Sustainable digital transformation: the example of LEO Academy Trust and Acer

Today’s schools know that the future begins in their classrooms. And that holds true both for education and the environment.

A great example is UK’s LEO Academy Trust. Through the partnership with Acer, this family of collaborative schools was able to elevate learning, teaching and management all while fully embracing an eco-conscious mindset and initiatives to achieve a truly sustainable digital transformation.

Meet LEO Academy Trust’s schools

Since 2015, LEO Academy Trust has been committed to developing a family of great schools where collaboration makes a real difference for students, staff, and communities.

With 3,800 pupils from across the London Borough of Sutton and Surrey and over 500 staff, LEO Academy consists of seven primary schools, supported by a range of hubs of excellence, providing endless opportunities for their students. All schools support each other to improve outcomes for children and drive performance across the broader school system.

LEO Academy Trust aspires to be a leader in sustainability motivating all its children, educators, and visitors to respect a forward-thinking approach to protect the environment for the present and future generations. The Trust aims to lead by example in handling environmental issues inside the workplace, selecting suppliers who meet environmental standards in both services and goods provided. Acer’s green ethos and approach to climate change highly impressed LEO Academy representatives, who decided to implement the school’s sustainability strategy by investing in the most energy-efficient Acer devices.

Acer Chromebook: from digital transformation to sustainability

Education technology is a powerful tool to connect students with learning opportunities:

”We are proud that LEO Academy Trust is offering a one-to-one devices program, where we have Chromebooks for all year groups from year 1 to 6”, – Phillip Hedger, LEO Academy Trust’s CEO. 

For children, the school chose the Acer Chromebook Spin 511, which is ideal for educational settings with its 4-usage modes, world-facing camera, state-of-the-art low power Celeron® processor, built-in stylus, military standard specs and long battery life.

“We selected the Acer Chromebooks supported by Intel processors because we wanted devices that a child could open and can seamlessly start their learning.” – Graham Macaulay, LEO Academy Trust’s Director of Innovation & Growth

Instead, teachers got the Acer Chromebook Spin 713, another proven energy-efficient and sustainable device great for working on the go, with the latest Intel® Core™ processor and up to 10hrs of battery life in a convertible design with 18% more screen space thanks to the 3:2 display.

Cheryl Shirley, Director of Computing & Digital Skills for Leo Academy, noted that one of the devices’ best features is the Intel processor, which makes boot times so quick that students can be ready for class in just 8 seconds.

Finally, Acer has planted a tree for every Acer Chromebook device purchased by The Leo Academy Trust as part of their carbon offset program. Indeed, Acer with Ecologi planted up to 1,300 trees in Madagascar!

Success Story Key Info

School name: LEO Academy Trust, UK

Acer devices: Chromebook Spin 511 

Partner contact:  Eduthing, LNicolaou@eduthing.co.uk