Hurstbourne Tarrant Inspires a ‘Love of Learning’ with Promethean Solutions
The teachers of Hurstbourne Tarrant CE Primary School in Northwest Hampshire are not alone in wanting to light the flame of learning in their children. With their motto ‘Love of Learning, Love of Life’, the 105-pupil school is committed to looking at ways that new technology can support learning, and help to inspire a real passion in all their children. Promethean’s integrated Activboard, Activprimary and Activote system is helping them to achieve this aim.
What was needed?
Hurstbourne Tarrant wanted children to become more active in lessons to improve their motivation and attitude to learning. Being a small school, any investment needed to deliver optimum value for the whole-school with day-today accessibility.
They needed a system that would:
- offer proven cost effectiveness
- deliver truly interactive equipment and resources
- be easy for staff to use immediately, with additional functionality for future development of teachers’ skills
- suitability for the primary environment
Above all, it needed to be a truly interactive and integrated system, accessible to all classrooms so teachers and students alike could learn together, allowing a much greater impact.
The solution
Promethean’s Activboard, Activprimary software and Activote system were fitted in all Hurstbourne Tarrant’s classrooms, providing a fully integrated system. The student response system included assessment questions for Activote, plus a wire-free hand-held voting pod for every child at the school.
The Activote system is now being used extensively across the school. When used with the interactive whiteboard, teachers get instant feedback on how well the class understands the lesson and by looking at individual results, they can also identify which children might need extra support. The school uses Activote as a formal assessment tool at the end of units of work, providing an excellent way to monitor class achievement over a longer period of time.
The verdict - 95% of pupils give the thumbs-up
At Hurstbourne Tarrant the new teaching and learning solution is used from Reception to Year Six across all subjects. Keen to ensure that the school was embracing the technology, pupils gave their opinion - 95% of pupils agreed that Activboards and Activote help them to learn better and make learning more enjoyable !
Tim Deery, Head Teacher at Hurstbourne Tarrant says: “Pupils in the Foundation Stage are very confident in using the Activote pads. They’ve particularly enjoyed using them as part of story writing, when the teacher gives the class options in how the story might progress. The children feel their voice is being heard and that they can have a real effect on the story’s outcome. We’ve also introduced this technology to younger children. When they arrive at school they choose their dinner option for that day, using the pads. This increases their independence and because they are using technology, they really do enjoy it.
“There is a real buzz of excitement throughout the school when the equipment is being used,” continues Mr Deery. “Students, parents and teachers alike all show great enthusiasm, which should go a long way to improving student attitudes to learning, and increasing motivation.”