Cambridge High School

The proof is in the numbers

Cambridge High School Assistant Head of English, Amy Featonby, believes that Accessit has had a very real and positive effect on her teaching and her students’ results. Her students achieved 83% excellence in one standard against a national average of 28%.

Cambridge High School is a co-educational state secondary school located 15 minutes by car from Hamilton, New Zealand’s fourth-largest city. Established in 1883, the school combines modern facilities and a progressive education programme, with traditional core values and high expectations for student achievement. Cambridge High School has been using Accessit Library since 2015. And Assistant Head of English, Amy Featonby, says the library management system has really had a big impact on the results her students have achieved. Amy has found Accessit to be a great classroom and teaching resource.

“We used Accessit to support the level 3 literature resource standard. The standard requires students to find and use reliable and appropriate sources to develop a hypothesis, much like a first-year university paper. My class received 83% excellence (with the remainder of students attaining merit). The national average for excellence in that standard is just 28.4%. When I asked the students how we aced it, they replied with two things – our focus and learning in class and One Search.”

The Accessit One Search feature

Amy identified that getting students set up and using Accessit is easy. They quickly learn where to go and what to do. Accessit’s One Search tool also enables students to quickly and reliably access academic articles and information on a topic using search terms with just a few simple clicks. One Search puts an end to long, laborious searching for hours.

“Accessit is a safe ‘go-to’ place where students can get reliable, relevant resources. I can trust that my students who use Accessit’s One Search to support their learning are accessing quality materials that will help them achieve the outcomes and results they’re aiming for,” says Amy.

Students liked using One Search because they had confidence that what they found would be useful and reliable, Amy believes. “In this increasingly digital age, information is more ubiquitous. Students can access information any time from anywhere. What’s available to them is also now of a much higher standard yet students need to be able to evaluate the material for reliability and relevance.

“Accessit is a gateway to knowledge that allows me to extend my students. Initially, it seemed like something more for librarians – I was wrong! It has really helped my teaching, and my students’ grades are the proof that it’s making a real difference,” says Amy.