RGS Worcester Case Study

RGS Worcester

Royal Grammar School Worcester is one of the oldest schools in the world. With a motto to cherish the past and look to the future, they have boldly adopted both iPad and Mac into the heart of their digital learning programme with fantastic results. And we are proud to have served this school for over 15 years.

Apple Distinguished school

RGS is at the vanguard of delivering digital learning with Albion as their trusted technology partner. They were awarded Apple Distinguished School status in 2017 and have maintained this accreditation as a “worldwide leader” in Apple for Education, explains Albion Education manager Elliot Broadbent-Jones.

Comprising of four schools, RGS educates children from ages 2-18. Teachers at the schools have found iPad to be a “really incredible” experience at school. Furthermore it has “really improved the learning experience of our students” and saved time, explains languages teacher Julie Gidon. Mac Suites also play a key part of their digital strategy enabling students to explore and engage with their learning in different ways. For example, Mac is a crucial tool in the Modern Foreign Languages Department.

Transformational apps

iPad was the choice out of all the tablets on the market because of its “quality of apps, accessibility options and ease of use,” highlights John Jones, Head of Innovation. Furthermore, three standout Education apps embraced by RGS are Socrative, Showbie and Apple Classroom. Socrative has been an excellent app to enable educators to get immediate feedback from their students. Julie Gidon, a Languages teacher, also uses Showbie and finds that it lets her “set different tasks to different students” ensuring key areas that need to be revised are addressed to further support students.

Apple Classroom is another fantastic tool for teachers. It works like a digital assistant so educators can uniquely evaluate school work by putting students in clusters where the work set is best suited to their learning level. The app also lets teachers get an overview of how far along a child is on their assignment and see what apps they’ve used. In addition, students that produce work that is “a good example to others” can have their work shared from their iPad to the whole class via the Classroom app, explains Textiles teacher Jo Bishop. Educators are also finding Apple-made apps such as Swift Playground for coding and Garageband for music as great teaching resources to incorporate into their curriculum.

Immersive Mac labs

Mac has also been greatly instrumental for language subjects. Each Mac is paired with headsets giving students a more immersive language learning experience. Students make recordings and practise their speaking skills by pairing up with many of their classmates through a Mac video app. Creating more engaged learners who are confident to challenge themselves in language assignments and discussions. Mac is also included in the examination process as students record answers on it.

Enriching creativity

Incorporating iPad into art and design has enabled students to access the same professional software for computer-edited design as those in the creative industry. Thereby preparing students with the same digital processes as professionals. Textile teacher Jo explains that iPad has enriched subjects in the arts by adding an “extra layer to emulate.” Students “still draw and paint with materials” and iPad has greatly supported traditional teaching in the creative faculty. It is even used in drama lessons. Children are not only learning and annotating their lines on iPad which saves time and paper, they can also keep organised with their calendar and video calling tools such as Facetime, all on one device.

Supportive infrastructure

With over 1,400 students at RGS the deployment of Mac and iPad required powerful and robust IT infrastructure. Albion knew Jamf School, the leading MDM solution, was the answer. Made for Apple, Jamf School makes deploying, managing and securing Mac and iPad simpler. Combined with Apple Classroom, Jamf School empowers teachers to instantly restrict websites, apps and cameras for greater safety. This added tech support has given teachers, parents and children confidence that their EdTech is even more protected and efficiently managed. Additionally, we have built a custom purchase portal for parents to ease deployment and reduce school administration.

iPad and Mac are embedded and in ubiquitous use throughout the school. We are so proud of the accomplishments of Royal Grammar School Worcester and delighted they are so open and passionate about sharing best practice. We look forward to working with their staff and giving their massively inspiring students a voice in years ahead as guest speakers at headline education events such as the BETT show. We know RGS will continue to go from strength to strength and we will be supporting their Digital Learning Programme needs every step of the way.

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