Think of the demands businesses faced during Covid to improve accessibility to their services and products for a diverse range of customers. The huge growth in the use of QR (quick response) codes has been a big part of their response.
We’ve done something similar at our primary school and early learning and childcare centre, in Paisley, where we have children from a range of cultures and socioeconomic backgrounds. We have used QR codes creatively and very successfully over the past two years to connect with our pupils and families.
The versatility of this approach enables children and families to engage through a variety of devices, including mobile phones, tablets and iPads. We have used this consistent digital approach to deliver safe, quality-assured, targeted learning and play-based content in a variety of different ways.
This content has included embedded videos created by ourselves and pupils and drone footage, and we have linked our websites and blogs to QR codes. We have also used QR codes to share education resource packages, flashcards, worksheets, displays, floor books and correspondence with families.
This is accessible to all, and provides convenient, targeted support to close gaps in learning. It also overcomes written communication barriers for those who are yet to learn to read, children with English as an additional language and those who have additional needs.
QR codes help the transition to primary school
By using dual coding in the design of our resources (combining icons/pictures, words and QR codes), we enhance understanding of the content that is linked to the QR codes. This has improved children’s independence, learning resilience, attainment, wellbeing and digital literacy skills, as well as providing more opportunities for fluid learning between stages, metacognition and evaluation.
Covid-19 safety measures prevented us from providing conventional transitional support from our early learning and childcare centre to Primary 1. So, having already seen the popularity and success of using QR codes in our school and beyond for other reasons, we aimed to use these in our transitional support.
We understood the impact of transitions on children’s resilience, attainment and wellbeing, and, consequently, the need for our enhanced support in the situation we found ourselves in during the pandemic.
A QR code transition support pack contained videos and drone footage, created in response to the queries, needs and interests of children and their familes. This enabled them to become familiar with staff, our setting and school life in Primary 1 as frequently as they wished, at a time suitable to them.
This approach also overcame written communication barriers and led to positive transition experiences during children’s first visit to school and after the summer holidays- we received excellent feedback from children and families about this.
In 2021-22 we compiled and shared our Five “Cs” of transition support with parents and carers in our QR code transition support pack, in line with Education Scotland’s Realising the Ambition guidance. This was to show what we, as a school, promise to deliver, and to promote positive transitional experiences.
Our transition support was enhanced in the final term of 2021-22 by being able to welcome parents and carers back into our school. This went very well, but we now also had the ongoing benefit of children and families being able to refer to our QR code transition support pack, which has helped to reduce anxieties.
Our QR code strategy is embedded in practice at our school and early learning and childcare centre. It has improved children’s outcomes and the engagement of families, and it is cost-effective. The presentations and training that we have shared around this have led to accolades such as being a finalist in the 2022 Tes Schools Awards’ Best Use of Technology category, for schools from throughout the UK.
We would be delighted to share our digital strategy with any interested schools and early learning and childcare centres - just get in touch.
Alison Vandal is a deputy headteacher in Scotland and Aileen Mackey (@mackey_aileen on Twitter) is an early learning and childcare officer. Both are based at Williamsburgh Primary School and Early Learning and Childcare Centre, in Paisley
Aileen Mackey can be emailed at gw17mackeyaileen@glow.sch.uk
