Category: Regional Improvement Collaborative

St Patricks PS blog post header

How digital technology enhances the engagement of learning across the primary stages? St Patrick’s, South Ayrshire

How digital technology enhances the engagement of learning across the primary stages? – A Professional Enquiry

Daniella Mancini (@missmancini27)

I set out to investigate the following points:

  • to explore whether the use of digital technology enhances engagement levels in the primary class
  • to measure the importance of digital skills across a range of primary class stages (P1- P7)
  • to explore the impact of digital technology across the primary stages

The justification, methodology and results can be viewed in the enquiry here:

Craigour Park primary blog post header

Spotlight On: Craigour Park Primary School’s Digital Journey.

In this blog post, Matthew Greig, P4 Teacher and Digital Strategy Lead from Craigour Park Primary School in Edinburgh takes us on the digital journey at Criagour Park Primary.

Before the idea of school closures ever crossed our mind, Craigour Park had been working towards improving digital engagement for staff, learners and parents. We had over the past year evaluated our progress, highlighted our strengths and had a clear vision of how we would like to move forward. A new skills progression was being developed in collaboration with learners and parents. Our class teachers were routinely integrating digital technology into learning experiences, robotics dance parties were no longer a wild dream, our learners were becoming experts in the world of Office 365 and words like Plickers and GoSpiral now had meaning. Then Covid-19 emerged as the next great challenge our nations schools would have to overcome. The classrooms fell silent and the school doors were locked. Despite the significant changes to the way that we now lived our lives, our staff took this as an opportunity to enhance the digital literacy of our learners and seek new and creative ways to continue delivering high quality learning experiences.

Communication

Our journey began with our teachers establishing multiple lines of communication. For our P1-3 teachers this meant Learning Journals. For the rest of the school (P4-P7) class teams were set up on Microsoft Teams. Twitter accounts were established by each stage from Nursery up to P7. Our school website was updated, and a school YouTube account was created. During this initial phase of lockdown, we gained useful feedback from learners and parents by using Google and Microsoft Forms. This allowed us to actively respond to our learner’s needs and ensure that we engaged as many pupils as possible.

Microsoft Teams

After a few initial teething errors, Microsoft Teams proved to be a huge success amongst learners and teachers. As well as providing a platform for learners to access their learning it also provided them with a social space where they could talk directly to one another. Who knew that a 3-hour conversation could be sustained purely with emojis? Teaching staff embraced the opportunity to develop their pedagogy with Sways, Forms and assignments now becoming commonplace. Using rubrics, points systems and forms a variety of assessment techniques are routinely implemented and our whole school marking policy is continuing to be used. Our Spanish teacher was added to all our Teams allowing them to run school wide competitions ranging from creating a Tapas feast to recreating famous works of art by Spanish Artists. Several additional apps have been trialled by our teachers. Insights for example has now become the standard tool for assessing engagement allowing us to target further support to pupils who may need it. Our school has also realised the value of Teams in supporting transition with new teachers having the opportunity to communicate directly with learners and assess their current levels and interests.

Twitter

Our school Twitter accounts have provided opportunities for our learners to engage with school and city-wide initiatives. Recently to support the transition from Nursery to P1, many of our staff and learners went on a Teddy Bear Hunt! Our P5 teachers led a #BigDayIn where learners had the opportunity to showcase their wider talents and achievements which would normally be celebrated at assemblies, the magic tricks were mind boggling! Throughout lockdown our school PE teacher has created a variety of challenges and initiatives which keep our learners healthy and active. Ranging from community treasure hunts to playing conventional sports with items you might find in the cupboard.  We are ending the school year with our own version of the Olympics and a school wide BRAW (Bike Run and Walk) challenge where participants are challenged to do one activity each day for the whole month of June.

YouTube

During lockdown our school established a YouTube channel to directly show learners different strategies and skills. Feedback from teachers, parents and learners indicated that this would be a useful tool to support home learning activities. This has enabled us as a school to deliver lessons directly to our learners with the same explanations and guidance they would receive within the classroom. Our P3 Team have used this excellently with learners now having access to videos showing them how to create and understand Pictographs, Bar graphs and Carroll Diagrams. Our Nursery is regularly reading bedtime stories, a favourite of which is of course the Wonky Donkey. Learners can learn new PE skills directly and learners can join in with Maths warm up games. In addition, our SLT and Head Teacher have taken the opportunity to deliver messages directly to parents and learners. The school year is ending with a whole staff video for our P7’s in lieu of their usual leavers assembly.

Although Covid-19 has certainly raised many challenges and continues to have a significant impact on the lives and education of our learners, one positive is that our staff and many of our learners are certainly now more adept  and confident delivering learning in the digital age.

https://craigourparkprimary.wordpress.com/

@CraigourPark

post school destination blog post header

Post School Destinations, UCAS – Virtual Showcase

DGS Virtual University and College Showcase. On Wednesday 10th June, 15 Universities, Colleges and Organisations from across Scotland delivered virtual presentations with q&a’s to young people and families across Argyll & Bute. This was done in 1/2 hour slots throughout the day via 6 digital platforms; MicrosoftTeams, Adobe Connect, Zoom, Blackboard, WebEx and Youtube. Pupils were added to a Google Classroom via their Glow accounts where they could access the links as well as other valuable information regarding UCAS. For families or recent school leavers who didn’t have access to Glow, we made the links available on our school website. We used our school and Skills Development Scotland social media platforms to promote the event. For a number of sessions, we had over 90 participants which was a fantastic level of engagement from the young people of Argyll & Bute. We had double figures engagement for every session, averaging 50-60 participants. A number of institutions recognised that we were the first school in Scotland to enquire about a Virtual Showcase to school pupils, something that many of the Universities and Colleges had never done before. The day ran extremely smoothly, with every session being successfully delivered via their technologies and chosen platforms. A number also agreed to record their sessions and allow us to post in our Google classroom for regular access. Institutions who could not deliver on the day, have contacted us and sent over recordings which we again can publish. Overall, it was a fantastic experience the see the extremely high level of engagement from young people in an authority that covers a large geographical area connect with so many Universities, Colleges and Organisations that wouldn’t be able to deliver in the current climate face to face. Through technology, we were able to deliver our originally planned physical showcase in the school building and deliver it on a larger scale with increased levels of engagement from young people and institutions.
Colin Deans
Principle Teacher, Guidance
Dunoon Grammar

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

post school destination blog post header

Post School Destinations, UCAS – Virtual Showcase

DGS Virtual University and College Showcase. On Wednesday 10th June, 15 Universities, Colleges and Organisations from across Scotland delivered virtual presentations with q&a’s to young people and families across Argyll & Bute. This was done in 1/2 hour slots throughout the day via 6 digital platforms; MicrosoftTeams, Adobe Connect, Zoom, Blackboard, WebEx and Youtube. Pupils were added to a Google Classroom via their Glow accounts where they could access the links as well as other valuable information regarding UCAS. For families or recent school leavers who didn’t have access to Glow, we made the links available on our school website. We used our school and Skills Development Scotland social media platforms to promote the event. For a number of sessions, we had over 90 participants which was a fantastic level of engagement from the young people of Argyll & Bute. We had double figures engagement for every session, averaging 50-60 participants. A number of institutions recognised that we were the first school in Scotland to enquire about a Virtual Showcase to school pupils, something that many of the Universities and Colleges had never done before. The day ran extremely smoothly, with every session being successfully delivered via their technologies and chosen platforms. A number also agreed to record their sessions and allow us to post in our Google classroom for regular access. Institutions who could not deliver on the day, have contacted us and sent over recordings which we again can publish. Overall, it was a fantastic experience the see the extremely high level of engagement from young people in an authority that covers a large geographical area connect with so many Universities, Colleges and Organisations that wouldn’t be able to deliver in the current climate face to face. Through technology, we were able to deliver our originally planned physical showcase in the school building and deliver it on a larger scale with increased levels of engagement from young people and institutions.
Colin Deans
Principle Teacher, Guidance
Dunoon Grammar

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

community and parent engagement blog post header

Parent and Community Engagement during ‘Lockdown’

I have always viewed Dalintober PS & ELC as a ‘community’ school, in its truest sense.   Our commitment to ensuring that we actively communicate with parents and partners and include them in our curriculum and social planning and implementation is essential to our schools’ & ELC ethos.   This has grown to include the second school that I recently became Head Teacher of – Glenbarr PS.

We have always had very solid foundations and relationships with our parents and communities, but I can truly say that the ‘lockdown’ period has only strengthened these connections.   Engagement and discussion has been a constant feature of our overall strategy during lockdown.

We had intended to investigate Google Classrooms as part of our 3 year School Improvement Plan – but ‘lockdown’ certainly expedited this!   The commitment and energy of staff, pupils and parents in taking forward our new digital learning systems has been, quite simply, outstanding.   We have worked together to find ways to offer devices and support, including phone consultations – and with the help of partner agencies in the Children & Families Team and the Kintyre Community Resilience Group.

We have very successful school Facebook Pages, including a closed ELC Parent/Carer & Staff Group, and these have continued to be the main vehicle in recognising and celebrating achievements, sharing good news stories and information.   Parents are incredibly supportive of our social media pages and there are lovely interactions on a daily basis.   We have ensured that we have a ‘virtual’ final term, keeping many of the events and activities that would normally occur at this point in the school year – this has included ‘Virtual’ Assemblies, ‘Virtual’ School Photo Day, ‘Virtual’ Sports Day, ‘Virtual’ School Trips  and Music Festival Week and on-going transition activities.  Posting and sharing photos, as we normally would, has helped us maintain a positive and feel-good link with the community and parents at this unprecedented time.

We have also continued to work alongside local partners and businesses – this has included Shopper-Aide, the Great Lockdown Quarantine Quiz, Roots of Empathy, and Glen Scotia & Springbank Distilleries and may others – including upcoming interviews with ‘noted Campbeltonians’ such as best-selling author, Denzil Meyrick and musician/composer, Lorne MacDougall.

I very much believe in being open, honest and approachable to parents and the school communities.   There is nothing more powerful than human connection and maintaining that connection ‘virtually’ has been one of the most enjoyable aspects of my working week – both prior to, and during lockdown.

Our school buildings may be closed; but our schools’ & ELC ethos continue to thrive.

We thank everyone involved in helping us achieve and sustain this.

 

Caroline Armour

Head Teacher

Dalintober PS & ELC and Glenbarr PS

young girl holding drawing of elephant
young girl holding drawing of elephant
adult and you children eating
twitter screenshot
twitter screenshot

 

maths clip art

Developing Conceptual Understanding of Maths through Blended Learning – Dalmilling Primary School, South Ayrshire

Scott Morrow, Principal Teacher of Numeracy from Dalmilling Primary School in South Ayrshire has created a YouTube channel to host his videos that help learners, teachers and parents to develop their
understanding of maths and numeracy concepts.
This is his channel, where you can view his tutorials:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PvTQeUAy7M]
or you can contact him by:
Seesaw blog post header

Seesaw as a digital remote learning tool: Digital Tracking of Pupil Engagement and top tips for increasing engagement 

 

After receiving CLPL funding from the Education Scotland STEM Nation grant this year, training was offered across the Islay cluster in digital skills.  One of the key developments implemented in Port Ellen and Bowmore primary was to train staff in the use of Seesaw as a digital PLP tool to replace cumbersome and time–consuming learning logs. Under a joint headship both schools decided to invest in the paid for Seesaw for school’s version of the App.  This version allowed us to have continuity of progression throughout a child’s time in school and also to track the Es and Os across subjects with its skills tracking tool.  It was great to be able to include video, audio and photos into a body of evidence for achievement across a level, as well as comments and feedback from teachers and students on their learning and next steps.  And parents had access to their children’s learning through the family app and could leave comments as well.   

Then Coronavirus happened and schools were going to close.  We quickly handed out home learning codes to pupils and parents and got them to download the class app at home, enabling them to continue their learning remotely.  Ipads were provided for families without technology.  Suddenly Seesaw was not just a PLP, but a home learning tool, one that could be used by children from ELC to P7 to learn remotely.   

 

Teachers from P1 up plan and provide a weekly grid of learning activities for pupils to work with that have a good balance across literacy, numeracy, health and wellbeing, STEAM and other curricular areas; the emphasis is on spending as much learning time offline as on a device, by taking advantage of our fantastic environment here on Islay.  We have seen some examples of truly outstanding pupil learning happening at home and share it on our Twitter feeds.  We even had a retweet from NASA for one of our rocket building STEAM activities! 

 

Pupil engagement is something we have worked hard to maintain in the move to remote learning.  One of the key benefits of Seesaw is the ability to track engagement across the school; school admins can access a spreadsheet each week that shows how often children have posted and which activities have been completed, so we can quickly identify children whose engagement suddenly falls off and intervene.  Staff have regular Google Meet discussions where they share their personal success stories with engagement; we quickly realised that regular video messages from teachers and audio feedback helped engagement- one parent said it was like having the teacher in their home.   This is particularly successful with early years.  Staff have also developed their digital skills to improve engagement, with some creating virtual Classrooms using Google slides and personalised Bitmojis.  Here children can click on items in the class to link them to a video message from their teacher, a learning activity, video or document online.  We have also used physical means to engage; early years sent sunflower seeds through the post for their children to plant.  Finally, we share successful learning stories that aim to inspire other learners through shared Seesaw posts to all the students and parents, Seesaw blogs and Twitter. 

 

 When there are issues with engagement, we have implemented a variety of measures to help.  We send encouraging messages to parents and pupils, have made phone calls home and have provided Ipads and dongles where needed so access is not a barrier.  For some parents physical materials in the form of textbooks and worksheets have provided extra support that makes them less anxious.  One of our key aims once schools are back is to find a way to provide more extensive training for parents so they are more confident in what will be a model of blended learning.   All of the school community are glad that we chose to implement Seesaw in schools before the crisis, a versatile tool that has helped us continue to engage children and support them and their families at this time. 

 

Interactive virtual class 

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1uisENFphlYhyKGamrhIgGwML7siqRjPBBOhv9uFZyos/edit?usp=sharing 

 

Screenshot of engagement spreadsheet. 

 

 

PORT ELLEN TWEETS 

Link to tweet about our use of emotionworks. 

https://twitter.com/portellenps/status/1265642824894160897?s=20  

Link to video about making bread 

https://app.seesaw.me/pages/shared_item?item_id=item.09f3cac7-edbe-4d77-836b-5bd087100dd9&share_token=GaseIiBmRKC4jIP4r4sbrg&mode=share 

link to giant bubbles tweet with vid 

https://twitter.com/portellenps/status/1253683989375856640?s=20  

Link to weather forecast in Gaelic, retweeted by Sean Batty 

https://twitter.com/SeanBattySTV/status/1245393179190362118?s=20 

Creepy crawly maths tweet 

https://twitter.com/portellenps/status/1254869348121968640?s=20 

SEESAW POSTS

Early Years Port Ellen  https://app.seesaw.me/pages/shared_item?item_id=item.b4db51f6-b272-4a88-bcb2-69b3df1ee286&share_token=bAIge6d0RtiLUIa2Rc67KQ&mode=share 

Early years Bowmore https://app.seesaw.me/pages/shared_item?item_id=item.628ef661-43d6-4ddd-be57-f379fe71325d&share_token=mBn8pKlaS0m33qek10iAYQ&mode=share 

 

BOWMORE TWEETS 

Teddy bears picnic 

https://twitter.com/BowmorePrimary/status/1265949410602766337?s=20 

Sharing music talent  

https://twitter.com/BowmorePrimary/status/1261316232634150912?s=20 

Evaluating parachute video clip 

https://twitter.com/BowmorePrimary/status/1261271607827447809?s=20 

Gaelic 1-3 birdwatching 

https://twitter.com/BowmorePrimary/status/1259770971306823682?s=20 

Japanese art 

https://twitter.com/BowmorePrimary/status/1258711972390080512?s=20 

chrome books and online learning in science blog post header

Summary of Online learning in Millburn Academy Science Faculty

 

Based on 217 responses June 2020

We have been using Chromebooks and G suite for a couple of years so obviously have a significant headstart over many other establishments.  The reason for sharing is that this data shows digital learning can work at senior phase levels with approx 80% engagement for asynchronous, remote learning.  Like all schools we anticipate higher engagement if we can move to ‘blended approach’.

Martyn.crawshaw@highlandschools.net

 

Tick any of the following you have completed as part of SCIENCE assignments

 

 

Which was the most easy or difficult to do?

 

 

What feedback have you had from science assignments? (tick up to two)

 

Examples of responses to
“Please complete the sentence “Online learning is quite good because..
● i can do it at my own pace and i don’t have to be around people
● You can complete it in your own time and spend more time on the areas that you find most difficult
● We can tackle the easy subjects first and give ourselves time to wrap our heads around the new information
● It lets us continue on with education during these difficult time
● We can still learn without being in school, albeit a little less efficiently
● It’s teaching me to be independent
● i have improved on my IT skills
● If I’m struggling I could find a video or website to help
● You get to take the time that you need to complete a task and not just moving in to the next task when the first
person has finished like school
● You learn to manage your own time
● We are able to go at our own pace and that we aren’t rushing for the bell
● Online learning is quite good because it is really easy to go back and find work I have Done and videos and
websites for revision
Examples of responses to
“Please complete the sentence “The main problem with online learning is …
● It’s given me nothing but bad vibes this entire time.
● its hard to stay focused
● it can sometimes be difficult to get help quickly
● When you’re struggling with the task and you don’t want to ask for help.
● The main problem with online learning is not being face to face with my teacher.
● sometimes the instructions arent clear enough for me at least
● The main problem with online learning is the internet side of it. [textbooks can’t stop working]
● Stuck sitting in my room all day, hard when it’s so sunny outside
● i don’t know how to use everything on the computer and i get distracted sometimes
● managing to balance our subjects and planning out when we are going to do each subjects work.
● The main problem with online learning is being bothered to get up and do the work
● Not being able to do experiments to see how it works for myself.
● Deciding when to do everything were as in school we have a set timetable
● The main problem with online learning is when teachers don’t make their instructions as to what we
are suppose clear enough.
● We can get a bit lazy at hoMe

 

mie Scotland blog logo

Delivering Music Instruction Remotely – North Ayrshire Music Service – From the MIE Scotland Blog

I am Rosslyn Lee and I am the Digital Skills Coordinator for North Ayrshire Education.  Part of my job is to support staff and pupils in our schools with all aspects of digital learning and teaching.  I became a Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert in 2017 as I recognised the value to my professional learning as …

Read more

swapping musical instrument for computers blog post header

Moray Council Instrumental Instruction Service 

“Swapping Musical Instruments for Computers” 

Here in Moray the small but ‘mighty’ team of instructors have been working hard to ensure our young musicians continue to have access to quality learning and teaching opportunities and instructor support during lockdown. By using Microsoft Teams instructors have been sharing challenges for their pupils to engage with in place of traditional face-to-face instruction. 

 

Learning a musical instrument is a very practical thing: from listening carefully to a young musicians sound and offering them tips and tricks to ensure they always produce their best tone, to supporting them physically by adjusting bow holds or correcting technique etc. Remote learning will never replace in-person, face-to-face music lessons, but it can bring a whole new dimension to learning and teaching musical instruments – one which enhances our service and provides learners with lots of new opportunities to develop , improve and share their experiences. 

Like many others, we faced a very steep learning curve and in the early days took our time to figure it all out. Instructors were not used to using computers as part of their daily routine and had been due to have some in-service training on GLOW in May. Having been pipped to the post and had remote working thrust upon them confidence has steadily grown and, by working collegiately, there has been lots of new learning. On our return to school buildings we’ll take with us new skills such as video editing, multi-track sound recording, knowledge and experience of various digital learning platforms and a vast library of emojis and gifs… all new skills which will benefit our young learners. 

‘Over the Rainbow’, a Music Education Partnership Group (MEPG) initiative to encourage as many of Scotland’s young musicians to perform on Thursday evenings during the clap for carers, gave us the perfect opportunity to engage our pupils online. Instructors digitally edited, annotated and shared sheet music; recorded, edited and uploaded tutorial videos; and encouraged pupils to make their own sound and video recordings to share with their team. On the 30 April lots of Moray’s young musicians took to their doorsteps, not only bringing music to their quiet communities but boosting their confidence, building their resilience, and giving them opportunities to share their learning with others. 

With the future in mind we look forward to developing our digital skills and enhancing our service even further by (hopefully) offering pupils video lessons; adding digital learning platforms to our learning and teaching toolkit allowing us to support our pupils between lessons by sharing tutorials etc; and empowering instructors to take ownership of digital learning and teaching in their ASGs. 

 

Facebook: @MorayMusicCentre 

Instructor Over the Rainbow video.