FINAL Digital Practitioner Handbook 2021-22 (1)

Denbigh High School & Challney High School for Girls Welcome to our Digital Practitioners Handbook, developed as part of the DfE's EdTech Demonstrator Programme Over the past year, we are proud of the high quality technology for learning support that our Digital Practitioners have been able to provide to schools across the country and we look forward to working with your school Please use this Handbook to learn more about the Digital Practitioner support we have available and select which staff you feel would be most appropriate to work with your school Please then complete the online form sent with this handbook to request support Emma Darcy Digital Strategy across schools and Multi Academy Trusts, implementation of 1:1 device schemes, effective use of technology to support learners from disadvantaged backgrounds Hannah Edgeworth Head of Year and Geography 14 Jay Sahota Careers and Head of Year 15 Katrina Lockhart Science 16 Emma Whitehall Digital strategy Google Workspace including Google Classroom Making the most of apps for teaching and learning including AFL, engagement and independent learning iPads for Education Adam Holdsworth PSHE & Religious Education Lauren Allcroft Admin/Communications and Marketing 17 Lynsey Holton In Class Practice, Teacher Workload and SEND 18 Masuma Tafadar Curriculum and Pastoral (Head of House) 19 Rojina Islam Maths 20 Rozina Butt Head of Year, Pastoral and Support for Learning 21 Sadiyah Ali English 22 Sarah Northwood Library, Reading and SEND 23 Simon Simcox Knowledge Retrieval/Geography 24 James Searle Integrating digital strategies to the work of the Chiltern Teaching School Hub 25 Ian Hayden Curriculum development, team management and leadership Stacey Smith Head of Year, Pastoral and Engagement Anna Walczynska SEND Aqsa Rashid Teaching and Learning 10 Claire McGowan English, Google Workspace, Mote, Online Learning Platforms 11 Fatima Maniar Teaching and Careers 12 Geraldine Fallon School Administration and Support 13 EdTech Digital Practitioners emma darcy director of technology for learning, Denbigh High School and Chiltern Learning Trust Specialist Area: Digital Strategy across schools and Multi Academy Trusts, implementation of 1:1 device schemes, effective use of technology to support learners from disadvantaged backgrounds current job role: I am Director of Technology for Learning at Denbigh High School and the Chiltern Learning Trust Working on the Leadership Team at Denbigh and across the other fourteen schools in the Trust, I support headteachers and leadership teams with developing robust and effective technology for learning strategies in their schools I also support teachers and support staff with digital pedagogy and students with extra curricular opportunities such as Apps For Good I have overseen the rollout of the Chromebook 1:1 device scheme initially at Denbigh and now at four other schools within the Trust I lead on the EdTech Demonstrator Programme, am on the Advisory Board for The BETT Show and this year won the Silver Pearson National Teaching Award for Digital Innovator of the Year past experience: During my time at Denbigh, I have helped the school become an EdTech 50 school, have written the school’s UNESCO worldwide Best Practice Case Study on “Developing and Delivering a Successful Technology for Learning Strategy in the UK” and led the school’s Apps For Good programme which has seen students reach the national finals on five separate occasions Prior to arriving at the Chiltern Learning Trust eight years ago, I managed Luton’s City Learning Centre This £1.2 million centre was developed as part of the Excellence in Cities programme and designed to support staff and students with accessing cutting edge technology that may not have been available in their own school environment, including a recording studio, green screen television studio and Apple Mac editing suites Over a ten year period, I worked with staff and students from every infant, junior, primary and secondary school in Luton as well as many other schools both locally and nationally The centre won a number of national awards and was described by the DfE as “everything a City Learning Centre should be.” using technology in my role: Over the past year, my role has been increasingly diverse as schools have adapted their technology for learning strategies to support both remote and in school learning As well as supporting Chiltern Learning Trust school leaders with developing and evolving their strategies, I have also engaged with a wide range of schools across the country across all phases as part of Phase of the EdTech Demonstrator Programme I am well used to assisting leadership teams with the challenges that come from budgetary constraints when considering digital strategy, as well as the complexities of supporting learners from disadvantaged backgrounds and those with SEND I am an Apple Distinguished Educator as well as an experienced Google Practitioner and believe passionately in the importance of allowing students to experience a wide range of digital platforms I also enjoy using technology creatively to support and enhance teaching and learning and have utilised Denbigh’s green screen technology on many occasions this year to facilitate immersive education I enjoy working with schools on both a strategic and practical “hands on” approach Denbigh High School & Challney School for Girls Emma Whitehall Assistant Headteacher & EDtech Project lead Specialist Area: Digital strategy Google Workspace including Google Classroom Making the most of apps for teaching and learning including AFL, engagement and independent learning iPads for Education current job role: In my current role at Challney Girls as an Assistant Headteacher I am responsible for Technology for Learning, Early Careers Teachers, More Able and the House System Until recently I also led on CPD across the school As the Project Lead for the EdTech Demonstrator Programme I am responsible for Leading a team of an Assistant Project Lead and several Digital Practitioners with their work with our supported schools I was originally a PE teacher, but now teach KS4 Science past experience: I have worked at Challney Girls for a total of 20 years now initially as Head of PE, but since 2010 as Assistant Headteacher I have held a variety of AHT positions including Data, Assessment and Reporting, Teaching and Learning and, until this academic year, Professional Development which have given me an excellent insight into many areas of school leadership Prior to this I was a PE teacher at a mixed school in the Town for years We have been fortunate that we were part of the Building Schools for the Future programme and in 2011 moved to a brand new school that was built on the school site In March 2020 we were accepted as a Demonstrator School and I took on the role of Project Lead Provision for More Able students is an area I am very interested in and last year led my school to gaining NACE Challenge Award accreditation I am also an SSAT Level accredited TEEP (Teacher Effectiveness Enhancement Programme) trainer using technology in my role: Over the past few years in my role as SLT Lead for Technology for Learning I have developed my own expertise in this area I have spent many hours leading CPD as well as supporting colleagues in their classrooms Working in a school that uses a range of device types I have gained both Google Educator and Apple Teacher Qualifications that have helped to enhance my own knowledge of how EdTech can be used effectively I regularly use technology in the classroom with students to enhance their experience and improve learning outcomes Over the past few years the use of Google Workspace in my school has increased dramatically and my expertise in both using and training others in the range of applications including Google Classroom has improved I use a wide range of applications to support Teaching and Learning and am particularly interested in the use of EdTech to develop AFL, independent learning, collaborative learning and engagement EdTech Digital Practitioners ADAM HOLDSWORTH specialist leader of education for religious education Specialist Area: PSHE & Religious Education current job role: In my current role at Denbigh I am a “Specialist Leader of Education” and also part of the school’s “Teaching and Learning Leadership Group” Through this role I work within the Religious Education department with the aim of driving the quality of teaching, learning, curriculum and assessment My role also involves me working across the Chiltern Learning Trust to support other schools in a variety of areas I am passionate about school improvement and the role that technology will play in the education world moving forward past experience: I have been at Denbigh High school for years and started there as an NQT after completing my teacher training in Edge Hill University near Liverpool During my time at the school I have held a number of different roles from Coordinator of Duke of Edinburgh to ATLL for RE & Citizenship to my current role as a Specialist Leader of Education This has given me a broad experience of working in a variety of curriculum and extracurricular areas I have also completed a wide range of CPD in order to support my development such as the Outstanding Teacher Program and the Outstanding Middle Leadership Program All of these experiences have led me to the point where I am confident to provide school to school support in a wide range of areas using technology in my role: Technology has evolved massively over the period that I have been teaching and its importance has heightened over time particularly during the past couple of years during the pandemic I have a keen interest in a number of key areas of EdTech but I have a big passion for pursuing methods of assessment and feedback using technology and also areas of reducing and supporting teachers workload through the use of technology Over the last academic year I have fulfilled the role of a Digital Practitioner which has given me the chance to support and share ideas with teachers from a wide range of settings and this has allowed me to develop my understanding and thinking in these areas Denbigh High School & Challney School for Girls ian hayden Teaching and learning leader for geography & specialist leader of education for humanities Specialist Area: Curriculum development, team management and leadership current job role: In my current role at Denbigh I am responsible for the teaching and learning of the geography department I manage a team of teachers to ensure the provision of geography is consistently high This work has seen us receive substantial numbers of students choosing geography as their GCSE option and contributed significantly to the school’s Progress score of 0.82 and a 77% EBACC entry rate I am also a Humanities SLE In this role, my work has been focused on assisting departments with their curriculum sequencing and improving the assessment literacy of teachers and curriculum leads as well as cross trust training on digital strategies past experience: Prior to working at Denbigh High School I lived and worked in China for eight years I started teaching English as a second language before moving on to manage a school with around a 1,000 students and an international teaching and admin team The successes I had managing this school meant I was promoted to be National Online Community Manager where I created a national digital marketing and social media strategy that was rolled to out to over 60 schools across China using technology in my role: Over the past year in my role as Teaching and Learning Leader and SLE in geography I have used technology to plan and deliver interactive training sessions to participants locally and nationally, to plan and audit curriculum and lessons, to monitor teams and provide them with feedback and to support students and provide them with effective online learning episodes I am particularly experienced in curriculum planning and staff development EdTech Digital Practitioners Stacey smith Head of year & Teacher of mathematics EDTECH assistant project lead Specialist Area: Head of Year, Pastoral and Engagement current job role: In my current role at Challney Girls I am a teacher of mathematics and a Head of Year I have been a Head of Year for years I am also currently an Ed Tech Digital Practitioner, as I was in the first year of the project past experience: Before teaching I worked in a number of schools in various roles I have been a PE technician, Learning Mentor, PE Teacher in a primary school to name a few of my previous school based positions I have also worked in other industries including for The FA (Football Association) in the position of Girls and Women’s Football Development Officer As stated previously I have been teaching mathematics at Challney High School for Girls since 2015 and became a Head of Year in 2016 My first cohort of pupils left in summer 2020 with many fantastic success stories and achievements I have been a Digital Practitioner for over a year now and have thoroughly enjoyed working with other schools and also supporting staff here at Challney Girls using technology in my role: Over the past few years in my role as a teacher and now a Digital Practitioner I have used technology in the following ways to support the different aspects of my work; all Google Workspace applications, Google Classroom for both remote learning and in school sharing of tasks and feedback I have also used technology in my Pastoral role to organise online Parents Evening and meetings, therefore helping with parental engagement during times when it is difficult to have visitors into school Alongside this I have used technology to aid collaboration between pupils and staff As a teacher of mathematics I have also greatly used the following websites and applications such as; Desmos, Mathswhiteboard com to name a few I am confident in recording lessons on both Google Meet and Zoom and have done so for both remote lesson times, interventions and support videos I am proficient in the use of Promethean interactive boards and Activinspire I love using engagement websites such as Kahoot and Plickers with my classes to inspire and motivate them, whilst also being able to collect value learning information and assessing pupils learning I am therefore particularly experienced in all the areas I have mentioned above Denbigh High School & Challney School for Girls anna Walczynska Sendco (special educational needs and/ or disabilities coordinator) Specialist Area: Special Educational Needs and Disabilities current job role: In my current role at Denbigh I am responsible for pupils with Education Health and Care Plans and those who have special educational needs and disabilities I lead the Support for Learning team and SEND provision across the school past experience: Throughout a number of years I have developed a comprehensive intervention programme in order to improve the outcomes of lower achieving pupils I have created an inclusive life skills curriculum which enables the students to progress alongside their peers A key feature of the programme of interventions is the inclusive element that allows our low ability pupils, many with special educational needs, to achieve in a safe environment Furthermore, I have led the Denbigh High Summer School for the last four years This intervention is targeted mainly at those pupils with an Education, Health and Care Plan or other special educational needs and supports their transition to high school An inclusive curriculum with literacy and numeracy activities as well as educational visits enables those pupils who take part to transfer to Denbigh High School with confidence More recently, I have presented the EAL lectures to the University of Bedfordshire as well as Hertfordshire CTG students I have also led part of the CPD for Central Beds Teaching School Since 2017 I have been the elected staff governor for my current school This role enables me to be responsible for overseeing the management side of school; strategy, policy, budgeting and staffing It allows me to understand how a school can be run as effectively as possible, working alongside senior leaders and supporting teachers to provide excellent education to children using technology in my role: Over the past year in my role I have used technology to support pupils in lessons, and used differentiated materials via Chromebooks to be able to instantly support pupils I have used Google Drive to support administrative work around SEND and share / receive information from staff I have created a Support for Learning Website where I can share all differentiated resources across the school and make them instantly available for all staff I have used Loom videos to support differentiation in the classroom as well as online small group support during lockdown I have also used accessibility features available on Google to support our pupils with disabilities and SEND EdTech Digital Practitioners aqsa rashid teacher of history Specialist Area: Teaching and Learning current job role: In my current role as a history teacher at Denbigh High I plan, prepare and teach lessons across Key Stage and 4, encourage a positive learning environment and promote engagement I have also offered pastoral support as a form tutor and hosted interventions for students to bridge learning gaps Over the past year, I have played a substantial role within the History department past experience: Previously, I was involved in radio presenting for four years, whilst simultaneously studying at university It was a great experience as I learned how to effectively ask questions, grow an audience through multi media outlets and create a safe environment for co-hosts and guests to voice their opinion Many skills were transitional to teaching which are highlighted in my daily practice using technology in my role: Over the past year, I was able to use technology in many different ways Within the classroom, students are able to read subject knowledge material posted through Google Classroom In order to aid memory and recall, students use various technological features such as interactive white boards to recall learning To assess learning, students completed Google Forms as well as quizzes Google Expeditions was an excellent resource to build on the cultural capital which the students were not able to access during the lockdown For Key Stage 4, I was able to develop rubrics to mark student questions, especially the 16 mark questions Students are able to gain feedback rapidly and resolve misconceptions through Google features I have also actively used Mote as a mode of feedback which was incredibly useful during the pandemic The familiarity of a teacher voice makes the feedback more personalised and meaningful for students Denbigh High School & Challney School for Girls 10 hannah edgeworth teacher of geography & head of year Specialist Area: Head of Year & Geography current job role: In my current role at Denbigh I am a teacher of both KS4 and KS3 Geography and am Head of Year 11 past experience: I have been a teacher of Geography at Denbigh High School for the past six years first joining the school as an NQT and have since become Head of Year and held this post for the past two years During my time at Denbigh I have taken part in the SSAT Leadership Legacy Project and have been a Digital Practitioner for the past year Beyond Denbigh High School I am a Pearson Edexcel Geography examiner and have done this for the past five years using technology in my role: My specialist areas are the use of the Google Suite for managing pastoral care through posting interactive form time activities, safeguarding and wellbeing support, KS4 interventions and communications with both staff and parents Along with my expertise in the pastoral use of technology I also have vast experience in the use of technology in the Geography classroom through the creation and delivery of virtual fieldwork, the use of feedback and assessment that is meaningful and informative and use of the Google Classroom to create an interactive blended learning environment that is accessible to all pupils Denbigh High School & Challney School for Girls 14 jay sahota coordinator of careers education information and guidance Specialist Area: Careers and Head of Year current job role: In my current role at Denbigh I look after careers and aspirations, my role involves embedding careers across the curriculum so students can link careers to different subjects and skills being developed I also facilitate students encounters with employers, employees and higher education and guide students when making choices for post 16 study past experience: I have had a wide range of part time jobs in sales and logistics My Denbigh journey has seen me work in many departments such as Support for Learning, Business, RE, History and most recently pastoral using technology in my role: In my role as Head of Year, technology played a pivotal part in my day to day working life from using the Google Workspace basic features like Gmail, Shared Drive and Classroom to more advanced features such as Google Sheets to analyse pastoral issues or using Google Meet to produce weekly career podcasts I use many of these same tools now in my careers role EdTech Digital Practitioners 15 katrina lockhart teacher of science Specialist Area: Science current job role: In my current role at Denbigh I teach both KS3 and KS4 all three sciences, but I specialise in physics I have a range of classes from SEN to triple groups and I integrate Chromebooks into everyday teaching along with creating resources to improve the use of technology in the science department, for both students and teachers past experience: I previously studied as an electronic and electrical engineer at Sheffield Hallam University during which I had to adapt to using multiple pieces of software to complete my course, this means that I am very adaptable and happy to learn new and effective ways to use technology to lighten the workload in teaching During my teacher training, I stayed in schools that had very limited access to technology and found that when it was used both the teachers and students struggled to make the best use of it However when I started work at Denbigh, technology was already integrated with years and and I could see the difference in the pupils, it was clear to see the enjoyment and benefits of using technology in class From then on, I have strived to make it more of an integral part of the classroom I did this by being a Digital Practitioner last year in which I made many support videos for teachers and students to help them to access different pieces of software and use it to effectively lessen the workload using technology in my role: Over the past year in my role as a classroom science teacher I have used technology to support teachers to adapt to remote learning by creating short tutorial videos to show shortcuts to lessen the sometimes repetitive tasks that you have to when using Google Denbigh High School & Challney School for Girls 16 lauren allcroft Displays and communications officer Specialist Area: Admin/Communications & Marketing current job role: In my current role at Denbigh I coordinate the school’s publications, presentations, website content and social media posts and promotions I market and brand the school identity and ensure communications via social media are positive, consistent and exciting I also work on any displays around the school ensuring a clean, tidy and attractive environment around school I create all promotional materials for major school events such as Open Evening, Options Evening and Excellence Evening I regularly work with members of staff to create displays, social media posts and promotional materials past experience: Before working at Denbigh I worked in a number of different social job roles such as a carer and in a special needs school so have a lot of knowledge of working with others I also completed an illustration degree at Norwich University of the Arts in 2016, this degree allowed me to become highly experienced with the Adobe Suite and in working to tight deadlines using technology in my role: I regularly use technology to support different aspects of my job, I use the entire Google Suite on a daily basis As I currently work in a role that encapsulates two job roles I have to have a good understanding of how to help support and organise my day, to this I use the Google Suite including Google Calendar, the tasks panel, Google Forms and the google drive I also have a good knowledge of social media as this is a major part of my job role including scheduling posts, tagging and hashtags, checking analytics to see how popular a post was on both Twitter and Facebook I also run the Denbigh Alumni Instagram The Adobe Suite is something I use constantly within my work including Adobe Indesign, Photoshop and Illustrator EdTech Digital Practitioners 17 lynsey holton teacher of english Specialist Area: In Class Practice, Teacher Workload and Special Educational Needs and Disabilities current job role: In my current role at Challney Girls, I am first and foremost a class teacher of English I am a passionate practitioner with a huge desire for students to succeed Within my role, I am also involved in the development of the curriculum, as well as, supporting students to access the curriculum past experience: Prior to joining Challney High School for Girls, I was the SEND Manager at Challney High School for Boys Special educational needs is something I am incredibly passionate about and my time as SEND Manager really spurred me on to gain QTS as an aspiring SENCO using technology in my role: Over the past year in my role as an English teacher and a Digital Practitioner, I have used technology in the following ways to support the different aspects of my work Online marking and assessment feedback has been a real change in my practice Using online rubrics on Google Classroom has enabled students to explore and understand mark schemes and the terminology associated with the assessment objectives; I am particularly experienced in Google Classroom In addition, within English we have utilised numerous online platforms to bring the theatre into the classroom Denbigh High School & Challney School for Girls 18 Masuma tafadar Teacher of Humanities (Specialising in RE) and Head of House Specialist Area: Curriculum and Pastoral (Head of House) current job role: In my current role as a Teacher of Humanities, I specialise in Religious Education at KS3 and KS4 In addition to this role I manage the ‘First Give’ charity programme delivered to the Year cohort I am also a pastoral leader at the school with the position of Head of House Through this role, I aim to raise aspirations through developing, planning and creating whole-school competitions and promote Student Voice across the school My responsibilities include overseeing numerous departments and their planning of House competitions Additionally, I manage all charity related projects for the School, including organising the whole school competition to collect items for Luton Foodbank and fundraising for Keech Hospice Furthermore, I work with other Heads of Houses and Senior Leadership to plan Enrichment programmes and Enrichment Week past experience: Prior to teaching, I worked in a number of different sectors I worked in the private sector as a researcher for several NGOs (Non Governmental Organisations) I worked on various projects that dealt with human rights violations and also evaluated the impact of policy I continued on to work in the corporate sector as Head of Programmes for a Leadership and Communications consultancy I managed the programmes for the company, evaluated their impact and improved the quality of the programmes I also worked to develop bespoke programmes for corporate companies as well as for professionals looking to develop their skills In my current roles as a teacher of RE and Head of House, I look to use the skills I’ve gained throughout my working career to assess the impact of lessons and House competitions in order to motivate students, raise aspirations and personal standards using technology in my role: As a teacher of RE and a Head of House, I endeavour to raise the aspirations of students and inspire a desire for learning Through the use of technology, I have found great tools in motivating students to engage with learning tasks, foster creativity, develop a sense of belonging and become an active part of the school community During the lockdown, I developed and regularly used my Google Classrooms to teach KS3 and KS4 RE Loom videos were created and assignments were posted to consolidate learning In order to give feedback, Rubrics were created for each assignment and verbal feedback was delivered through Mote In order to propel students, I also created an ‘Above and Beyond’ classroom to give students a chance to gain an insight into RE at university level Furthermore, by creating a House Classroom, I was able to create a hub for students, inculcate a sense of belonging and community, and motivate and engage students through House competitions and incentives A popular House competition amongst the student body was the ‘Dangerous Dungeons Digital Escape Room’ With over 150 students playing the game multiple times, it was recognised as the best inter-house competition this year Another area of specialism is using Google Sites as a revision tool Many of my KS3 and KS4 classes have created their own websites for key units they have studied in RE Students created a number of pages in the websites, adding information from their exercise books, Google Classroom notes and written tasks as well as new additional information found through research EdTech Digital Practitioners 19 rojina islam teacher of mathematics Specialist Area: Maths current job role: In my current role at Denbigh I am a teacher of Maths I teach all students from year to year 11 In addition to this I am also trained to work with pupils with SEND Within my role as a teacher I have the responsibility of maintaining and improving the IT and digital technology side of things and therefore I am always looking to find ways in which I can improve the way we use information technology for our teaching and learning I am also in charge of the online platforms that we use within the department past experience: Prior to working at Denbigh I was a primary school teacher in London I have delivered both the KS1 and the KS2 curriculum I really enjoyed working as a year teacher as I had the responsibility of preparing and getting the students ready to complete their SATS It’s a very rewarding year to work with as you watch your students grow and develop in order to be ready for secondary school My first role at Denbigh was working as a teaching assistant as I wanted to get a feel of what it is like to deliver KS3 and KS4 teaching Within this role I gained a lot of experience working with low ability students including SEND students Working with these students it helped me to develop skills where I was researching the best strategies that would help these students to get the best out of them From this role I had the opportunity to mentor students that were not doing so well academically and for behaviour reasons I am also a key worker for two SEND students where I work closely with them to ensure that we as a school are providing the best opportunities for them and meeting their needs where possible using technology in my role: Over the past year as a Digital Practitioner I have researched and trained myself to be able to find the best ways of using technology to support teaching and learning Having to teach remotely during lockdown, I knew that students will not be getting the same face to face teaching that they would have received in school and for this reason I looked into ways that I could certify the same or close to same teaching from home Within my department I became a specialist in using Google Workspace as this was the way in which we started to deliver our lessons using Google Classroom To date we still use this as our learning platform where students have access to their lessons remotely should they need it Additionally I have delivered a webinar on the use of Teachermade as this tool was really useful during and after lockdown Teachermade is a tool where you can convert PDF documents into a digital worksheets This has become very useful as I have recently started to work on converting exam papers to online digital documents where you can have them self-marked Currently we are trialling GCSE exams papers that I have converted to support our Year 10’s Denbigh High School & Challney School for Girls 20 rozina butt teaching and learning leader for year Specialist Area: Head of Year, Pastoral & Support for Learning current job role: I currently have a cohort of 224 students and direct and guide 11 form tutors who make up my team As a Head of Year most of my time is spent ensuring the wellbeing and academic progress of my year group, which is coupled with monitoring the behaviour of each child I have become familiar with assessing data which reflects the progress of my year group and I have a good relationship with Subject team leaders where I can plan interventions and strategies that can assist with students struggling either academically or emotionally I have qualified as an ELSA practitioner, ( Emotional Literacy Support Assistant) where I work with vunerable and SEND students who are unable to express how they are feeling emotionally I have 1:1 sessions with these students where I will provide them with strategies and coping mechanisims especially in the case of Anger Management, Bereavement and when there is a lack of social skills I am affiliated with the SFL department and I have supported and taught students from all academic levels, namely students with EHCP, EAL and the RAISE backgrounds At present I am teaching Year RE and have taught all year groups over the last three years past experience: I qualified as a Divorce and Child Care Lawyer in 1999 and practiced for 21 years until I started to work as a TA at Denbigh High I have not given up my role as partner in a family run law firm and practice pro bono as and when I am required I decided to change careers due to the desire to work with the younger generation and work to motivate and inspire students from all walks of life, especially students from highly deprived areas I secured the role of Head of Year only 15 months after joining the school due to my commitment and drive in supporting young adults using technology in my role: During these last 10 months in my role as Head of Year I have relied upon using Google Classrooms to communicate with each form individually I also believe having a Shared Drive where I am able to share resources, slides and team minutes is imperative to communicating with my team more efficiently I am particularly experienced in organising my team and have used technology to ensure my year group has a sense of cohesion as the year messages can not be misunderstood I also relied upon Google Meet during lockdown to conduct meetings with my team and feed back to Senior Leadership and my line manager EdTech Digital Practitioners 21 Sadiyah ali teacher of english Specialist Area: English current job role: In my current role at Challney High School for Girls, I am an English Teacher and a Year 11 Form Tutor I am also responsible for KS3 interventions alongside over-seeing KS4 interventions I have recently been appointed as Acting Head of Year for our Year cohort past experience: Prior to working at CHSG, I worked as an English Lecturer in the FE sector where I taught a range of courses from Entry Level to GCSE English I am now coming up to three years in my Secondary Teaching career at CHSG, alongside my role as an English Teacher, I have taken on many responsibilities to improve Teaching and Learning across the school and department One of these responsibilities includes developing new schemes across KS3 and KS4 I have recently taken on the initiative to include two diverse literature units which not only are written by authors from the BAME community but also include a focus on ethnic minority groups across the world where we explore the themes of: identity, culture, values, religion and way of living before the effects of colonialism or the impact of war and immigration My main aim is to empower students to begin reading a range of literature from around the world in order to improve their knowledge of different cultures and their values I have further developed a whole school diverse registration reading programme which focuses on tackling the issues of diversity and again providing students snippets of diverse reading material in order to encourage students to read for pleasure and have an appreciation of classic and contemporary literature beyond their unit texts using technology in my role: Over the past year in my role as a Digital Practitioner, I have been working on a range of ideas within the English Department to help support students and secure for them an accessible and inclusive curriculum across key stage and 4, including training members of staff and students in how to create podcasts I have developed interventions which include QR codes for students which supports students with clear directions leading to intended websites, Google Forms or YouTube clips QR codes further help support swift transitions between tasks for all students I am a competent and experienced user of Google Workspace, I believe it is an underused and relatively unknown suite of applications that if proactively used would transform the way teachers engage students and support their independent learning through the use of a range of platforms such as Google Classrooms, Groups, Forms, Jamboards and many other options to facilitate teaching and learning I believe as educators we can reverse the fear of technology and make a difference in outcomes and ultimately life choices for students Denbigh High School & Challney School for Girls 22 Sarah northwood library & resources manager Specialist Area: Library, Reading & Special Educational Needs and Disabilities current job role: My current role at Denbigh High School as Library and Resources Manager involves supporting pupils reading development, and striving to create a culture of reading, not just within the Library but by implementing many reading strategies across each subject creating a whole school awareness of reading across the curriculum past experience: I have over fifteen years experience of working in a school Library, previously I worked for the University of Bedfordshire for over five years I am always looking for ways to improve the Library to enable students to thrive, with the use of a digital education platform to help promote wider reading through the use of technology to supplement traditional methods, motivate students at home and in the classroom using technology in my role: Students have not been able to visit and borrow books in the conventional way during school closures, and even on their return to school due to strict bubble rules So one of the biggest challenges has been keeping them engaged with the reading Previously the library environment allowed them to be enthused by picking up books, reading the blurb, seeing displays and talking with teachers and peers Now I provide a digital technology platform where students can continue to be inspired to read by using Google Classroom, which pupils can access in school and at home The students can update their reading logs and targets; access the library catalogue, e-books and wider digital resources Crucially, it means I am also still able to deliver those all-important interactions remotely which encourage, motivate and inspire students with their reading and continue to support them in achieving their reading targets This has created an online reading environment that is collaborative and social as well as improving student learning EdTech Digital Practitioners 23 Simon Simcox Head of Geography Specialist Area: Knowledge Retrieval/Geography current job role: I am the Head of Geography, within this role I am responsible for the Geography Curriculum, managing formative and summative assessment to gauge students progress within Geography In addition to this I am a Digital Practitioner, and have focused on techniques that can be used to help students master their memory past experience: I have taught at two inner city London schools, in Walthamstow and Hackney After using a banding machine to create worksheets during teaching practice, I first starting using an Apple ICTII to produce the resources Since this point I have found that ICT plays a very important role in preparing resources, creating feedback banks, recording data, seeing trends and improve students overall progress using technology in my role: Over the past year I have developed techniques in students being able to master their memory through the use of Google Forms, Retrieval roulette and Quizlet Although a little amount of work is initially needed to create these resources, they can be used in future years and shared within the department Although these techniques are an excellent aid to student progress, they involve limited marking on the part of the teacher In relation to assessment, the department has developed the use of rubrics when setting extended assessment work, and, again after initial amount of work, they can be used on numerous occasions and be shared within departments Denbigh High School & Challney School for Girls 24 James Searle Deputy Director of Chiltern Teaching School Hub Specialist Area: Integrating digital strategies into the work of the Teaching School Hub current job role: I have recently moved into the new role of Deputy Director of the Chiltern Teaching School Hub past experience: In my previous role at Denbigh I was the Head of Business Studies & Computer Science I also worked one day a week as a Specialist Leader in Education for Computer Science I have worked in multiple trusts supporting schools with cross trust collaboration driven by the use of tech for learning This work has spanned from grass roots classroom teaching through to supporting the administration function within schools using technology in my role: using technology in my role: Over the past year I have supported schools developing strategies to roll out tech for learning in their school environments I have worked with both primary and secondary schools and appreciate there are different needs to meet at both phases As part of the EdTech Demonstrator Programme last year I worked in both my SLE capacity and as a Digital Practitioner EdTech Digital Practitioners 25 Challney High School for Girls Challney High School for Girls is a large 11-16 Secondary school in Luton In January 2020 we were delighted to become one of the first secondary schools inspected under the new Ofsted framework to be graded as Outstanding At Challney High School for Girls our vision is to ‘Develop influential women of the future’ We are committed to achieving academic excellence for our students and are committed to ensuring that they flourish personally and make a difference to the world around them locally, nationally and internationally You can find out more about the school on our website: http://www.challneygirls.luton.sch.uk/ At Challney High School For Girls we were fortunate to have a new build school in 2011 This significantly improved the availability and functionality of technology in the school Since then we have developed a well established VLE (Firefly) and more recently adopted Google Workspace across the school We feel that a blended approach to learning is most beneficial for our students with technology and traditional teaching methods working hand in hand to develop collaboration, increase engagement and to develop independent learners who are well prepared for future challenges The time saving aspect for staff is also key and developing aspects such as customised online lessons, setting tasks/homework online and using digital tools for marking, feedback and assessment has proven productive We see staff development as essential in supporting the effective use of technology and as such invest heavily in this area All our teachers are trained in the SSAT TEEP (Teacher Effectiveness Enhancement Programme) framework which includes the effective use of ICT as one of its underpinning elements Our CPD programme enables staff to share their expertise and all staff are encouraged to contribute Peer to peer support, sharing good practice and developing a culture of collaboration has undoubtedly accelerated development in this area Denbigh High School & Challney School for Girls 26 Denbigh High school Located in Luton, Bedfordshire, Denbigh High School has a strong local and national reputation as an outstanding school We have 1120 students between the ages of 11 and 16 and are a high-achieving school with an excellent track record for academic and wider achievement Driven by our core value statement, ‘high achievement for all is our shared responsibility’, we are completely committed to inspiring and supporting our students so that they seek excellence in all aspects of school life – regardless of their ability or background As a result of the implementation of a successful Technology for Learning strategy, the school has achieved both national and international recognition, with achievements over the past eight years including students presenting at the BETT Show, The Academies Show, at WE Day UK (at Wembley Arena) and on BBC World News Students have also won the BAME Microsoft Schools Award and five awards at the national Apps for Good Awards, including the School of the Year award In 2017 we introduced a Chromebook scheme which parents 'opt in' to, and we now have 1:1 devices across all year groups In 2018, 2019 and 2020 the school hosted international Technology for Learning visits from senior representatives from the Ministère de l’Education Nationale in Paris The Chartered College of Teaching recognised the school as working at the cutting edge of pedagogy by filming a range of staff speaking about their practice and showcasing lessons for the CCoT’s two online Technology for Learning courses In 2019 Denbigh was selected as an EdTech 50 school - one of the top 50 schools in the UK for effective use of technology to support and enhance learning In 2021, Denbigh’s Director of Technology for Learning was a Silver Award winner for the Digital Innovator of the Year Award as part of the Pearson National Teaching Awards Finally, UNESCO has selected the school as one of just a handful of case studies illustrating worldwide best practice in the use of mobile devices to support attainment for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds The Denbigh case study and the practice that is shared more widely across the Chiltern Learning Trust is hosted on the UNESCO website and has been showcased in a UNESCO publication which was disseminated to governments across the world EdTech Digital Practitioners 27 ... our Digital Practitioners Handbook, developed as part of the DfE's EdTech Demonstrator Programme Over the past year, we are proud of the high quality technology for learning support that our Digital. .. Digital Practitioners have been able to provide to schools across the country and we look forward to working with your school Please use this Handbook to learn more about the Digital Practitioner. .. EdTech Demonstrator Programme last year I worked in both my SLE capacity and as a Digital Practitioner EdTech Digital Practitioners 25 Challney High School for Girls Challney High School for Girls