2023 BYO iPad Purchasing Portal Guide

At Orchard Grove Primary School we have a strong commitment to digital technologies. Students access Digital Technologies as part of their weekly activities in Literacy, Numeracy and Integrated Studies. This is done to support and extend student learning.

Students in Years F to 6 have access to our Computer Lab on a weekly basis as the need arises. Each Foundation to Year 3 classroom has a mix of iPads, laptops and desktop computers. We have a 1-1 iPad program operating in Years 4-6 and, in addition, we have desktop computers and laptops available to allow the students plenty of access to conduct internet research and to enable them to create ICT products.

All computers are networked and have high-speed connections to the Internet. ICT is integrated across the range of the primary school curriculum where skills are developed within the curriculum and not taught in isolation. We use applications to support the development of learning outcomes across the curriculum and to engage the students in collaborative, co-operative and problem solving activities. Multimedia is particularly beneficial in the development of higher order thinking skills and in allowing for different learning styles.

Each class has a blog or a Google site in which teachers and students reflect on experiences. This provides an opportunity for parents to see and participate in some aspects of the class programs. Email and collaborative documents using Google apps are used throughout the school, appropriately for the students’ needs.

The Victorian and Australian Curricula integrate ICT throughout English, Mathematics and other domains. It is therefore critical that our school’s leadership team and staff continue to advocate for, and use technology, to broaden the learning of our students.

eSmart

An eSmart school is a school where the smart, safe and responsible use of information and communications technology is a cultural norm. Students, teachers and the wider school community are equipped to embrace the best these technologies can offer, while being savvy about the pitfalls.

To insure that our students are competent and safe users of new and emerging technology, we are committed to implementing a program which educates our students in the safe, responsible and ethical use of the internet and social networking.

As such, we have developed an eSmart curriculum for the students and teachers to use. This is part of our fortnightly Well-Being rotations at each year level. We provide parent information through the school newsletter and provide opportunities for staff professional development. We are now an accredited eSmart school.