Birmingham Based School’s IT excellence recognised by the Government’s Department for Education

Pheasey Park Farm Primary School, and Early Years Centre, part of Elston Hall Multi Academy Trust in Walsall has today been awarded the prestigious title of being a Department for Education (DfE) EdTech Demonstrator School for the second year.

Demonstrator schools and colleges are a network of the 48^* best schools in the country who have demonstrated the highest quality management of their technology investment and infrastructure. As an ‘Edtech Demonstrator School’, Pheasey Park Farm is given additional government funding to help other schools and colleges reach the same level of excellence.

This second year of support is aimed at helping schools and colleges across the country access training and advice on the use of technology for both remote and classroom teaching during and after the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.

Jamie Barry, head teacher of Yew Tree Primary School in Sanwell, which has benefitted from the support offered by Pheasey Park Farm said:

“All the staff at our school have been on the most incredible journey with the team at Pheasey Park Farm. They didn’t tell us what to do but worked with us to share and learn from their knowledge and experiences. Rather than ambling through our IT strategy, with the potential for making mistakes and poor investments, they supported us with the finer details of what we needed, including make our investments work for our students.

“During Covid-19, we went from zero to 400 devices, enabling us to provide laptops for each student and deliver a remote learning experience that is now the envy of everyone in the community. What is equally important is that our infrastructure is now ideal for both remote and in-school learning.”

Sally Lanni, executive headteacher at Pheasey Park Farm School added:

“Technology is a significant investment and unless the right strategy is in place for each individual school, a lot of money can be wasted and children’s learning potential reduced. Having started this journey six years ago we are able to share our experiences and successes with the other schools that we are working with under the DfE demonstrator school programme. Yew Tree School is now able to replicate the entire curriculum through both live and online lessons.”

Access to support from Pheasey Park Farm under the DfE’s demonstrator school programme is available to all schools until April 2022.