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All Saints School opened in 2003 to provide a mixed 11-16 comprehensive school, with a capacity of 600 students, aided by the Diocese of York. The school is within the Parish of St Francis of Assisi and is within easy walking distance of many of the students who attend the school. There are now 632 students on roll in Years 7 to 11. The school has been oversubscribed each year since opening.
All Saints is unique in many ways and student leadership is a strength which is rapidly becoming the main driver for change within the school.
We work each day with a wonderful group of young people whose academic excellence and commitment to learning seem limitless;
The Project
 The initial project was designed to further develop student leadership at All Saints School. We have 5 student leadership groups, one of which is a Creative Technologies Leaders. The remit of the group is to develop the use of new technologies to impact on teaching and learning. Their job description includes
- Supporting and leading the development of All Sain
- Supporting and leading the development of the All Saints Radio Station
- Supporting and leading the development of All Saints TV
- Investigating new software for all subject areas
- Investigating new technologies to integrate into all areas of teaching and learning
In September 2009 we implemented Moodle as our school VLE and initially trained 15 students as Lead Moodlers, they then cascaded the training to students and staff during twilight sessions. Since starting this project we have expanded our numbers and currents have over 60 students who are active members of the Creative Technologies Student Leadership group.
We have successfully developed areas for curriculum, care & guidance and student leadership.
As another area of the job description is to investigate the use of new technologies we decided to integrate the use of mobile technologies with the work of the VLE. We have worked with ‘Scruff Productions’ to develop podcasts for the touches and also used GCSEpod software to encourage revision for module and final GCSE exams. Students have developed an area on the VLE to allow students to ‘borrow’ an iPod for revision prior to any exam.
All curriculum areas have been involved in the development of ideas for podcasts and in recommending the iPods for student use. Twilight sessions, supported by the student leaders, have been delivered for staff development and to encourage staff to develop their own teaching and learning.
The student leaders have designed and produced ‘Moodle Factsheets’ and a Beginners Handbook to support staff and students and these are available on the VLE and in the school resource centre.
What we found:
By having a focus for the student leaders the development of all projects has been rapid and had an impact across the school. All curriculum areas now utilise the VLE for teaching within the classroom in addition to using it as a resource for 24/7 learning.
Many curriculum areas have students trained to be subject specific Moodlers, i.e. Maths Moodlers. These students are developing resources to be used in and out of the classroom.
The use of the iPods for revision and linking this with the excellent GCSEpod site, which allows students to find the podcasts suitable for their exams, has been very positive. 100% of students who borrowed an iPod prior to their module science exams gained their target grade or above. While it is difficult to measure the impact, 100% of students agreed or strongly agreed that the podcasts had supported their revision.
iPod Evaluation
Future developments:
Continue to develop all aspects of technologies at All Saints and to promote the student leadership model on a regional and national platform. The SSAT are interested in the model we have adopted and during a recent assessment for the ICE mark we were commended for the model.
We have promoted the model at a local level with students leading CPD for other Stockton schools.
A recent parental survey highlighted the desire that parents know exactly what their child is being set for homework so we have agreed with staff that the VLE will be further developed to include all homework for Y7 and 8 students. Student leaders will be developing more creative ways to use the VLE to support all users.
We have recently made the decision to move the school website to Moodle so we are integrating all aspects of the school support and communication to one platform. This will allow students to further develop their skills and keep the site current and relevant to all users.
Useful Links:
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