BETT 2026 LEO Academy Trust demonstrates classroom-ready EdTech lessons

From live classroom demonstrations to national policy discussions, LEO Academy Trust used BETT 2026 to show how pedagogy-led digital strategy translates into real classroom practice and measurable outcomes.

At Bett 2026, LEO Academy Trust featured prominently across the programme, with activity spanning live teaching demonstrations, panel sessions, and professional roundtables.

A key moment came through the Trust’s contribution to BETT’s Live Classroom programme, where Rob Wigley and his Year 6 class delivered a live maths lesson focused on adding mixed numbers. Designed to show classroom practice as it actually happens, the Live Classroom format allows attendees to observe teaching, pupil interaction, and assessment decisions in real time, rather than through staged demonstrations.

The session placed pedagogy ahead of platform, using technology to support explanation, practice, and feedback rather than drive the lesson structure.

Real-time assessment and digital manipulatives in use

During the lesson, pupils worked using Learning By Questions (LBQ), a digital platform used by the Trust across subjects including maths and English. LBQ provided instant response data to the teacher, allowing understanding to be monitored question by question and enabling immediate intervention where needed.

Alongside this, pupils used Polypad from Mathigon, a free digital manipulative tool that allows students to model mathematical concepts visually. In the lesson, Polypad was used to partition whole numbers and fractions, explore common denominators, and support reasoning through drag-and-drop representations.

The combination of LBQ’s live data and Polypad’s visual modelling allowed the teacher to move between explanation, observation, and targeted support without stopping the flow of the lesson.

Blended approaches reflect everyday classroom practice

Rather than enforcing a single way of working, pupils were able to choose how they approached tasks. Some worked directly on devices using styluses, others used whiteboards or pen and paper before submitting answers digitally. Screens could be zoomed or adjusted, and recorded model explanations were available for pupils to revisit independently using headphones.

This blended approach reflected the Trust’s wider classroom model, where digital tools sit alongside traditional methods. Despite being relatively early in their one-to-one device journey, pupils demonstrated strong confidence moving between platforms while using precise mathematical vocabulary to explain their thinking.

Screen-casting was also used to share pupil work live, allowing reasoning to be discussed publicly and misconceptions addressed collectively.

Activity across PedTech, strategy, and governance

The live lesson formed part of a broader week of activity for LEO Academy Trust at BETT 2026. Trust representatives took part in PedTech discussions, including National PedTech Partnership sessions, where they shared experiences of embedding digital strategy across multiple schools.

These sessions focused on practical implementation rather than product promotion, covering topics such as adaptive teaching, assistive technology, and maintaining consistency of practice at scale. Classroom projects using construction, coding, and cross-curricular approaches were also referenced across the week, reflecting how technology is used beyond maths and computing lessons.

Secretary of State recognition

LEO Academy Trust’s BETT presence followed formal recognition from the UK Secretary of State for Education, Bridget Phillipson, who issued a letter of commendation highlighting exceptional academic outcomes achieved by disadvantaged pupils.

Brookfield Primary Academy, Cheam Park Farm Primary Academy, and Manor Park Primary Academy were cited for performance placing them among the strongest schools nationally for disadvantaged outcomes. In the letter, the Secretary of State described the results as “a beacon of what is possible when ambition and commitment come together.”

ETIH Innovation Awards 2026

The ETIH Innovation Awards 2026 are now open and recognize education technology organizations delivering measurable impact across K–12, higher education, and lifelong learning. The awards are open to entries from the UK, the Americas, and internationally, with submissions assessed on evidence of outcomes and real-world application.