The application of IT skills has become an important aspect of every subject at St Mary's. There are several fully equipped computer classrooms, which are used for IT lessons and for other subjects that need the computer facilities. Each classroom has a networked computer which staff use to enhance their teaching. The policy of integration of studies is encouraged throughout the school.
St Mary's is proud of its optical fibre network which links more than 300 computers in all areas of the school's site. The LAN covers workgroups in the LRC (Learning Resources Centre), three High School labs, two Primary School labs, administrative areas and classrooms. It stretches from the Creativity Centre in the Primary School to Art, Boarding and Sport in the High School. Beningfield House in the Primary School and the new High School Sports House are linked via wireless connections.
The acquisition of several SMART Boards, which are interactive white boards, has enhanced teaching in both the High School and Primary School. This exciting tool turns the computer and data projector into a presentation and collaboration tool.
The Internet is accessed via our Linux proxy server with an uncapped 1024kb ADSL line. We have web filtering and web reporting software on this server that makes it safer for our girls to be in cyberspace. Our mail server is equipped with mail scanning software to try to prevent viruses and spam. The IT department has developed and actively maintains an Intranet which acts as a resource of information, a show-case of good work, and an exchange for all pupils and staff.
Data Projectors
Data projectors are being installed in many classrooms and common areas such as the Hall and Lecture Theatre. This empowers the teachers to present visual, interactive, exciting lessons. In the High School most subjects have at least one projector per department and our five-year plan is for every classroom to have one. In the Primary School we are doing this by grade. At present there are data projectors in the Creativity Centre and the Grade 7 classrooms. The Senior Primary and Junior Primary labs have Smartboards (Interactive Whiteboards). This year we concentrated on equipping the Senior Primary and Junior Primary labs. Next year several grades will be set up with data projectors.
I T Outreach
A group of our senior girls are teaching IT skills to rehabilitated alcoholics or drug addicts who are based at Careline (formerly the Bridging Home) as the final venue before they move back into society. Many of them have no IT skills or have no memory of taught skills because of chemical abuse. In the past 18 months, three of the Careline residents have found employment because they now have IT skills. This is so encouraging and has made our girls realise that "hands on" outreach is an important component of charitable giving. Our girls have learnt so much from the residents and gained some valuable insights into what can go wrong in young lives which have so much potential. This project is managed by Reverend Gill
Padoa, our chaplain.
ICDL
Girls
in Grades 10, 11 and 12 take the International
Computer Driving Licence (ICDL) programme as a compulsory
subject. The ICDL equips them with computer skills to face the
corporate world. "Since the programme started, the school has
received a positive response from pupils and this is showed by
last year's 90 percent overall pass rate achieved,” says High
School I C T co-ordinator, Sheryl Gordon. The ICDL programme has
taught pupils different ways to access information from their
computers and has afforded them the opportunity to enhance their
computer literacy. More4
Software
Subject specific software has been installed in the computer labs and classrooms. Software such as Pastel Accounting, PACE (a careers programme), Readers are Leaders, Maths, Science, Life Science (Biology) and History programs are used by teachers and pupils.
Girls in Grades 8 and 9 learn an exciting range of skills in their I T lessons. By the end of the year the Grade 8s have a basic knowledge of end-user computing skills. They learn Word Processing, Internet Searching Skills, Image Manipulation, Computer Hardware and how to use Wikis.
Grade 9s learn Photoshop Elements 4, Animation Skills, Web Design, Blogs and Wikis.
Our vision for the very near future is for the girls to work with Moodle, Think.com, Wikispaces, Blogs and more collaborative learning. The list goes on…
Readers are Leaders
The Readers are Leaders program has been installed in the both the Primary and High School. Readers are Leaders is installed on all of the computers in the Learning Resources Centre (67 in total). This means that anyone interested in the
program can pursue it in their own time and as often as they wish. The Resources Centre remains open until 17h30 each day excluding Fridays when it closes at 16h00.
All Grade 8 learners have been logged on and will use the English part of the
program at least once a cycle during lesson time. Any learner wishing to attend supervised sessions may attend these after school. Several Afrikaans classes have started using this program to assist with reading speed, comprehension, spelling and grammar.
How does Readers are Leaders benefit its users?
Reading speed will improve dramatically;
Users learn to read with comprehension;
Users receive academic stimulation;
Instantaneous computer evaluation allows users to work independently at their own pace;
Users read with improved insight;
It improves vocabulary, spelling, word recognition and grammar.
What does Readers are Leaders involve?
It has 15 levels each with 5 levels of difficulty and covers grades 1 to 12;
Level 13 to 15 is included for advanced students;
There are 850 exercises based on the National curriculum;
It is available in English and Afrikaans and is suitable for First or Second language usage;
It retains accurate results of all completed work with graphs showing progress;
It even includes a Fun Hangman game!
If you would like more information on Readers are Leaders, log onto their website at:
www.readersareleaders.co.za
St Mary's is proud of its optical fibre network which links more than 300 computers in all areas of the school's site. The LAN covers workgroups in the LRC (Learning Resources Centre), three High School labs, two Primary School labs, administrative areas and classrooms. It stretches from the Creativity Centre in the Primary School to Art, Boarding and Sport in the High School. Beningfield House in the Primary School and the new High School Sports House are linked via wireless connections.
A group of our senior girls are teaching IT skills to rehabilitated alcoholics or drug addicts who are based at Careline (formerly the Bridging Home) as the final venue before they move back into society. Many of them have no IT skills or have no memory of taught skills because of chemical abuse. In the past 18 months, three of the Careline residents have found employment because they now have IT skills. This is so encouraging and has made our girls realise that "hands on" outreach is an important component of charitable giving. Our girls have learnt so much from the residents and gained some valuable insights into what can go wrong in young lives which have so much potential. This project is managed by Reverend Gill
Padoa, our chaplain.