RISO Education Solutions

Aston Lodge Primary School

According to Hazel Turner, head teacher of Aston Lodge Primary School, the essence of good teaching is “to engage children and make them want to learn”. Colour is one of many tools the school uses to stimulate interest. Since introducing a new RISO digital printer, the school has made wide use of colour print in the classroom.

Aston Lodge provides education to more than 180 children of nursery and primary school age from a mixed community on the outskirts of Sheffield. The school performs well, achieving better results than the local authority average and the national average in Key Stage 2 national curriculum tests in England in May 2006.

The RISO printer was acquired by the school to provide an affordable colour print facility. It replaced a black and white photocopier and a stencil duplicator. Used as a network printer and walk-up copier, the RISO adds colour impact to a wide range of classroom materials as well as notices, letters and newsletters sent home to parents.

Talking about the impact of colour print, Hazel Turner said, “The days of blackboard and chalk are long gone. Children are used to more exciting and entertaining media. They are great at multi-tasking but attention can wander. The way to keep them focussed is to provide more stimulating media. Colour print has that wow factor which makes children dig deeper”.
“The RISO colour machine has helped us raise standards. Study material has greater visual impact. Class display boards are more colourful. Our bulletins and newsletter are more professional. It has really helped engage interest. The children have, for example, designed their own colourful ‘special mention’ certificates.”

A classroom assistant is responsible for production of class material. This could be a time- consuming task but with the RISO able to print at speeds of up to 120 pages a minute, time isn’t an issue. The machine is networked and office staff can print directly to the device. An integral booklet finisher folds and staples output for a professional finish.

With a limited print budget, the cost of colour was a concern but as Hazel Turner explained, “We went into it with both eyes open. The RISO replaced two machines, saving money and space. The RISO inks last a long time and colour output has proved little more expensive than black and white. The quality is excellent and colour is making a real difference”.
 

For more information call 0800 917 2020
RISO