Product reviews for Freaked Out

When I walked into Bryn Primary School 3 years ago, iPads were a new, highly anticipated, fresh resource for the school. They were hungrily used by the children as a reward for positive behaviour and as an enhanced resource in the classroom for areas of learning. Although I claimed to be confident with the use of -˜ICT', iPad's were relatively new to me-¦ I needed to refine my skills in order to determine the best way to utilise this expensive resource. I first met Simon at a -˜good practice' visit to Casllwchwr Primary School in 2012. I listened to his success story and observed how iPad's were utilised in classrooms; needless to say I was truly inspired by what I saw. Digital technology was a fully embedded, integral part of learning. Children were confident and enthused by an array of stimulating apps that not only aided but enhanced their literacy and numeracy skills. Granted, they were fortunate to have -˜one to one' - device per child but I could see immediately the impact it was having on the attitude towards learning in the school. 

I returned to Bryn Primary brimming with ideas, overwhelmed with apps and motivated! I downloaded as many apps as I could manage and unleashed them on staff in one fail swoop! Oh, how naïve I was! After a few months, it was clear that as a school, we were no better off in terms of impact on learning than when we started. It was time to rethink. Thankfully, Simon was in the process of writing an excellent and timely book for teachers just like me! A book that would offer not only the practical support, but also experienced advice that would ultimately change the way digital learning was viewed in our school. We immediately booked Simon to deliver a -˜Freaked Out' inset day which was a huge success! It instilled confidence within the staff, refocused our action plan and gave clear direction on how to become a 21st century facilitator of learning in education. Staff were equipped with the skills and knowledge in the form of a fantastic, step by step, easy to follow guide and motivated by a man who had -˜been there and done it', there was no stopping us-¦ 

The school is making steady progress in its approach to digital learning. We have introduced the role of -˜Digital Wizards' to selected children and tailored Simon's recommended  apps to suit their needs particularly in Literacy and Numeracy. The pupils are empowered, and in time, with their confidence increasingly growing, they will have control of their own digital learning. We are beginning to see less confident, reluctant children blossom with tailored apps such as -˜Puppetpals' and -˜Book Creator' enhancing their skills in oracy. Teachers and Additional Practitioners are using apps in lessons and are beginning to view the iPads as an integral part of learning, not just an -˜additional resource' or enticing incentive. They can rely on -˜Freaked Out' as a -˜dip in' teaching aid to consistently refer to in the fast pace chaos of everyday teaching life. A quick scan of a QR code, a glimpse a screen shot and staff have everything they need to inject excitement, intrigue and variety into lessons.



In terms of CPD, the book, hand in hand with our -˜Freaked Out' training has provided us with the opportunity to address our digital learning needs within the school and will continue to do so.  I look forward to the months of -˜digi learning' ahead with eager anticipation-¦