Digital education at Boughton Heath Academy
Boughton Heath Academy is a Primary School located in Chester with an enrollment of over 200 pupils. The school has one goal – for children to achieve theirs. As a founding member of the Cheshire Academies Trust (CAT), Boughton Heath is an open plan school which allows for sharing best practice among teachers and encourages pupils to demonstrate good learning practices to their peers. Children are encouraged to take ownership of their own education using real world learning methods to stimulate independent thinking.
The Challenge
“We had to move away from our previous SMART boards because of a number of things”, states Steven Ellis, headteacher of Boughton Heath. “The boards needed to be calibrated all the time, which took up quite some of our teachers’ time. Secondly, you couldn’t really handwrite on them properly and the pen didn’t have a hovering function which is very useful.” Steven decided to look into different solutions and also trialled a ProLine+ screen.
The Solution
After being presented several solutions, Steven Ellis recognised that Prowise provides a product in the ProLine+ touchscreen that stands apart from its competitors. It allows teachers to write smoothly, naturally and accurately. The built-in PC Modules, which run on Windows 10, allow teachers to start their lessons immediately.
Five of the screens were wall mounted in the classrooms and two of them were put on All-in-One lifts for flexible use throughout the school. Paul Bryceland, Education Advisor at Prowise, delivered training sessions on the Presenter software and touchscreens to the teaching staff in order for them to use their new technology to the fullest.
Steven Ellis, Headteacher Boughton Primary
“Having tested many different interactive touchscreens, Prowise came out on top for three simple reasons. Firstly, they are like writing on paper! The resolution is breath-taking and teachers can actually start model writing on the screen, and children can actually read it! Handwriting especially looks fluid and natural. Secondly, we wanted to future-proof our IT provision and with 4K screens, the Prowise boards enabled ultra high definition content to be shown to our pupils. Finally, the support from Prowise staff has been outstanding. From initial installation to Prowise managers checking our satisfaction, I cannot fault their customer service. We have received great training from their team and our teachers feel very confident using their Presenter software which works well to support staff preparing resources and lessons. If you are in the market for new touchscreens, I would urge everyone to consider buying Prowise.”
Results
Teachers have used the ProLine+ touchscreens and Presenter software for a couple of weeks now. They feel it enhanced their teaching methods, unlike any other technology. Steven Ellis explains: “The pace of the lesson is higher as the screens are far quicker than our previous ones. The teachers especially appreciate this reliability, they trust the screens! Even children seem very impressed by them and interact with them more. They also love practicing their writing skills with the ProWrite Ink pen.”