The Challenge

St Hilda’s has deliberately created a culture of innovation, exemplified by it being the only school in Australia with entrepreneurship as a compulsory part of the curriculum for students in Years 5 to 10. It sees learning reimagined in a way that is directly relevant to the future lives of its students, and supports staff in their teaching endeavours.

Nicole Adams, Director of Teaching and Learning (K-12) at St Hilda’s, says: “To be able to teach an entrepreneurial mindset, the school needed a technological solution that provided students with workplace-relevant skills.”

“The teaching and learning tasks with technology are to be purposeful, to inculcate skills for the workforce and life.”

The Solution

Compnow supports St Hilda’s Microsoft Surface education technology program, particularly its entrepreneurship program. In the latest device rollout, the smaller sized Surface Go is used by students to Year 6, Surface Pros by lower secondary students and the more powerful, 2-in-1 convertible Surface Laptop Studio by senior students. The Surface is great because of the ability to grab a stylus and write on the screen,” Nicole says.

“Being a Microsoft school, that single environment makes everything so easy. Teachers and students can project their work seamlessly throughout the school. And our IT department only needs one management tool in a one size fits all for the 1500 plus devices on campus for staff and students.”

Lara Clarke, Head of Entrepreneurship at St Hilda’s, says: “Technology is embedded in every aspect of today’s world. Our students have to know how to use it effectively and efficiently.”

“From an entrepreneurship program perspective our aim is support the growth of confident, collaborative, young women who will be well prepared for life beyond the bounds of a school life. Our program teaches them how to design and pitch an idea, to solve small and large problems in the world. To find the positives.”

St Hilda’s choice of Microsoft devices and app suite – the diversity and flexibility of the platform – is vital to its programs. Students have pens and can flip their devices and use them as notebooks. When demonstrating ideas to teachers, their peers or even pitching to outside communities as part of project work, students have learnt how to use the multiple options available for producing content. St Hilda’s classrooms are collaborative spaces where students work with Canva, Teams, OneNote, SketchUp, the Sway presentation suite. And use technology in communications – to create loop conversations and personal tabs with meeting notes – “not skills normally used in the classroom,” Lara says.

“It’s about thinking and working like an entrepreneur, responding to different personality types. Once you leave school it’s not about grades, you’ll be judged on what you do, and how you achieve it.”

As confident technology users, St Hilda’s students can “concentrate on having a go, having a voice, and working in a team. By teaching them these skills, we’re ticking a big box for them going forward,” Lara says.

To achieve that for students, Nicole’s main goal is “to have a quality teacher in front of every class. To do that we need staff development that’s relevant and up to date. St Hilda’s Evolve the Expertise professional learning strategy is by and for our teachers, but we also invite Compnow to contribute. They know not only about the technology but they are also deeply embedded in the teaching space and share their extensive knowledge so well”.

The Benefits

With its technical and education sector expertise, Compnow helps St Hilda’s draw the most from its Microsoft environment. Lara says: “With everything in the same package, it’s so easy to teach with and for the students to use. We’re very lucky to have all that functionality in the classroom”.

Nicole says: “Compnow grasps three very important facets that every educator grapples with. First, how to get technology into our students’ hands and use it in an ethical way. Second, not throwing the baby out with the bath water – technology has to enhance learning and not interrupt the focus on good pedagogy and good teaching and learning. And, how automation can create time for teachers to be more productive in the classroom.”

The partnership means Nicole can “simply pick up the phone and ask Compnow for help, or find an ear to bounce an idea off. They’re very good at keeping a respectful distance, and aren’t pushy for sales. What I really like is their spidey sense of when they know I need to know something”.