iPad Programme

We live in a digital world in which workplaces are increasingly computer and device based. We must prepare our students for the world of work as it actually is and will be in the future so that they can have the very best careers, and opportunities. They need to be digital leaders.

Digital technology allows us to improve the way we teach, with greater interactivity, greater adaptation to individual needs, greater feedback, and greater access to knowledge and information. Producing and storing work online adds security, reduces loss and damage and improves sharing and peer working.

There is an intention, nationally, to move to digital public examinations in the next few years. Our children need to be ready for that (and even better ahead of the curve).

If we want young people to be safe and competent online then we must teach them how to be so.

iPads provide an incredible opportunity for student leadership - our young people will be central to the training and delivery of this project.

Finally, we are in danger of being behind the curve. Many schools have already done this, including some locally. Schools within our Trust have reaped real benefits from having moved to iPads and suffered far less from the impact of Covid, for example, because they had done so.

There is a contribution from parents/carers and we want to be open and up front about that from the outset and also explain how we will help you to manage that and make it affordable.

The iPads are the latest generation 9 devices that come with a protective case and are worth over £450 each. iPads will belong to the school and will be leased to students for their time at the school. 

Parents will be asked to make a financial contribution of £104 in year 1, £80 in year 2 and £80 in year 3.  That will secure the lease for up to seven years at school. The iPad is returned to the school when they leave.

Yes, the three year lease payments in that case are £52 in year 1 of the programme, £40 in year 2 and £40 in year 3.

Schools within our Trust have shown, that introducing iPads during examination courses, when they havent been used in key stage 3, is counter productive because the introduction of the new technology at the same time as GCSE syllabi places too great a demand on students and teachers.

The programme will roll through the school so eventually every child in all years will use iPads, but the current Year 10 and 11 will complete their courses with the curriculum and IT provision as it is now. They will have greater access to the chromebooks as they will not be being used elsewhere.

For the moment they can continue to bring their own devices and use them in a different and less integrated, but still useful way.

We will announce more about bringing iPads into the Sixth Form in the future.

In the event of accidental damage the school will repair the iPad, in the first instance, as part of the lease. A small stock of spare iPads will be kept so your child does not have to wait for the repair.

If the damage is malicious or deliberate there will need to be an individual assessment and discussion with the parents/carers.

If an iPad is repeatedly damaged then we may need to charge parents/carers. Experience in other schools is that this is very rare and when it occurs the average cost of repair is just £35.

Yes, in fact they will have to. In line with our values they will take Responsibility for the iPad like the rest of their school equipment.

They will need to charge it overnight and ensure it is remembered and fully charged for the next day at school. We advise that iPads (and for that matter phones) are charged in the kitchen at night to ensure students get a good night's sleep without any distractions in the bedroom.

They can use it at home to support their learning, for homework, for revision and for some social activities.

Yes, the school will control what apps and protocols are on the devices.

In school students will be restricted for certain sites, any social media, any non-education games or any sources of hate speech or misinformation - just like is the case with the desktop machines and chromebooks currently.

Teachers will be able to see, at all times, what students are looking at and engaging with on their devices. Logs and records will be kept of what they search for, what apps they use and messages they send, just like is the case with the desktop machines and chromebooks currently.

If your child uses their iPad at home connected to your wifi then you will need to be responsible for their online safety, just as you currently are for their phones or any computers at home.

Writing, essays, long answers, short answers, pop quizzes, quick notes, revision notes, recipes, keywords and reports.

Drawing graphs, tables, diagrams, equipment list, making plans, feedback sheets, coaching guides, musical scores and storyboards.

Research tool, dictionary, encyclopaedia, translation tool, calculator, simulator, and a safe way to access and use Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Notebook, post-it-notes, a moodboard, an artist's pad, a photo library, a scrapbook and a place for voice notes and thoughts.

Reading book for DEAR, a careers magazine, a brochure for a university, a college application form, a careers library and an almost infinite  library full of stories and literature.

Tool for revision, study , examinations, completing past papers, and getting feedback from teachers.

Communicator, via email and through safe, school provided apps, to collaborate with teachers and peers in this school and across the trust.

Sound recorder, camera, video recorder and editor for recording work, projects, portfolios, made outcomes and homeworks.

Watch to be on time, as a timetable so they know what lesson is next, as a diary so they do not forget a club or a meeting.

Storage device for all of their work, so that it may be kept in a safe and organised way, and in a way that they can share it with teachers and peers and work on it collaboratively.

There is also a helpful guide here from Apple.

Handwriting remains an important skill and is still the way of public examinations at the moment. The iPad will in fact be able to help with handwriting improvement apps which we can use with students to improve their neatness and speed.

However, keyboard skills and typing will also become important and the iPad will help develop those skills too and we will explicitly teach them.

There will never be a time when an iPad is the same as applying acrylic gouache to canvas or an iPad can replace throwing a rugby ball into a line out, or an iPad replicate the mouth embouchure of playing the flute

However,  in each of these examples the iPad can support - a practice sketch book, moodboard and artist research tool for the first; a skills guide, coaching video recorder and ball speed/spin recorder for the second; a score, metronome, sound recorder, tuner and audience sharing platform for the third.

We cannot then keep students safe. We have to be able to control the apps and protocols centrally.

It would prevent us from being able to do the leasing scheme at such a low cost making it unfair to many.

We will train staff and students to use the same devices so that this training maximises their learning.

We are part of a Trust who are experts and leaders in the educational field in the use of iPads in schools.

We will be able to say to students that whilst they are welcome to bring phones to school if their parents and carers wish them to have them for the journey, for example, once in school they will be turned off, not used and not seen.

There will be no need for any students to use their phone, in school, at any time.

Most will have reached the end of their life. They only last a couple of years unlike the iPads which last at least seven.

Those which do still have life will be donated to our partner school in Sierra Leone.