Whether you want to catch up on the latest school news, translate a piece of text into Spanish or track the fitness of the hockey team, there’s probably an app that will do it. In our digital age, the solution to many aspects of our lives can be found at the tap of a screen. While some new apps are designed to make our lives more fun, others have real potential to transform the way we work.
Mobile technology is increasingly finding its way into schools. Here three schools explain how apps are supporting safeguarding, simplifying communication with parents and saving time for teachers.
While some new apps are designed to make our lives more fun, others have real potential to transform the way we work
Saving teachers’ time at King Edward’s School
“Teachers’ routine tasks can take up a surprising amount of time, but we have found a tool that is helping us to win some of this valuable time back,” says David Middlebrough, assistant head (Curriculum) at King Edward’s School.
Recording attendance is one of those tasks that inevitably takes time for teachers – and when it comes to subjects such as PE, where lessons take place outside, registration can pose an even greater challenge.
One of the greatest advantages of doing this is that it has cut registration time down to the bare minimum so no time is wasted at the start of a lesson
Teachers at King Edward’s School have been using an app loaded onto a tablet device to take registration. One of the greatest advantages of doing this is that it has cut registration time down to the bare minimum so no time is wasted at the start of a lesson.
In addition, attendance can now be recorded anywhere on the school site, including on the playing field, making it a quick and easy task and freeing teachers to get down to the important business of teaching.
Supporting safeguarding at Westholme School
“Schools have a duty of care and key to this is knowing where every child is throughout the day. Mobile technology makes this much simpler,” says David Marsden, IT manager at Westholme School.
As a busy and thriving community, with lessons and activities taking place during and after school, it is vital that staff at Westholme know where every child is at any given time. Previously, teachers took attendance using paper registers, which the school office staff would key into the computer system manually. This meant that the latest information on a child’s whereabouts might not always be instantly available.
Since the school introduced an app, teachers can take attendance quickly and easily and check where any of their pupils are, in a few taps, using a tablet device they carry with them. So, if an important message needs to be passed on to a pupil quickly, their teacher can see straight away if the child is in the science lab, in the art room or on the coach travelling to a school rugby match.
This makes it easier for teachers to keep track of their pupils’ whereabouts
Having information at your fingertips has other advantages too. If a child is waiting to be picked up after football training, or the school office is informed that a group of children will be late back from a trip, parents’ contact details can be pulled up by a member of staff with the appropriate authority in just a few swipes of the screen.
This makes it easier for teachers to keep track of their pupils’ whereabouts, ensures parents are kept informed of any changes to the school day and reassures pupils that their teachers and parents know where they are.
Communicating efficiently with parents at Manchester High School for Girls
“It is important for any school to find the most effective way to communicate with parents,” says Jon Haves, ICT Development Director at Manchester High School for Girls.
The school wanted to give parents more regular information on the progress their child is making.
The result is that parents have the information they need to get more involved in day-to-day school life
An app has provided a central point for parents to view information on to their phone or tablet so they can check whether their child arrived at school on time, get details of any merit points they have gained or see that they have been set a new history assignment, from wherever they happen to be.
The result is that parents have the information they need to get more involved in day-to-day school life and they know how their daughter is doing in each subject. This puts them in the best position to support their daughters’ studies at home.