Corstorphine+School+Milestone+6

Corstorphine School Lead teacher report. This year has generally been a successful one for Corstorphine school as part of the Otakou ICT cluster. Staff have improved their use of ICT at their own levels of ability in their classes. In the senior end ICT is used throughout the day in the students class and is an integral part of Inquiry learning. The internet is used frequently as a tool for researching or going further in the inquiry process. In the middle school classroom, students are learning to use powerpoint as a tool for presenting findings, and frequently use Word to publish or present their work. In the junior class, digital photos are used daily to represent happenings in the school and students enjoy using kidpix to create art designs. The teacher uses photostory successfully to recall inquiry topics or class trips. There is an ongoing goal of using SMS to take the roll alongside the paper roll. This has been delayed for various reasons but is to start this term with a hope of using it alongside the paper roll in Term 1 of next year and solely as the roll from Term 2 onwards. The school has made good progress using the Inquiry model. PD from Kath Murdoch was very well received. Each class teacher is more confident in using the Murdoch method and have enjoyed successes throughout the year. Students are relishing the freedom of choice the Inquiry method provides. The specific teaching of research skills has had a big improvement in the quality of material presented by the students. Teachers have regularly attended workshops throughout the year. The school now has a wireless connection and improved broadband speed. This has lead to more regular use of the internet in class teaching. One area of concern is the lack of leadership in ICT outside the lead teacher. Other members of staff struggle to use some aspects of ICT.