In this week’s guest blog, Mrs Hudson-Findley, Director of Digital Learning, Enterprise and Sustainability reflects on our Technology Journey at BGS.

As I reflect on the past academic year at BGS, it is remarkable to see how our commitment to integrating technology has continued to enrich the educational experience for our students and staff. This year has been a testament to our ethos of fostering creative thinkers, change-makers, and problem-solvers of the future through a digitally enriched curriculum.

Coding success has been a feature at both ends of our school with our Junior School students forging ahead with their new integrated computer science lessons where they have been learning about digital safety and the fundamental building blocks of code, ready to begin their Python coding journey in Year 7. Our IB Computer Science Sixth Form students have been getting to grips with the newly installed Mac Mini systems, where they have been enjoying coding outside of their comfort zone, using Swift programming to create their own Apple OS apps. The skills our young and older coders have been gaining this year will enable them to gain a competitive edge in what will be one of the key industries of the future.

We have successfully introduced virtual reality (VR) into our curriculum this year through our ClassVR headsets. VR technology offers our students immersive learning experiences, allowing them to explore historical sites, conduct virtual science experiments, and even take virtual field trips, all from the comfort of their classrooms. Our teaching staff are exploring how this technology can foster engaging and interactive lessons helping students to understand complex concepts through experiential learning. All our students and staff have been trained in how to use the system and some departments such as Religious Studies are paving the way forward with creating and curating their own content. The next stage is for our students to do the same and begin their journey of expressing themselves through creating their own 3D environments and interactive content.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been a whirlwind, sweeping through the education sector, bringing with it disruption and new possibilities. We began looking at how this emerging technology could affect our community last year where we began looking at our academic policies, explored solutions to teacher workload and formed strategies on how we could help students to understand the potential impact AI could have on their learning. We will be pushing this further, looking at how we can train students to interact with AI tools imaginatively and ethically, in addition to helping staff to create their own AI tools and Large Language Models (LLMs) to tailor their content to our students’ needs. 

Looking forward to the next academic year, we are excited about several innovative projects and initiatives that will further enhance our digital landscape.

We will be introducing eSports into our Co-Curricular programme, offering our students the opportunity to form a team and compete nationally with other schools in online team games. This will also provide our students with experience in online sports commentary, PR, digital design for our team logos and social media management. You certainly don’t need to be a gamer to get involved.

Next academic year you will hear the familiar hum of educational drones around our school. These programmable drones will provide opportunities for our students to code in different contexts in addition to being able to view their performance in sports and other areas of the curriculum. I’m sure the Film Club will want to get their hands on them to gain some interesting aerial shots too.

We are also expanding our outreach programme with the introduction of digital and film production sessions. This will enable our Sixth Form students to support local primary school students’ development of their future skills. 

Finally, our focus on professional development for staff will continue to be a cornerstone of our strategy. We will offer advanced training sessions on emerging technologies and pedagogical approaches, ensuring that our educators are equipped with the skills and knowledge to leverage technology effectively in their teaching.

As we embark on this exciting journey into the next academic year, our vision remains clear: to provide a cutting edge, future-focused education that empowers our students with the skills and confidence to tackle the challenges of a complex world.