Putaruru College – Promethean Grant Winners

Putaruru College is located in the Waikato and is home to around 410 year 7-13 students. The college is founded on values of community and confidence. Putaruru College staff were well aware of the benefits that technology can bring, but as a low-decile centre they didn’t have the budget to make large investments to modernise their classrooms. The college were relying on dated Chromebooks which they felt were hindering learning. Lanny Joe, a Teacher of Video/Film Production & Media at Putaruru College, had seen the ActivPanel in action at an education expo and felt it would be the perfect tool for their college.

Putaruru College staff knew that the Promethean ActivPanel would suit their needs as they were looking for a flexible hardware and software package that could support learning across the curriculum. With Lanny leading the charge, the whole school got involved in creating a video entry to The Promethean Grant 2018. The effort put in by staff and students saw them win an ActivPanel, which they decided to place in the library so that everyone would have a chance to use it.

Putaruru College’s ActivPanel is being used every hour and the library is seeing a lot more footfall as a result, drawing children in during breaktimes to play education games. Whilst the staff were a little unsure at first, Kim pointed out that it was an intuitive experience for the students, saying: “The students definitely feel ownership over the ActivPanel and have taken to using it so quickly, instinctively knowing how best to use it and exploring apps and activities.”

The ActivPanel has enabled different ways of teaching and engaging with content in all subjects at Putaruru College. Science teachers have been using the ActivPanel to help them with moon studies, and many students have benefited from documentaries shown to the class via the display. Having students work together using the ActivPanel has helped Putaruru College uphold their values of involvement and confidence across the centre, and they are looking to work with other schools who have ActivPanels to share their experiences and seek inspiration to achieve even greater impact on teaching and learning with the technology.

“It is just incredible for the whole community to have access to this amazing technology.” Lanny Joe - Teacher at Putaruru College