Key outcomes
- Greater participation: more pupils, including quieter ones and those with SEND or EAL, are contributing to classroom discussions.
- More responsive teaching: real-time responses are helping teachers identify misconceptions and adapt teaching in the moment.
- More purposeful talk: interactive activities are helping pupils to share ideas, build confidence and develop their thinking together.
“I’ve seen a massive improvement in engagement in my class using Nearpod.”
Maritime Academy Trust is a family of 13 schools with more than 4,000 pupils and 700 staff across Greenwich, Bexley, Kent and Medway. The Trust works collaboratively to improve teaching and learning across its schools, helping all pupils thrive.
With growing recognition of the impact of high-quality talk on learning, collaboration and social interaction, Maritime wanted to strengthen oracy within its schools. Mike Gardner, Teaching and Learning Lead, has been working with senior leaders and teachers on a pilot designed to harness the power of talk in the classroom.
A passionate advocate for oracy, Mike explains: “I’ve seen the direct impact that oracy can have on a child’s starting point and progress, both academically and holistically.
Successful oracy is when every pupil has an opportunity to contribute, not just the most confident voices. We want children to listen, think, question and build on each other’s ideas.”
Transforming pupil engagement
Maritime schools provide 1:1 Chromebooks for all their Key Stage 2 pupils, with shared classroom Chromebooks at Key Stage 1. This forms part of a wider commitment to use technology to enhance learning and development for every child.
One of the digital tools used is Nearpod. As part of the oracy pilot, schools have explored how Nearpod can support purposeful talk, encouraging greater participation and engagement from all pupils.
Ellie Michalakis and Ellie Edmonds from Hook Lane Primary School in Welling are two of the teachers who took part in the pilot. Ellie M shares their experience:
“I’ve seen a massive improvement in engagement in my class using Nearpod. For example, in a DT lesson, we used the VR field trip to explore playground equipment, and the children were totally engaged. They kept saying, can we do this more?”
Nearpod’s VR field trips allow you to take your pupils anywhere in the world without leaving their seats. The library has thousands of VR images that can be added to lessons, immersing children in the topic to stimulate talk and get ideas flowing.
Sam Rogerson and Suad Jama from Nightingale Primary School in Woolwich are also part of the pilot. Sam explains what he’s seen in his classroom:
“Engagement has increased across the board. We’ve got children that generally lack a voice within lessons having the opportunity to talk. We use Nearpod’s Collaborate Boards a lot. They’re a safe space for pupils who might not feel so confident. Pupils with SEND can contribute in the same way as everyone else, and everyone is able to see and build on each other’s ideas, which is great.”
Nearpod Collaborate Boards are digital discussion walls where pupils and teachers can share text, images, audio, GIFs or files in real time. These boards allow pupils to share ideas before, during and after discussions, helping them to develop and refine their thinking.
Suad adds:
“Collaborate Boards have been especially effective during discussions and questioning. They allow every child to share their ideas at the same time, including quieter pupils who may not usually speak up. You’re not just hearing from five children, you’re hearing from thirty at the same time.”
Giving a voice to all
Encouraging every pupil to contribute can be challenging, particularly for pupils with SEND or EAL, or those who simply need more thinking time. The team found Nearpod’s interactive activities and real-time responses helped more pupils participate.
Sam explains:
“If you’ve got someone that is reluctant to put their hand up and speak, they’re now able to put their voice into a Collaborate Board. We can pick that up at the front of the class and talk about it. It’s also benefitted those pupils who might talk more, but not as meaningfully as we’d like. The Collaborate Board allows them to write something down, refine it and find the thing they really want to say.”
Suad adds:
“Sharing has become less pressured. It’s an opportunity for those children who might be reluctant to speak, to be heard and their confidence built. Once they could see their ideas on the Collaborate Board, they became less shy about putting their hand up and sharing more.”
Ellie E adds:
“With my EAL children especially, there’s been a big improvement in confidence. The Collaborate Board allows them to go back to their thoughts and use the subject-specific vocabulary they need. With their ideas on the screen in front of them, they can keep referring back and retrieve knowledge they’ve already shared.”
Nearpod also makes it easier for pupils to contribute who might find typing or writing difficult.
Ellie M explains:
“Children with SEND can speak into the microphone to add to the Collaborate Board, rather than typing, so they’re able to do the same work as everyone else. For our EAL children, if they’re writing in a book and it doesn’t make sense, they sometimes feel their work is ruined. But by typing it out, they can edit it easily – which means they’re not afraid of making mistakes.”
Optimising teacher and class time
Teachers in the pilot really valued the time saved when using Nearpod to create interactive activities, formative assessments and gamified experiences that free up time for talking.
Sam explains:
“The amount of time that we can dedicate to oracy because we’re not printing worksheets and handing out physical activities means something can take two minutes rather than ten. We’ve then got more time to really go into the discussion in a deep way.”
Ellie E adds:
“Onscreen activities like matching pairs are really useful. In one history lesson, children matched pictures to the steps of mummification. They loved doing the task and then we shut our Chromebooks and built on the oracy around the topic. If anyone needs support, they can go back and use the pictures as prompts.”
Addressing misconceptions in the moment
The schools use Nearpod’s real-time reporting to instantly see how pupils are responding, making it easier for teachers to adapt discussions and address misconceptions.
Ellie M explains:
“We use Nearpod for quick assessment for learning. I can see all of the children’s screens from the board and am able to pick up any misconceptions really quickly. When children work in books, I don’t hear from everyone, but here I can see all of their responses.”
Nearpod activities and formative assessments such as polls, quizzes and matching pairs allow every pupil to respond while giving teachers instant visibility of understanding.
Ellie E adds:
“I can use those misconceptions to inform my planning for the next lesson. If a lot of children haven’t understood something, I don’t move on but go back over the concepts before taking the next step.”
Positive outcomes
Mike summarised the benefits the pilot schools have seen:
“We’ve really seen how Nearpod stimulates talk. Being able to use things like VR field trips to immerse children in a topic and stimulate discussion gets the ideas flowing. We’ve seen increased participation and equity of voice. The pupils who you never really hear in class are actually engaged. They’re sharing and getting their ideas across. We’ve also seen how technology can help free up more time for planning, delivery and assessment, creating more opportunities for discussion.”
Suad concludes:
“Engagement has gone through the roof in my classroom. It brought out a lot more of the shy pupils to contribute to lessons. So now every child has a role, every child has a voice, and it’s been really successful in the classroom.”