This term has seen the implementation of our digital strategy. There are three parts to the strategy – the delivery of lessons through our digital mediums, the recording of notes from pupils in OneNote and the assessment and return of work through Microsoft Teams and OneNote. The start of term required not only the pupils, but the staff to get used to new hardware, software and a different way of working – all against the difficult backdrop of Covid-19.

Now that we are a few weeks in, the pupils are becoming adept at finding their way around the software and becoming familiar with the foibles of their own devices and the technology has become, as it should be, a tool to support their learning.

There are a few things that it is worth bringing to your attention. The device needs to be fully charged when it arrives in School – can you please make sure that the device is charged overnight? Whilst there are some charging facilities in class, not all pupils can use them at once. Having a second charger in their bags is useful, as if they do run out of charge, they will have the ability to charge their devices.

The use of digital ink makes a significant difference in how the pupils use the device. For those where it is not native to the device, some solutions have proved popular. One is the use of a small graphics tablet that plugs into the laptop – the One by Wacom is a reasonably cheap and a well-recommended tablet. 

Graphics tablets will work on all devices with a USB connection including Apple Macs. For those with Macs, there is an alternative product called Inklet (https://tenonedesign.com/inklet.php) that turns the touchpad into a graphics tablet.

If you have any problems, please do not hesitate to get in touch with ICT support (ictsupport@svs.org.uk).