We train school staff to use AI confidently and help implement it into real workflows — saving time, reducing workload, and preparing your team for an AI-shaped future. Practical, and built around the Department for Education's published guidance. Based nearby? See our AI training for East Sussex primary schools.
The Department for Education has published guidance on generative AI in education for schools and colleges in England, last updated in August 2025. It sets out where AI can help and where schools need to take care. This is the guidance we work from, and it shapes everything we teach.
The DfE says generative AI has the potential to reduce some of the administrative burden on teachers, staff and school leaders and free up teachers' time to focus on teaching. The uses it lists include creating educational resources, lesson and curriculum planning, tailored feedback and revision activities, and administrative tasks.
For a primary teacher, that usually means help with the jobs that fill evenings and weekends: planning, resources and first drafts of feedback. We start training with these everyday tasks because the benefit is immediate and nobody has to change how they teach.
The DfE also points to research suggesting AI could help with feedback and customised support in schools. We help staff try this carefully, with the teacher deciding what a pupil actually sees. AI output is treated as a draft to be checked, adapted or thrown away, never as the final word.
Staff can use AI to generate examples, explanations and starting points for lessons, and to save preparation time. The DfE is open about the limits. AI-generated content can be inaccurate, biased, out of date or unreliable, and systems can produce false information presented as fact, which is known as hallucination. It cannot replace the judgement and deep subject knowledge of a teacher.
That is why teachers stay in control at all times. We teach staff how to check what AI produces, how to spot the signs that something is wrong, and when not to use it at all.
Using AI well is not only a classroom question. The DfE guidance encourages schools to think about the wider picture, and these are the questions we most often help leaders work through.
Policies. The guidance suggests reviewing homework policies in light of AI being widely available, and developing guidance on acceptable AI use. We help you work out what that should say for your staff and pupils.
Parents. The DfE recommends that schools consider how they engage with parents around the use of AI tools. A short, clear explanation of what the school does and does not do with AI prevents a lot of worry later.
Weighing benefits and risks. Leaders are expected to weigh the benefits of a tool against its risks before using it. We give you a practical way to do that, so decisions are consistent and can be explained to governors.
Building staff support. Early adopter research cited by the DfE highlights the role of AI champions in building support among colleagues. A confident member of staff who has been properly trained can make a real difference to how smoothly a school adopts new tools.
Inspection. The DfE page also points to Ofsted's inspection guidance on AI, updated in August 2025. We do not claim any special status with Ofsted, but we can help you be ready to explain your school's decisions clearly.
You do not need to share any pupil data with us to get started. Our training is built around keeping personal data out of the wrong tools, in line with the DfE's guidance on pupil data and the government's data protection in schools guidance. Orion Forge operates as a Data Processor under UK GDPR and puts a Data Processing Agreement in place before any project begins.
Tell us what you're working towards — reducing workload, improving outcomes, or building staff confidence — and we'll suggest a practical next step.
Straight answers to what schools ask us before they book.