Earlier this year we were thrilled to welcome Rachel Lawson, Deputy Head at Lansdowne Primary School, to share her trust’s Clicker success story with us as the focus of a free webinar.
Since we met with Rachel, the Stour Academy Trust has received some wonderful news! They have been nominated for 2 National MAT awards (including the Innovation Award for ‘outstanding use of technology and digital adoption/transformation’), and Lansdowne Primary has received a glowing Ofsted report in their recent inspection, where it was praised for its use of technology and its ‘significant and positive impact on pupils’ learning’.
During Rachel’s webinar with us, she explained her instrumental role in implementing Clicker across the trust as part of their 1-1 iPad program. As a result, Rachel has seen a significant boost in writing attainment and confidence during this time. The Stour Academy’s success story is a brilliant example of how Clicker can be utilised across numerous schools to benefit pupils and staff.
Why did Rachel choose Clicker?
When Rachel first moved to Lansdowne Primary School, she recognised that her class displayed a vast range of abilities and barriers towards writing independently. The writing gap in upper KS2 was widening at a rapid pace and children were below their age-related expectations.
“We put a range of strategies in place to try and improve writing, but nothing seemed to work. I had used Clicker in my previous school… I knew that Clicker could be differentiated easily and would increase the standard of independence in writing - I was excited to see the impact it would have!
Over time, we saw huge, positive effects on the quality and independence of our struggling writers”
What made the trust implement Clicker more widely?
After seeing incredible results from implementing Clicker to support her Year 5 and 6 students, Rachel sought an objective opinion on how she was using Clicker in her lessons from local specialist teachers. It was a success! Consequently, the trust’s CEO implemented Clicker across every school in the trust…
“We rolled Clicker out across our 8 schools!
One of the biggest successes that the use of Clicker had evidenced was that it allowed teachers to see and capture moments of a child demonstrating their true ability, which often would be missed by the use of just pen and paper.”
What impact has Clicker had on pupil progress?
Rachel moderated the use of Clicker closely, including comparing lessons where Clicker was used, with those where it was not. She analysed data such as the amount of time taken for a child to complete a task, as well as their level of independence throughout. Rachel also reviewed examples of children’s work produced with and without Clicker…
“Over the course of 4 months, we used Clicker to vary [a child’s literacy] support, and target his specific learning needs. As a result of this bespoke targeted support, we saw a drastic improvement in his writing (right picture). As the quality and independence improved, we were able to remove elements of support to further promote and extend his writing independence and confidence. Using Clicker progressed and accelerated his writing outcomes more than could have been possible with a class of 30.”
What feedback has the trust received since using Clicker?
The Stour Academy Trust‘s fantastic implementation of Clicker has led to wonderful results for their learners…
“Since using Clicker, our pupils believe that they can succeed in writing – their overall outcomes and progress has accelerated, and we have had successful internal and district moderations whilst using the program. Our feedback from external professionals have reinforced that Clicker is an inclusive tool and one that has truly supported our children’s writing and overall independence.”
