Broadclyst Community Primary School (BCPS), rated Outstanding by Ofsted, was founded in 1810 to serve the children of the local community in Broadclyst, Exeter. Still a community school, now with its own 40-place nursery, it has developed a local, national and international reputation for its innovative use of IT and digital media. It is part of the Cornerstone Academy Trust, a multi-academy trust that provides 21st century education across two schools as well as professional teacher training through the Cornerstone Teaching School.

The ethos of BCPS is to use the technology alongside excellent teaching to provide an outstanding education, packed with opportunity. They passionately believe that, "Digital tools are going to be a critical part of your child’s future." With this in mind, as one of our Microsoft Showcase Schools, Broadclyst is dedicated to using technology to enhance the education of the students, with the Surface Pro 4 central to this mission. Instead of a white board and marker pen style lesson, class content can now be combined in the form of videos, clips, projecting content on a large screen for all to see, or embedding in a OneNote for children to watch as homework.

Jonathan Bishop, Headteacher at Broadclyst, states that, "Technology is a critical tool at Broadclyst that probably underpins everything."

To see how teachers and students at Broadclyst are achieving anytime, anywhere learning and greater collaboration, view the video below:

Broadclyst pupils proclaim, “We use our surfaces to go on OneNote and see what the teachers have set us.”

Gone are the days now where homework can be lost or forgotten; children can now access everything digitally, with teachers now being able to see who has viewed the work and who hasn’t. The ability to type, use the pen to create digital ink and the benefit of a touch screen are just a few of the features designed to make the experience in a classroom run smoother, but also more enjoyable.

Matthew Pitts Year 6 teacher at Broadclyst says, “Surface Pro 4 and OneNote together have given us the ability to change what used to be a really traditional standard type of lesson.”

The introduction of the devices into this lower school has been instrumental, with the versatility of the product allowing teachers to target different learners with different styles in alternative ways. Although it may not be constantly visible, technology is at the heart of everything achieved in the school. The range of ways a Surface Pro can be used are endless, varying from empowering students to be able to collaborate on a OneNote via the touchscreen and seeing the work they’ve been set. Whether they’ll be working solo or in a group, taking the surface off using it as a tablet to take outside and record gymnastics or using the touchscreen to complete a project. The possibilities to increasing productivity are endless.

Transforming the tablet into a computer and vice versa allows both teachers and children to work from home efficiently, producing multi-media lessons in OneNote, projecting them easily and wirelessly in the classroom from anywhere. The wireless projection feature is extremely powerful; being able to move around the classroom whilst making notes on a shared OneNote document which the children can view instantly and at any time, a complete upgrade of what used to be standing at the front of the classroom and writing on a board.

A closing statement from Headteacher at Broadclyst states, “It’s the flexibility of that tool that the children have found really empowering and powerful, that they can't actually imagine being at a school now without a surface."

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