Our digital school
Digital learning at Kimbolton
At Kimbolton, we recognise the importance of digital resources not only in supporting pupils’ learning but also in preparing them for life beyond school. Technology is an integral part of our teaching toolkit, used alongside a wide range of resources and approaches. Teachers choose the methods and tools—digital or otherwise—that best meet the needs of each pupil and each task.
Digital learning supports our core purpose and values by:
- Building a community of staff and pupils who engage confidently with an ever-changing digital world.
- Preparing pupils for their future by giving them the skills to work effectively in digital environments.
- Enabling creative, dynamic, and flexible teaching and learning experiences.
Our learning environment
In September 2025, pupils begin a planned transition to a new digital learning platform: Kimbolton Pupil Documents, powered by Microsoft SharePoint. This system offers a secure, streamlined, and flexible way for pupils to manage their work.
Key features include:
- Real-time collaboration with teachers and peers.
- Integration with Microsoft 365, building transferable digital skills.
- Familiarity with widely used systems in schools, universities, and workplaces worldwide.
Alongside SharePoint, pupils will use OneDrive as their personal workspace. OneDrive provides secure, individual storage, giving pupils confidence in managing and organising their own documents.
Pupils use Teams, OneDrive, SharePoint, and OneNote to organise their work, collaborate with others, and communicate effectively with staff.
Devices for learning
To fully support this approach, from September 2027 all pupils will be required to use a laptop in school.
Laptops have several advantages over tablets, particularly in a learning-focused environment:
- Improved productivity: Larger screens and full keyboards are better for writing, research, and creative tasks.
- Better integration: Microsoft 365 applications run more effectively on laptops, ensuring pupils can make full use of the tools we provide.
- Reduced distractions: Laptops promote a more focused, learning-centred environment compared with devices often associated with entertainment, such as tablets.
For these reasons, Kimbolton School is gradually phasing out iPads in favour of laptops.
Recommended laptop specifications
- Operating System: Windows 11 or later, or macOS (Please note: no Chromebooks)
- Screen Size: 11 inches or larger
- Keyboard: Full physical keyboard
- Camera: Built-in (ideally)
- Storage: 256GB minimum
- RAM: 8GB preferred
- Battery Life: At least 6 hours
- Wi-Fi: Wi-Fi 6
- CPU: Intel i5 or above, or AMD Ryzen 5 or above
Laptops with these specifications are widely available from retailers such as John Lewis or Currys.
Families may also repurpose existing laptops that fall short of these specifications. While this is perfectly acceptable, we recommend the above specification to ensure the best possible experience with our systems.
Support for families
- Pupils are provided with full access to the Microsoft 365 suite through the school’s licence; you do not need to purchase Microsoft Office separately.
- Our IT team can assist with setting up devices and connecting them to school systems.
e-safety and support
Learning to use devices responsibly and to navigate the online world safely and effectively is a key part of our school ethos. Pupils cover these topics during their PSHE lessons as well as during annual internet safety weeks, where we run events and invite external speakers to talk to pupils, staff and parents alike.
For our current families, more detailed information about e-safety can be found here.
