The Oaks Specialist College is a Microsoft Showcase College!
The Oaks is a specialist college for 18-25 year olds with learning difficulties in Kent and East Sussex. The not-for-profit organisation was established in 2018 to follow learners as they graduate from special schools and aid their transition into adult life, by providing them with a tailored study program to meet their individual needs.
The college has demonstrated inspirational guidance and provided incredible opportunities to improve independence for local young adults with learning difficulties through a progressive digital framework. This has led Microsoft to recognise and award The Oaks the prestigious status of being labelled as a ‘Microsoft Showcase College for 2022-23’ (the only SEND Showcase College globally!)
SEND – People with special educational needs or learning difficulties
The beginning of Digital Transformation
Throughout their digital transformation journey, the college has focused on the Specialist Further Education sector and their leadership within this area. Their vision, “to develop digitally empowered young people who have autonomy over their independence”, came to fruition once the college integrated digital transformation into their education transformation plan.
Inevitably, The Oaks found themselves in a position of uncertainty when the national Covid lockdown commenced. The way of teaching their students had to move to remote learning in order to fulfil their learners’ goals and aspirations.
The use of Microsoft Teams became a catalyst to their successful digital transformation journey with the ability to use sign language, body language and visuals through the online video meeting system. The learners’ positive response from the integration onto online learning allowed for the college to exploit Microsoft’s digital services to further develop the future employment and independent potential of their young people. This led to the progression of the day-to-day curriculum with the emphasis on encouraging using accessibility features such as immersive reader, translator and Flipgrid.
Having rapidly discovered the impact of beginning a digital transformation journey, the team at The Oaks focused on the Microsoft Showcase Schools program and maximised the encouragement, support and opportunities the program and framework give.
This opportunity allowed the college to progress their educational transformation further through developing skills, knowledge and digital behaviours in their learners and their staff, sharing best practice and ideas with others along the way.
Introduction to Microsoft Showcase Schools
Microsoft Showcase Schools are a global community of schools using digital transformation to create immersive, inclusive experiences that empower students to achieve more. Each school that enters the program identifies their place on the Showcase School Rubric and makes a conscious effort to leverage their education transformation framework with support of Microsoft.
The Oaks Specialist College were eager to participate in this program because…
“When we investigated the ways to make long-term systemic digital change we wanted to do it in a structured manner, and in a way that was based on research. When we settled on using the Education Transformation Framework we felt that we would benefit from the support and guidance Microsoft provide to setting in their Showcase program. The guidance and support when we were an Incubator College allowed us to benefit from the experiences of others and seek advice using the Microsoft Showcase community.”
Elizabeth Wilkins, Digital Lead, The Oaks.
Application process
The college started their digital transformation process with Microsoft in July 2021, when they applied to be an Incubator school (and were the first 18-25 SEND specialist college to do so).
Before earning the prestigious status of being a ‘Showcase College’, The Oaks had to successfully complete the ‘Incubator’ period to prove their dedication to evolving their digital framework. Within this period, they met 6 criteria:
- Commitment to transform
- Culture of learning and growth
- Personalized learning and inclusion
- Future ready skills
- Data drives decisions
- Microsoft solutions impact
To adapt these criteria around their learners’ needs, the college introduced new processes and embedded digital skills holistically across their curriculum.
The college recognised the assisted approach their learners needed in order to fulfil their highest potential. The innovative approaches to learning they adapted included the migration to OneNote, allowing learners to access their materials within and outside their college environment, a ‘60SecondCPD’ to coach and mentor learners with a 60 second video to lower anxiety surrounding change and Microsoft’s product, ‘Lens’, as a form of assistive technology to best cater access to written work.
The incubator program runs up to two academic years however The Oaks graduated from this after just one year! The college stood out for this status by being amongst a few in their incubator group to graduate and be accredited after just one year, with others remaining in the incubator program for a second year.
Getting accredited
The transformative work of the college left Microsoft with no hesitation to award The Oaks as a Microsoft Showcase School in 2022. Their ability to innovate their learners’ platform and lead the future pathway of educational transformation makes the college deserving of this highly respectable status.
Rick Hermann, Vice President of Worldwide Education, commented:
“You are part of an exclusive global community, recognized and celebrated for educational transformation that includes vision and innovation in teaching, learning and preparing students for the future”.
What is next for The Oaks College?
Despite the exceptional work they have done, this is only the beginning of The Oaks’ digital transformation journey. The college have numerous projects planned for the upcoming years, with a particular focus on expanding into new settings of digital strategy to develop further accessible technologies with their learners. They have begun this by setting up a flat with smart home technologies for the learners to utilise and become more autonomous.
Phil Astell, Group Managing Director of the inTEC GROUP, commented:
“We are very grateful to have worked alongside The Oaks to support their IT infrastructure for many years and more recently we assisted them with their Microsoft Showcase School application. Their digital transformation journey has been incredible to witness and we are very excited to see what the future holds for The Oaks. They are such an inspirational and transformative organisation!“
If you would like support in applying for the Microsoft Showcase School & College accreditation, please contact us via our specialist Education division.
