Dear Oldcastle Community,

We are proud to let you know that we have become a Google for Education School.

What is Google for Education?

Google Apps for Education (G Suite) is becoming popular within school environments and is an amazingly effective digital way of collaborating and communicating between teachers and pupils. It is a series of Apps that act as tools to help students and teachers to interact securely across digital devices such as iPads, Chromebooks and VR Goggles; equipment which we are lucky enough to have at Oldcastle! It has also revolutionised the way that staff communicate and collaborate in school.

What does this mean for our learners?

Learners across the school are accessing resources digitally as part of our drive to be eco friendly and reduce our use of paper. We also aim to provide children with the skills that are needed in order to operate effectively in our 21st century world. Apps that pupils are using include:

● Google Drive - learners will store and access work on a very secure online platform known as a ‘cloud’

● Google Sites - children have the ability to make a website, showcasing work

● Google Docs - similar to Word

● Google Slides - similar to Powerpoint

● Google Sheets - similar to Excel

● Google Classroom - the most exciting and innovative app. Teachers can create an online class and invite our pupils to join. We can then handout work, support pupils and receive their completed assignments all from one place

Can learners access G Suite at home?

All pupils have been given a log-on and they have independently created a password which they are responsible for remembering (these can be reset if they forget them!). Learners can access all of the Apps at home and have discussed e-safety elements (such as ensuring they log-out of their account when leaving a digital device) from staff.

We look forward to working together and moving forward using Google for Education.