Queens School, is the largest co-educational state school in Hertfordshire. With nearly 1,700 students, it serves families across southwest Hertfordshire and beyond. The school came to Protech Solutions to help them upgrade their ageing projector and whiteboard front of class equipment. We delivered a staged roll-out of the installation of BenQ Interactive Panel technology in 30 classrooms.
The school had been using ultra short throw and standard throw projectors and whiteboards for around 10 years so the time had come to replace them with more engaging, up to date BenQ interactive panel technology.
However, rather than replace every single classroom solution at once, they decided to have a phased roll-out over a period of a few months. This would allow more effective use of their budget and would also be more accommodating, logistically.
So the first 10 screens were installed during the Christmas holidays. The second batch of 10 were installed the following February half term and at the time of writing, the third batch is due to be installed over the Easter holidays.
We started by deinstalling all the existing equipment from every classroom and preparing it for safe removal. We then moved on to the installation of the new 86-inch BenQ interactive panels (RE8604). Each are wall-mounted to provide a clean, modern finish in the newly upgraded classrooms.
Contrary to the old projector and whiteboard set-up, the RE8604 provides more than just a screen – it’s a complete teaching hub. With built-in whiteboarding tools, app access, and cloud integration, teachers can plan, deliver, and save lessons all in one place.
With the EDLA certification built in to BenQ screens, teaching is elevated as it provides full access to Google Mobile Services, allowing staff to securely log in and access Google Drive, Docs, Slides, Sheets, and Google Meet directly from the display. This is accessibile on every screen in the school fleet and is accessible with a simple login, which makes it even easier to log on to any screen and teach without having to connect to another device.
However, for added flexibility, teachers can also connect their own laptop or PC if they prefer a more familiar setup and this was important for Queens School. They wanted to provide flexibility for their teaching staff when it comes to accessing lesson plans and their own files.
We always install fibre-optic HDMI cables with every screen where there isn’t already one in place, exactly for this purpose. We do this because sometimes, connection to the screen using HDMI can be intermittent and is often dependent on the PC or laptop being used to push the source content. Traditional HDMI cables can struggle beyond 5–10 metres, leading to signal dropouts or reduced quality. Fibre-optic HDMI maintains a stable, full-quality signal over much longer distances, making it ideal for larger classrooms or installations where devices aren’t right next to the screen.
