The Connected Learning Centre

The Connected Learning Centre (CLC) supported schools and other settings in using digital technologies creatively and critically. It provided outstanding curriculum support, technical services and professional development.

Our approach

The award-winning centre aimed to embed technology use into all areas of the curriculum based on the principle that every young person deserves the digital skills and critical mindset to prepare them for life. Its curriculum workshops and CPD programmes were effective, engaging and always based on sound pedagogical research. Its technical team offered expert, independent advice with best value in mind.

The CLC helped senior leaders make informed choices about IT, supported teaching staff to feel confident in using technology and worked with school technicians to provide high quality technical services. The team worked with the whole school community from governors and business managers to pupils and families to help them understand, use, benefit from and enjoy new technologies.

Our impact

The result was a measurable impact on each school that CLC supports. It was proud to have an exceptional track record of improving teaching and learning with 98% of teachers reporting that pupil learning outcomes improved following attendance at its curriculum support workshops and CPD sessions. A further 97% said that their own teaching practice would improve following attendance at these events. Teachers also said that not only is CLC’s CPD beneficial for teachers’ practice and students’ learning, it also got them excited about computing.

The CLC provided effective support to teachers and school leaders during the Covid-19 pandemic through specially developed remote PD sessions and virtual communities of practice. It also supported children and their families at home: lending laptops to schools with the most disadvantaged children who had no access to computers for home learning during the pandemic and supported over 1,200 families in Lambeth with technical guidance under the UK government’s ‘laptop for parents’ initiative. The team used their online learning expertise to support the Jordanian Ministry of Education’s ‘Education During Emergency Plan’, including delivering training materials for teachers and headteachers, and providing an online safety course.

The CLC offered schools the opportunity to work on special projects with corporate and cultural partners such as IBM, TATE and the Southbank Centre. It was the IBM’s delivery partner for the IBM teacher summer schools (which won an award from the Lord Mayor of London) and the IBM Junior Developer Challenge. In 2018, 100% of pupils who took part in the IBM Junior Developer Challenge said they had learnt something new from the project, often highlighting personal and social development as well as STEM-related skills: “I have learnt how to programme a robot and work as a team,” said one pupil.

The CLC’s involvement in research projects helped inform its work. It worked with University College London on its Scratch Maths project and was a partner with Rosendale Research School, one of a network of research schools run by the Education Endowment Foundation. It also worked on Co-Think, a European Union-funded project exploring best practice in teaching computational thinking in an inclusive way.

Committed to quality

The CLC team was made up of consultants and experts in the teaching of computing. Committed to delivering high quality services, it was part of the Department for Education-sponsored Network of Excellence in Computer Science Teaching and had a Computing at School master teacher on its teaching team. CLC was also a recognised Apple Regional Training Centre and its technical team won the NAACE impact award for its services. In January 2020, CLC was awarded a prestigious Bett award in recognition of its support and service to schools, for the second year running.