. This has allowed our pupils to continue their learning at home as they can access their ‘Joli-Cloud’ through any web browser, anywhere, anytime. It has meant that our other online tools such as Fronter have seen greater traffic and participation numbers. Allowing us to better communicate with parents and guardians outside of school.
     
Learning gains
“Since developing our new approach to ICT, we have noticed a profound difference in our pupils learning at Snowsfields Primary School, and as such our newfound ‘Digital Learners’ have taken to supporting their families and friends in becoming more aware of the technology available to them. This in itself has inspired the staff to continue our development of a curriculum which suits the needs of our knowledge thirsty pupils, and explore new areas of ICT perhaps previously overlooked in Primary education – such as Scratch Programming and Game Design.
    
“We have fortunately been able to be part of an inter‑schools project in conjunction with Southwark Local Authority and LGfL using Mission Maker to develop RPG-Style games, a huge success and inspiration for our game designers of the future.
    
“Having received our ICT Mark in July 2012, we now have access to host of new opportunities to help support our local school network under the umbrella of the ICT Mark Network, an exciting project of which we are very keen to develop. We very much look forward to the new challenges and opportunities that will become available to use as we continue to move through the Digital Age.”

Holy Island School
Nestled in north Northumberland lies Holy Island Church of England First School. There, day-to-day life is ruled, not primarily by the constraints of timetabling and schedules, but by the moon. Twice each day, Holy Island is cut off by the tide for five hours at a time, changing daily the access to the rest of the UK. The school is federated with Lowick C. of E. First School on the mainland, with the children travelling between each site on an almost daily basis, whenever the tide allows. Rob Campbell, teacher and ICT coordinator, talks us through the role that technology plays in the school:
    
“With just six children aged from four to nine, Holy Island School has a unique identity and character. Steeped in history and with a close connection with the village community, the school has undergone tremendous changes through the years. Built onto the side of the teacher’s house, generations of island families have learned, played and enjoyed an education in the schoolroom. Over the years, the blackboards have become interactive white boards, the slates have become netbooks, and the tattered research books have become a wireless network of laptops.
    
“Over on the mainland, technology also forms a fundamental part of the curriculum and provision for the children. One of the defining features of the federation is flexibility. With the constantly changing timetable of the tides, and the imperative for successful mixed age teaching (crossing 3 key stages) the schools have developed a creative curriculum based largely around the ‘Mantle of the Expert’.
    
“The essence of this style relies upon a ‘learn through play’ approach; every member of school is involved in the ‘game’ of the mantle, donning their invisible cloaks and ‘becoming’ other characters. Teachers become characters who add dramatic tension and pose ‘problems’ which the experts, in the form of the children, must solve. There is a corporate feeling to the children’s roles; they have been board members, managing directors, trust workers, gallery owners, archaeologists, and book publishers.
    
“As a part of this, the integration of ICT teaching within a cross-curricular framework is crucial. In a corporate environment, technology permeates the entire culture, all elements of work interact with ICT; a professional office does not feature lines of desks using only paper and pencils, with a separate ‘suite’ of computers, and an area for the use of digital cameras. Rather, such technology is integrated within the whole. Mirroring this professional working environment, the schools have no computer suite or discrete area in which technology is deployed; thus, the children, particularly in mantle, have free access to ICT resources in their working spaces.
    
Educational Opportunities
“Throughout the schools’ planning procedures, ICT opportunities are constantly being identified. A four year rolling programme of topic based teaching, each linked to different ‘mantles’ provide opportunities for close focus upon particular ICT skills, (for example musical composition, artistic creation in 2D and 3D, programming and constructing prototypes, and concept mapping) and all the while integrating core usage throughout the whole curriculum. The children are taught to be intuitive users of technology; rather than learning the intricacies of one particular operating system, software style, user interface or piece of hardware, they are given the skills to ‘find their way around’ a wide variety of systems. Learning how to learn is a real priority, particularly with such young children. In the world of constantly changing technology, it is vital that young people are equipped to be confident and safe users of ICT.
    
“Exploiting the free access to an incredible local learning environment (in the form of the island, including 12th Century priory, beaches, sand dunes, castle, and harbour) the children regularly produce video documentaries, plays and films, which are edited and then produced with the help of parents. Beyond the normal realms of ‘first school ICT’, the children also learn to use a studio style 12 channel mixing desk, P.A. set up, spotlights and theatre equipment.
    
“Far from being trapped in a rural past, Holy Island and Lowick C. of E. First Schools embrace the future – helping children to experience the complexities, potential, and excitement of technology whilst never losing the essence of their unique character and history.”

Further information
www.naace.co.uk