Throughout both lockdowns, Claires Court were able to seamlessly transition into remote learning due to our already strong provision of digital education.
The school is fortunate to have two of only around one hundred Google Certified Innovators in the UK, leading the school in its acceptance and innovation of digital learning. Academic Principal, James Wilding, and Head of Outdoor Education Paul Robson, both qualified as Google Certified Innovators after attending the Google Teacher Academy in 2012. Google Workspace and other ‘Cloud-based’ tools and applications are intrinsic in the school's offer and over the past decade, primary, secondary and sixth form students have been enabled to establish very strong digital learning skills for their age and stage. When lockdown#1 materialised last March, the school was able to equip every KS2, KS3 and KS4 student with their own Chromebook, supporting a seamless transition to the pupils' home education during testing times.
James Wilding, Academic Principal said, “We’ve been able to create an environment for exploration and thought-provoking lessons, with remote break-out rooms, jamboards and video showcases of the pupils’ work. Over 1,000 chromebooks have been rolled out across the school since last March, these workhorse ‘laptops’ providing all the software and portability needed within a secure, safeguarded school environment”.
He added, “We are very thankful for our positioning within digital learning as it’s ensured our students' education has been largely unaffected throughout the pandemic. Now we’re back together and there is warmer weather ahead, we believe it is the perfect time to reduce our screen time, roll up our sleeves and recommence hands-on. It's a chance to truly reconnect with one another with practical activities in English, Maths, Languages and the Humanities plus in the arts, sciences, technologies and of course physical education and sports. Our summer fixtures lists are already full, and we can’t wait to resume competition with other schools and colleges”.
