Technology Firm Weduc Recognises Durham School’s Digital Leadership

Lanchester EP Primary School in County Durham was today recognised by education technology firm Weduc for its commitment to Digital Leadership.  In a special school assembly, Weduc Commercial Director Tim O’Keefe awarded a 42” Smart TV to the school’s Digital Leaders for winning a Twitter competition run by Weduc at a recent major education technology show.  At the same time, Weduc commended the school on its efforts to incorporate technology into a child’s learning journey.

 

In January the school took a delegation of four of its pupils, designated as Digital Leaders, to the BETT education technology show in London. At the event, the young students gave presentations on a number of technologies and software products. They also met the Weduc team who were running a Twitter-based competition which involved uploading a ‘selfie’ to Twitter, using a specific hashtag, which they entered and won.

Since then the school has hosted “Lanchester Live,” a series of presentations showcasing how it uses technology in the classroom to other schools in the region.

 

Tim O’Keefe  commented: “Lanchester EP is leading the way in terms of how it uses technology, not just in the classroom, but in the way it communicates with parents. Technology these days is becoming a part of everyday life, and by using it to engage parents and pupils alike the school is setting an amazing example.”

 

The Digital Leaders programme has attracted a great deal of attention, including from industry professionals. “We have invited pupils from all age ranges to be Digital Leaders,” said Lanchester Primary Head teacher Jane Davis. “Our youngest presenter at the BETT Show was just six years old, and she, like all of them, was amazing.”

 

Weduc is a software company specialising in providing a whole-school communication and engagement platform for parents, students and teachers.  The Weduc specialist communications platform uses the very latest technology, including mobile apps and email, to communicate between parents, teachers and pupils.

 

“Parental engagement is vital in ensuring that a child’s learning journey doesn’t just end at 3pm. Studies have demonstrated that schools with good parental engagement will benefit from an uplift in attainment, achievement and even attendance. Now technology is available to enable schools to do this, and to save money on their existing communications at the same time,” said Mr O’Keefe.

 

Jane Davis added, “The school is grateful to Weduc for this recognition. We have been slowly expanding our use of technology over the last few years and are constantly looking to new ways of enhancing this. Fortunately our staff have embraced this strategy, and our ICT adviser Mr Bailey has been instrumental with his guidance and expertise. We intend to put this TV in the new reception area that is currently under construction, and we will be using it to display videos made by students as well as examples of their work.”

 

Weduc highlights parental engagement, which the Weduc communications technology facilitates, as being one of the most undervalued areas in schools, as well as one of the most important and effective for improving attainment, attendance and achievement.