Sint-Claracollege Arendonk: School of Tomorrow

The first school without a blackboard, with only interactive touchscreens, wireless internet everywhere and charging points for laptops and tablets, was recently honoured by Flemish Deputy Prime Minister Kris Peeters and KU Leuven Rector Rik Torfs. In order to realise this technological masterpiece, Willy Brion, director of the Sint-Claracollege in Arendonk, relied on the expertise and experience of VanRoey.be.

With more than 1,000 pupils and 120 teachers under his care, director Brion faced an immense challenge to set up his dynamic secondary school with a vision for the future. His goal: to support motivated young people and teachers with modern technologies and this in an open learning environment.

But how do you build a new school in a digital age?

That was the question Mr. Brion asked himself openly to our colleagues: "From projection systems to a lightning fast wired and wireless network all over the campus, from server park to security to even an auditorium with sublime projection and associated audio installation... The challenge was enormous, but the experience and professional contact with VanRoey.be proved that we had chosen the right partner. We were assisted, both pedagogically and technically.".

"After numerous discussions and well-thought-out adjustments, a clear and transparent offer with a detailed breakdown was presented, and for us it was an additional advantage that we agreed to opt for a long-term period of 5 years of follow-up, maintenance and updates. As a 'school of tomorrow', we also have to think about the future. The estimated cost of working hours was also correctly estimated, with the agreement that after completion, the costs would be settled according to the hours actually worked.

Realization

The Deadlines were very tight. VanRoey.be has equipped the entire school in two weeks:

• A C-TOUCH touchscreen in every room, equipped with the software of i3LearnHub.
• Two parallel data networks: a lightning fast wired network of more than 35 kilometres and maximum wireless coverage across the entire campus using Ruckus WiFi AccesPoints. The entire school is one hotspot: everyone searches and finds what they need immediately.
• Numerous charging stations for laptops, tablets and smartphones, spread throughout the entire campus.
• A complete HP data network with numerous racks, servers, switches,...
• And all of that is secured with state-of-the-art firewalls from Fortinet.

"In collaboration with VanRoey.be, we trained a few colleagues, and these 'experts' passed on their knowledge and know-how to the other colleagues. We now have 32 multifunctional digital classrooms with intuitive digital boards, an auditorium that many theatre companies envy. Our new campus has both appearance and content, and its comfort and ultramodern accommodation give both teachers and pupils a better feeling and a greater desire to learn and work, and we can be particularly proud of that.".

Mr. Brion emphasizes the cooperation: "Despite the tight deadline and short installation period, everything has been realized as agreed.

The school and all those involved are satisfied with the cooperation with VanRoey.be. We expect and count on it that no unforeseen aspects and costs will arise in the long term during the follow-up.