Read how Foulds School has implemented Chromebooks
Background
Foulds School is an Ofsted Outstanding Primary School situated in High Barnet, Hertfordshire. The school was built in 1910 and holds a lot of local history – for example, during the war there was a bomb shelter built in the Junior playground that today is used as a craft room. In 2010 Foulds celebrated its Centenary, and in 2011 a new wing was officially opened, replacing the old Reception classrooms and small hall with a purpose-built Early Years unit, consisting of two classrooms, space for the playgroup, and a music room. Foulds has received the ICT Mark twice for its use of technology to support teaching, learning and school administration.
Byng Road, Barnet, Hertfordshire
Number of Students: 316
Product Type: Carrier 20 Cart
Device Type: Chromebooks
Mrs Browett, Head Teacher
Challenge
The school recognised the benefit of tablets whilst working with Bristol University on a project using iPads to identify QR codes and support learning. After signing up to Google Apps for Education, they made the decision to introduce Chromebooks into lessons. Mrs Browett, Head Teach and previous Head of ICT, says: “We were planning on upgrading our existing server and laptops, but on further investigation, we chose to invest in around 20 Chromebooks. Compared to iPads, Chromebooks are a very cost-effective way of addressing our school’s ICT needs. They are web-based and overall, very reliable.
“Our school building is old and the infrastructure poses problems for us in terms of ICT. We were pleased with how the Chromebooks were supporting teaching and learning but we were struggling with storing and charging them. We decided on the most secure classroom in the school and each night, would lock the Chromebooks away in that classroom. This wasn’t the ideal solution for safety and we spent a lot of time making sure each device was accounted for at the end of each day. To charge our devices we were using various classrooms with trailing extension cables, which again weren’t ideal.”
Solution
The school was recommended a LocknCharge Carrier 20 Cart by one of its Governors. “We were won over by the fact it has one central plug and by the fact it is so secure. It was the best option for us,” says Mrs Browett.
Foulds School has had its LocknCharge Carrier 20 Cart for less than six months, but it is already seeing its benefits.
Mrs Browett continues: “Security is the key benefit for us. It is now much easier to know where everything is. Because of the age of the school building, our infrastructure cannot handle too many devices during the day. The school’s site manager therefore has the responsibility of making sure the carrier is plugged in every night.
“The baskets help teachers distribute the devices. Each time a teacher uses Chromebooks in his or her class, they will remove the baskets from the carrier and place on desks for children to help themselves. We encourage children to take ownership of their own devices, so the Chromebooks are tidied away into the baskets by the children, and then the baskets are placed back into the Carrier 20 cart by the teacher.
“The carrier looks fabulous and appears to be very robust. The charging cart is very well set up – I like the fact that cables are all tucked away, meaning no tangled cables and no mess. The customer service and support has also been brilliant.”
Looking forward
At Foulds, ICT has truly transformed teaching. As well as Chromebooks, Foulds’ pupils benefit from cloud storage, shared access to documents and their own individual student log-ins. Mrs Browett concludes: “We believe that as a school, we are leading the way in ICT. Budget permitting, we would like to invest in more Chromebooks in the future. We see our investment in the LocknCharge Carrier 20 Cart as a way forward when considering further investments in ICT.”
