Learning Labs and Anderton Park Primary School were invited to the House of Lords in May, where their innovative use of technology in the classroom was recognised. A FlashAcademy® Centre of Excellence, APPS attributes the implementation of the FlashAcademy® platform in helping to increase attainment for their pupils with EAL.
The EdTech 50 report, which was launched with a ceremony at the House of Lords last week, was set up to highlight 50 digital flagship schools across the UK and Northern Ireland who demonstrate a focused sense of what is useful to them in terms of technology. The schools were chosen for their use of technology to support teaching and enhance learning, thus improving school life in numerous ways – from cutting teacher workload to enhancing creativity, consolidating learning or broadening experiences for pupils across the curriculum.
With a student population speaking over 30 different languages, Anderton Park Primary are committed to making language as accessible as possible for their students and have integrated technology into the classroom to aid language learning. Last year, the school embarked on a journey to improve IT provision for pupils in order to increase English attainment, leading to the implementation of the FlashAcademy® platform at the school. Staff have been vocal in their support of the app and have helped shaped its development through sustained feedback. Deputy Headteacher, Claire Evans states that,
“Attainment for pupils with EAL has doubled since using the FlashAcademy® EAL resource – it has been remarkable. It helps that pupils love it. Having their own app makes them feel really special”.
Claire Evans, Deputy Headteacher at Anderton Park Primary
Judges were impressed with the way the school had “identified a problem and helped develop a technological tool to solve it. This is a project with impact that can be reproduced elsewhere”.
While Anderton Park were the only Birmingham school to make it into the EdTech 50, a second FlashAcademy® school, Great Barr Academy in Birmingham, were also given an honourable mention in the report. Included in the ‘Ones to Watch’ category, the school, which has over 600 pupils with EAL, has seen excellent results since adopting the platform. Head of EAL, Hollie O’Sullivan credits FlashAcademy® with having “revolutionised the department”, stating that it has had “a tremendous impact on pupils”, as well as “a huge impact on the workload of teachers – it has really lightened the load”.
Learning Labs are thrilled with the very well-deserved recognition of both schools in the report and for their continued support of the FlashAcademy® platform. CEO Veejay Lingiah says,
“I was the only non-white pupil at my own primary school, so I know what it’s like to feel different in a school environment. The team behind FlashAcademy® and early adopter schools like Anderton Park deserve huge credit, because their hard work has now created a model of practice which, in the words of the EdTech 50 judges, ‘can be reproduced elsewhere’”.
Veejay Lingiah, CEO of FlashAcademy®
