Closing the gap for pupils at Rosetta Primary School

Game changer for letter formation

“There is nothing like Kaligo on the market to support handwriting progress in schools. It saves our teacher’s time and helps manage progress for every pupil.”

Benefits

○  Immediate feedback
○  Instant assessment of handwriting ability
○  Reduces the workload for teachers
○  In-depth view of handwriting for each child
○  The bigger picture of class handwriting progress

Key information :

○ Primary school
○ 41% Pupil Premium
○ 67% EAL Students
○ Using Kaligo with 300+ students

About Rosetta Primary School

Rosetta Primary is a ‘Good’ school of over 600 pupils aged 4 to 11 based in Newham, London. The school’s motto ‘challenge ourselves to be the best’ is reflected through the leadership team who works tirelessly to ensure that every child, regardless of their background, has the same opportunities to be the best they can be.

With 41% of pupils receiving pupil premium funding and 67% of pupils speaking English as an additional language (EAL) the school has focused on using technology to deliver improvement in attainment across the school.

Previously a teacher would have stood in front of the class and explained the handwriting task, then the pupils would have written in their books. For teachers, although they see and can assess the end result, trying to watch a class of 30 children through letter formation is challenging to say the least. Letter formation is an important factor in whether children enjoy handwriting, so it is important that they get it right.

For Rosetta Primary they were already looking at how technology could help in other areas and decided to see whether Kaligo’s handwriting app could help with handwriting.

 

Closing the gap

For many children at the school, they have low aspirations and Rosetta Primary’s mission is to help those children flourish. The best place to start is to get them engages in education, so that they enjoy it as that is when they will have the most success. Additionally, with the home learning this year through COVID, there was a risk that existing learning gaps could be amplified, as Lubomba Muchimba from Rosetta Primary explains:

“The traditional method of assessment saw a teacher sitting with each child looking at how they formed letters on paper. As a large triple form entry primary school, Kaligo makes it much easier for us to track the handwriting progress of every pupil. Our pupils can also take the tablets to continue handwriting practice at home.”

With writing being a key element in the basis of a good education, Rosetta wanted to ensure that every child, regardless of their background, exceled at handwriting and that any extra support needed was picked up early enough, so that no pupils fall through the gaps.

“Our school has around 60 per cent of children who speak English as an additional language. Using Kaligo pupils are much more engaged, meaning that they progress more quickly with handwriting.”

“When pupils use Kaligo on a tablet, there is less pressure than when they write in a book. If they make a mistake, they can simply try again.

“Kaligo has been brilliant this year and has really come into it’s with remote learning and we can now see it’s true value as it is quickly closing any learning gaps lost this year.”

 

A new approach

The Kaligo app uses the latest AI technology to monitor a child’s handwriting as they use a stylus to trace letter outlines on a tablet.

Looking at how a child writes letters can provide teachers with an overview of any neurolinguistic processes behind a child’s individual writing method. By seeing how they control the stylus on a tablet, and how long they take to form different strokes or letters teachers can easily see where a pupil is struggling and where they are thriving.

Using this information, teachers can see in a few minutes whether the pupil needs any extra support, or whether there are any areas they need to spend more time on.

Kaligo uses machine learning (AI) which provides pupils with real-time, automated and corrective feedback.  Based on 6 years of research at the Laboratory IRISA/INSA, Kaligo has collected and analysed 15,000 handwriting strokes.  Each handwriting stroke is analysed based upon shape, direction and order, and identifies any difficulties children as young as age 3 may have with forming letters, numbers or even if they have an issue with pencil control.

 

Fun, familiar format

The key thing is that although it is a process of continual assessment and feedback, the children thoroughly enjoy it, “Most children are familiar with iPads and tablets, ad have access to them at home. Using technology creates a fun way and motivates them to want to write, they are excited to get the iPads out.”

 

Perfect for remote learning

For Rosetta, using Kaligo has been particularly helpful this year, where children spent time learning remotely.

“Having children more engaged in their learning means that although they have been off school and working at home for a considerable time this year, with handwriting we have seen little impact. We can see that any gaps are quickly closing as they get back in track with their handwriting.”

“For our reception year pupils, Kaligo really helps them with fine motor skills and tripod grip and we can see that using Kaligo has progressed their handwriting much quicker than children have in previous year groups.

“It’s a great handwriting app that children can just pick up and run with at home. Parents tell us that they even like to do extra handwriting practice at home.

“The instant feedback provided means that children often use the Kaligo language in conversations in the classroom, I didn’t use the correct formation for that letter. They understand and can correct the formation themselves. This has had a huge impact on handwriting improvement. And, for our teachers, in Kaligo they can record visual or verbal feedback, it is really useful.

“But perhaps one of the best outcomes is that pupils get instant intervention without adding to teacher workload.

 

Next steps

At Rosetta, the plan is for every pupil to have an iPad of their own, to use technology to drive the school forward on their journey to outstanding.

“As a teacher, I can set a particular task then monitor which children can complete it. I can see instantly which children have completed the task and which children need extra support.

“Kaligo has been brilliant this year and has really come into it’s own with remote learning and we can now see it’s true value as it is quickly closing any learning gaps lost this year. There is nothing like Kaligo on the market to support handwriting progress in schools.  It saves our teacher’s time and helps manage progress for every pupil.”

“Also, for our teachers at a time when hours in the day are few, it’s been a great helping reducing teacher workload whilst maintaining the highest levels of education.”

Make sure to take a look at our other success stories.