Pupils at a Derbyshire secondary school are now scanning QR codes to find their homework thanks to innovative tech put in place by a leading Derby IT company.
New state-of-the-art Smartboards installed at Aldercar High School in Langley Mill are allowing pupils and teachers to benefit from a number of tech features, which is having a positive effect on children’s learning.
The school now has the latest Smartboards in every classroom as part of an IT overhaul put in place by leading tech company L.E.A.D. IT services.
Leaders at Aldercar High School have voiced their gratitude after Derby-based L.E.A.D. IT pulled out all the stops to refit its entire IT system in just two weeks.
The L.E.A.D. IT team fitted the school with new servers, cutting-edge Smart boards in 54 classrooms, more than 100 staff laptops, a newly installed telephone system and an updated broadband provider. L.E.A.D. IT also streamlined the school’s security, upgrading its key fob system, as well as installing more than 60 WiFi access points in ceilings, and 25 network switches, allowing teachers and pupils to benefit from a seamless Internet connection.
School Operations Manager, Trudy Williams, said leaders had been impressed by L.E.A.D. IT’s work. “What L.E.A.D. IT accomplished within the time scale was amazing; the team were really professional, and they worked incredibly hard.”
The school’s new Smartboards are cleverly designed to reduce glare and blurriness so that even students seated at an angle can see their lessons perfectly.
The state-of-the-art technology features an interactive design allowing pupils and teachers to draw directly on the board, scan QR codes to access homework, highlight key words and allow class leaders to save lessons week on week without the need for printing out worksheets.
Head of PE, Mark Briggs, said: “There is so much you can do with these Smartboards. They allow you to break down tasks for pupils. They have had a massive impact. They are visually clear. They allow for greater group discussions. Pupils can come up to the front and make notes on the board. We are able to learn together. They also feature a QR code that pupils can scan to access their homework.
“They are good for children’s education. Partially sighted students really benefit from them too.”
Jess Harding, who teaches in Aldercar’s Deaf and Hearing Impaired Enhanced Resource Facility, said: “The new Smartboard that has been installed in the Deaf base has had a huge impact on the teaching, learning and wider curriculum for our deaf children.
“During our interventions, we can use the board to model, brainstorm and plan together. What is most useful here is that we can save these to the Smartboard’s computer itself so that we can revisit them in future sessions.
“We also use the Smartboards to display The Daily Echo – school messages – in the morning when the children come in, so that they can be informed. Finally, we have also been using the Smartboard to display lyrics when learning how to sign Christmas songs in BSL so that the deaf learners can have full access to the song.
“The Smartboard has been a fantastic addition to our base.”
Lee Jepson, director of L.E.A.D. IT Services, said: “I’m delighted that our IT refit at Aldecar High School and the upgrades we installed are having such a positive impact on pupils’ learning.
“Our team worked extremely hard in a 2-week window to complete the work and we have continued our service by providing ongoing on-site support too. Having up-to-date technology within a school setting has been proven to help children’s learning as well as provide the support that educators need. It’s particularly pleasing to hear how the new technology such as our Smartboards has had such a positive impact in areas such as the Deaf and Hearing Impaired Enhanced Resource Facility too.”
This story was written and shared on behalf of L.E.A.D. IT by Lucy Stephens. Can we share your news and get you in the headlines too? Find out how we can help by getting in touch.
