The east end’s Generation Tech

A different kind of padding up is taking place in St David’s.

The primary school, which overlooks the grounds of St David’s Cricket Club, has started an iPad programme. 

The school has purchased 20 iPads through money financed by ACE, which are now being used in a P2 classroom. 

Principal Gladstone Thompson said: “I remember looking at an article where Saltus at Primary 2 had iPads,and thought ‘ If they can do it, surely we can as well’ and that was the genesis of the whole idea.”

He said AF Smith’s invited all school principals to a meeting in June to show what it had to offer.

Mr Thompson added: “Strangely enough, we were the only ones who showed up so we had”them to ourselves.

He said since there was extra funds from the ACE money, it was used to purchase the iPads.

Mr Thompson added: “This was a step of faith for most of the journey because I wasn’t sure how it would all unfold.”

He said one of the great interactive functions of the iPad programme is “that kids can push what they’re doing at their desks up on the smartboard. Mr Richardson doesn’t have to walk around to every desk. He can say “Let me see what you’re doing’. 

Mr Thompson said having the iPad  programme “is exciting for me and for them. This is giving them a desire to be in school. They’re just loving it. If we can generate that in all our students, then that’s half the battle won.”

P2 teacher Cleveland Richardson said he did research on various apps to see what would work best with the P2 Cambridge Curriculum. 

He said some of the apps include dealing with math word problems, another with info about the human body and a third is sentence builder, which allows them to use the parts of the sentence. 

“Another is Google Earth. They appreciate looking at our school with a unique view from space. We allow them to visit the addresses of various places they’ve visited throughout the world. 

“They also use phonics app quite often.”

Mr Richardson the Reflector app allows for the children to push their work up to the smartboard and “words can’t describe the looks on their faces. It’s a look of amazement, but they like the fact that they’re sharing their work with their classmates. It’s keeps them very motivated and focused.”