St Barnabas Case Study

St Barnabas School

St Barnabas C.E. First and Middle is a forward thinking school with a community striving to achieve the very best outcomes for their children. Since 2013, with the help of Albion, they have embedded iPad into their curriculum and have gone 1:1 across years 2-7. All this has been made possible with Albion’s Community iPad Scheme, which has made over 85% of the devices cost-neutral to the school.

Community iPad scheme

The Albion Community iPad Scheme is about the school, parents and Albion all coming together to support the children. We have helped bring an iPad to every child at St Barnabas by involving the parents and asking them to make a contribution which may be an “upfront or monthly donation,” explains Albion Apple Professional Learning Specialist John Holder.

Cost neutral for schools, the Albion Community iPad Scheme encompasses all the key elements required to make an iPad deployment successful. We bring together elements such as strategic planning, technical support and teacher training, as well as administrative and financial assistance into one solution.

For over eight years Albion have been providing technical support and assistance to St Barnabas at a level that is “absolutely fantastic,” says Headteacher Stephen Booth. This has also resulted in a “real impact on learning in and out of school, along with increased engagement with pupils and families,” he explains.

Inclusive learning

iPad is an adaptable tool for all students and adjusts to their learning styles. For example, intricate science experiments can be captured on video and played in slo-mo to ensure students can observe reactions and simulations easily. The versatility of iPad enables students to slide back and forth between assignment tasks and learning materials with ease and encourages greater independent learning.

“A whole new world” has opened up for pupils, explains Louise Grimstead, a teacher at the school. And she has noticed her students have become “hugely creative.” With learning made even more fun and engaging through music and video apps.

A student in Year 7 shares that she can have classroom powerpoints up close on her iPad and read assigned books on the device and adjust the text size to support her vision needs. Adjustable text size functions are one of many built-in accessibility features on iPad that support learners. Additionally, the write to text function helps children have their handwriting on iPad converted into text. This has been very helpful for students who have difficulty reading and writing.

Partnering with Albion has ensured a truly inclusive scheme. It’s given schools greater flexibility as schemes can typically run from 12 months to 36 months. This enables schools like St Barnabas to effectively “provision the right tools for teaching and learning,” says, John Holder.

Skills for the future

A parent at the school, Sarah Speers says she would “definitely recommend the scheme to other parents” as the benefits the children have had is “great and gives them skills for the future.” St Barnabas has seen an uptake of 85% of parents donating to the Community iPad scheme.

Albion also provides a wide range of teacher training from Continuing Professional Development events, one-to-one support from our Apple Professional Learning specialists and online resources.

iPad has given every child the best start to their education by cultivating curiosity, and inspiring a love for learning. Parents are noticing their children’s growing confidence in their use of technology and how much more independent they are becoming. With the support of our Apple Professional Learning Specialists St Barnabas is now one of the leading Apple Regional training centres and is a shining example of what’s possible with iPad in Education.

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