Competition win and Ofsted results celebrated at Primary School in High Wycombe

Pupils at Ibstone CE Primary School using the ActivPanel.

A Primary School in High Wycombe is celebrating a win in a national competition as well as achieving good Ofsted Results.

Ibstone CE Primary School in High Wycombe has secured one of 30 ActivPanel state of the art education technology packages in the Promethean Grant competition which is open to schools from all over the United Kingdom.

In addition the school are also pleased to announce the results of their latest Ofsted inspection where inspectors rated the school as good with some outstanding features.

Inspectors identified the personal development of pupils, behaviour and welfare as outstanding qualities, also commenting on the positive contributions made by pupils to the school and the community. The Promethean Grant is one example of many where pupils have had the opportunity to shine.

To participate in the Promethean Grant competition, schools were invited to submit video entries explaining why they would benefit from winning an ActivPanel. Entries were judged on three criteria: creativity, need, and the impact the technology would have if they were successful. 30 winners have been selected to each receive a fully installed ActivPanel package valued at around £3,000. Promethean is acutely aware of the increasing budgetary pressures schools are facing and did not want this to become a barrier to accessing the latest teaching technology.

In their video entry which you can see here, Ibstone CE Primary School created their very own news broadcast called ‘Ibstone News’ where they reported from a classroom where there was no up to date technology and mythological hero Prometheus had arrived to save the day.

Louise Long, Headteacher at Ibstone CE Primary said: ‘We’re a very small rural school but pride ourselves on being a fantastic place to learn, we’re particularly fond of using EdTech to enhance our learning. When we heard about the Promethean Grant we just had to get involved.

Last year we converted from an infant school to a primary school, so there has been a lot of change – we have had to invest in two new classrooms to accommodate all classes by 2020. Our budget is extremely tight and winning an ActivPanel has given us reassurance that our children will have access to technology that will enhance learning.

We’re over the moon with our Promethean Grant win and now the fantastic results of our latest Ofsted inspection. We’re very excited about continuing to strengthen our educational offering at Ibstone CE Primary School.‘

Alistair Hayward, Promethean’s Head of UKI and ANZ markets, commented: ‘Schools are under increasing financial pressures and at the same time are expected to create state of the art learning environments.

As a company, we’re incredibly passionate about education and believe all schools should be able to access technologies that are proven to enhance teaching and learning experiences.

The standard of entries this year has again been outstanding, I’d like to congratulate every school who took part for their efforts.‘

The ActivPanel has recently been installed at Ibstone CE Primary School and acts as a collaborative learning centre which can connect with other devices in the classroom such as laptops and tablets, enabling students to complete tasks from a hand held device or for small groups to use its multi-touch functionality. Promethean is looking forward to developing a partnership with the winning schools to help them get the most out of the technology.