New Forest Small School
with Teacher Assist
Background
New Forest Small School is a unique independent school in the UK that values a personalised, engaging approach to education. As the use of technology in lessons increased, staff recognised the challenge of keeping students focused and avoiding distractions from other online activities.
Alex is the headteacher, so he went about looking for a solution that would give him and his teachers more control over student devices without increasing the IT workload or disrupting lesson flow.
The Challenge
Teachers often need to physically move around the classroom to check student screens, which is time-consuming and sometimes disruptive to the lesson. With more students working on devices, it was becoming harder to keep students on task and stop the distractions of chat, games, or social media. They needed to be able to respond quickly, investigate, and refocus students’ attention on the task at hand.
The Solution
In early 2025, New Forest Small School implemented Teacher Assist from GAT Labs, built for Google Workspace for Education. The rollout was immediate once the staff were trained. GAT Labs provided Live training sessions and hands-on guidance during the rollout.
Teachers now use Teacher Assist regularly to open or close student tabs remotely during lessons, push websites or resources directly to student devices, and block or allow specific websites on demand for individual classes or year groups. These features are used whenever technology is part of a lesson, particularly in subjects like music, where students can be easily distracted.
Results
For teachers, the tool has reduced the time spent manually monitoring screens, making it easier to redirect their attention with features like screen lock or broadcast. It allows faster delivery of resources to the whole class and reduces the need to walk around the classroom. It has brought greater consistency in behaviour management across staff.
For students, the focus has improved, and there are fewer distractions during lessons. More students are doing what they’re supposed to be doing during class. They are more aware that their device use is monitored, which in turn has reduced their use of chat, games, or social media during class time.
For Administration and Safeguarding Leads, the school can identify repeat offenders accessing non-educational content by viewing reports of students’ activity in the classroom session and support pastoral and safeguarding teams with digital behaviour evidence, enforce Acceptable Use Policies, and reduce the risk of exposure to harmful or unsafe online content.
Customer Voice
“Our music teacher found it very helpful as students were being distracted by online activities. Teacher Assist supported her in keeping them on task.”
Alex James,
Headteacher
Conclusion
In less than six months, New Forest Small School has seen a significant improvement in lesson focus and digital behaviour management. Teacher Assist has not only empowered teachers to manage ICT use effectively but has also strengthened safeguarding and reduced reliance on IT intervention.
Discover how GAT Labs can help your school manage your Google Classroom
- What challenges did New Forest Small School face in managing Google Drive and IT resources efficiently?
- What risks are associated with external file sharing or mismanaged permissions in a school environment like New Forest Small School?
- What tools or features from GAT Labs helped the school secure file permissions and monitor sharing? Which features were most effective?
- How can automation (e.g., real-time alerts, bulk ownership transfer) reduce administrative workload and improve data security?
- Why is compliance with education data protection laws (such as COPPA and FERPA) critical, and how does oversight of file sharing support this?