Lime Tree School and pupils welcome the future of teaching

​​Lime Tree Primary School in Merstham found one of its classrooms strangely full of teachers and short on children the other week as educators from across the south east of England flocked to the school for a special training day in how to use the latest Google for Education classroom apps.

The school, which opened its doors in September 2013, is a member of the Surrey-based GLF Schools multi-academy trust, and it was the GLF group which staged the Google event, both for its own educators and also anyone from other schools who might be interested in learning more about the latest in collaborative teaching technology.

Teachers from early years up to sixth form level converged on the school for the event, organised by GLF’s technology learning lead, and hosted by Google certified trainers – and six Year Two pupils from Lime Tree were also involved as school ambassadors.

“It was an honour for the school to be chosen to host such a prestigious event, so we wanted to make sure Lime Tree was represented as well as possible, and who better to do so than the children themselves,” said Lime Tree’s Key Stage Two leader Claire Wilkinson.

“They showed everyone round the school’s new facilities very proudly, and enjoyed sharing their own opinions and experiences of using technology in the classroom.

“Teachers loved being able to take what they had learnt straight back into their own classrooms the very next day; our Reception classes had lots of fun learning how to ‘Build’ with Google Chrome.”

GLF’s teaching philosophy is based on a collaborative management approach, which ties in well with the possibilities offered by the Google Education apps.

“Google Apps for Education are definitely the way forward in teaching,” said GLF group’s Ben Rouse.

“They can be the glue to help staff, children and teachers across all of our schools to share knowledge and expertise for an enhanced learning experience. At the end of the day, teachers were really excited about what they’d seen at Lime Tree, and the opportunities it will give them to put into practice. It’s great that we had an opportunity to showcase what the Apps can do, and Lime Tree was an ideal place to do it.”