A DORCHESTER first school is leading the way in the way ICT is used in schools.

Manor Park First School has transformed how computers are used to support learning.

The school has scrapped its old computers and brought in a cloud system as well as superfast broadband and mobile devices in every classroom.

The school had previously used a suite of outdated PCs which didn’t allow teachers to make the most of ICT lessons.

The revolutionary approach has led staff from the school being in high demand from schools around the country to talk about the approach.

Head teacher, Melanie Pallister, said that with technology more important than ever in children’s lives it is important the school is up to date.

She said: “ICT is an increasingly vital part of preparing children for their lives ahead. We needed high performing, modern computing to be available throughout the school, so pupils can easily discover the advantages technology brings to problem solving and learning.”

The decision to completely change the approach to ICT in the school though was a radical one.

Mrs Pallister said: “We decided to go for it and completely change our entire approach to computing. We signed up for superfast broadband through RM Education, purchased a range of modern mobile devices for every classroom and waved goodbye to our old equipment.

“We even decided to switch to using apps rather than complicated software packages.”

The new service has been liberating for the school’s ICT staff who are now able to spend more time working to provide the most for the children.

ICT technician at Manor Park, Tracey Broadbent, said: “Running the technology ourselves used to be difficult and was actually quite expensive. Having everything managed by someone else in the cloud is liberating. I now spend my time developing our uses of ICT to benefit the children, rather than being on the phone to support trying to get something fixed.”

One way the school now uses ICT in a new way is with the online building game Minecraft.

Year four pupils have recently been using the game to build bomb shelters before a bomb was dropped on them and only the best survived.

The new way of using ICT at the school was delivered at a low cost, with the use of a cloud meaning there was no need to buy any complicated equipment.

Mrs Pallister said though that the key thing is the children are more engaged with their learning.

She said: “Children are more engaged with learning when they’re able to use the best tools. Our pupils can select from a wide range of really amazing tools, including ICT, to enhance their lessons and support the way they learn best.”