Three things you need to know about rolling out 1:1 devices

The Maritime Academy Trust, which has schools across Greenwich, Bexley, Kent and Medway, is rolling out 1:1 devices for each Year 3 pupil across 10 schools

CREDIT: This is an edited version of an article that originally appeared on Maritime Academy Trust

The trust has invested more than £60,000 in providing over 600 pupils with their own Chromebooks to help bridge the digital divide. It successfully piloted the use of 1:1 devices and found that pupils – particularly those who are disadvantaged – benefit from the use of technology to support and enhance their learning.

Susan Matheson, COO at Maritime Academy Trust, shares what has been learned from the pilot and offers advice to other schools considering embarking on a 1:1 device programme.

Consider phasing in from Year 3

To get the full benefit from the programme, we chose to phase the devices in so that teachers and schools weren’t overwhelmed; this phased approach also allowed us to build expertise one year group at a time.

Year 3 is a natural starting point for investing in 1:1 devices for primary school children; by this stage the children have acquired some computing literacy and independence, which supports the devices being used effectively both at home and in the classroom. Year 3 is also the first year of Key Stage 2 which brings with it its own curriculum that is well suited to 1:1 devices. 

Pupils will each be given a Chromebook when they join Year 3, which they will continue to use as they move through the school. By 2026, we expect that all Key Stage 2 children will have their own Chromebooks.

Work with a research partner

The roll out of 1:1 devices is a hugely ambitious programme that has taken significant levels of investment and much planning. School budgets are increasingly tight, so it’s been very important that we have a rigorous approach to evaluating the impact of our investment; we must make sure that every penny is working hard to support teaching and learning in our schools.

With this in mind, we partnered with ImpactEd to evaluate our work to improve pupil outcomes and life chances – including the impact of the 1:1 devices programme. ImpactEd offer a unique service, allowing each school to understand their starting point for teachers, pupils and parents, and then to review the data on a regular basis. They use the best possible surveys, as well as pupil data, to ensure that our evaluation is as strong as possible. 

Assess the impact on pupil premium pupils

Raising attainment, and reducing the learning gap between our disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged pupils, are key priorities for our schools. Therefore, in our pilot project evaluation, it was particularly exciting to see that increases in pupils’ grit, metacognition and conscientiousness were even more noticeable among pupil premium pupils. Times table accuracy data also improved in all age groups, with results for pupil premium pupils improving even more rapidly than the group average.

Get support from another trust

We have hugely benefited from having the support of another trust – the LEO Academy Trust – which had already adopted 1:1 devices, so we could learn from their experience. 

They have helped us all along the way – from determining the best devices and cases for our children, to showing our headteachers how the devices can work in practice in the classroom, and providing in-school training to our teachers to ensure they understand how the devices can be used to strengthen teaching and learning.