Tablet Scheme

Sedgefield Community College continues to support the needs of each of its students and encourages the development of their individual skills and talents, supporting them in becoming independent learners who are successfully equipped for future employment in an increasingly digital age.

The way we teach has changed dramatically over recent years, with the school and performance of the students going from strength to strength, and we are currently at a very exciting stage of our development. After having run a successful 1:1 tablet device scheme for six years, with the support of the Laidlaw Trust, we are now looking to further develop our ‘Enhancing Learning through Technology Scheme.’

Enhancing Learning through Technology Scheme

At Sedgefield Community College, we are continuing to run our exciting e-learning project to give all our students in year 9 the opportunity to learn using the latest technology, both at home and at school. The way we achieve this is for our students to come to and from school each day equipped with tablet device to use as a tool to support and enhance their learning. We have successfully run a tablet scheme with year 9 now for six years.  After careful consideration and research, the decision has been made to upgrade the device this year. As a school which is part of the Laidlaw Trust, we are pleased to be able to add a significant financial contribution to support the scheme and upgraded device resulting in the parental contribution to remaining at a similar level as previous years with the benefit of the students being equipped with a higher spec device such as an Apple iPad. The information below highlights the further benefits the scheme provides as well as the difference in the parental contribution to the overall cost.  This difference is what the Laidlaw Schools Trust, on behalf of the school, will make.

Why upgrade to Apple iPads?

• the iPad provides the widest suite of features required for a fully inclusive digital learning environment
• the iPad offers additionality to android devices in terms of the range of software included, collaboration and creativity 
• through Mobile Device Management Software Apple provides the ability to securely manage the device at school and at home with further developed safety features 
• Apple support the professional development of teachers through their Apple Teacher and Apple Distinguished Educator programmes to maximise the benefit to education
• the life span of the device will support students throughout their time at Sedgefield and beyond 

Without doubt, the educational benefits we have experienced first-hand are vast and will contribute to the development, both academic and personal, of our young people. Having a personal device has also proved to have significant benefits to students who have been required to work remotely due to the pandemic. As part of your child’s learning opportunities at our school, we want to provide access to an iPad for your child that will enable them to enrich and extend their learning both in school and out of school.

Cost to Parent

We do need to ask parents for a voluntary contribution in support of this programme for it to go ahead as we would unfortunately not be able to afford to purchase an iPad for each individual student. As a school, we have invested significant sums of money into this approach. This has included:

• purchasing up individual tablet devices to allow us to train staff in their use and trial this approach with a proportion of our students
• upgrading the school’s wireless network to cope with the increased traffic
• purchasing a licence for the Frog Learning Platform to use to build our online resources for student access
• purchasing a Microsoft licence to allow students to have the full suite of Microsoft PowerPoint, Excel and Word on their tablet devices as well as an Office365 email account and OneDrive cloud storage
• purchasing a licence for an MDM (Mobile Device Management) solution to ensure we can control the use of the devices by students when in-school

As well as many other investments such as staff CPD training and improving our network infrastructure, all to ensure that the scheme continues to be a success.

We appreciate the significance of what we are asking with the contributions and we have worked hard to ensure the financial support to enhancing the learning experience of your child through technology is as low as we can possibly get it. When all contributions have been made, the device will become the property of the students and will be able to support their learning beyond Sedgefield Community College.

There may be the potential for students to bring in and use their own tablet device if they already own or have access to one within the family, rather than to contribute to receive one through the school. However, we would need to seek assurances on the age, model, specification and app store of the device. We would also need permission to install our MDM solution on to the device and the apps/software we intend to use in-school to support learning. Please note, there would be a suggested contribution for the MDM licence. 

How to Sign Up to the Tablet Scheme

The scheme is now running for current Y9. Further information will be released in September for the 2023 scheme.

Accidental damage and theft insurance - How to Claim

As part of the tablet device scheme, each tablet device is supported both by the two-year manufacturer’s warranty and, for additional peace of mind, a 30 month comprehensive theft and accidental damage insurance cover policy. To adhere to the insurance policy, the iPad must be used within the school issued case at all times. It is the parents' responsibility to submit any claims via the online portal.