Developing and improving learners’ digital competence skills at Blackwood Comprehensive School
Quick links:
- Information about the school
- Context and background to the effective or innovative practice
- Description of nature of strategy or activity
- What impact has this work had on provision and learner standards?
- Next steps
- Background to the development and improvement of digital skills across the curriculum
Information about the school
Blackwood Comprehensive School is an English medium, 11-16 mixed comprehensive school located on the edge of Cefn Fforest and Blackwood. The school has six main cluster primary schools and there are around 985 pupils on roll.
Around 21% of pupils have an additional learning need and a very few have a statement or Individual Development Plan (IDP). Around 25% of pupils are eligible for free school meals. Nearly all pupils speak English as their first language and come from a white British background, a very few are fluent in Welsh. The school has very few pupils with English as an additional language.
The headteacher has been in post since September 2018. Following her appointment, the school community co-constructed a shared vision based on providing a nurturing and aspirational learning environment in which pupils and staff feel safe and supported:
Blackwood Comprehensive School is an inclusive school community where we use the power of learning and teaching to develop confident, happy, resilient and independent pupils. In our safe, secure and nurturing learning environment, everyone is valued equally, and positive relationships ensure that, by working together, we raise aspirations, realise our potential and secure our future.
The vision is well understood by the school community and is the key driver for the school’s systems, policies and procedures.
Context and background to the effective or innovative practice
Background to the development and improvement of digital skills across the curriculum
The development of the digital skills of both learners and staff forms part of the school’s ongoing self-evaluation and improvement planning process and professional learning offer. A Digital Competence Lead coordinates and oversees the development of digital skills across the curriculum to support learners and staff. They work closely with one of the school’s Curriculum for Wales (CfW) Champions, who is responsible for the development of authentic learning and digital experiences in the new curriculum.
The Digital Competence Lead undertakes annual Digital Competence Framework (DCF) audits across the curriculum in order to evaluate how all learners use their digital competence skills effectively. These audits identify opportunities for the further development of digital skills in an authentic way across the curriculum. Additionally, the Digital Competence Lead uses evidence from the DCF audits to plan effective professional learning for staff to ensure pupils develop a full range of digital competence skills across the curriculum.
The Digital Competence Lead and CfW Champion work alongside the school’s Assistant Headteacher for Learning, Teaching and Professional Learning. Together, they plan and facilitate a high-quality, focussed digital skills professional learning programme for staff, which also responds to the frequent and rapid developments in the digital world.
The successful development of learner and staff digital skills has evolved over the last few years, particularly with the successful and effective introduction of blended learning during the pandemic. The return to face-to face teaching saw the school building on the digital skills developed during blended learning. The Digital Competence Lead has created a wide range of high-quality resources for all members of the school community via a DCF website, to further support development of their skills. The website includes digital safety information, digital ‘how to’ guides and parental digital support. The DCF shared drives contain a wide range of information, videos and guides to support both learners and staff in their digital journeys.
Description of nature of strategy or activity
At Blackwood Comprehensive School, teachers focus on incorporating digital skills authentically within Areas of Learning and Experience (AOLEs), ensuring learners demonstrate and further develop their digital skills. For example, the professional learning and research carried out by the CfW Champion resulted in classroom trials, which then led to the delivery of professional learning for all staff on how to use a specific software package to deliver authentic learning experiences across the curriculum. Consequently, some AoLEs employed these skills to teach learners how to design informative websites. For example, in humanities, learners design interactive websites on topics such as Welsh Castles and tornadoes, which enables them to demonstrate and further develop their digital skills, as well as their subject skills and knowledge, effectively.
The school believes in teaching these skills early, so that learners can continue to use and develop their digital skills throughout their learning journey. For example, in Welsh Baccalaureate Enterprise Challenges, learners apply the coding skills taught in Digital Technology to produce educational games for younger learners, whilst in BTEC Business Studies learners create websites, logos and cash flow spreadsheets to support their business plans. In Expressive Arts, the drama teacher supports learners in using video editing software to effectively edit their performances and create professional movies. In Science and Technology, learners use 3D design software to design, evaluate and refine their designs for sustainable glamping pods.
Most recently, the Digital Competence Lead has introduced Digital Skills Passports for learners in Years 7 and 8. Learners store their virtual files in this passport, which contains a list of DCF skills that can be tracked by learners when they use them across the curriculum. This virtual space for learners to link their digital work enables both teachers and learners to effectively collate work and track the progress of their digital skills development. These Digital Passports enable learners to take ownership of their own work, becoming digitally competent and resilient learners.
What impact has this work had on provision and learner standards?
Through the professional learning led by the Digital Competence Lead and the CfW Champion, staff and learners have further enhanced and developed their digital skills across the curriculum. These developments, coupled with investment in devices across all areas of the school, have resulted in learners taking ownership of their digital learning journey and having more confidence in using their skills across the curriculum. The introduction of the Digital Skills Passports has given learners more autonomy over their digital learning journey, enabling them to track digital progress more effectively alongside their teachers.
Next steps
Following the evaluation of recent DCF audits across the curriculum, the school will continue to embed the use of Digital Skills Passports, with Year 9 learners being included this year. Further professional learning will support all teaching staff to access and use these passports to track learners’ skills and progress across the progression steps.
The Digital Competence Lead will continue to work with the CfW Champion to further develop the use of innovative digital skills across the curriculum and thus ensure that learners continue to access a wide range of software to enhance their skills. The school will continue to evaluate the progress of digital skills across the curriculum and plan suitable professional learning to further upskill staff.