Digital Excellence Program

The Digital Excellence Program was introduced at Templestowe Heights Primary School to raise standards in ICT throughout the school. We are one of only 100 Victorian schools that offer this program and have done so since 2008. All staff have been personally trained by UK award-winning educators and developers of the program, Dr John Ingram and Kay Hansen.

A key strength of Digital Excellence is that it promotes independent student learning in a ‘user friendly’ manner, enabling teachers to focus on facilitating and extending student learning.

‘The Digital Excellence Program integrates ICT into the VELS curriculum, ICT is not a stand alone subject. Every teacher is involved in teaching it.’ The Digital Excellence Program works in conjunction with a school’s ICT planning. Teachers continue to plan for using ICT in an integrated manner within the curriculum and use the Digital Excellence Program as a way of assessing the student’s ICT skills and progress.

The Digital Excellence approach allows students to be placed at the centre of their own learning. It promotes independent student learning in a ‘user friendly’ manner, enabling teachers to focus on facilitating and extending student learning.

At Templestowe Heights the Digital Excellence program runs throughout the school, from Prep to Year 6. It caters for high achieving students, so that they can work beyond their expected level.

The Digital Excellence Program allows students to self-assess their learning in ICT using clear standards-linked statements. Students demonstrate to the teacher their achievements through each piece of work. If the teacher feels they the student has acquired the necessary ICT skills they are ‘accredit to signify that they have achieved their goal’.

Teachers can check the level of learning in any area of ICT for any student or for a whole class at any time.

As students gain accreditation for particular areas of ICT, they are awarded badges. There are at present over twenty five different ‘award’ categories in the Digital Excellence Program, each with a Silver and Gold level. Award categories include spreadsheets, databases, word processing, desktop publishing, movie maker, blogging, digital camera and printer. When students are accredited with all indicators at Silver or Gold levels in a particular area, they receive a badge for that specific award and are known as ‘Experts’ for that award within the school. At Templestowe Heights, badges are presented at school assemblies, and the whole school community celebrates their success.