Today was school visit day on LfL.
We were to visit Blackridge Primary in West Lothian. It came with great credentials. A very good inspection in 2003, where ICT and leadership were highly praised. On meeting HT, Susan Ralston, and touring the school it became very clear as to why.
Susan had developed her vision for ICT with her staff and had a clear and realistic timeframe in which to work towards acheiving that vision.
Very heartening to see was the commitment of all of her staff into embedding ICT into the curriculum; and it was most certainly not seen as an “add-on”.
However, perhaps most refreshing was the lack of “gloss”. In this fast evolving scene of new technologies, it’s easy to go for the high profile ideas which are trendy and in vogue. It’s easy to forget the simple, but effective uses of ICT which undoubtedly enhance teaching and learning. Yes, Blackridge have invested heavily in their fair share of interactive whiteboards and are making very good use of them in every classroom; but it was the other uses that struck me more today.
From the infant operating the Powerpoint display of Nativity songs in the rehearsal in the Hall; the great wee phonics program being used by the P7 pupil in the Support for Learning Base; to the French quiz devised by the P6 class for use at the Enterprise evening with Parents, utilising the cluster “Quizdom” system to gather results.
What better evidence do we need of Confident Individuals, Successful Learners, Responsible Citizens and Effective Contributors?
My thanks to Susan, her staff and pupils for a thought-provoking, inspiring and reassuring afternoon.
And my vision? Well I’m not ready to share that with you yet. You see I’ve got a lot more ideas, but I want to go back and discuss things with my staff. I also want to give them a hearty pat on the back.
Mission Impossible was the title we gave to the presentation we made to the larger group upon our return from Blackridge.
However, upon relection I’d rather re-title it to – Mission Impossible…
4 responses so far ↓
1
AB
// Nov 2, 2006 at 1:27 pm
Great to see you back blogging! I’m glad you got a lot out of the school visit.
All too often we get caught up with ‘gloss’ and overlook the wonderfully simple and practical. For example, using the telephone and fax machine is making use of communications technology. Odd that most telephones and fax machines in schools are rarely used for curricular purposes, and instead merely serve administrative purposes. We need to rethink how we use the technology we have, and not just dream about the latest and greatest!
2
Don Ledingham
// Nov 9, 2007 at 8:34 am
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Don
3
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