The Trust has updated its technology by providing 1,600 Apple iPads to students and staff across its five schools. The iPads have been distributed to Year 6 and Year 10 to Year 13 students, while 250 staff members have also received the new devices.

PKAT IT Services, which manages the Trust's IT infrastructure and schools across the UK, has been working on this initiative for several months. The project aims to support one-to-one learning and improve teaching efficiency.

Dr Ian Young, CEO of Peterborough Keys Academies Trust said: “In continuing our significant investment in 1:1 devices for students, our aim is to enhance their learning experience and assist them in being organised in their independent study. In doing this we are also conscious of the amount of 'screen time' that our children and young people have in their lives. Equally, we do not want the technology used when it is not needed or appropriate. As such, our teachers plan very carefully how the devices are implemented, with the appropriate safeguards in place. With the increasing pace of artificial intelligence development, we are clear that we want PKAT schools to be ahead of the curve in harnessing that power and opportunity.”

Mr Jordan Smithson, PKAT Trust IT Services Manager said: “We have learnt a considerable amount from our pilot version of the project which has operated through the trust for the past three years. With the relaunch of iLearn we aim to further empower teaching and learning by blending technology further into our curriculum to boost pupil engagement and outcomes. The project has taken countless hours of research and development prior to even getting the devices on site. With key investments in trust infrastructure, consultations with other academies and working closely with the Apple Education team, I believe that the impact 1:1 technology can have in education is amazing and we needed to ensure that we created the best foundations to move forward on in the future.”

He added: “We have had a huge group of staff work on the project from planning to delivery and if it wasn’t for the huge efforts of staff across the PKAT schools the project wouldn’t have been able to continue at its current scale.”

The iPads are fully locked down so that they are compliant with the Department for Education Digital Standards and Keep Children Safe In Education.

PKAT IT Services has worked closely developing stronger partnerships with key system providers to further enhance our trust safeguarding with the iPads being taken home by pupils for independent home learning.

PKAT has invested heavily with their partners at Apple to ensure that the best range of staff training can be made available throughout the deployment of the project but also throughout the term of the project moving forward.

 

Mr Smithson said: “With the deployment of further 1:1 technology and with the increased use of the Microsoft platform for learning, the Trust is hopeful that this will take us another step forward to reducing paper usage across the schools increasing our sustainability and reducing costs which can then be used to fund other Trust projects.”

 

Eve Billitt, a PKAT Digital Champion and Curriculum Area Leader for History said: “The iLearn Project has three core aims: purposeful learning, effective feedback and managing staff workload. Over the duration of the iLearn Project I have seen my teaching and that of my department strengthened to ascertain stronger outcomes for students and reduce staff workload. We have been able to more closely replicate the processes that students need to work through to achieve stronger results, provide live feedback during lessons and share with them a wealth of resources. At a time when teacher workload is a topic of conversation, the department has been able to work collaboratively to share resources and use technology to provide instant feedback. I would not want to teach without one now!”

 

GCSE students gave their feedback. Jacub said: “With books you had a specific layout, whereas now I am able to choose how to structure my notes to help me learn better.”

 

Jaden said: “The iPads allow people to access lesson that they may have missed or not quite understood to help them keep up” and Liba said: “We are able to access loads of different resources and look at class notes made together. It has everything organised, so it is simple to use.”