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THE LATEST UPDATES AND DEVELOPMENTS IN SCHOOL TECHNOLOGY
SHAR WITH E ME IT M YOUR ANAG ER
BULLY FOR YOU? A manager’s guide to e-safety and cyber bullying
UPDATE 46 ›› ICT NEWS New Microsoft GCSE and school data security alerts
IN PRACTICE 48 ›› CAPTURE THE MAGIC Dominic Tester of the award-winning Costello Technology College shares his best advice 52 ›› GLOBAL GATHERING Video conferencing wins at one primary school
FOCUS ON 56 ›› BULLY FOR YOU? A manager’s guide to e-safety and cyber bullying 58 ›› SAFER LEASING With the media’s scare stories, how to approach equipment leasing safely and without fear
HELP DESK 62 ›› TECHNO GEEK Who to turn to for ICT support
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NEWS & ANALYSIS PUPILS DESIGN APPS WITH NEW MICROSOFT GCSE
WALES GETS DIGITAL CLASSROOMS SUITABLE FOR A DIGITAL AGE
Students will learn how to develop mobile apps as part of a new GCSE developed by AQA and supported by Microsoft. This is the first time the technology giant has partnered directly with an exam board to create a GCSE. The syllabus for the new computer science GCSE is unique, as in addition to learning computing theory and essential programming skills, for the first time students will put this learning into practice and design, make and test their own applications. The course covers programming fundamentals such as how to interpret and create simple algorithms, develop prototypes and code solutions to a given problem. The practical element of the syllabus gives students the chance to create an appropriate software solution, which could take the form of a gaming, web or mobile application. The qualification has taken 18 months to develop and will be taught from September. The course is designed to address the demands of the IT industry and other employers, and will give students the opportunity to gain a high quality qualification and then progress onto A-levels, vocational courses, industry-recognised IT courses, or employment. This announcement follows the February launch of a low-cost computer that is available to schools as a programming aid and Education Secretary Michael Gove’s recent call for schools to teach ICT qualifications relevant to employers. Geoff Coombe, director of general qualifications development at AQA, said: “Our new computer science GCSE gives students the chance to gain the latest computer programming skills and will stand them in good stead when competing for jobs in the future. “Computer literacy still has its place, but we hope this innovative qualification will help take students’ abilities to a whole new level. The syllabus we’ve created is designed to take the growing importance of mobile and web technologies into account and ensure that students aren’t left behind.” Steve Beswick, director of education at Microsoft, commented: “As a business, Microsoft needs British school-leavers with programming and design talents not just for the jobs we need to fill now, but also to future-proof against careers which don’t even exist yet. Working with hundreds of schools and thousands of talented teachers “The syllabus we’ve created through our IT Academy programme is designed to take the and Partners in Learning network, we know that computer science growing importance of mobile and web technologies lessons have the potential to be and genuinely into account and ensure that experimental engaging, but schools need the right students aren’t left behind” type of curriculum to get results.”
Two Swansea schools that are leading the way in their pioneering use of digital technology in the classroom have been praised by Wales’s Education Minister Leighton Andrews. The minister visited Olchfa Comprehensive School and Casllwchwr Primary School earlier this year to see how new technologies are being used by both staff and pupils. At Olchfa Comprehensive, new Google Apps have been rolled out to staff and students and Apple software is being used in subjects like music and art. The school has also developed a virtual learning environment and integrated with the local education authority portal. Andrews also visited Casllwchwr Primary School where success has been achieved using mobile devices as part of a teaching and learning programme. The last 12 months have seen increased pupil attainment at the end of key stage two and over 60 schools from across Wales have visited the school. Earlier this month, Casllwchwr became the only Welsh primary to be awarded the NAACE Third Millennium Learning Award. It is working with several other schools from different local authorities in both a partnership and mentoring role and has written a blueprint for schools outlining their experiences. The school aims to publish this blueprint on iTunes for others to purchase.
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UK SCHOOLS ‘COULD DO BETTER AT DATA SECURITY’ Sensitive pupil and staff data is left exposed by many UK schools A study carried out by a software provider shows that securing the storage of UK school pupils and staff data has become an urgent issue. Despite this, many schools are still using out-dated information backup systems. The survey reveals that although most households switched from tape to digital over a decade ago, more than 25% of schools in the UK are still using legacy tape systems for backup purposes. Data storage on tape presents a number of unnecessary security risks as someone within the school still has to be physically responsible for the tape and for backing-up data to it. Also, the fact that tape is typically transported from one location to another poses added risks. Petrus Human, technical director at Attix5, which led the study, explained: “Research shows that of the schools that are still using tape, 30% take the backup tape home and 35% leave the tape in storage at the school. Obviously this isn’t ideal as it opens up the risk of the data being lost or stolen.” Typically, tape is protected by just one password, making the data on it quite easily accessible if it falls into the wrong hands. Just like other enterprises, UK schools and education institutes could be at risk from fraudsters and hackers Some schools outsource the storage of the tape, but this also comes with significant risk. Human continues: “The fact that the tape has to travel to and from the storage location is one problem. I’ve also seen situations where, for data recovery purposes, the incorrect tape has been sent back to the wrong client, meaning the data has fallen into the wrong hands.” A possible solution to data storage issues is to use cloud based backup, said Human: “The magnitude of vulnerability of storing data on tape is enormous. UK Schools cannot afford to not switch to cloud based backup.”
FAST FACT
25%+ Percentage of schools in the UK still using legacy tape systems for backup purposes
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NEWS BYTES ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA GOES TO PRINT FOR THE LAST TIME After nearly 250 years, the 32-volume Encyclopaedia Britannica print set will be discontinued and will become completely digital. “The sales of printed encyclopaedias have been negligible for several years,” Jorge Cauz, president of Encyclopaedia Britannica, told the BBC. “We knew this was going to come.” In a bid to compete with the likes of Wikipedia, the well-known encyclopaedia firm already receives 85% of its revenue from online sales.
NI STUDENTS ENCOURAGED TO CONSIDER AN ICT JOB Northern Ireland’s employment and learning minister, Dr Stephen Farry is encouraging young people across Northern Ireland to consider a career in ICT. The announcement came in time for National ICT Day, which was preceded by two ‘Bring IT On’ conferences to encourage 16-19 year olds to consider jobs in technology. These were organised by e-skills UK, the Sector Skills Council for Business and Information Technology, in conjunction with Momentum, the ICT Federation for Northern Ireland, Invest NI and the Department for Employment and Learning. Speaking ahead of the events, Farry said: “These events will demonstrate the exciting opportunities that a career in ICT can offer in order to attract more young people into this sector. ICT is a growth sector of the future and it affects every aspect of our lives – not just through the things we use every day like our mobile phones, social media channels and computers but it’s vital in so many other sectors, such as engineering and medicine. To grow our economy we need to ensure our local workforce has the right skills in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). My department is working with e-skills to highlight potential careers paths so that our young people may consider jobs which they wouldn’t otherwise have done. “I have also set up an ICT working group to examine the skills required by the industry so we can facilitate its growth in recognition of this sector as a key driver in the local economy.”
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Dominic Tester, assistant headteacher of Costello Technology College, is an ICT expert and has helped the school to win a plethora of ICT awards, including, most recently, an award for its outstanding ICT resources. He gives Julia Dennison an overview of how the school uses technology to the best of its ability
SCHOOL Costello Technology College TYPE Mixed 11-16 SPECIALISM Technology STUDENTS 1,050 LA Hampshire
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ominic Tester has been tasked with marrying ICT and education for the last two decades, and is a true veteran of technology shows like BETT. He calls himself fortunate to be assistant headteacher at Basingstoke’s Costello Technology College, where ICT is very much on the curricular agenda and senior leadership is well aware of its importance – long before Michael Gove highlighted it back in his January speech. The fact that Tester has continued to work diligently to promote technology at his school for the last six years in his role is evidenced in a series of recognitions of late, including the SSAT Secondary ICT Showcase Award in 2010 and being shortlisted for the TES ICT Innovation Award. “We’ve actually got a real key driver in terms of pushing technology forward,” explains Tester, “which isn’t the case in every school, as quite often IT can be seen as a barrier because it’s misunderstood by senior leadership teams and therefore they don’t engage with it to the full extent.” Following Gove’s speech at BETT, even those school leaders with their heads in the sand about technology will be waking up to the fact that it is a massive opportunity and priority for education. This, Tester believes, can only be a good thing – provided schools have the budget to meet the demand. “We’re now looking at the technology being embedded more culturally and socially with our students coming through,” he comments. “If we don’t really start engaging on some levels that include day to day utilisation of technology, then we start missing a trick or two as an educator.”
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Getting your priorities right As a specialist technology college, Costello has always allowed ICT to be a key driver in developing opportunities for both its students and staff. Indeed, Tester has taken investment in ICT very seriously. “We’ve put a real focus on developing technology but making sure it’s the learning outcomes and the impact it has on the curriculum that’s leading the developments, rather than the technology taking the lead,” he explains, “because I think, quite often, schools can be blinded by the latest wizzy gadgets and actually get these into place, but then don’t have a very firm conceptual understanding of how they can then be augmented into a very enriched curriculum in the school.” This school has very much taken the outcomes approach.
A changing culture The first step the school took was ensuring that staff had the appropriate technology to facilitate their role, including access to basics like projectors and PCs in every classroom. “That was really important in terms of that initial level of engagement,” says Tester. “We wanted to be in a position where technology didn’t necessarily underpin learning outcomes, but was a useful tool for students and staff to use if it was seen as adding a value to the learning experience.” Then it was about changing the culture among teachers to help them support learning inside and outside the classroom. This included getting them to encourage pupils to use their own mobile technology in the classroom (once a managed wireless network was put in place three years ago). By allowing students to engage with their own technology, learning could be taken outside of the traditional classroom environment and into the pupils’ daily life. Part of this included teachers creating screencasts using specialist software or podcasts of lessons to put online to allow the “We wanted to be in a position where students to engage in their own technology didn’t necessarily time, revise and keep up even underpin learning outcomes, but is a when they are absent from school. Encouraging the pupils to useful tool for students and staff to use their own devices, like use when it adds value to the laptops or smartphones, had learning experience” another benefit for Tester: “In a world where school budgets are getting pinched in every way, we were trying to think quite innovatively about how we can displace the costs of technology in the school, and really utilise the technology students may have and bring with them every Reaching out for the future day.” To be able to do this involved building trust between the Costello Technology College is so forward-thinking in what it teachers and the pupils. This meant reminding the teachers does, it has tasked itself with helping other schools follow in its that even if they didn’t understand how to use things like video footsteps and is known locally as a bit of an “ideas tank” when functionality with mobile technology, it didn’t mean they it comes to experimenting with new technology. For example, couldn’t encourage the students, who did know how, to use the school is trialling iPads in its PE curriculum and is sharing them in class. This also involved building trust between the the results with other schools through its learning platform. staff and pupils through an acceptable use policy that allowed Tester knows that any commitment to ICT is a commitment for the use of mobile devices in only the most appropriate ways for life: “The more a school invests in technology and its (a ‘sonic wall’ blocks the more inappropriate sites anyway). technology base, the more they are committing to on-going Schools wary of implementing a bring-your-own-device service level agreements and on-costs every year.” However, he policy for fear of leaving those without out may wish to take a firmly believes investment in technology is something all leaf out of this college’s book where an annual student survey schools should prioritise. With this in mind, Costello will looks into what devices students have access to. The latest continue to grow technologically, though Tester sees this year survey revealed that 98% of Costello Technology College’s as a bit of a “consolidatory year” after a series of investments students have an advanced phone with at least a camera; more last summer, including switching from physical servers to than 70% have a smartphone and over 50% have an iTouch or VMware, an investment that looks to return in kind in reduced an iPhone. The school even sent a newsletter to parents around electricity bills. He also thinks it’s important to schedule Christmas encouraging them to consider fulfilling requests for regular refreshers of the technology to ensure the school isn’t Apple technology in their stocking, explaining its educational hit with a big bill when out-of-date computers break down at value. “We do see that there is a place for these technologies in once. With technology at the forefront of everything it does, the classroom,” Tester insists. “If we’re not engaging with these Costello Technology College is well on its way to becoming a technologies, we are creating missed opportunities.” shining example of how schools can truly benefit from ICT.
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Global gathering Scargill Infant school in Rainham, Essex has been using video conferencing technology to revolutionise its lessons and create connections with schools, both locally and globally. Carrie Service speaks to headteacher Kath Keeper about how the technology is improving learning and allowing children to travel thousands of miles from the safety of their own school
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hen speaking to Kath Keeper, headteacher at Scargill Infants, her excitement is palpable as she chats away about implementing video conferencing at the school and the huge benefits it has had for the children. “We do it in four ways,” she tells me. “We video conference with museums, art galleries and anybody else out there – even NASA.” Yes that’s right, NASA. The space agency offers talks to schools around the world from the Kennedy Space Center using video conferencing. Keeper’s school has already
had one session and are due another in the coming weeks, an experience she describes as “spine tingling”.
Getting started The process of setting the equipment up was a “very easy” one, insists Allyson Tyler, ICT teaching assistant at the school, who has been responsible for the technical elements of the project. “It was very smooth and you wouldn’t think that who you are talking to on the screen is 7,000 miles away,” she says. I ask her if the video conferencing software and camera were expensive to install; she said yes, but seemed
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convinced the results were worth the initial outlay: “When you look at how much money we’ve saved in the virtual miles we’ve travelled then it’s definitely well worth it.”
Just a pipe dream Although the school now uses video conferencing across all subjects, this wasn’t what it had in mind when the equipment was first installed. In fact, Keeper wasn’t entirely sure the idea would come off: “I didn’t believe it would work; Ally had seen it and suggested it and I’m always one for saying: ‘Well, come on, why not.’” In the initial stages, the school had planned to use video conferencing purely as a tool for social communication and networking with other schools. “The idea of [using it for the] curriculum was actually quite far away down the pile… but now it’s become social communications first, with curriculum a very close second,” she tells me. Video conferencing can be tailored to whatever topic you happen to be covering – be it history, science or maths – and the school has found it to be very adaptable to their needs. They have a timetable located in the corridor outlining who is using the VC equipment on each day. “it’s constantly full,” says Keeper. “People keep finding somebody new to video conference with.” The only real bugbear is the international time differences when talking to schools in the US and other countries, but this can be remedied with proper planning, says Keeper: “You have to work it out a long way in advance. Sometimes you have to have the children in a bit early or stay a bit late.”
“The impact on the children goes beyond the curricular and allows them to understand that everyone can get along, regardless of what part of the world they come from” Untapped resource Scargill Infants does a lot of museum visits via video link and it’s something that other schools should take more advantage of, reflects Keeper. “A lot of the museums in and around London and now further around the country are offering video conferencing for different age groups,” she says. “It’s free of charge and it’s terrific; it’s an untapped resource.” Though she has noticed that many schools have been a little reluctant to try the technology: “We found people have really been very timid about dipping
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their toe in the water.” Her advice for those starting out? “Go on a museum website, such as the Natural History Museum, Science Museum or National Maritime Museum, and see if they’ve got any video conferencing facility and use that as a first step.” You could be missing out on a whole new platform for teaching if you don’t get involved and as Keeper quite rightly points out, it’s a much more interactive way of learning than simply putting on a DVD, particularly for history lessons via the museum: “You’re listening to someone telling you about the artefacts, but you can then also ask them questions.” To get the most out of museum video sessions Keeper advises briefing the children first about what they are going to do, allowing them to think of questions in advance. “They come up with some amazing questions because they are very impressed by being able to ask this person a long way off and get a personal reply,” which really captures their attention, she says.
Bringing schools together Scargill tries to find at least one school locally to partake in maths challenges and other interactive learning activities with. “Once the children have got to know each other [via video conferencing], my class will challenge the other class, and they will challenge us [back],” says Keeper. At the end of the year, because the other school is local, she organises a coach trip so the children can meet their new friends in person. Keeper believes the impact on the children goes beyond the curricular and allows them to understand that everyone can get along, regardless of what part of the world they come from: “I think it’s all about global understanding, in a way – local, national and international. Because it’s understanding that people are people. We’ve been working with schools in Cumbria; we’ve worked with schools the other side of London; we’ve been linked with a school in New York; we are working with three in Virginia and one or two in Florida. So it makes the world a smaller place.”
Technical support Keeper insists that she could not have achieved all of this without the support of Tyler, and champions her efforts, especially her willingness to help other schools set up their own video conferencing systems. This relationship with other schools in the community is the key to the project’s success, says Keeper, as you need those relationships to make the concept work. Her final advice for schools? “Go for it, even if you start in a really small way.”
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Enemy at There has been a rising number of high profile cases of cyber bullying hitting the headlines in recent years, often with tragic results. George Carey looks at the issue of e-safety in schools and what can be done to protect pupils
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recent study of 4,600 school children between the ages of 11 and 16 revealed that 28% had experienced bullying on the internet or via a mobile phone. The research, carried out by the charity Beatbullying and the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), highlighted the challenges that schools face in allowing their pupils access to the internet while keeping them safe. Russell Hobby, general secretary of the NAHT, said: “The benefits of new communications technologies in education are hard to overstate but we know that when they are abused, life can be made a misery for pupils and teachers alike.” So what are the moral and legal obligations for schools, and what technology is available to help them?
POLICING POLICY
Recognition of cyberbullying as a safeguarding issue is a helpful first step. The anti-bullying guidance issued by the Government in July 2011, ‘Preventing and Tackling Bullying’, confirms that bullying should be addressed as a child protection concern where there is reasonable cause to suspect that a child is suffering, or is likely to suffer, significant harm. Schools are advised to report such concerns to their local authority children’s social care services.
Preventive measures should include clear and robust anti-bullying and child protection policies. Pupils and parents need to feel confident that their fears and concerns will be taken seriously. An acceptable use policy is a good starting place, setting out the framework for the use of ICT in the school, making it clear that any abuse of electronic devices will be dealt with under the school’s disciplinary procedures and that sanctions may include confiscation of mobile phones, restriction of the use of computers in school and, ultimately
suspension or expulsion. Some schools may be hesitant to involve themselves in incidents occurring outside of school time, but they should not. Education lawyer Yvonne Spencer, of Veale Wasbrough Vizards, says: “Some schools believe that where cyber-bullying takes place off school premises, the school has no right to intervene. This is not correct. Under common law, schools have always had the right to take disciplinary action in respect of conduct that affects the school’s reputation or the welfare of a member of the school
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the gates “Some schools believe that where cyber-bullying takes place off school premises, the school has no right to intervene. This is not correct”
community. Section 89(5) of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 provides an explicit right for all schools to take action in respect of misconduct whether or not pupils are on school premises or in the care of the school at the time.”
DIFFERING APPROACHES
There are two schools of thought among ICT specialists about the best way to keep pupils safe from outside influences, and each other. While some companies offer services that restrict what children
can access online, others monitor activity and flag-up anything that is deemed as unacceptable or suspicious. The aim is clearly the same, but the different approaches appear to divide opinion between those in charge of ICT in schools. The Blessed Hugh Faringdon School in Reading has 850 students on a single campus split across five year groups and a sixth form. With a network of 450 computers to manage, e-safety has become a major priority. The school opted for a managed monitoring service, which has proved to be a success. The system checks for certain key words and websites that could indicate wrongdoing by pupils or exposure to potentially dangerous sites. Over 20% of children at Blessed Hugh Faringdon are Polish, which could have caused issues with the monitoring system, but the newest systems are multilingual and recognise the characters of almost any language, meaning that the school is able to provide protection regardless of ethnicity and background. Terry Bartram, network manager at the school, commented: “I would suggest that schools really question whether they want an unmanaged system, as having a managed one reduces your overheads and makes the whole process more streamlined.” He continued: “Daily and weekly reports have positively helped the school to identify and deal with e-safety issues that would never previously have been known about, in a timely manner.” Another advocate of managed monitoring systems is Al Slay, senior product manager for RM Education, who says: “With Ofsted advocating opening up ICT
resources and moving away from the ‘locked-down’ environments of old, demand for non-intrusive products that can monitor behaviour while supporting an open learning environment is increasing and guiding users in responsible use of technology is gaining popularity.” On the other side of the fence, are the schools that favour a more restrictive and preventative approach. St Frederick Osbourne school in Welwyn Garden City has noticed a marked improvement in the way that ICT has been used in the school since implementing an improved firewall system. Mike James, IT technician, explains: “It enabled us to reclaim our network from a student culture of unrestricted game-playing, time-wasting and general internet abuse; and enabled us to control access for students by name, location or group.” Simon Wilcox, marketing operations manager for Smoothwall, agrees: “There is technology which gives teachers access to block or allow web content without involving the ICT department.” This technology will allow a more tailored approach to blocking web content as and when it is appropriate, he says. School leaders should review their e-safety resources and not simply delegate them to the ICT department. If you are looking to upgrade or change your e-safety system, it is important to look at as many options as possible, to ensure that you are taking the best approach for your school. Experience shows that, all too often, when a serious safeguarding event occurs, if it is not dealt with effectively the repercussions can be far reaching.
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Rent right With recent news coverage highlighting the problems that can come with rushing into ICT leasing agreements, Carrie Service looks at what schools should be aware of when they sign a new rental contract and how to avoid being caught in the trap
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ntil recent months, ICT leasing has been viewed as a low-risk solution for schools to make use of brand new technology without having to fork out the costs upfront; a win-win situation. But all of this has been put into question since an investigation carried out earlier this year by Radio 5 Live’s Adrian Goldberg. The report highlighted a serious issue within the leasing industry involving schools signing misleading contracts, duping them into thousands of pounds of debt. Some schools were being charged up to ten times the value of the equipment they were leasing, with laptops that were worth £350 being marked up to £3,500. Glemsford Primary School in Suffolk was told it had been selected to receive 100 laptops free of charge as part of a promotional scheme, only to find they then owed £500,000 in bank loans and the company had gone into administration. Some have blamed inexperienced staff for the scandal, while others blame a combination of pushy salespeople and heavy workloads preventing those who sign the contract from having enough time to read the small print. So what measures can you put in place to prevent the same from happening to your school and be sure that you get exactly what you signed up for?
TAKE YOUR TIME AND ASK FOR HELP
It goes without saying that you should never rush into anything that involves signing a lengthy contract, but be sure to seek advice from the experts as well. Bill Simmonds, chief executive of the National Association of School Business Management, says: “Schools must be
‘buyer aware’ when they are considering taking out a lease and consider using the professional services available to them to review the contract.” Your local authority can provide you with help and guidance – even if you are an academy – and should be able to check the contract for any loopholes or promises that seem too good to be true. Never be afraid to double check what you are signing as ultimately the responsibility will lie with whoever’s name is on the dotted line. Russell Hamblin-Boone head of communications for the Finance and Leasing Association, says: “While our members provide finance to schools, it is of course for the schools themselves to choose their equipment, services and providers, and it is prudent for them to be wary of signing agreements which sound too good to be true.” Simmonds advises schools to practise caution and remember that although they are not buying the equipment, it is still a considerable commitment and appropriate time should be taken in the decision-making:
“It is important that the school knows the cost of the goods if they were to purchase outright rather than just focusing on a quoted rental”
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“If a deal seems to be too good to be true, then it probably is. If high pressure sales tactics are being used, then a school needs to question; what is the rush? It should be expected that a serious amount of time must be taken to review the procurement process.” If a company is pushing for an answer and you are not ready to sign, do not succumb to the pressure and seek advice before going any further, says Simmonds: “The headteacher and governors are ultimately accountable and responsible for the school’s financial management. If a school is not sure about the lease agreement they are signing, then they must seek advice. NASBM are happy to help both members and non-members with any leasing query.”
FIND THE RIGHT PEOPLE
It is important to remember that leasing is a viable way for schools to offer up-to-date ICT to their students in a manageable way and there are genuine suppliers and leasing companies out there. Leasing provides a manageable solution to organising rolling budgets, as it allows the costs to be spread rather than having to plan for a large-scale capital payout. And the good news is that exposing the problems highlighted in the Radio 5 Live report has brought greater awareness of how the procurement process is managed and will hopefully bring about more transparency in future. Schools shouldn’t be frightened off by horror stories, but can instead learn valuable lessons and speak to other schools about which companies provide an honest reliable service. Colin Hussey, head of education at software company Serif, believes there are a multitude of benefits to be had from leasing a product rather than buying it outright, including the chance to try something new: “This new way of purchasing gives schools the freedom to move away from the software that they have used out of comfort and explore new and potentially more appropriate solutions.” Barry Bailie from RM Education has found that schools find the spreading-costs element of leasing invaluable, especially with constraints
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“Schools shouldn’t be frightened off by horror stories, but can instead learn valuable lessons”
on budgets. “I remember visiting a primary school in Wales when I first started working in education,” he recalls. “I asked why they felt a lease was the best way to procure the equipment and they responded by saying that without a lease they would have to split their plans into different phases in order to allow for a purchase within the funds available that year. This would mean the students in Years 4 and 5 wouldn’t fully benefit from the upgrade and Year 6 students would miss out altogether.” Bailie advises schools to look further than the quote given by the rental company and to do a bit of research before taking the plunge: “It is important that the school knows the cost of the goods if they were to purchase outright rather than just focusing on a quoted rental.” He adds that schools should remember the long term ICT needs of the school and think ahead: “Equipment generally has a useful life in excess of the lease term and schools know this at the outset. Most will look to cascade this equipment to other areas of the school as they rarely feel they have enough ICT to meet their curriculum needs. Therefore it is important to understand the total cost of ownership and the implications should they decide to continue using the equipment beyond the initial lease term.” Another bonus to leasing your equipment rather than buying is that some companies offer servicing and support, meaning that you won’t have to source a technician when things go wrong. Some even include this in the cost, explains James Bird, CEO at Stone: “There are leasing agreements available with support costs included in the overall complete monthly cost. This gives a more effective account of the total cost of ownership associated with deploying, managing and supporting student devices. Be sure to confirm what is included in your leasing agreement before signing.”
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Guiding light ICT procurement: how to get the best deal. Technogeek looks at the help and advice on offer to schools for their technology purchase Ever since the controversial decision to scrap BECTA and the moment in April 2011 that the last person walked out of the door, many schools have felt rudderless when it comes to ICT procurement. So what help is available to schools and is it filling the void? One organisation that has provided a certain amount of guidance to schools, has been the British Education Suppliers association (BESA). This trade organisation has over 300 members and has guidelines that member companies must adhere to. It is also commissions qualitative and quantitative research in all areas relevant to the education industry, and a significant amount of it surrounds ICT. Recent publications include research into the quality of ICT equipment in state schools and a discussion on the merits of leasing ICT equipment.
“Many schools have felt rudderless when it comes to ICT procurement”
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Cocentra is an independent organisation within the children’s services sector that helps schools with a host of day to day issues, procurement being one of them. The company works in close partnership with school improvement teams from nearly all 151 local authorities, as technical advisors for schools facing challenging circumstances. The company offers an ICT procurement support service, which is designed to help any procurement over £25,000 and offers advice on best-value and most sustainable procurement and implementation of technology. Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) is funded by the further education and higher education funding bodies, which means it is only available to colleges and universities but it provides a great deal
of information and support. Rather than simply focussing on procurement, JISC aims to promote the efficient and effective use of ICT systems generally and to provide shared national resources. There are also a number of purchasing groups that can help schools by offering economies of scale and advice on the organisations offering the best deals. While there are obviously costs involved, with large scale procurement such as the replacement of whole computer labs, the savings far outweigh the costs. Most encouraging of all, is the sense of community and support that has arisen among those responsible for procurement at ground level. Public sector forums have proven to be hugely popular and with the impressive amount of people getting involved, there is a huge reservoir of knowledge and experience for interested parties to benefit from. While the DfE has attempted to fill the void by redirecting some of BECTA’s former remit, it still seems that they haven’t managed to provide the same level of support and expertise. With the popularity of community initiatives and forums and the big advantage they have over fee-charging companies, it seems, for now at least that, DIY is the way to go.
SEND US YOUR QUERIES technogeek@edexec.co.uk www.edexec.co.uk/ technogeek/