Case Study: Britannia Village Primary
Lessons from a Year 2 teacher: How all primary pupils can create amazing designs.
With a class of six and seven-year-olds and the task of finding design software they could all use easily, find out how teacher Luke Craig not only got his pupils creating amazing presentations and posters, but also boosted essential soft skills.
Meet Luke Craig, year 2 teacher &
ICT lead at Britannia Village Primary.
Luke has been teaching at Britannia Village in east London for eight years. Currently a year 2 teacher, Luke is also the school’s ICT lead. He believes that every child can do remarkable things with technology, and loves working at a school whose leadership has such a positive and open approach to digital literacy.
“It’s been fantastic for primary, even for Year Two. Firstly, because it’s so easy to use. It’s incredibly user-friendly, and my Year Twos picked it up so quickly. But secondly, as Adobe Spark is linked to the Google accounts that the children use throughout their whole school life, it’s really easy for them to log in and get started.”
Luke Craig – Year 2 Teacher and ICT Lead at Britannia Village Primary School.
The bumpy journey from a trolley of laptops to 1:1 devices for all pupils.
When Luke first started at Britannia Village, the school was using a trolley of laptops wheeled from class to class. Recognising that this limited ICT opportunities and the possibility of integrating digital tools across subjects, he asked for, and was given, 1:1 devices for each child.
While this was instrumental in integrating technology across the curriculum, Luke wanted something more. He says that, “I was looking for a simple way of designing something and making it look good. We couldn’t do that with any of the software we had - it was always hard to make things look really nice.” Not only that, Luke wanted software that would help his pupils focus on the content and think critically about what they were working on and why.
A Spark of light.
When Luke came across Adobe Spark, he thought he might just have found a creative solution that would suit his and his pupils’ needs.
He admitted to apprehensions before the first lesson, saying, “It’s sometimes hard to gauge how the children will react to new technology - will they take it and run with it, or trip over it? - but in that first lesson I could stand back and just watch the children fly. They were sharing ideas, there were hardly any questions. They were all working it out and helping each other. The children could use it straight away, and quickly started producing some amazing things that they were so proud of. It just worked really well, and it’s been fantastic for primary, even for year two.”
Luke also has everything he needs, such as high resolution images, icons, and the ability to add school branding.
“Our focus was working on their public speaking, presentation and oracy, and their pages not only looked amazing but they made presenting really simple and straightforward. So, as well as being the design tool we needed, it has really helped improve pupils’ oracy skills”
Luke Craig – Year 2 Teacher and ICT Lead at Britannia Village Primary School.
How digital creativity helped year 2 master different subjects.
The children were soon using Adobe Spark across different subject areas. Luke says that, “Once we’d shown the children how to do it, loads of them were completing their homework using Adobe Spark, even though we hadn’t asked them to.
“The Glideshows in Adobe Spark Page are something the children particularly love as it’s so easy to present their work, and it looks great. At the end of term, we held a showcase event for parents where the children presented all their work, and my year twos used Adobe Spark Page and Glideshows they’d created. Our focus was working on their public speaking, presentation and oracy, and their pages not only looked amazing but they made presenting really simple and straightforward. So, as well as being the design tool we needed, it has really helped improve pupils’ oracy skills.”
Luke recommends.
“If you’re looking for software that allows pupils to create something that’s visually appealing and to a really high standard, as well as helping them get a really good understanding of the subject, Adobe Spark makes that possible. All pupils can understand the interface, which is really simple and user-friendly, everything is saved in one place, and it’s so easy to share your work.”
What’s next?
It doesn’t stop here for Luke and his year twos. Next, he wants to teach them how to record and edit using Adobe Spark Video. He says, “They’d get it, and they’d be able to do it. It would be exciting to see what they can produce!”
See how the apps are supporting pupils.
Adobe Express
If you’re looking for software that allows pupils to create something to a really high standard, that’s visually appealing, as well as helping them to get a really good understanding of the subject, Adobe Spark makes that possible in a really simple way. All pupils can understand the interface, which is really user-friendly.”
– Luke Craig, Year 2 Teacher and ICT Lead at Britannia Village Primary School
Creative Cloud
“I knew the children could put the [digital] newspaper together themselves from beginning to end. I needed some way of facilitating that for them so they could create and learn and drive it forwards, independently. I knew they would be more than able to use this professional software and produce outstanding results.”
– Lorraine Smith, Teaching Assistant and Journalism Club Lead at Burnt Oak Junior School
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