To choose a secondary school that uses iPads

[Abneyandteal19]

DS is starting to look at secondary schools. We have 3DS but he's the oldest so first to move up.
Two secondaries in our area- broadly similar sizes and very similar results. Got a good feeling for both when we visited. Both ofsted good.

School A is an Apple Distinguished school. All kids have an iPad. It's fully controlled by school. They can't download apps/no App Store no YouTube and serious filters on even when at home. They can't even change the Lock Screen. Still use pen and paper for English and maths and use the iPad like a 'textbook' teacher send slides and question to it. Has lots of accessibility features such as changing background colour/font size etc.
however it will mean significant 'screen time' each day.

School B- standard pen paper/ textbook scenario. Use iPads and laptops as part of curriculum but not like school A. Some homework online so kids need access at home. Luckily this isn't an issue for us could afford a laptop for homework.

I'm unsure on whether I think it's too much screen time or if it's the way of the world/ prepare them for working life etc.

Does anyone have experience of an Apple school? Positives/negatives??

What would you do? Thanks

My child is at an Apple school in primary. They all have iPads and use them a lot. They still do some written work but then usually photograph it and upload it.

I think it is harder for parents to monitor homework that way but I don't object to the screen use.

It’s my biggest problem with the school I chose tbh.
Yes it was great in the pandemic when they were able to seamlessly switch to a full online timetable on the first day of lockdown, but other than that I mainly regard it as a bad thing.
I don’t like having a device in the house where I am not in charge. The fact homework is always on screens makes it harder to control their screen time. It encourages them to use stupid apps like Sparx Reader that don’t promote learning, they discourage it.
If you have a child with a concentration problem it makes it harder for them to put away screens and get homework done because the distractions are always there.
Also I have 3 children and they have each needed 2 or 3 over the course of secondary so it’s been expensive.

Not something I would care about either way tbh. I certainly wouldn’t discount a good school because of extreme views about screen time.

I've never heard of them and it certainly wouldn't be something I'd value in a school. My children have managed to complete school/still be at school without ever having done anyyhing on an iPad and I genuinely don't think they could have turned any better than they have.

The lack of every having had an iPad in the home has had absolutely no effect on their success in life.

Are the iPads provided by the school or are parents expected to buy them?

A lot of families are potentially excluded if the cost is borne by the parents.

Thanks for the opinions-
I wouldn't say we have extreme views on screen time. We have a switch and they play on that as well as an iPad with strict parental controls. I just wondered about eye strain or as a PP mentioned the not being able to 'tune out' does it blur the lines between 'fun' and 'work'

To the PP who mentioned cost- every child get one no matter the income. There is a scheme where you pay an amount a month they get one iPad yr7-9 then a brand new one in Yr10 then when they leave in Yr11 they turn off all controls and they get a 2 year old iPad for college.

If you don't want to pay or can't you still get an iPad but it's borrowed so you give it back when you leave.

I'm really surprised your kids haven't used an iPad in primary school! Not even for ICT or photographing? Is there homework still on paper?

I don't think there anything wrong with them in context and maybe having one all the time will take away the novelty of it??

We haven’t had any eye strain problems.
Actually come to think of it there has been a benefit for ds2 who has an unrelated serious eye condition, in that he is able to take a photo of the board and blow it up rather than needing to be sat at the front of the class.

I can't speak to whether the primary schools my children went to have iPads now but not when they were there and at secondary now they hand write in books and use some form of laptop, might be cromebooks, I'm not sure of the specifics.

This is what I consider a fairly normal state secondary school in a small town but a member of a larger trust. Are these apple schools more of a London or large city type project?

I don't know what "extreme views" on screen time would be. If you look at the evidence and look at conclusions made, you'll have an informed opinion. It's your choice, but personally I'd go for school B.

I've just looked it up, if the website is up to date it seems there are less than 50 in England so no wonder I've never heard of them.

I would just pick whatever school you think is best. I use a screen all day for work, never use pen and paper

I would detest this. I am increasingly realising as an adult how addictive screens are and wouldn't want my DC on one that much. They are also terrible for young eyes. My niece has eyesight issues and as a child the ophthalmologist was very clear screens, particularly small screens like phones and tablets, should be avoided in favour of time outdoors.

I can’t decide if I think this is a cold cynical move my apple to inculcate these kids into the apple universe at an early age or a realistic response to life in the real world.

BitOutofPractice

Its the former.

It's Apple marketing to get iPads in front of as many people as possible. Same with Microsoft offering schools big discounts on Office licenses, to get people comfortable with Word and Excel from a young age. Same with Google and its push to get Chromebooks in schools.

My kids didn't have phones or iPads until secondary. Then they got into one of these Apple secondary schools. It wasn't our first choice of school but they have been very happy there. They don't use iPads for every lesson and it has not been a problem. They are both year 10. When I talk to my friends whose kids are in other schools, they don't seem to have more screen time at all. We had to buy iPads but got a twin discount at least and those on pupil premium got them for free.

School B seems way behind the times. Surprised any secondary school these days hasn’t gone digital. Outs use Microsoft and all students have a Surface laptop. Your kid will be at a technological disadvantage if they aren’t using IT day in day out by the time they leave. Like it or not it’s how the world works now.

This just wouldn't factor in my decision at all, it doesn't give enough context about the school either way, there are much more important criteria to look at when choosing a school.

Our secondary school is not one of these, however most of the homework is still set online and they still use homework apps. Sometimes in class they are all told to use their phones for an activity. I can't imagine it would be too different if they made it official and gave them all an iPad!

Our school uses iPads and it hasn’t been as bad as I thought. We had to buy them. They don’t seem to use them much at all in class, but homework is listed on it and has to be photographed and uploaded. It means they can give them links to view exact videos if they want them to watch something for research. Maybe one bit of homework a week is to do something along those lines. Dd still has books for every lesson except for computing, which is entirely iPad based. All other homework is handwritten. She’s only y7, so perhaps the use ramps up?

Admittedly it was a while ago but the last time I looked for research on the use of tablets in schools it looked like occasional use was beneficial to learning, but using them for every lesson ended up being detrimental. I don't know if that's still the case.

The other thing I'd personally be very wary of is having an internet-connected device, with a camera and mic, in the possession of my child but that I cannot put my own controls on. I want to manage which sites my DCs can access and what they can do with the device. That's my decision to make, not the school's.

The best secondary school I worked in was an iPad school. Every child had one. All work done and submitted via the iPad. I found it efficient and easy, and it was definitely a positive for those kids with learning needs. They had rough books so there was still writing. As a qualified teacher who has taught in the best and worst schools across Yorkshire, I wouldn’t hesitate to send my kids to a school like this. It would be a positive for me.

My DD is in an iPad school, and it has been for 12 years. It's not something we thought about at the time. She's now in yr9, she's not a natural screen time person preferring to craft and dance in her downtime. However DS who will attend there from next year would choose to go on screen all day if we let him, so we'll see how he gets on!
We have had to purchase the iPads through school who make sure all the correct controls are in place.

iPads are about as dumbed-down a form of IT as it's possible to get. They're a world away from real IT.

I work at a uni. We have to have classes to teach students what folders are and how to transfer files to a usb stick because if all you've used are iPads, you have never encountered this kind of thing.