Technology at St Thomas More

Students at St Thomas More are encouraged to develop many 21st Century Higher Order thinking skills – including Problem Solving, Communication, Creativity, Collaboration and Critical Thinking. The integrated use of technology within the everyday learning environment allows our students to further develop these skills. We work to achieve success in a rapidly changing technological and information-rich world which develops our students into responsible digital citizens who are able to interact collaboratively as members of the connected global community.

We integrate the use of iPads in a 1 to 1 device program for students in Year 3 to Year 6.  Students in Kindergarten to Year 2 share the use of school-supplied devices. A mobile device is a powerful tool which is used to enrich a child’s learning environment.  Mobile technology is used for creating, problem-solving, communicating and subsequently sharing these capabilities with their peers, their parents and their teachers at a developmentally appropriate level. Good teaching does not arrive in a mobile device nor does it replace play, handwriting, construction activities or socialising with friends. Apps which are assigned for student use are chosen to extend creativity and inquiry and are not chosen for recreation or gameplay. In our school environment, teachers create welcoming and stimulating learning environments, and learning occurs beyond the walls of the classroom, by making use of the natural and outdoor environments.

Children receive opportunities to learn how to write code, program robots and further enrich their digital technologies skills. The benefits of learning to code at a young age include the development of problem-solving skills, computational thinking, persistence, collaboration and a deeper understanding of a range of mathematical concepts and languages.

Why a 1:1 iPad program?

• It allows for communication and collaboration between students, their peers and their teachers
• It allows for personalised learning – differentiation between students’ learning styles and capabilities and for students to take their learning in their own direction
• Takes advantage of the anywhere, anytime approach to 21st-century learning – Bridges the gap between home and school and can be easily moved throughout the school
• Easy to use and manipulate
• Smaller, lightweight and quicker to start-up and use than a Laptop
• Easily accessed camera/QR Reader

Download the iPad Program Parent Information Book