Richard Anderton talks all things signage at Mere Green

Back in November, we presented at the West Midlands Apple Regional Training Centre launch event, which took place at Mere Green Primary in Birmingham. Hosted by Enhancing Teaching and Learning through Technology Lead, Richard Anderton, TrilbyTV were proud to be showcasing amongst the likes of Showbie and KRCS Education. Mere Green had just renewed their TrilbyTV Unlimited Screen Licence for another year, expanding their signage throughout many different areas of the school. It was great to see this first hand and we just had to get an Under the Hat session with Richard to gain a little more insight into their digital signage journey;

What’s the best thing about your job?

“No two days are the same, every day brings a new challenge along with new rewards. I’m very lucky to work at a school where technology is at the center of everything that we do. This enables us to create meaningful learning opportunities for children and help to shape their futures.”

Why is sharing and showcasing digital content important to you?

“It allows for a total buy-in to our whole school community, not just from the children’s perspective but parents and staff too. It allows the children to see the work that they’ve produced instantly across the school site. It also allows for post-learning to take place with some great questions and deeper thinking outside of the classroom. The possibilities are really endless.”

Why TrilbyTV?

“It’s easy to use – not everyone has to be a technology specialist to use it. Teachers that are less confident with technology can easily use the system, meaning that not just one person has to have control. We can make sure that the leadership of the digital signage is distributed at all levels, ensuring that content relevant to the viewer is shared.”

What’s been your TrilbyTV eureka moment?

“We have an evidence-informed approach to our teaching and learning focus. So TrilbyTV has ensured that we can share hints and tips to teachers in our staff areas to promote further development for them. The Content Catalogue in TrilbyTV has some great content such as Vocabulary Ninja’s ‘Word of the Day’ which is brilliant. The live streaming of content means that we can link up to things like our Forest school and this creates endless opportunities.”

What are your future plans for growing the school’s digital signage?

“We want digital signage to be a central part of our school and the wider community. It allows for collaboration and communication between different sites within the same trust, and also allows for personalised learning. It also opens the door to learning beyond the classroom and to be distributed to the whole school community.”

What idea or resource are you leaving in the hat?

“Separate the content for children into three different phases. The first phase could be initiating their background knowledge and activating their minds before a lesson. This can be done with a quick photo or question for them to look at – preparing them for the learning that’s going to take place during the lesson. The second phase; share a post learning question, photo or stimulus to promote deeper and further learning outside the classroom. The third is the ability to easily share and show the fantastic work from that lesson.”

What tips would you leave Under the Hat for other TrilbyTV users?

“Really think about the purpose of why you’re doing this. It shouldn’t be an add-on and it doesn’t want to be something that’s forgotten about. It needs to make a real impact, so think about why you’re doing it, how it’s going to enhance your school community and where to go from there.”

Thank you Richard, it’s great to hear how TrilbyTV has become an important part of pupils learning and development at Mere Green Primary School. We can’t wait to check in again to see what other fantastic new ways you’ve been using our digital signage solution!