by Georgina Dean, Director of Digital Strategy

Digital skills have become such an embedded part of our day to day lives since the pandemic started, and what a brilliant source of celebration it’s been; truly, it has been awe-inspiring to watch as pupils demonstrate agility and confidence across the curriculum. Pupils are easily navigating their digital resources during lessons, using their devices, and continuing to take risks to learn to use new tools as they develop their learning strategies daily. It was such a pleasure to join a year 5 maths lesson this week, where pupils were accessing their learning about decimals through Google Classroom and demonstrating their critical thinking in their workbooks. It’s been a delight hearing from so many pupil voices across the prep school, and understanding how and when they like to learn while using technology in meaningful ways. This year 5-6 pupil focus group celebrated their favorite learning moments on a Google Jamboard, during an end-of-day activity in the Library.

Not only have pupils embraced blended learning courageously and with excitement, but they have also been very supportive towards Felsted’s approach to hyflex learning this term. It hasn’t necessarily been possible for all pupils to join in-person at times, yet teachers and pupils continue to go above and beyond to provide high quality learning experiences for those joining remotely. In some instances where pupils may be joining remotely during a live lesson, teachers have been able to balance lesson instruction with collaborative activities; for example, here is a remote learner who has been partnered with another pupil in the classroom to support a speaking activity during a Year 7 Spanish lesson. It’s been so rewarding to celebrate how pupils in different physical and digital spaces have been able to successfully work together to support each other across their learning journeys. 

I look forward to working with pupils and teachers in the coming weeks and months as we continue to build our educational technology skills in creative and innovative ways across the curriculum.