2. Our
• Arts Specialist Technology College
School
• 1258 students (217 post 16) 134 staff (86 teaching staff)
• ‘A GOOD school with many OUTSTANDING features’
(OfSTED2011)
• Strong vision and leadership
• Hardworking and committed staff & students
• Culture of Innovation (moved to 3 Period Day & Vertical Tutoring)
• Improving Results
‘A’ LEVEL: Pass Rate 97%
GCSE: Students gaining 5 A* to C grades - 84%
3. Why a
VLE?
2010 Integrated Learning Systems and access to a
personalised online learning space (DCSF Targets)
2010 all secondary schools are expected to make
information available to parents via secure online
access (DCSF Targets)
• Society trends/shifts
• Anytime / Anywhere Learning Agenda
• Enhanced student engagement
• Whole school improvement
• Innovation - more than just a learning platform
4. 2007
Research
September June
2008
Phase
Line
Governor & Staff
2009
Consultation
February
Staff & Student
May
2009
Our Time
Design
Launch to Parents Sept 2011
Development
Design & Build
System Live for
2009
Testing
Training FROG
2009
Champions
Launch to Staff &
2010
August September January
Governors
Launch to all
April
2010
Students
5. Why did we decide on
FROG?
• Lots of choices out there
• Needed to take advice on best products
(visited trade shows and other schools)
• Link governor for ICT worked closely with us
to look at different possibilities
• FROG offered a bespoke design for our
school that supported school vision & ethos
• Dedicated designers to put our ideas into
reality
• Easy to use for staff of all levels
• Training and support help desk
6. How did we design our
Staf
VLE? f
• Ease of use
• Easy access from school or home
• More engagement in independent learning
• Streamline many admin tasks
• Help with setting of work & sharing resources
• Support staff in collaborative work/planning
• Departmental Areas to access work
• Improved links with parents
Each department trained up a FROG champion
to lead on the VLE within curriculum areas
7. How did we design our
Student
VLE?
• Access timetable/diary/calendar
• Access work, resources and home learning tasks
• Develop greater Independent Learning skills
• Remote access to specialist software
• Students engaged (improved Student Voice)
Working with the student council to design
layouts and features
8. How did we design our
Update Details
VLE?
Parental Voice
Behaviour Parenta
l
Gallery/Showcase
Messaging
Parental Trial Group
Home Learning Set Letters/Contacts
School Calendar Assessment
Subjects Track Progress
Online Reporting
9. The problem with achieving
results in the classroom
Update Details
• Students were disengaged as no new technologies and they wanted whizzy things
Parental Voice
to help them with their learning especially revision
Behaviour
• Teaching and learning was judged to be good with satisfactory elements by Ofsted
and LA reviews
• Lack of completion of home learning across the entire school so needed a new
way of engaging students at home
• No real central area for resources and lessons to be stored for students and staff
Gallery/Showcase
Messaging
to access, also parental access was not viable
• Problems in students accessing cover work if out of lesson and therefore falling
behind therefore in the long term they were not achieving their target grades
Letters/Contacts
10. Our Fix
• As previously stated we had a look at lots of options to get the VLE that was right
Update Details
for our school ~ we had lots of support in this from our link Governor who is an ICT
specialist
• When we started with Frog we involved all different stakeholders on the look and
Parental Voice
feel for the pages Behaviour
• We then ensured every Faculty had a Frog champion who was the lead person to
set up Frog
• Staff had a term to input work and home learning onto Frog before it went live to
students ~ if staff felt they were ready earlier they started to introduce it into
Gallery/Showcase time was really important as it allowed for all staff to be involved as
lessons. This Messaging
well as ensuring staff had the time to populate subject areas
• Once it was officially launched students logged on to see about home learning or
to see what was happening in different subject areas Letters/Contacts
• Students became so used to lessons appearing on there that they often
questioned why a lesson hadn’t been put on before their actual lesson to help them
further their learning
11. Our Fix
• By no means a complete solution as needed to get all staff on board especially
Update Details
those who were technophobes. We did this through drop in opportunities and for
there to be only 2 people who they could go too for help who were both non
technical
Parental Voice
• Students log on every day even on Christmas Day! This has helped to change the
Behaviour
culture of the school
• For home learning even though it was recommended to set home learning through
Frog, some staff didn’t so we were still battling against this as they felt it was 1
more job for them to do
Gallery/Showcase
• From September 2011 all parents have access to Frog to check home learning,
Messaging
behaviour points for positive and negative behaviour, all departmental areas and
attendance
• By engaging parents we are hoping to provide a cohesive community for learning
Letters/Contacts
which helps for it to be transparent
12. The benefits to the school
• Helped to engage students especially regular non attenders as it helped themDetails
Update to
catch up on missing work without staff having to make additional time
• Helped raise achievements having 24 hour access as grades rose to 80% A* - C at
GCSE and 100% A level
Parental Voice
• Students logging on late at night when they feel it is beneficial for them as no time
Behaviour
constraints
• Parental access has led to parents wanting to know more information and expect
information and data at a click of the mouse. More cohesive learning community
now.
Gallery/Showcase were worried about using ICT to access information so have run
• Some parents Messaging
classes each half term for parents to access and learn how to use Frog and
answer queries
Letters/Contacts
13. The benefits to the school
• For some parents they had never accessed the internet so more classes wereDetails
Update
developed for them to help them in every day lives also such as setting up online
bank accounts
• Also staff enjoy using Frog and how it helps their lessons and allows for
Parental Voice
differentiation Behaviour
• Lowers the costs of photocopying as students have online access to resources
• As a school we have created curriculum oversights and home learning oversights
for the whole school, which are accessible through Frog for parents, students and
cover teachers to access so can see where students should be and the areas that
Gallery/Showcase next for focus
are coming up Messaging
• Teaching and Learning now judged good with outstanding features by Ofsted in
October 2011
Letters/Contacts
14. Contacts?
Cardinal Newman Catholic
School
‘A Specialist Arts and Community College’
Sandpits Lane
Keresley
Coventry
CV62FR
Telephone: 024 76332382
Fax: 024 76335626
E-mail: admin@cardinalnewman.coventry.sch.uk
Website: www.cardinalnewman.coventry.sch.uk
