MANAGING ICT MANAGING ICT
Gail Jones
from Broadgreen
International
School
describes her experience
of the National Learning
Platforms Conference 2009
A vision for ICT
VER 400 UK secondary school
O
leaders congregated at the
third annual National Learning
Platforms Conference in
Manchester recently as interactive
workshops led by visionary
schools promised to inspire them
to transform their own schools.
Growing community links
Being classroom-based can isolate teachers from other
schools so events to convene should be embraced.
Having attended the conference last year, I was
enlightened by the way schools are shaping their virtual
learning environments (VLEs).
It opened opportunities to link with other schools,
share resources and ideas, and work within a community
that mutually benefits all schools and their students.
Attending this year was eye-opening as schools
networked with each other and exchanged ideas.
Parental engagement
Broadgreen is among only 67 per cent of UK secondary
VLE innovation
schools using a learning platform. Already set to meet
the government’s real-time reporting target by 2010,
we have had access to a parental portal since 2008 and
conduct training for small groups of parents at times to
suit them. We have also started to forge links within our homework. On the contrary, they want to know why e-learning at Broadgreen International School in
Peter Banks, a member of our senior management community and have set up a governor’s page and something does not work and what they can do about Liverpool. The National Learning Platforms Conference
team, has worked with Becta to develop parental community page to support this. A governor has been it. This is what ownership is encouraging and I believe is organised by Frog Trade. If you missed the last
engagement. As it is a fairly new initiative, I attended trained on the learning platform, has their own log-in this is the way forward for education. SecEd conference, you can watch the main workshops at
the conference to see how other schools are working to and will soon be responsible for updating the page www.frogtrade.com/conference. The next conference
improve links with parents. with meeting minutes, newsletters, and other useful • Gail Jones is faculty leader for technology and takes place in June 2010.
I attended a Becta-led workshop at the conference communications. We already have links with our
which reiterated that the key to ensuring that parental feeder primary schools and now feel optimistic about
engagement improves learning outcomes is to improve our plans to extend to a wider catchment area to attract
the dialogue and partnerships between parents and students from further afield.
schools. Hard-to-reach parents in particular may feel
threatened coming into school to talk about their child’s
Social networking
education, so we have had to adapt for them. Paul Hynes, from the Specialist Schools Academies
Parents are often criticised for lacking responsibility Trust (SSAT), ran a presentation entitled Getting Under
for their child’s education. However, they have voiced the Hood(ie) of the 21st Century Student. IS YOUR SCHOOL WEBSITE
a preference for informal methods of dialogue over He highlighted the behaviour patterns of students
formal mechanisms, which presents schools with a today whereby social networking is becoming
plausible solution in itself. The challenge is how best ubiquitous – school leaders, teachers and learners all
WORKING FOR YOU?
to deliver it. expect information at their fingertips.
VLEs and Web 2.0 can equip schools with creative
Securing school improvement
tools to personalise the learning experience for students.
Dominic Tester, assistant headteacher at Costello Applications that were previously only developed by
Technology College in Basingstoke, ran a seminar programmers can be created by anyone with basic
about the ways learning platforms can enhance parental word-processing skills.
Bright Schools provide a wealth of interactive
engagement. As with the explosion of computer-generated
He explained his school’s firm belief that graphics in films in the early 1990s, suddenly a new
website tools to improve communication and
transformational change derives from small steps world has opened up to schools, enabling students
leading to big changes, and that educated risks are to stretch beyond boundaries and reach their full
create a vibrant online school community
occasionally fundamental for progress. potential.
His steps to successful implementation include This mirrors how Broadgreen is re-shaping its
setting up a parent focus group to shape requirements, VLE to promote how the school has developed and
engaging with stakeholders to secure their vision to implement courses, activities, games, assignments
and key performance indicators, staff training, and and forums that benefit all students. Forums are giving
reviewing current working practices. quieter students a voice that would not have happened
In order to engage with parents, we already go without the virtual environment. It has helped to
beyond simply gleaning information from the school’s infiltrate a “can-do” culture whereby staff and students
management information system (MIS). We allow adopt a positive view about what the school has
parents to personalise the information they want, when achieved and what it hopes to do in the future.
and where they want to view it, through interfaces they Students are developing new designs and seem
are comfortable with. to be running it themselves, making it their own. We
One parent’s information needs may differ from have monitored that on average each student uses it
another’s. At any given time, one might want an update to chat about homework for up to six hours per week.
on their child’s attendance, while another might want We have attributed this to the flexibility of the system
to track their child’s progress in maths or appreciate which allows students to fit their work in around their
knowing when their child contributes well to a class lifestyle. This has proven more successful than keeping
discussion. them behind after school as it empowers them to take
The answer for Costello was to provide parents with responsibility for their own learning and to choose
CONTaCT BRIGHT SCHOOLS FOR FLExIBLE WEBSITE
access to information they want such as booking parents’ when and where they work.
evening appointments online, making online payments
SOLUTIONS TO SUIT YOUR ONLINE REqUIREmENTS
and booking school facilities – we are now considering
Changing attitudes towards technology
implementing such features at Broadgreen. This year’s conference has boosted our confidence,
reassuring us that other schools are thinking along
Integrating learning platforms
similar lines with their VLEs, although each has
I also attended a presentation by Kevin Dukes, ICT put their own stamp on it. I found it interesting to
manager at The Dukeries College in Nottinghamshire. discover that attitudes towards the use of technology
He logged into his learning platform as one would in are changing across the board. Students are becoming
class or at home to show us how his school uses it. As more technically-minded and schools are adjusting to
Broadgreen is an international school with strong links support them to take ownership over their own work
t 0800 680 0327
abroad, I was fascinated to hear about the international and development. For example, students can opt not
e info@brightschools.co.uk
links that The Dukeries has forged with schools in to attend homework club if they take responsibility for
Brazil, Poland and France. completing it at home.
w brightschools.co.uk
At Broadgreen, we have found that our pupils can Students are also becoming increasingly proactive
complete their school work while they are on trips to link – if a file fails to upload they flag it early, not
schools, rather than waiting until they have returned. using “technical failure” as an excuse for unfinished
SecEd • September 24 2009 11
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