Handcross Park School: Recognising the benefits of remote learning with Acer Chromebooks and C-Learning
The global pandemic brought several changes to the way education is conducted, and proved that the right device can make all of the difference. Schools forced to close their gates had to quickly adapt to remote and hybrid learning, as well as ensure that both students and teachers had access to technology that enabled them to continue to reach their full potential.
Handcross Park School, an independent school located in West Sussex that caters for boys and girls from the ages of 2 to 13, was quick to shift to remote learning. The school opened only to nursery pupils and children of key workers, which saw the majority of its lessons were conducted interactively.
Handcross Park has long been recognised as a leading technology school, being named an Acer Innovation School in 2018 and last year winning The Week’s Best Prep School for Innovation award. However, while it has for years put technology at the forefront, ensuring that students have the tools they need to learn and achieve more, the school – like many – struggled with insufficient access to learning resources amid the pandemic, which meant that some students were unable to study remotely and access crucial learning materials.
The school, which has long recognised the benefits of Google Chromebooks and Google’s Workspace for Education suite, solved this problem by partnering with C-Learning, a technology specialist that helps bring the most advanced and impactful technologies from Google to the teaching spaces across the UK. Through this partnership, Handcross Park was able to roll out an additional 121 Chromebooks to its pupils, ensuring every student had access to interactive learning materials and lessons throughout the pandemic, no matter where they were based.
The Acer Chromebook 11 N7 became the new favourite companion for the students at Handcross Park and enabled the establishment to truly recognise the benefits of remote and hybrid education. The rugged laptop boasts enhanced durability features to ensure maximum uptime and contribute to reduced IT maintenance, while also equipping hardworking students with exceptionally long battery life and an innovative fan-less design, making it a great choice for those who want a reliable, powerful and quiet device for learning.
Google’s Chrome OS operating system has also been designed with education in mind, ensuring students have all of the tools they need to learn smarter and achieve more. Not only does it make digital learning easy for both tech-savvy teachers and also less experienced ones, but for students, it ensures they can realise their potential; the lightweight cloud-based operating system boots in just 8 seconds, offers instant access to Google tools such as Gmail and Google Classroom, and it’s one of the most secure options on the marketing, ensuring all of a students’ important materials are kept safe and away from prying eyes.
By rolling out Acer Chromebooks, Handcross Park is also ensuring it’s helping both its students and teachers to play their part in living a greener lifestyle. Not only are Chrome OS laptops much more power-efficient than traditional devices, therefore, reducing your carbon footprint, but they also revolve around Google’s cloud services, which require minimal printing.
Des O’Connor, Head of Digital Learning at Handcross Park, believes the rollout of additional Chrome OS devices helped his school to overcome the challenges of hybrid learning, as well as helping pupils remain productive during these difficult times.
“The 1:1 Chromebook provision from Years 3-8 and ‘future skills’ curriculum at Handcross Park enabled us to seamlessly transition into remote teaching,” he said. “Managing the Chromebook settings to provide the best experience for remote learning through the admin console was easy, no matter where in the world the pupil was! The children were well versed in using Google Classroom and video conferencing and it was a simple transition into working remotely.
“In terms of durability, this can vary between individual devices and manufacturers. Acer Chromebooks are incredibly durable and have child-friendly options available, one of these include the Acer Chromebook 11 N7 C731T which includes a spill-free keyboard and reinforced plastic case, so for school pupils, this would be a great option.
Des O’Connor adds that by opting for Chromebooks rather than more expensive Windows laptops or MacBooks, his school has also recognised impressive cost savings – while still having access to all of the tools they need.
“Chromebooks are also very affordable in comparison to traditional laptops. Chromebooks are designed to last at least 8 hours with plenty of devices that last around 10-12 hours, so a pupil will get a full school days worth of battery without having to worry.”
