School spends £500k buying ipads for all its pupils

[anonymous-user]

[redacted]

[Chris Type R]

If they paid full price I think that they need to be taught a thing or two.

[AcidReflux]

Did they really pay the full retail price for £1200 iPads? Or is the Daily Mail conveniently disregarding the educational discounts that are available from major IT providers in order to enrage its more impressionable readers?

[mackie1]

Their budget sounds massive, I will find out from my dad what he had to play with when he was head of a large secondary school.

ETA: His biggest budget was around £2.5m, adjusted for inflation this academy has a budget of around £16m in year 2000 money. Seems really high to me unless the figure is actually spread over say 3 or 4 years but the article does mention annual budget.

Edited by mackie1 on Thursday 6th October 13:15

[Ari]

Why are the giving out any kind of computer, surely it's down to the pupils to supply their own? We had to buy our own calculators or whatever when I was at school.

Oh well, at least there'll be a good supply of almost new iPads on Ebay. "Miss, I lost it, can I have another...!.

[Leithen]

Cedar's, an independant school in Greenock, Scotland was the first in the country to roll out iPads for every pupil .

By all accounts, it has been a great success.

[Happy82]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

If you think a secondary school is bad, you should see the non-jobs at a university

[Jasandjules]

It seems to get good Ofsted scores?

[audidoody]

Apple has had Eduction pricing in place for nearly 30 years.

[Fatman2]

This is just hyped up press as far as I can see. Although iPads are the creme de la creme (Rodney!) the school may well have the budget in spades.

In my school it is well known that this kind of tech assists learning and is not a bribe as suggested. My school is looking into laptops/netbooks for the students (albeit not one for every single student) as non scientific studies have shown grade improvements with various classes.

In fact, as a governor, we interviewed a head that had already used tablets to assist with her math classes with good effect.

[therams]

this school spent over £1Million on Apple kit this summer, including these iPads, and it was all done through a European Tender framework so all above board and correct. nothing anyone can do if they are unhappy, its their choice to spend that much on this kit.

[jas xjr]

It makes me smile . I passed my 11+ but still had to go to an ex secondary school as they were known . We had to share textbooks , for example four of us to one o level history textbook

[Deva Link]

mackie1 said:

Their budget sounds massive, I will find out from my dad what he had to play with when he was head of a large secondary school.

ETA: His biggest budget was around £2.5m, adjusted for inflation this academy has a budget of around £16m in year 2000 money. Seems really high to me unless the figure is actually spread over say 3 or 4 years but the article does mention annual budget.

You're not comparing like with like - an Academy is funded as a completely separate, stand-alone entity. In your Dad's school, the staff costs alone would have been way more than £2.5M.

[petemurphy]

will the be buying these each year and replacing those which have been lost/sold on ebay????

[chris_w]

Does anyone know how they will actually use the iPads? Story only makes reference to the headmaster putting up YouTube videos, how will the teachers actually deliver content given that they can't use any of the MS packages they might normally use?

Just don't understand why they picked the iPad over a windows tablet or notebook which would be more versatile...

[Migsy]

Natural progression with technology.

I expect Ofsted will replace how well a child uses a mouse for assessing fine motor skills at nursery schools/pre-schools (has been happening for the last 8 years) with tablet use in the not too distance future!

I think it's a good thing and money well spent if there is a strategy in place to ensure an improvement in learning through using them. Son's school has laptops in use for non-IT lessons and they are now planning to increase the volume - similarly just turned into an Academy because of 3 previous threats of closure (3 tier schooling system here) and is also an Ofsted outstanding.

[ambuletz]

I cant see how an ipad would further a kids education more then a normal laptop (that has greater functions).

• shakes walking stick in the air*

back in my day we had 1 acorn computer per classroom. If you was lucky enough to finish your work quickly, you was allowed to type it up on the computer. Or on fridays you was allowed to play Lemmings. (and i'm only 24)

[mackie1]

Deva Link said:

You're not comparing like with like - an Academy is funded as a completely separate, stand-alone entity. In your Dad's school, the staff costs alone would have been way more than £2.5M.

Nope, that budget covered everything except big capitial spends like new building works etc. "Covered almost everything, staffing, buildings, resources, equipment etc."

That was a big 1200 pupil school with a 6th form and swimming pool.

ETA: I actually think it's good that budgets are bigger now than 10 years ago and more stuff is available to kids, it's just a shame it's going hand in hand with dumbing down.

Edited by mackie1 on Thursday 6th October 14:16

[MrCheese]

ambuletz said:

I cant see how an ipad would further a kids education more then a normal laptop (that has greater functions).

• shakes walking stick in the air*

back in my day we had 1 acorn computer per classroom. If you was lucky enough to finish your work quickly, you was allowed to type it up on the computer. Or on fridays you was allowed to play Lemmings. (and i'm only 24)

At this risk of also shaking my walking stick in the air, I have to agree. Maybe this could be justified if they teach them programming and app writing etc but otherwise this has to represent everything that is wrong with the UK. I'm sure in India they are just getting on with teaching useful skills like writing, spelling, adding up etc rather than just pressing a few buttons on a touchscreen.

I must stop reading the DM....

[louiebaby]

ambuletz said:

I cant see how an ipad would further a kids education more then a normal laptop (that has greater functions).

• shakes walking stick in the air*

back in my day we had 1 acorn computer per classroom. If you was lucky enough to finish your work quickly, you was allowed to type it up on the computer. Or on fridays you was allowed to play Lemmings. (and i'm only 24)

It was "Grannies Garden" I think or me. On a BBC microcomputer.

(I'm 31, and feeling it.)