A LOCAL primary school has become one of 70 primary schools in Northern Ireland to have been awarded the prestigious Digital School Award.
The award to St Joseph’s Primary School in Strangford, in recognition of its commitment to digital learning, is backed by tech companies HP, Microsoft and RM Education with the support of C2k and the Department of Education.
The Digital School Award is part of an innovative scheme promoting excellence in digital learning and teaching, aimed at equipping pupils with cutting-edge digital skills.
To achieve the award, the school was assessed in five key areas — Leadership and Vision, Digital Learning Teaching and Assessment, School Culture, Professional Development and Resources and Infrastructure.
Assessor Peter Heaney said in his report: “This school has embraced the use of digital technology to deliver effective teaching and learning. The pupils I spoke to were confident and articulate users of the digital resources at their disposal. The school has developed effective support links during the pandemic to support distance learning.”
St Joseph’s also received a special recognition badge last month for Cyber Resilience and Internet Safety, becoming the third primary school in Northern Ireland to be awarded this badge.
The school had completed a pioneering education initiative developed to encourage online safety and cyber resilience amongst pupils in schools.
The assessment report noted: ‘St Joseph’s is a dynamic school which has a careful, considered and planned approach to developing and delivering a safe and secure digital technology learning environment for their pupils and have fully engaged their parental community in this development.’
Principal Laura Fitzsimons said: “We are delighted to have been awarded these prestigious titles which highlight the school’s continual investment in resources and training.
“We are very pleased and proud of our teachers, student digital leaders and all our pupils for their commitment to digital learning.
“It was particularly pleasing to receive this positive news in light of the challenging times which we are currently living in.”