This month’s Features

Best practice – the use of online learning solutions in infant and primary schools

Grays Infant & Nursery School in Newhaven, East Sussex is practicing this philosophy and, after becoming one of the early adopters of online learning solutions in its local authority area, has been utilising the many benefits of implementing an online learning solution during the early stages of education.

The school, where pupils are aged between three and seven, was part of the steering group for the local authority when implementing online technologies in schools throughout the

Online learning technologies are now a prominent feature in the majority of UK secondary schools, and much discussion has been centred on best practice at secondary school level. However, children as young as three years-old are the digital natives of tomorrow, so it is vital that we embed best practice for the use of ICT to support learning from a young age.

This month’s Featuresarea. By the time online technologies were introduced to its partner school, Southdown Junior School, a year later, staff were able to advise their colleagues on making best use of the technology.

Christine Terrey, has been headteacher at Grays Infant & Nursery School for six-years and is now also executive headteacher at Southdown Junior School. She has played a prominent role in the local authority’s development group, to help procure the right online learning solution for the borough.

“Technology is part of their world”Christine explains that when she joined the local authority’s development group four-years-ago, “many teachers had no idea what a learning platform was” but, after instantly realising the benefits online technologies can bring to learning, the teachers were keen to address the way technology was used to benefit their young pupils.

For Christine, the age of her

students did not deter her from implementing the online learning system. As she points out, “technology is part of their [the children’s] world and they are immersed in it from such a young age. Everything around children is hi-tech, many of them can confidently use mobile phones or their family’s DVD player by the time they arrive at our school and, as a result, they want to engage with technology in the classroom.”

Fiona Aubrey-Smith, Head of Educational Development at UniServity, believes that learning can be more constructive if younger pupils are given the support to learn more independently:

“So often, people assume that children are not able to manage their own learning effectively, but actually they get it spot-on because they are not worried about the social parameters around which we are ‘supposed to’ answer questions. Instead, they are intrinsically interested by opportunities to genuinely explore and discover new topics. Given the right framework

(curriculum, timescales, objectives, expectations & logistics) to work within, children are better at managing their own learning than we adults are at managing it for them.”

Grays Infant & Nursery School have now been using their online learning solution for over three-years and it has had a hugely positive effect

on the engagement and attainment of the pupils, the staff and parents.

At schoolChristine explains that there is no end to the positive aspects the learning platform has brought to each of the schools. So much so, that the solution is now fully embedded across the

This month’s Featuresentire curriculum and assists the school’s wider strategies; including Assessment for Learning.

Each learner has their own e-portfolio – secure, personalised online space, where children, parents and teachers can upload video footage or pictures of tasks carried out by a child as evidence of their progress. Teachers can then offer feedback through the child’s e-portfolio, giving both the child and the parent information regarding the child’s work and ways to progress their learning next. By having their own secure online space, learners, teachers and parents are able to log on anytime, anywhere so all parties are well informed of what support is required to help the child achieve their targets. Children can change the appearance of their profile, making it a fun and personal area that they will want to access on a regular basis.

The online learning solution has also helped to provide alternative methods of assessing pupils, not just through academic learning but also through behavioural learning and

social development. Christine explains: “The learning

platform enables staff to better document the process of learning, something that is extremely important to both teachers and parents. Some children, especially those with special educational needs (SEN), may make seemingly tiny, but very important steps in their learning which can be difficult to assess through traditional paper-based assessment methods. Before the online platform was introduced, parents may not have been aware of the full extent of their child’s progress. Now even learning a simple skill such as holding a pencil correctly, can be photographed or filmed and documented so this important step can be shared with all parties involved in the child’s development.”

This opinion is shared by Fiona who explains how thanks to the Assessment for Learning strategy, combined with the addition of online technologies, pupils are able to learn more independently in ways that are suited to their needs:

“Giving assessment criteria and guidance to the learner and their peers, and teaching the skill of assessment, encourages students to take ownership and responsibility. This responsibility grows from being about the assessment, to being about the contents of the learning activity itself, and raises standards consistently where this strategy is used.”

Assessment is not the only aspect of the learning platform that has been welcomed by teachers. Christine explains how the communal areas of the online platform have freed up time for teachers to focus on the most important aspect of their job; teaching.

“We now have hundreds of resources that the teachers or pupils can access at anytime. They can share topics through the platform and teachers no longer have to dedicate hours of their time researching new topics. For example, any forum discussions, wikis or resources that have been developed by teachers over the years, are always available online so can be recycled to help all pupils.”

At homeOne of the main benefits of an online learning solution is that it enables staff and pupils to access their learning materials anytime, anywhere with an internet connection. This is a huge advantage for parents, as they can now be fully involved with their child’s learning and help to continue learning beyond the boundaries of the classroom. For children at both schools, the learning platform has opened the channels of communication, not only between teacher and parent, but also between pupil and parent. As a result of the ability to share videos and photos of a child’s progress online, parents and teachers can see exactly what their child has been doing and engage with them successfully at both home and school.

Christine explains: “For us, parental engagement is not defined simply by a relationship with the school; it’s about learning and the ways that parents can help to support their child’s learning.”

“If a parent can watch a video

This month’s Featuresof their child’s science lesson, understand the activity and witness the participation between teacher and pupils, it gives them the opportunity to engage their child by asking specific questions about the lesson when they get home. It also gives the child the chance to review the lesson and, as a result, what they have learnt.”

Both Grays Infant & Nursery School and Southdown Junior School are considered to be disadvantaged schools with high levels of free school meals. To raise standards across both sites, it is has been extremely important to increase levels of parental engagement, something that Christine felt could be encouraged through the introduction of online technologies.

“Many of our pupils’ parents are extremely tech-savvy and many are especially familiar with social networking and online networks, but we wanted to make sure that all parents could get on board to support their child’s learning.”

As a result of innovative training schemes and workshops, parents

are now more actively involved in their child’s development and able to confidently use the learning platform.

“It was extremely important to us that parents didn’t feel out of their depth,” explains Christine. “We provided a number of training options including the chance to learn about the system alongside their child and

the offer of crèche facilities for parents with younger children so that they could learn about the system without having to worry about childcare.”

Christine then went even further to ensure that every child has access to the online technologies outside of the classroom, she explains: “Not all of our pupils have access to the internet

outside of school, so we invested in 3G ‘pay as you go’ (the school pays!) netbooks that our pupils can take home once a week to ensure that every family can access the platform.”

Making the transitionThe benefits to learning and assessment are clearly evident, however, the authority-wide platform has also been used in collaboration with other schools in the area to benefit children and extend their learning experiences even further:

“We recently joined forces with another local school to take our children out to see a local play. Afterwards we were able to continue this collaboration and learning experience through our online learning solution. The pupils were able to discuss and share their experiences, with increased resource material, without being limited by the walls of the classroom,” explains Christine.

Similarly, as the learning technologies are local-authority wide,

This month’s Featuresthe transition to the junior school is now easier for pupils as they are able to keep the same e-portfolio, avoiding any disruption. The online technologies are also used as an opportunity to assure children about the transition between schools, Christine explains:

“It is natural for pupils to worry about making the transition to junior school but, thanks to the learning platform, they are able to post their questions or concerns to forums online and our Year 3 pupils can respond, offering reassurance and advice to the younger pupils.”

Continuing to developSince the online technologies were introduced at Grays Infant & Nursery School four years ago, there have been huge improvements that Christine accredits to the system as part of the school’s wider improvement strategy.

“We are very proud of our pupils’ progress. Our July Ofsted recognised exceptional progress that children make at Grays Infant & Nursery

School, particularly as many of them are lower achievers when they join us.”

“As a result of the learning platform, pupils can see their progress and share their success and this is great for their self-esteem and motivation to learn. Feedback from parents has been excellent and the impact it has had on the way they can interact with their child and therefore their child’s learning has been extremely positive.”

Grays Infant & Nursery School and Southdown Junior School are part of the authority-wide scheme of schools moving to UniServity’s Life Learning Cloud later this year. Christine forecasts the future:

“The online learning solution is a vital tool for any classroom and strongly supports assessment and parental engagement. We are looking forward to moving to the Life Learning Cloud to develop new online skills with our children, increase our learning resources and maintain the high standard of achievement.” Order Hotline: 0121 224 7599 or Fax 0121 224 7598 www.thinkingonlinecatalogue.co.uk

A River ChildBy Dr. Sue Lyle

Teaching about a distance placeA River Child offers an exciting way forward for schools byusing a Geography-led, thematic approach to promoting literacyacross the curriculum.

The cross-curricular learning activities in this pack engagechildren with a true story guaranteed to fire their imaginations.This journey into the life of A River Child is perfect forcreating a class of Global Citizens. It utilises a ‘common needs’approach – by asking children to compare and contrast theirown lives with the lives of the children in the village of Gashaka.

A River Child is full of exciting and original learning activitiesfor children, including: filming their own ‘NEWSROUND’report, writing their own storybook, designing their own game,map work, studying rivers and water cycles, studying Africananimals, and designing their own brochure.

Tried and tested!Research shows that the pack demonstrates its power to motivate and inspire pupils as well as having a very positive impact on literacy, geographical understanding and student motivation.

Children find out about the life of Mohamed and his family. They discover how his family’s lives depend on the natural world.

Pupils discover the threats made to Gashaka in 1993 and how people from all over Nigeria worked together to prevent disaster. From this children can learn ecological lessons about threats to the natural systems of Africa, which can be applied globally to other at-risk areas.

Pupils find out about ‘Gashaka-Gumti National Park’ as an example of turning a potential environmental disaster into a success story.

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“At a time when stories of environmental degradationand destruction are the stuff of everyday news for

children, it is important they hear ‘good news’ stories and realise that things can get better if we all work together.”

Dr. Sue Lyle

Cross-Curricular links: Geography, Science, Design and Technology, English, Drama, ICT and Religion.

What’s included in the pack

The pack includes:

Teacher’s Handbook with detailed

guidance notes.

Set of photocopiable masters to support

the activities.Six copies of a full colour culturegram

depicting life in Gashaka Village.

Five copies of the storybook

Mohamed of Gashaka.

CD with Powerpoint

presentations, templates

and resources.

Four copies of brochures

from National Parks.

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Photocopy masters

OFC A River Child-Activity sheet1 1

Mohamedof

Gashaka

Mohamed of Gashaka A5 book 4.ind1 1

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ARiver Child

By Dr Sue Lyle

Teachers’ Handbook

A thematic approach to

promoting literacy

across the curriculum for

children age 9-12

OFC A River Child-Handbook .indd1 1

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Price: £60.00