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A SOUTH LEE EDUCATION

From our youngest children in the Nursery to our Year 8 children in the Prep School, each pupil has the opportunity to experience something really special; a top class education, whilst still enjoying a childhood filled with curiosity, creativity and exploration.  

 

South Lee teachers share the school’s values and ethos and are dedicated to helping our pupils to be their very best selves. Teaching is a vocation, and our highly skilled teachers are passionate about their subjects and set a curriculum that is challenging and diverse.  

 

The school takes full advantage of all that is on offer in the local area, including the famous

St Edmundsbury Cathedral, Nowton Park and the Suffolk countryside and coast.

As an independent school, we are not bound by the constraints of the National Curriculum, so our curriculum is designed to be broad, challenging and fun. Specialist teachers in academic subjects, the Creative Arts and Sport, ensure the teaching is of a high quality, delivered by staff who are up to date with the latest innovations and developments in their area.   We have an excellent Individual Development Department providing support to any of our pupils who might benefit from additional help. This is tailored to the individual child.

South Lee School's Digitally Enhanced Learning Programme (DEL) uses technology as an integral part of the learning journey for children, preparing them for senior schools and life in the new, fast-paced, globally connected world.

Specialised teaching staff implement the programme throughout the school and encourage children to use technology in a creative way whilst pushing the boundaries of their thinking and learning.

 

The programme runs from Reception all the way through to Year 8. Children explore Computational Thinking, Digital Literacy and Online Safety, all whilst gaining important skills in coding, using word processors, spreadsheets etc.

The key word throughout the programme is 'enhanced' - our vision for technology is centred around the question of 'how can we use technology to enhance a child's learning?', rather than just as a tool or the latest new device.

The ways in which we do this constantly evolve as we research the latest innovations, develop pupil and staff skills and as technology in the classroom advances. The Digitally Enhanced Learning Programme includes:

Blended or Flipped Learning: This uses both online learning and in classroom learning together. This may be using pre-learning as homework before a lesson, watching videos to explain modelling techniques, or as a research tool.

Creativity: This is a method of enabling children to record and share their thoughts and ideas at a level well above their own literacy skills, either for their age or for their individual ability, through voice and video recording, creating storybooks etc.

Digital Simulations & Models: In traditional learning it can be difficult for children to grasp certain concepts in the boundaries of a physical classroom. Teachers are able to prepare lessons in a more strategic way, using different types of text, activity models and interactive controls for the children.

Improved Communication: Using online collaboration tools, teachers can assign projects in real time and pupils are able to collaborate with each other, the teacher, or other people either in the traditional classroom or the virtual classroom. An example of this, is when our children were taught by the Chinese teachers from Goldsmith's University on our Chinese Culture and Language3 Enrichment Day in real time.

Adaptive Learning: With teachers setting the challenge level, the technology is able to automatically adjust the difficulty levels according to the child's answers.

Advanced Research for Pupils: The advanced technology saves time and allows a lot more information and knowledge to be incorporated into the pupils' projects. The acquisition of different solutions and results from all over the world is now at their fingertips. Developing pupils' skills in how to sift their way through this myriad of information and evaluated the validity are all part of our study skills programme.

 

Assessments & Feedback: Software allows teachers to assess pupils in real time which allows them to pinpoint exactly what areas a particular child finds easy or struggles with, leading to individually tailored learning. Teachers use pupils' work more interactively to provide feedback in real time through sharing their work with the whole class as exemplars, developing their skills in peer and self-assessment, enabling them a better understanding of their own steps to success.

 

Self-Paced Learning: As pupils now have access to what they have been taught, they are able to check up on anything not understood. If a child is unable to be at school, they still have access to the remote classroom.

Fun: Using technology is fun and engages pupils, with research showing that a lot of the tasks help children to improve their retention of new concepts.

Online Group Collaboration: Collaboration is a key skill in education and technology allows pupils to discuss and share documents and notes on group projects.

STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Maths): Technology encourages problem solving, creativity and innovation. With our specialist teaching staff, we are able to constantly develop cross curricular links and work on different projects with industry experts.

Tech Agents: We have a group of pupils who lead on technology and troubleshooting with their peers called the Tech Agents.

DIGITALLY ENHANCED LEARNING

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