Thomas’s Head of Digital Learning UTH

We recently spoke to Stuart Hammersley who is Head of Digital Learning at Thomas’s Kensington. He told us how TrilbyTV’s public links feature works seamlessly with Google Classroom and Seesaw for the school’s remote learning. After our chat, we decided to do an under the hat session, to find out his thoughts on digital signage.

Under the Hat With Stuart Hammersley, Head of Digital Learning

What’s the best thing about your job?

“Previous to the current Coronavirus situation I would have given you a different answer to be perfectly honest! Currently it’s being able to keep learning going for a whole school community and ensure that it is done safely and effectively while using online platforms. Also utilising systems to check on the well-being of pupils and ensure their creative development, which has been astounding recently!”

Why is sharing and showcasing digital content important to you?

“For the children it’s the most important thing. It gives them an outlet that allows their work to go out to a real audience. Seeing their faces and the chitter chatter when their work goes on the screens around school is incredible. So many children and staff have been inspired by the work they have seen showcased and have added that to their own repertoire. They are so much more engaged when you say that their work could go on one of the digital screens used for signage.”

Why TrilbyTV?

“Reliable, robust, simple.”

What’s been your TrilbyTV eureka moment?

“There’s probably been two actually – using Google Slides means we can update staff in real time. Any changes to staffing or planning can be sent using a variety of platforms. Also more recently, the public links feature has been invaluable for us because it was something that was taking up a lot of our time. It is really, really useful to have something separate that works with our filtering system to get video content to children reliably and safely.”

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

“I think the teachers have embraced the role technology has to play wholeheartedly [since the schools have been working differently due to Coronavirus]. Hopefully, they’ll be more even willing to utilise technology and we’ll have more engaging, creative content to go on the signage screens around school.”

What idea or resource are you leaving in the hat?

“I think utilising the journal platforms such as Seesaw, Showbie, Google Classroom and having TrilbyTV host the videos. It makes a rock solid solution that is simple and has been proven to work.”

Thanks for your thoughts Stuart, it’s great to hear how beneficial TrilbyTV has been in implementing your home learning.

You can read more about Stuart’s and Thomas’s London Day Schools use of TrilbyTV for their school digital learning in our recent blog and if you would like to try out the number one digital signage solution made for education you can get a 30-day free trial here.