Published 29 February 2012

Harnessing ICT across the curriculum at Langley Hall Primary Academy. One of the country's first Free Schools

Watch our video and hear from Sally Eaton - Lead Proposer, Jane Sculpher -Head of School, Ziggi - Head of ICT and the pupils of Langley Hall Primary Academy.

Find out in the video below...

why the school was set up...
the school's vision for technology...
why they chose RM Education and what the pupils think of their ICT...
Plus top tips to consider when setting up a Free School.

About the school

One of the country's first 24 Free Schools to open in September 2011, Langley Hall Primary Academy is a state school for boys and girls aged from 4 to 12. It was set up by husband and wife team, Chris and Sally Eaton.

The School's motto, "Ad Vitam Paramus" means "We are preparing for life". All school activities are planned and carried out with this in mind. The school believes that being prepared for life means children have certain skills and qualities.

The school currently has 182 pupils. At capacity in September 2012 it will have 364 pupils.

I can really see the benefits of using IT .... We wanted to put in IT infrastructure that would really benefit the children's teaching and learning.

– Sally Eaton, Lead Proposer, Director of Education, Langley Hall Primary Academy

The solution

The school's aim for ICT is for it to be integrated into the children's day and for it to be a natural part in the way the pupils use any resources throughout the school. There were several key elements to the design, which were delivered with our partners Microsoft, Citrix and Apple.

A teacher toolkit. A teacher laptop and Promethean multitouchboard (or Vertable) are complimented by flexible tools such a visualisers and voting systems. These Multi Functional Devices were designed to reduce print costs.
Voice over IP telephony was installed into each room.
A suite of exciting curriculum software including cloud delivered services.
Exciting whole school resources including the IP radio station, film studio with green screen technology and music technology including Yamaha keyboards.
The Microlibrian library system accessible from any local network computer.
One Lan digital signage to help keep parents and the school community up to date.
CC4 Anywhere powered by Citrix to provide remote access to the network for staff.
An eSafety solution to help keep children safe online
Working closely with the builders, we deployed a HP Procurve backbone and Juniper managed wireless to ensure a solid foundation for the network and telephony services.
A range of devices suitable for education, including rugged RM Mobile Ones with wireless charging.
Full ICT Project Management make this vision a reality, alongside technical and curriculum staff training with ongoing technical support - including onsite time from a local member of our Affiliated Technician Support Scheme.

We love the film and radio studio and that's where we see the biggest potential in terms of engaging boys - making sure that they are fully excited and motivated about their learning...

– Sally Eaton, Director of Education

I would have no hesitation in recommending RM to other Free Schools or other schools that are looking to set up technology...

– Jane Sculpher, Head of School

The RM REAL Centre and the BETT exhibition provided great inspiration and an excellent opportunity for us to see and try a wide range of technology resources out for ourselves.