Learning and Teaching at Freemen's

Learning, Teaching and Innovation at Freemen's

Brewer, 2002

“I hope the world is a better place because we teachers make a difference to our students; after all, that is what teaching is all about.”

Learning and teaching at Freemen's

What will your child experience in the classroom?

Teachers at Freemen’s deliver high quality, stimulating and dynamic lessons, in which all students are supported and challenged to make good progress in their learning. Staff at Freemen’s do this by having a passion for their subject, making it interesting and lively and, very importantly, building positive relationships with their students.

Learning at Freemen’s is exciting, full of opportunities for independence, achievement and enjoyment. We have a strong focus on ensuring every student under our care receives the best educational experiences possible, which not only leads to fantastic results, but so that the students leave with the skills that will allow them to succeed in the dynamic modern world.

How do we do this?

“Great teaching is defined as that which leads to improved student progress” Coe, Aloisi, Higgins, Major, 2014.

Teaching staff have a deep knowledge of the subjects they teach, which enables them to be aware of how students may interpret new information, so they can address common misconceptions. Strong subject knowledge is coupled with

excellent quality of instruction, through effective use of questioning and feedback as a formative method of identifying student progress. Teachers set high expectations, promote challenge, and constantly demand more from the students, valuing effort, resilience and grit. The classroom environment created by our teachers is a crucial element to student engagement in the learning process and at Freemen’s, this is a collaborative environment, putting the student at the heart of every lesson (Sutton Trust, 2014).

6 classroom principles for excellent learning and teaching

In order to deliver excellent learning and teaching experiences, we follow the Freemen’s 6. To achieve this, we have created a common language that is easy to interpret for both teaching staff and students – we call these our ‘six principles for excellent classroom practice’. These principles feature in every lesson, every day, in every classroom, irrespective of subject, age or ability range. We believe that when the six principles are implemented, your child will learn well, have high aspirations of what they can achieve and in doing so develop into confident and resilient learners.

“All our survey respondents either strongly agree or agree that the COVID-19 pandemic has meant technology is now more crucial than ever to the delivery of education across the UK. EdTech is not a silver bullet. In the 21st century, it should be seen as an inseparable thread woven throughout the processes of teaching and learning. It’s senseless to pretend it isn’t something that every teacher and every learner uses, every day. What we should concentrate on is when and in which ways it is best deployed to support these processes”

Dominic

Norrish, Group Director of Technology, United Learning Trust

Digital innovation at Freemen's

Our vision is for your child to become a discerning user of technology, by creating opportunities for our students to become digitally dextrous. The dynamic modern world is one that requires students to perform at a level that will allow them to thrive in the face of technology, using a variety of hardware and software.

What will your child experience?

We will prepare your child by providing them with enriching experiences, that exposes them to technology in the classroom early on in their education, through our ‘hands-on’ digital curriculum.

“Technology undoubtedly plays a crucial role in today’s education sector. As digital becomes ever more pervasive in our everyday lives, the drive to ensure that our young people are provided with the skills and knowledge necessary for the increasingly digitally dependent outside world grows.” iGov Survey Report: Realising the Future Potential of the Digital Classroom

1-1 programme

Throughout 1-1 programme (Upper 2 to Upper 6) we aim to ensure that:

• Learning is mobile – anywhere, anytime.

• We are connecting people – pupils, parents and staff.

• We continue to improve access to information and productivity –connectivity across the school, saving time and creating efficiency.

• We create independent learners –promote resilience, curiosity and creativity.

• Students engage with technology –technology for learning.

• All children are trained to use technology – we give students and staff the training to become discerning users of IT.

To ensure we become successful, students will be provided with the:

Skills

• Students and staff will be given the skills required to use a range of software tools that allow learning and teaching to thrive in the classroom.

Experience

• Students and staff will use a range of hardware and software, enabling students to become discerning users of IT, whilst staff have the confidence to deliver lessons using a variety of tools.

Responsibility

• We provide students with the experience and skills to use digital tools effectively and safely.

How will your child use technology at Freemen's?

Implementation

1-1 Devices

• In years Upper 2 to Upper 5, pupils are provided with an iPad to support their learning. This is a tool for learning and is not designed to replace our normal way of working. All iPads are controlled via our MDM system which filters internet, restricts access and keeps students safe online. We have our own bespoke app store to ensure all resources on the iPad are pupil appropriate. In the Sixth Form the use is exactly the same, although students follow a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) model.

Learning Spaces

• Around the school, we believe that every classroom creates the possibility for fantastic learning. This could take the form of becoming immersed in an application, a piece of software or by working collaboratively with peers. We have specialist learning spaces in the form of bespoke STEM rooms in the Junior School and in Main House – our state of the art sixth from learning centre – that includes collaboration spaces, project rooms and Harkness spaces.

Office 365

• Office 365 is our Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). All staff and students have access to the full suite of software. Simply, it is the hub of all digital resources, files and teaching materials. These include OneDrive, Teams, SharePoint and OneNote.

Our digital curriculum

What will your child receive in the future?

We cannot afford to stand still. Technology is growing faster and developing at a quicker speed than ever before. We are mindful of this and are always seeking ways to stay at the fore front of digital developments. Some of our work will involve exploring the following:

• Freemen’s Global Already, Freemen’s educates students far beyond our Ashtead site through Freemen’s Global. We do this using our immersive teaching suites, in partnership with X20, to provide the highest level of immersive and interactive remote teaching and learning, bringing children from around the world into one, Freemen’s classroom.

"Teachers are central to the effective use of education technology. At the Chartered College of Teaching we believe technology must be driven by the needs of the classroom and not the other way around. We want our teachers to have the resources and expertise to use technology effectively and be able to draw on the best available research evidence. We are pleased to be working with the Government on this important work and to foster greater collaboration.”

Dame

Alison Peacock CEO of Chartered College of Teaching

• Flipped learning Flipped learning places students as active participants in their own learning. First, when students have access to direct instruction at home, whether through video or text, they can review the concept multiple times at their own pace. Secondly, when class time is spent having students apply, analyse, evaluate, and create, the teacher can observe, informally assess, and scaffold as needed. Finally, one of the greatest benefits of flipped learning is increased student engagement.

• Virtual reality

We are one of ten schools worldwide involved in a pilot project seeking to discover whether or not learning within virtual reality makes a difference to academic outcomes. The product known as Kabuni, creates a magical Metaverse, where a world of learning transporting a child into a safe immersive experience, through which they retain more of what they are taught, learn faster and enjoy healthy mental wellness.

• Augmented reality

The AR experience is thriving as a significant trend, and it is estimated that by 2023 there will be 2.4 billion Augmented Reality mobile users worldwide. However, there were only 200 million users in 2015. It is an excellent influx in numbers that can't be ignored. AR can change the way we interact with mobile apps and other visual graphic experiences. It is capable of augmenting computer-generated graphics into the real environment on screen. If you move your mobile camera to a specific space, AR enables you to see a computer-generated object on your screen. It happens in real time while you view it from your camera. This technique can enable students to learn in a more interactive environment.

Our digital curriculum

Wireless

Freemen’s has invested heavily in technology and its digital infrastructure to become state-of-the-art and pioneering, while also maintaining a flexible approach to teaching and learning. Our site has over 200 wireless access points for WiFi coverage, all being supplied by our 1GB line (which will soon be upgraded to 10GB). All our web content is filtered by the very advanced Smoothwall filtering system, while our devices are protected with the leading Sophos Endpoint Management software, all working alongside the Microsoft Defender service. Combined, this ensures our devices and systems are very well protected against harmful intent and that safeguarding policies are fully compliant. Our 1-to-1 iPads are managed through the JamF Pro Mobile Device Management cloud server, allowing us to fully manage the iPads with ease, swiftness, and form anywhere in the world. This is also made possible by our Apple School Manager, which looks after all aspects of our Apple devices such as enrolment, apps, Apple Classroom, and all our managed AppleIDs.

Hardware

All students and staff have access to iPads, with most students, and all teaching staff,

now having an iPad as a 1-to-1 device as part of their learning tools. Our Sixth Formers, meanwhile, follow a Bring Your Own Device policy, allowing them to utilise the best tool for their chosen subjects. Despite this shift to 1-to-1 devices, we continue to provide dedicated computing suites with both Windows-based and MacOS devices, along with bookable laptops.Our Senior school classrooms are equipped with large 4K UHD interactive LCD screens with built-in Apple Airplay allowing for wireless casting, while our Sixth Form Centre has the latest mobile interactive screens to help provide a flexible environment, in conjunction with three Microsoft Teams meeting rooms for interviews, events and remote teaching. Our Junior school classrooms are all equipped with HD projectors and AppleTVs, and is also home to our STEM room, which is an exciting and vibrant atmosphere for our Junior IT lessons, complete with Sphero droids and interactive screens.

Software

All our students have the highest level A5 Microsoft education licensed account, which allows them to fully utilise both the Online Microsoft365 service and install the desktop Office Suite on up to five different devices of their own choosing. This also provides them with personal cloud storage with OneDrive, while also

How will we ensure that we have the right infrastructure in place?

Our digital curriculum

being able to access the school intranet using SharePoint. Microsoft Teams fulfils our Virtual Learning Environment, with each Key Stage 2 class and individual subject classes from Key Stage 3 onwards having its own Teams group allowing for assignments to be set, resources shared and communication to be simple, easy, and effective.

How do we keep your child safe online?

1. Smoothwall – an open source firewall which filters web content and alerts School to any potentially concerning searches by students. One to one conversations will be had with students to ascertain the reason for searches and to discuss them depending on the result.

2. Online Safety Education – students learn about digital safety via PSHE, discussions in Tutor Time, External Speaker Programme (such as the Police, Beyond Equality, The Rap Project). The topic is closely tailored to each year group to ensure it is suitable.

3. Online Safety Newsletter – a monthly Online Safety Newsletter is sent via the School Newsletter which covers a range of pertinent issues.

4. CEOP Ambassador – a member of staff is a CEOP Ambassador and they

lead School training on information and advice for online safety matters.

5. Student Taskforce – students across the School will have the opportunity to discuss what dangers they might face online. This will give the Online Safety Coordinator, the chance to develop the School’s Online Safety Programme.

What can you do to keep your child safe online?

1. Ensure you have appropriate settings and filters on networks at home and age appropriate websites/apps .

2. Have open and non-judgemental conversations at home about what your child(ren) is/are accessing online.

3. Educate yourself! Young people generally know far more about the internet than adults, so it is essential we are as knowledgeable as possible. A range of resources are available from a number of organisations, such as:

NSPCC, UK Safer Internet Centre, Internet Matters, ThinkuKnow

4. Inform us of anything you are concerned about regarding your child’s online safety.

5. Attend talks/workshops which are arrnaged by the School.