Enhancing learning in the digital age

Trudy Brothwell
St Hughs Church of England Mathematics and Computing College/Spitalgate Church of England Primary School
Grantham, United Kingdom

St Hugh's Mathematics and Computing College is a modern, forward-thinking, dynamic school which reaches out into the community to provide a positive learning environment for all. It is using technology to extend the learning opportunities for students, parents and the community beyond the school day and classroom, to allow them to learn at a time and place that suits their individual circumstances.

St Hugh's is located in Grantham, Lincolnshire, in a local estate which has very high social deprivation. As we are the local secondary school and over 70% of our students live on the estate, we have had to address the community's immediate ICT needs. For this purpose, we have created a virtual learning environment so that parents and students can access school resources and information, but we have faced a major problem in making this a completely inclusive resource.

The two problematic issues were access to hardware and the ability to connect to the school resources. Using government funding, we have been able to target those families in more extreme poverty and have purchased laptops for the students to use at home. We investigated different types of connectivity systems -- including 3G technology, ADSL and a mainstream broadband package -- but we have now resolved our difficulty by using a wireless solution that has involved installing a network of 80 access nodes that are connected to the school gateway. This has given us coverage of over one kilometre in radius and means that all houses and community amenities can access our resources. For the other families in the community, we are using different types of computer hardware, but we have found that the most cost-effective solution has been ultra- portable laptops, which we are trialling with some families at present.

Within the school, we had to try to create a modern atmosphere in keeping with our mathematics and computing status. We have revamped our facilities so that there is a computer to student ratio of 1.4 to 1; we have interactive whiteboards, graphics tablets and subject-specific software in every classroom; and we use laser cutters and a 3-D printer in the Manufacturing and Engineering department for enterprise activities. One of our more creative projects was to transform an area of the school into an i-learning centre which is equipped with dedicated music and video editing facilities and 3-D simulation equipment.

All these initiatives have enhanced the students' learning in this digital age, and the attractive environment has helped to motivate them to achieve their full potential.