After a digital journey that has seen the school undergo a technological transformation since the days of the Covid pandemic, Colfe’s is delighted to announce it has been awarded Showcase School Status.
The prestigious Microsoft Showcase School status is awarded to schools that have “embraced technology as a catalyst for positive change, weaving it into the fabric of their educational programs to enhance student engagement, collaboration, and achievement” [Microsoft Showcase Schools programme]. Becoming a Showcase School means Colfe’s will join a community of educational leaders leading the way in technological innovation.
The integration of digital technology into the school has seen a progression from the early introduction of digital training for teaching staff to fully embedding digital tools into their everyday teaching.
The introduction of digital devices for pupils began in 2021, initially for pupils starting Year 7 and Year 12, before rolling-out across the whole school the following year. This approach has meant digital literacy skills have become integrated into all lessons, improving collaboration, communication and helping reinforce best practice in teaching and learning. Across the full academic spectrum of the school, OneNote is now the primary platform for pupils’ online work, with Teams and OneNote synching with the school’s management information system to allow streamlined digital communication.
Ensuring digital wellbeing and online safety is a priority for the school; along with robust monitoring and filtering, rigorous policies, regular training for pupils and provision of information for parents on online safety, the school even has a group of pupil “ethical hackers” who work with the Safeguarding and IT teams to seek out threats to network security.
The award to Colfe’s as a Showcase School follows the recent ISI inspection (October 2023), which also recognised the deployment and impact of technology within the school and curriculum areas, benefitting pupils while at school and preparing them for life beyond it.
Justin Worley and Caroline Beale, Showcase School Leads, said: “After years of careful planning, implementation, and demonstrating the impact of integrating IT into our school, we are thrilled that our efforts have been recognised by Microsoft. We are proud to hold the coveted title of ‘Showcase School,’ reflecting how both pupils and staff effectively use technology to enhance and enrich learning.”
