Technology and Bring Your Own Device

At Sutton High School, we want our girls to be real world ready. Our Bring Your Own Device to School scheme ensures that all girls are able to access technology to enhance their learning.

We are living in a world where digital competency in their life beyond school, for which we want to prepare our girls as fully as possible, is becoming increasingly important. In the world of work, digital literacy, alongside the practical understanding of common applications, is crucial. Digital literacy can be taught, developed and nurtured. Alongside teaching our girls to become confident, creative and independent learners, having access to digital technology empowers them to actively seek out ways to extend their learning, find answers to their questions and collaborate with their peers.

In our Prep School, pupils have access to a one-to-one iPad, from Year 4 upwards and use our well-equipped Discovery Zone in the younger years. When they enter our Senior School, the aim is to ensure that all girls are equipped with the technology they need to support their work and enhance their experience of school and the world beyond it, when and wherever it is helpful.

We have three Computing Laboratories for Computer Science lessons, as well as our flexible Learning Resources Centre, based in the School Library, in which girls can access both fixed PCs and iPads.

All lesson materials and homework, across the 3-18 age range, is available to pupils via Microsoft Teams, so that as well as reducing paper waste, girls can re-cap lessons at their own pace, take ownership of their deadlines and catch-up in the case of an absence.

We ask that every student in our Senior School brings her own laptop to school every day. This provides flexibility and versatility in our approach to the use of technology in lessons. Dynamic and responsive to the needs of the class, the teacher can respond and differentiate, knowing that girls can simply lift the lid open of a laptop, use it for the part of the lesson where it is required, and then continue with agile and inspirational learning.

We take enormous pride in high quality teaching at Sutton High School and we use digital learning to enhance lessons, rather than to provide sole focus. Traditional learning methods (‘pen and paper’) are vital, especially as girls still write their examinations by hand, but BYOD allows teachers and girls to use the right tool at the right time. Technology does not create an excellent lesson, nor should it dominate learning, but research demonstrates that it has the potential to heighten the key areas of:

•  Collaboration
•  Research
•  Fact-checking
•  Extending beyond the curriculum
•  Engagement and gamification

For more information, please take a look at the information below:

Bring Your Own Device to School Booklet