The Portsmouth Academy is recognised by tech giant Microsoft as a leader in digital-led teaching

We are delighted to have received Microsoft’s Showcase School status due to our One:One initiative, where every student joining the school has a laptop to complete their classwork, homework, and additional learning.  

Digital skills are increasingly becoming a major skill gap in the next generation of workers, and The Portsmouth Academy is leading the way in narrowing the digital divide and supporting the city's EdTech agenda.

With the One:One devices, re-visiting previous lesson notes are more accessible, the capacity for teachers to engage directly with students has increased, and Microsoft Tools – such as its Reading Progress app – can enhance pupil performance.

The One:One devices are currently being used by Year 7 and Year 8 pupils with the plan to have every year group using them in lessons over the coming years.

With the accreditation, we have been put on the world stage and has the chance to work with Microsoft and other school leaders around the world to deepen and expand education transformation using a framework focused on digital teaching.

The academy is the first in Portsmouth to receive the Showcase Schools status, and it is one of 50 across the country.

Hajar Bellazrak, our Digital Learning Ambassador, says it has taken more than two years to get to this moment.

She said: "Being part of Microsoft’s Showcase Schools scheme worldwide is a huge achievement for The Portsmouth Academy. We are pleased to be in this position, thanks to a lot of hard work from students and staff throughout the school.

"Being a Microsoft Showcase School is all about being part of a huge network of schools globally, so we can learn from other schools when it comes to the delivery of teaching digitally, but we’re also able to help other schools alike. It has been a very long journey from the beginning to now, so we’re extremely ecstatic actually to be part of it."

The school had Microsoft Incubator status before it became a showcase school. During the process of getting accredited, The Portsmouth Academy made and used a digital strategy that focused on getting the most out of Microsoft applications in each lesson.

Kev Burns, Vice Principal, says: "Being a Microsoft Showcase School and having One:One devices for every student is the best opportunity to improve their life chances. All of our evidence is pointing to the fact that these devices are having a significant impact on student learning, student attainment, and student engagement.

"Students these days learn most of their stuff on devices – they use their phones; they use their computers – so we’re tapping into that; we’re using learning in a way that they can engage with, and that’s going to last a very long time."

The primary mission for The Portsmouth Academy’s use of One:One devices is to make learning last. This means stepping away from the traditional textbook style of teaching in most scenarios, where teaching is forgotten and lost in most cases, and having everything stored on a digital device that can be accessed easily at anytime throughout the young people’s educational journey.

Stephen Morgan MP said: "It's a fantastic achievement for The Portsmouth Academy to receive their Microsoft Showcase Schools accreditation.

"As the first school in Portsmouth to receive this status, it's great to see staff passionate about closing the city's digital divide with their innovative approach in preparing students with the digital skills they need to succeed in life - through the use of their One:One devices.

"The work of the academy is aligned with the city's ambition to become a place where people wish to invest, live, and learn."