AI Implementation and case studies

If you were unable to join us for “AI Implementation and Case Studies” online community meeting, don’t worry! You can catch up on all the content and a recording of the session below.

Exploring AI in Education: Lessons from Cornerstone CE Primary School

Key Takeaways

• Start small and build confidence before scaling AI use across your school.

• Ensure all AI tools are used ethically, transparently, and in line with a clear policy.

• Encourage staff to share case studies to spread good practice and inspire innovation.

• Maintain strong human oversight—AI should support, not replace, professional judgment.

• Keep reviewing and updating policies regularly to keep pace with the rapid changes in AI.

In this CAS community session, we heard from Tim Clarke, Headteacher at Cornerstone Church of England Primary School, and Henry Penfold, the school’s Digital Leader. Together, they shared their school’s ongoing journey with artificial intelligence—offering practical examples, lessons learned, and key considerations for schools exploring AI in education.

Cornerstone is a Microsoft Showcase School and has achieved the Computing Quality Mark, positioning it well to trial innovative technologies. Their AI journey began in 2023, when the team held their first discussions about how tools such as ChatGPT might support teaching and learning. From the start, their approach has been cautious yet optimistic: learning fast, but acting slowly.

By 2024, the school had established an AI policy—a living document that has since undergone more than 30 updates to reflect rapid technological developments. Staff received CPD on using generative tools safely and creatively, with clear approval processes in place for classroom use. Their policy emphasises ethical use, data protection, and professional accountability—principles that underpin every experiment they undertake.

Tim and Henry highlighted how AI literacy is now becoming as essential as traditional digital literacy, noting that pupils often encounter AI in the tools they already use, whether they realise it or not. At Cornerstone, the emphasis is on helping children understand AI, interact with it safely, and think critically about its outputs.

The presenters also shared practical classroom case studies. For example, in Key Stage 1, pupils studying The Bog Baby created written descriptions of their imaginary creatures, which were then brought to life through AI-generated images. In upper Key Stage 2, learners used AI-generated images of fictional planets as prompts for non-chronological reports—helping to overcome the ‘blank page’ challenge and inspire creativity.

Beyond the classroom, AI has streamlined leadership and administration. Cornerstone’s senior team has used Microsoft Copilot to summarise lengthy DfE guidance, analyse trends from professional development notes, and even build a chatbot trained on school policies and risk assessments to make staff queries faster and easier to manage.

Tim noted that transparency has been key. Parents were informed whenever pupil work was used with AI tools such as Notebook LM, and consent was sought. Open communication has helped build trust and demonstrate responsible practice.

Throughout the session, the message was clear: AI can be a powerful ally in teaching and school leadership, but only when guided by strong ethics, robust policies, and ongoing professional dialogue.

Next Steps

Teachers might ask themselves:

• How can AI be embedded within existing teaching practices rather than added on as an extra?

• What ethical safeguards should my school have in place before using AI tools with pupils?

• How confident are staff in critically evaluating AI-generated outputs?

• Could AI help reduce administrative workload and free up more time for teaching?

Example classroom exercises:

• Ask pupils to critique an AI-generated image or paragraph—what’s convincing or not?

• Use AI to generate writing prompts or vocabulary lists, then discuss how the machine’s “choices” might differ from a human’s.

• Explore bias by comparing outputs from two AI tools responding to the same question.

Further Resources

DfE Guidance and Toolkit on AI

Cornerstone digital case study

The AI Educator (Dan Fitzpatrick)