Building Responsible AI Practice: Littletown Primary Academy’s Journey

The Challenge

Littletown Primary Academy faced the urgent challenge of responding to the rapid growth of AI use in primary education, all within a climate of evolving regulation and heightened public scrutiny. 

The school needed to ensure full compliance with the latest Department for Education (DfE) and Ofsted guidance on AI, while also supporting staff and pupils in understanding both the opportunities and risks presented by these technologies. 

Key concerns included safeguarding data safety (GDPR), ensuring responsible use of generative AI tools, and addressing issues of bias, transparency and intellectual property. Operating within a Google Workspace environment, Littletown required clear, actionable policies and practical training to help all staff to confidently and safely integrate AI into their work, protecting pupil data and upholding educational standards.

A further challenge was the need to act quickly and provide high-quality CPD at scale, catering to a diverse staff body. Some staff were already experimenting with external platforms like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, often unaware of the associated data safety risks and the need for regulatory alignment.

Others had little or no experience with AI and felt apprehensive about its use. Balancing these varying levels of confidence and experience, while ensuring consistent, safe and compliant practice across the school, was essential.

The Solution

Computeam partnered with Littletown Primary Academy to deliver a comprehensive, step-by-step approach to artificial intelligence strategy and safe adoption. The process began with an in-depth awareness and planning session for the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) and Governors, designed to demystify AI and establish a shared understanding of its terminology, risks and opportunities.

The launch session used real-world examples and accessible language to introduce core AI concepts such as data processing, prompting, hallucination and bias, while also emphasising the importance of anonymising data, securing intellectual property and understanding the implications of AI-generated content. 

Key stakeholders were guided through the latest Department for Education and Ofsted policy papers, with a focus on practical compliance steps: ensuring data entered into AI systems is not identifiable, obtaining appropriate consent for pupil work and maintaining transparency in AI use.

Following this, Computeam provided a model AI policy template, fully aligned with statutory expectations. The policy support package included:

● A model AI policy aligned with DfE and Ofsted expectations (provided as a template for school adoption)

● Guidance on integrating AI considerations into existing safeguarding, assessment and cybersecurity policies

● Checklists for staff on safe AI use in Google Workspace

● Scenarios and case studies to help staff identify and rectify bias, and to understand the impact of AI on teaching and learning

The SLT received hands-on support in adapting this template to Littletown’s unique context, ensuring that the policy addressed the school’s specific needs. The drafting process was highly collaborative, involving the SLT, key stakeholders – including governors–who reviewed and contributed to the policy to ensure robust governance and buy-in at every level.

Once the policy was finalised, Computeam worked with Littletown to design a bespoke training session for all staff. This September INSET session introduced the new policy, explained its practical implications, and provided clear guidance on safe AI use within the school’s Google Workspace environment. Staff were equipped with checklists, scenarios and case studies to help them identify and rectify bias, protect pupil data and understand the impact of AI on teaching and learning. The training also addressed the needs of both early adopters and those new to AI, creating a supportive and inclusive culture.

Throughout the process, opportunities for discussion and feedback were built in, ensuring ongoing evaluation and continuous improvement. Further reading and resources were provided to support staff in their professional development and keep the school ahead of regulatory changes.

The Result

All staff at Littletown Primary Academy participated in AI safety and compliance training, resulting in a significant boost in confidence and readiness to use AI tools responsibly. Before the session, just over half (53%) of staff had used AI as part of their job role. Following the training, the average confidence rating for prompting with Google Gemini rose to 8.1 out of 10, while confidence around the expectations of external agencies and AI usage reached 7.6 out of 10. Notably, 87% of staff indicated they plan to use Google Gemini in their role after the session.

Actionable impact:

✓ All staff received AI safety and compliance training, increasing confidence in using AI tools responsibly.

✓ Littletown adopted a new AI policy, shared with the school community, ensuring clarity and transparency in AI use.

✓ Staff reported a better understanding of data safety, bias, and intellectual property issues related to AI.

✓ The school passed a recent compliance review with positive feedback on its proactive approach to AI and data protection.

✓ The Senior Leadership Team now regularly reviews AI’s impact on teaching, learning, and safeguarding, ensuring ongoing alignment with national guidance.

Staff comments highlighted practical takeaways such as “how to phrase prompts successfully for images and texts,” “lesson plan ideas,” “creating visuals/labels, ideas for differentiating activities,” and “using AI to simplify already existing resources.”, reflecting high satisfaction with the session.

Client Statement

It was great to see staff who are often so wary and burdened by new initiatives and inputs come so alive and fully engaged in this session. You could see the excitement of the impact AI can have on them, and the children grow and grow throughout the session alongside their own confidence. Mandi's delivery and ability to meet us where we were, rather than just deliver a script, made the session really tailored and meaningful for our staff.

David Perkins – Principal

It was great to gain awareness and understanding of practical uses for AI that we hadn't considered before.

Cathy Binmore – Class Teacher

It felt amazing to move from a place where lots of different staff with different roles all had varying experience and views on AI to a shared understanding and the development of a whole school policy and usage agreement.

Zara Heywood – Computing and IT Lead

Computeam Statement

The Littletown Primary Academy team has shown real leadership in embracing AI responsibly. By prioritising compliance, data safety, and staff training, they are setting a benchmark for primary schools navigating the AI landscape.

Mandi Jackson – Director of Education – Computeam