Schools around the UK and Ireland are celebrating after being confirmed as winners in the latest Classroom Stories competition. With installations well underway for the new term, these successful schools are starting to explore how their ActivPanel prizes can transform teaching and learning.
The Classroom Stories competition gives schools, teachers, and ICT managers the opportunity to share their most inspiring education stories to be in with a chance of winning. The winning schools all receive a state-of-the-art ActivPanel package, complete with training and support to seamlessly integrate the new technology into their teaching.
The competition purposefully champions the voices of educators and students and gives them the opportunity to showcase their creativity – and that they did! Guest judges Andrew Murden, Vice Chair at Naace, and Jonathan Swift, Editor of Education Today looked for entries which displayed the most passion, innovation and imagination. Also on the judging panel, Jim Wallis, Head of UKI Market at Promethean, explained why he is so excited to see Classroom Stories winners receive their prizes this year, he said:
“All the schools were extremely deserving winners, and we cannot wait to see how the teachers and students use their new ActivPanels. The Classroom Stories competition gives us the opportunity to celebrate creativity in the classroom and recognise the positivity and inspiration that comes from education. Congratulations to all the teachers and pupils involved, they should be very proud!”
A variety of thought processes inspired this year’s submissions, from student fundraisers to classroom mascots, there have been some heart-warming and exciting video entries which highlighted the value of education.
When the winners were announced, the successful schools were very pleased to hear the good news, including Mr Lenge at St Nicholas’ CE Primary. Working closely with Year 6 pupils, Mr Lenge created a short video which highlighted the current lack of technological facilities in their classrooms, and how the school’s approach to education could greatly benefit from an interactive display upgrade.
Explaining the class’ thinking behind their submission, Mr Lenge said: “We have many facilities available to pupils to benefit their learning but keeping up to date with technology is more crucial than ever in the modern world.”
Another of this year’s winners, Morpeth Primary School, used their video to showcase the benefits of utilising classroom technology, sharing how they recorded instructional videos during lockdown – a tool which they still use now. This forward-thinking teaching method was introduced by Maths teacher Mr Bicen, who Deputy IT Manager Mr Qureshi heavily praised for his approach:
“Mr Bicen has a really engaging way of teaching which pupils respond well to. The screen recordings offer an easily accessible reference for learning through Mr Bicen’s successful YouTube channel, Bicen Maths. ”
Mr Qureshi didn’t hold back his excitement over the win and what it means for learning going forward, he said: “Moving from whiteboards to interactive screens is a huge step up as we really struggled with projectors. We know that the ActivPanel will be more suited to our needs and offer more resources for learning. We are over the moon to win the competition as we really didn’t think we would! We have always had a big emphasis on technology within the school to develop our learning facilities, so the ActivPanel will be hugely beneficial for both the pupils and staff.”
A huge thank you to everyone who entered this year’s Classroom Stories competition and a tremendous congratulations to all the winners.
While that might be a wrap for this year, make sure you’re following @PrometheanUKI to stay updated and keep your eyes peeled for news of any future competitions!