Vision: We are a small school but the world is here! Our vision is for all learners to use technology to access deep thinking consistently across their subjects, develop confidence in our Golden Skills and to apply their learning and skills in unfamiliar and ‘real world’ contexts with confidence and success.
- DHT lead: Vicki Blair
- Lead Teacher: Nicola Douglas, Apple Professional Learning Specialist, MIE Expert 20-24 and MCE
2023-24
This year has been year 1 of a new focus: Empowering learning. We are using technology to help our school community to achieve their magnificent potential – every learner and staff member empowered to lead their own learning and development. Our pupil Achievement Journeys alongside teacher and faculty impact stories are an integral part of our school – rich, interactive documents showcasing progress for everyone. We are continuing to utilise feedback tools, accessibility features and real world applications to drive innovation.
We continue to add to our curriculum with digital being at the heart. All S1 pupils completed a ‘Digital Skills’ block looking at core apps for word processing, presentations and spreadsheets as well as designated lessons on ‘Accessibility’ features on their iPad to make the device work best for them and their learning. Pupils can now select tractor maintenance or Barista skills and record a video diary for everything they are learning. They can choose App development in the senior phase and build on skills learnt in the BGE.
It has been excellent to open our doors to many guests who visit the school to find out more about our embedded use of digital technology and how we use it to drive school improvement. Feedback this year included the warmth and positivity and now feeling ‘well informed and much more confident to make plans’.
2022-23
In collaboration with local partners, the Harris Trust, our recording studio was fully operational this year.
We were thrilled to have 5 members of staff become certified Apple Learning Coaches. These staff partner with teachers to analyse their teaching, set goals, identify strategies to reach the goals, and provide support until the goals are met. All new and current members of staff now have the opportunity to be coached with an Apple Learning Coach and develop their teaching to utilise technology in a creative way.
We were over the moon with the marks attained by pupils who submitted their Art Portfolio showcasing their design skills using Procreate.
2021-22: Apple Distinguished School
We are delighted that the school year started with some excellent news: Selkirk High School has been selected as an Apple Distinguished School for 2021-24!
Read our story here: Apple Distinguished School | Selkirk High School
The following images from Education – Schools – Apple Distinguished Schools – Apple (UK) show what this recognition means.
2021-22 Continued with more excellent news – we achieved the prestigious Digital Schools Award! We are delighted to have this alongside our Apple award recognising the digital environment at Selkirk High School where we embrace and embed technology to enhance teaching and learning and develop our Golden Skills and Values.
Click on the link to find out more about Digital Schools.
Throughout the year we have continued our focus on Feedback in classes. Each member of staff has a rich impact story of how they have improved feedback and used digital technology to do so.
Our digital pathway for learners is taking greater shape and we are proud of the range of opportunities available to learners.
We were delighted to be part of an Apple Case Study in May 2022!
https://www.apple.com/education/k12/success-stories/#scottish-borders
2020-21: Feedback and enhancing the curriculum
Apple technology means that our feedback and metacognition focus this year has resulted in consistently rich experiences involving immediate, relevant and detailed feedback using audio, video and interactive activities and quizzes.
Many subjects are now paper free and use the technology to make lessons collaborative, relevant, media rich and interactive. We have expanded digital curricular opportunities including Coding, Digital Enterprise and Cyber Security and whole school assemblies, pupil assemblies, transition projects as well as our very rich homelearning offer are accessible digitally.
We have started an ambitious plan focused on metacognition and improving learners’ preparation for future study and employment – a digital Achievement Journey.
2019-2020 : Introducing and embedding
In our first year we focused on becoming familiar with the iPad devices and using them across the school in meaningful ways.
September 2019: Getting started!
Immediately, walking into classrooms was a whole new experience – no matter where you went teachers were trying things out with the pupils. Staff and pupils were learning together and making the devices a valued part of lessons from the start. The success of the 1:1 programme has been the staff enthusiasm for getting ‘stuck in’ from the very first week!
September 2019: Pupil Deployment
Deployment week was brilliant! In year groups, pupils set up their own iPad out of the box by following along a video made for them with the support from the SBC Inspire Learning Team (in purple). It was amazing to see them so excited and engaged in learning about their iPad straightaway.
Our teachers and pupils are 1:1 with Apple iPad devices as part of the Inspire Learning programme by Scottish Borders Council. Find out more here: General | Inspire Learning FAQs | Scottish Borders Council (scotborders.gov.uk)