Delight as St Macartan’s scoops famed ICT award

Delight as St Macartan’s scoops famed ICT award

27 June 2018

A LOUGHINISLAND school’s cutting edge use of technology has earned it a major award.

St Macartan’s Primary School is celebrating after scooping the fourth annual Northern Ireland Schools ICT Excellence prize.

The competition was run by Capita Managed IT Solutions and C2k, and the winners were announced at a special ceremony held last week in the Merchant Hotel, Belfast.

Schools competed in three classifications — primary, post primary and special educational needs — with the judges looking at how teaching is transformed through technology and the positive impact on students and their wider communities.

St Macartan’s won the primary schools category and received £2,500 to spend on ICT equipment from Capita.

Seven schools were also recognised as highly commended for specific areas of technology, including Bunscoil Bheanna Boirche, Castlewellan, which was recognised for its effective use of technology in working with Irish and non-Irish medium schools.

St Macartan’s principal, Miss Audrey Watson, said the school and its pupils were delighted with the recognition.

“The judges are looking for ICT within schools that transforms the pupils’ experience,” she said. “It also looks at the links the school has with the wider community. It is not about ICT for ICT’s sake.”

Miss Watson said the school had recently made a big investment in technology, including the purchase of 45 iPads.

She said they focused on topics such as internet safety in lessons and using technology to code objects such as balls which they moved around a maze.

“We also have a range of different ICT apps in the school,”she continued. “For instance we use OneNote to allow the pupils to collaborate and work together on projects. Bronagh Mason is our ICT coordinator.

“We were runners up in the category last year, so to win this year we are absolutely delighted.

“The children are so excited too. Using the Seasaw app we could send a message to the parents saying ‘tell the children we won’. That was the start of messages back from the parents saying ‘well done’. We had instant feedback from the parents. Everybody is buzzing about it.

“It’s a big achievement for a small school.”

Miss Watson said the days when it was just teachers who were the fount of all knowledge of ICT were gone.

“Children come to school with so much experience with technology, so that is not to be held back but built upon,” she remarked.

“We believe technology is going to be a big part of children’s lives and we have an obligation to them.”

Steve Moss, Educational Consultant and Chair of the EN(ni) Innovation Forum, who has judged the awards for four years, said: “St Macartan’s displayed an outstanding use of technology in the classroom and a strong vision for ICT in all aspects of teaching and learning”.

Ed Brown, Managing Director for Capita Managed IT Solutions, said: “For the fourth consecutive year the ICT Excellence Awards are highlighting the excellent and purposeful use of technology used in schools across Northern Ireland.

“The awards provide a fantastic opportunity for Northern Ireland schools to showcase this use of ICT in teaching and learning and Capita is proud to be part of that process.