Stichting Procon:  “Quality and durability means Legamaster is the automatic choice”

Stichting Procon is a collaborative association of five primary schools in Vaassen and Epe, in the Apeldoorn area.  Last year, this foundation purchased an average of three Legamaster digital school boards for all five primary schools.  Jan Oonk is headmaster of the Anne de Vries primary school in Epe and sits on the advisory committee that recommended Legamaster to the inter-school management.  To find out what lay behind this choice and how well the Legamaster school boards are being received, we visited him at “his primary school” in Epe.

Vision
“At our school, we have developed our own specific vision”, begins Oonk, who can boast over 35 years’ experience in education.  “We want to teach children to become independent and develop into valuable members of our society.  That’s why we always dwell on structure, but we also want to give the pupils a bit of space to allow them to do their own thing.  For example, the pupils work in their class on a general weekly task which they perform independently.  However, a special programme has been created in addition to the weekly task for those children who work faster, or are a bit slower.  This way, each child develops in the way that suits him or her best.  We are also a modern school; we want to move with the times, and this includes using modern, up-to-date teaching aids.  The Legamaster interactive school board, for example.  This school board really adds something to the lessons”.

Conscious choice
“When you talk about digital school boards, there are many companies out there offering them”, continues Oonk.  “We are, therefore, going to take no chances when it comes to choosing a specific board.  Together with the working group, we went to see a series of companies so that we could make a well-considered choice.  However, after the visits the choice was quickly made.  The thing is: some companies themselves had little idea of how to get the best out of the board.  At Legamaster, though, we were given a clear demonstration of all the board’s possibilities and we were even able to test it out ourselves.  The fact that it is user-friendly, allowing users to work quickly, appealed to us in particular.  This, combined with the board’s durability, was a decisive factor for us.”

Scepticism gave way to enthusiasm
A Legamaster interactive school board was bought for groups 6, 7 and 8 at the Anne de Vries school last year.  What do teaching staff really think about it?  “The teachers teaching in other groups were initially relieved because they thought it a real chore having to master all the board’s functions.  However, now they have seen how easy the other teachers find it to use, the scepticism has disappeared, and I am being asked when an interactive board will be coming for their classes!”, laughs Oonk.  “Our teachers are extremely happy with the Legamaster interactive school board.  The board is extremely scratch-resistant, has the functions of a traditional school board and is simply very practical to use, not least because it is very easy to adjust its height without having to re-calibrate it.  Also, as the teacher, you are not constantly dazzled by the light from the projector because it is conveniently mounted on the board.”  When asked if he thinks everyone will be able to work with it, Jan Oonk replies: “You definitely do not need to have taken a complicated course to use the board!” he laughs.  “A short training course, and you’ll be using it as though you’d been doing it for years.  We are also keen to emphasise the customer support provided by Legamaster.  They don’t just leave you with the board on the principle of “it’s down to you now”, but provide good training sessions and are always available to answer any questions and help to find solutions, including long after the boards have been delivered!”

Advantages for teachers
“I am convinced that all schools will change to interactive school boards within the foreseeable future”, says Oonk.  “The thing is: it is really easy to use; just a couple of clicks and the world’s your oyster.  You can find everything you need via the internet.  For example, you can prepare thoroughly at home for a geography or history lesson and obtain more information than you would if you took everything from a text book.  Recently, group 8 has been concentrating on Australia during its geography lessons.  We reproduce the map on the board, install links and then more information can be obtained by clicking on specific points.  This gives lessons a new dimension and is proving to be very stimulating”, says Oonk.  “And if there are children who struggle to keep up with the pace of the lessons, we can return to the subject later on, in a personal setting.  This is because the notes are stored, saving a lot of work.  The teachers exchange a host of teaching material, so you gain a great deal of time in the long term.

Setting up conditions
“We have already given our teachers their own laptops so we have set up the optimum conditions under which to work with the Legamaster interactive school board.  But that’s not all, because the digital school board is also used when pupils watch school television together.  In the past, you had to plan who needed the television and when, now we watch programmes such as “the school TV weekly journal” and “News from Nature” in the classroom in real time.

Increasing participation
“It is undoubtedly a very good thing for pupils to work with a digital school board”, begins Oonk, when asked about the advantages for the children.  “Not only do they learn how to use the computer properly at an early stage, but their participation is increased enormously.  The children are eager and curious to find out what will happen next.  And they also contribute interesting ideas of their own.  If a child discovers something interesting at home, we can look at it together and discuss it in the classroom.  This means we are moving ever closer to the children’s perception of their environment -  and that yields rich rewards!”

Future plans
“In the meantime, we have again included the purchase of another three digital school boards for each school in our budget for the coming year.  It is obvious that we are very happy with them.  We regularly receive phone calls from other schools that are interested in them and keen to find out our experiences with the Legamaster interactive school board.  I am happy to invite them to come and have a look.  Recently, for example, a colleague involved in further education asked me for my advice.  It was a logical step for me to recommend Legamaster!, confirms an enthusiastic Jan Oonk.