Lundavra Primary School

Digital LearningStrategy

IntroductionThe Digital Learning Strategy should be read in conjunction with other school policies including those for:

Teaching and Learning Technologies E-Safety Safe and Acceptable Use of the internet Chromebook Handbook

It has been written by the school, building on national best practice, Highland Council guidance and the Scottish Digital Learning Strategy 2016.

This generation of children has come into a world in which digital technology is abundant. Their world is a world of technology which they start interfacing with from a very young age.

The majority of children in Lundavra Primary School are increasingly adept at using technology, to present, communicate, create, share, edit, photograph, learn, find out, explore and research. However, it is important that we ensure that all pupils in our school are equipped with the skills they might require to adapt to an ever-changing technological landscape. In Lundavra Primary School we encourage the use of digital learning as a means of supplementing and enhancing the learning and teaching experience. The children are presented with a wide range of opportunities and experiences to ensure they can successfully utilise their digital skills and knowledge in a variety of contexts.

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Our Vision for Digital LearningDigital technology can make a substantial contribution to enriching education across all areas of Curriculum for Excellence. If used effectively and appropriately, digital technology can enhance learning and teaching, equip our children and young people with vital digital skills and crucially, it can lead to improved educational outcomes.

The Scottish Government priorities for Scottish Education are:• excellence through raising attainment: ensuring that every child achieves the

highest standards in literacy and numeracy, set out within Curriculum for Excellence levels, and the right range of skills, qualifications and achievements to allow them to succeed; and

• achieving equity: ensuring that every child has the same opportunity to succeed, with a particular focus on closing the poverty-related attainment gap.

At Lundavra we hope to transform the way Digital Learning is used within learning and teaching across our curriculum, to raise attainment and achieve equity through:

This is informed by the Scottish Digital Futures plan to develop Scotland as a world leading digital nation.

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Anywhere, anytime learning

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AimsIn order to realise our vision, we have worked together with the Highland ICT in Learning team to plan to achieve all four of the following essential and interrelated objectives that are central to successful digital learning, teaching and assessment from the National Strategy:• Develop the skills and confidence of educators in the appropriate and effective use

of digital technology to support learning and teaching • Improve access to digital technology for all learners • Ensure that digital technology is a central consideration in all areas of curriculum

and assessment delivery • Empower leaders of change to drive innovation and investment in digital technology

for learning and teaching

We believe that to be able to live, learn, and work successfully in our information rich society, students must have access to technology and be able to use it effectively.

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How might Digital Technology enhance learning?Aspect of quality Opportunities and impact oflearning and teaching digital technologyProvision of quality Learners and educators have access to aeducational content multitude of additional online educational content

as well as being able to create new digital contentthat can support education.

Tailoring approach to A range of digital tools and services (apps, games,deliver personalised websites, etc.) allow educators to offer a numberlearning of approaches to learning and learners can

choose the approach that best suits them.

Collaborating with others totest understanding of new knowledge and skills

Educators can offer learners the opportunity to collaborate online with others from across the world in addition to their peers within their school or early years setting.

Engaging and motivating Educators have access to a range of engaginglearners digital tools and services.

Ensuring education is Educators can deliver learning in a digital contextrelevant to learners’ using digital tools and services. This better alignsexperience of the world with learners’ experience of today’s digital world.

Opening up experiences Educators can provide learners with access to aand opportunities for range of digital resources which allow ‘anytime/learners anywhere learning’ and build a level of digital

skills which will be vital in today’s digital world.Providing quality Educators can reduce workload by usingassessment, personalised appropriate digital assessments that providefeedback and data to instant results and personalised feedback.inform subsequent learning This frees time for focusing on next steps andand teaching improvement.Allowing sufficient time for Online digital networks allow educators to sharelearning and teaching, resources and digital tools and services expediteenabling learners to develop lesson planning. Digital assessment eliminatestheir knowledge and skills marking time. The time saved can be devoted to

quality learning and teaching.Equity of educational Live video streaming and digital tools andchoice services allow the potential for learners to study

subjects via online distance learning.

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Our Digital Learning Strategy objectives

Objective 1 – Change the Culture of the Use of ICT• Expected Benefits: to more closely align the use of ICT in school with its use

outside of schoolObjective 2: Improve confidence in the use of ICT for learners, teachers, school leaders and parents• Expected Benefits: to increase the amount of sharing of practice and resource

amongst teachers, leaders and learners in Lundavra Primary; improved reliability of technology in use; increased achievement for learners through the use of technology; enhanced reputation of Highland and Scotland in the wider digital world.

Objective 3: Promote new behaviours for teaching• Expected Benefits: increased innovation by teachers and learners in

classroom practice; increased achievement by learners; increased sharing and collaboration amongst teachers to develop themselves as learners.

Objective 4: Deepen parental engagement• Expected Benefits: an increase in the amount of communication between

schools and homes, relating to learners achievements; increased involvement of parents in their child’s learning through greater access to opportunities; increased digital literacy amongst parents.

Objective 5: Strengthen position on hardware and associated infrastructure• Benefits: an increase in the number of devices in use in schools; a reduction

in the cost of maintenance of devices for the school; an increase in the connectivity for schools and local authorities; a reduction in the cost of centrally procured or managed services; an increase in the sharing of good and interesting practice; an increase in the involvement of the education community in forming a shared understanding of excellence.

Lundavra Digital Learning Action Plan• Meet with Highland ICT development team to

develop school vision and plan• Discuss the range of equipment available to

us with both refresh and overspend allocation

• Decide where the refresh allocation will be placed/allocated within the new build

• Wireless network in place to ensure coverage across the entire school and outdoor environment

• Work with Architect and design team to plan flexible learning spaces across the school through use of space, furniture, Idea Paint on specified walls

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• Staff will source and try out a variety of ICT equipment and resources and reflect on the appropriateness for our setting

• Staff will develop their understanding and use of ICT equipment and apps with a key focus on Chromebooks and Android tablets

• Staff to explore the use of Google Apps; gmail, Google Docs, Google Share etc with a key focus on developing opportunities for collaboration and learning

• Staff will share and support one another’s practice through ongoing discussion

• To work as a staff team to produce a whole school policy for teaching and learning in ICT with clear links to the Highland Learning, Teaching and Assessment policy and its principles and the Highland e-safety agenda

• To create a whole school ICT skills overview• To develop systems to ensure effective ICT

curricular learning; ensuring appropriate progression and transition occurs across the school

• To have set high standards for teaching, learning and assessment of ICT

• Support, develop and embed approaches to assessment that make effective use of digital technology.

• Discuss a vision and aims for the use of ICT• Staff SWOT analysis of current ICT practice• Review existing provision and audit with

Highland/Fujitsu the IT provision for Lundavra• Discuss with staff a rationale for IT and its role in

learning and teaching both within It and it’s use across the curriculum

• Produce an Action Plan for IT provision, location, budget, training needs identified and staff roles allocated

• Familiarisation programme for use of equipment and software/ apps

• Produce a rationale/ key skills for IT and its use for the Curriculum & Assessment Framework

• Ensure the E-Safety agenda is at the heart of school developments for ICT

• Identify two staff as e-safety co-ordinators who will attend training and have an overview of the e-safety agenda in Lundavra Primary

• CPD training sessions for familiarisation and use of new equipment

• CAP sessions to be led by staff from ICT working group to help familiarise staff with new equipment

• Training sessions with children to allow opportunities for them to share skills

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• Introduce the use of ICT buddies amongst pupils and staff

• Develop links with ASG, Authority and National schools to promote ICT progression and development

• Encourage and facilitate the development of partnerships that will improve digital access and digital skills development opportunities for our learners e.g. Aberdeen University

• Staff and pupils feel confident about using and engaging with new equipment and skills programme

• ICT is being embedded further and deeper across the school within all contexts of learning

• Staff will be encouraged to strive to build a whole-school community of inquiry and support

• Use of SISE materials to monitor and evaluate ICT development

Learning Outcomes for the Digital Learning Action Plan

PUPILS• Pupil’s views, opinions and knowledge will be used to help develop a ICT

skills programme• Pupils will have greater access to a range of ICT equipment• Pupils will have greater learning opportunities to develop/teach ICT skills and

act as ICT Buddies to support less confident learners• Pupils will develop skills which will allow them to become successful learners,

confident individuals, effective contributors and responsible citizens through their use of a greater range of ICT equipment and development of skills

• Pupils will become more aware of their Learning Journey within ICT, what their Next Steps for Learning are and how this can enhance their learning experiences

• Pupils will have a higher awareness of safety online

STAFF• Staff will be involved in the decision making of what ICT equipment we will

buy• Staff will be encouraged to be reflective about current practice• Staff will have been encouraged to be part of building a school’s capacity for

improvement• Staff will take leadership roles within the project for different areas e.g. Skills

development overview• Staff will source and try out a variety of ICT equipment and resources and

reflect on the appropriateness for our setting• Staff will develop their understanding and use of ICT equipment and apps• Staff will share and support one another’s practice• Staff will be confident about teaching the development of ICT skills• Staff will be involved in raising standards through the use of ICT and the

skills development programme 7

• Staff will be encouraged to strive to build a whole-school community of inquiry and support

COMMUNITY• Parents will have a greater awareness of their child’s use of ICT• Parents will have a greater awareness of their child’s development of skills

in ICT• Parents will have an opportunity to develop their own skills and

understanding of the use of ICT in learning• Parents and community will have more access to a range of multimedia

platforms • Parents will have greater opportunities to be involved in their child’s ICT

Next Steps for Learning from Nursery through to and during Primary 7 through development of E-portfolios

DEVELOP THE SKILLS OF OUR EDUCATORS

Resource allocation 11 wall mounted Smartboards and 3 mobile Smartboards ensures all

classrooms, including Nursery, ASN and General Purpose room have Smartboard access

15 laptops within a charging trolley to use across the school 15 Nexus 7 android tablets to use within Nursery to P3 12 Chromebooks to use as a shared resource between P3/4 and P4/5 93 Chromebooks for P5-7 classess as 1-1 devices A set of video cameras and digital cameras

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Programmable devices including Roamers, Bee-bots and Blue Bots

ChromebooksA Chromebook is type of device growing in popularity in education, it is essentially a Google Chrome Browser in a laptop style machine predominantly requiring access to the internet. There is offline functionality to read webpages, pdf/word documents, create mail, read documents, edit and upload when connectivity is re-established. Initial login requires a personal Gmail account or school /authority provided account. Highland and Lundavra Primary now has a Google Apps For Education domain with pupil accounts and management dashboard.

You cannot install software on to it but you can use web based tools such as Glow (with inbuilt MS office apps, unlimited storage and recommended cloud based educational apps) Google Apps for Education provide real time collaborative learning opportunities. Cloud based software is being added as this kind of device and service increases in popularity, e.g. Photoshop is now cloud app.

Updates are installed without disruption and anti-virus software is not required. They are robust devices with very few breakages errors reported in other local authorities. They are very light, portable and due to the very minimal operating software they boot up to desktop in less than 7 seconds. Operating time before re-charge is at least 7 hours. Touch screen options are available thus giving the functionality / feel of iPads / tablets. They retail below £200 each offering significant value for money.

They are multi-user devices, a user can log onto Chrome on any machine (including school PCs) and access their saved content, bookmarks and apps. Pupils can access their account in any environment with access to the internet.

Google Apps for EducationOver 30 million students, faculty, and staff use Google Apps for Education worldwide. Google Apps is a free suite of hosted email and collaboration applications exclusively for schools and universities. You can learn more and sign up to try it out by visiting the website:www.google.co.uk/a/edu

As Google Apps for Education is a free collaboration and communication suite hosted online there is no licence payments or in-house data storage requirements. We will therefore be able to ensure every pupil and staff member have a Google Apps account, and hence a Gmail address. This account will be accessible for the pupil’s entire time at school from P1 through to the end of Secondary school.

A key element of their popularity has been the ease at which pupils can now access the full suite of tools in Google Apps, from Sites to Docs and Gmail. Offering such a broad range of communication options has fuelled the sheer volume of content they are now producing and helped to accelerate the pupils’ pace of learning through more intensive collaboration with their peers and better engagement levels.

Ensuring equityThe digital learning strategy is a key part of the school Raising Attainment for All plan and is a driver in ensuring all children have equal access to technology and

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the benefits it may bring; regardless of gender, ethnicity, disability and family circumstances.

We are mindful that there are a small but significant number of pupils in school who may not have access to technology or the internet at home and therefore are unable to benefit from accessing their GAFE account at home. Pupils may also have additional support needs that may impact on how they interact with technology. We have put in place opportunities to address this by:

Weekly Homework/Learning Clubs afterschool with access where required to the devices and the school Wi-fi open to children and families

Inter-generation Technology classes for family members to increase their own computer and digital learning skills

Liaison with Highland Council Assisted Technology staff to ensure learner’s needs are met appropriately through the use of technology

Liaison with Highland Council Specialist ASN teams to ensure that pupils with ASN can access digital learning opportunities

Review of the Digital Learning StrategyWe will work with pupils, staff, parents and wider professionals to measure the impact and effectiveness of this plan using as wide a range of views and evidence as possible. This strategy forms a key part of the three year school improvement plan and we will report annually through our Standards and Quality report to the Parent Forum.

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