Buildings for the Future Lessons Learnt – Lessons Shared Nina Woodcock

What is Becta? Government lead agency for technology in education Leading the national drive for effective use of technology in learning Co-ordinating and leading the e-strategy (Harnessing Technology) Working in partnership with DCSF, DIUS, other agencies and key industry partners

A world where technology and innovation enable learners to achieve their potential Our vision

My background Originally a teacher (secondary science) Worked for an ICT training supplier Have been at Becta for over 5 yrs in a range of roles Now Head of Capital Building Programmes

Governor of a secondary school - rebuilt last year

Opened new building in November

Key messages It is never too early to start planning You can’t do it all on your own Keep a very careful eye on the budget There is plenty of help and advice available

Why do you need to consider ICT early? We are transforming learning not just putting up buildings ICT has the potential to; – change the way we learn (and teach) – enable personalisation – allow learning to take place off-site and outside school hours New ways of learning and teaching can have a profound effect on the design of spaces in the school and the way we use technology in those spaces Changing the design later can be very expensive

Starting early Important to be involved in discussions with designers/architects from the outset – at least 3 or 4 yrs before new school opens If you are a BSF school ensure you get involved with the LA’s plans at earliest opportunity Don’t start with specific technologies – start with your vision for how technology will improve learning and teaching Don’t leave it too late to engage the ICT supplier

Preparing for increased use of ICT What can you do now? Making best use of current investment – learning platforms and online learning space – MIS e.g. pupil tracking and reporting to parents – fully utilising existing ICT resources Change management – preparing staff for new ways of working – training, exemplars, ICT champions, ‘sand-pit’‘sand-pit’

A model for self-review, helping schools to assess where they are now in their use of technology and plan for improvements Promotes a national standard for ICT and enables progress towards the ICT Mark All schools should make use of the self-review framework Particularly useful in helping to develop vision and strategy ahead of a major change Self-review framework

Elements of the self-review framework Curriculum Learning & teaching Assessment Extending opportunities for learning Professional development Resources Impact on Learning Leadership and management

Moving towards a managed service approach A managed service usually includes: – Helpdesk (logging incidents and telephone support) – Technical support staff (on site and mobile) – Hardware maintenance and application support – System and desktop monitoring – Remote hosting – Disaster recovery – Asset management

Benefits of a Managed Service School staff can concentrate on reaping the benefits of ICT (learning, teaching, management) Lessens the impact of losing experienced staff Guarantees high levels of service (availability, reliability) Improves processes by using best practice standards Better cost control – true costs are clear and can be measured against benefits Transfers risk

Preparing for a Managed Service Understand how much current support for ICT is costing (TCO) Introduce best practice processes (FITS)

Understanding Total Cost of Ownership All the costs associated with – purchase – implementation – operation – maintenance Including – user training and self support – formal support and maintenance – consumables – hardware, software, network infrastructure

ICT Investment Planning Tool Simple spreadsheet planner Developed by Becta and Local Authorities Informs ICT investment decisions in schools Provides : – calculation of true current cost of ICT systems – calculation of likely future costs – comparison with costs of a managed service Available to download from the Becta website

Framework for ICT Technical Support (FITS) Based on ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library) Covers the four main aspects of technical support provision – reactive – proactive – change – strategic

Benefits of using FITS Tried and tested processes, adapted to school environment Provides ready made templates, checklists and downloads – can be used as they are or personalised Separate administrative and technical tasks – helps assign resources appropriately Protects teachers from getting too involved in technical support issues Helps measure technical support requirements and costs Helps prepare staff for managed service approach

Supporting the building project Don’t under-estimate how much time it will take There will normally be some professional support supplied (e.g. by LA/Sponsor/DSCF) At school level you will need someone to be the key link to the overall project manager/director, design and construction companies, ICT supplier If asking senior staff member(s) to take on this role you must release them from other tasks

Additional support Becta’s Capital Buildings Programme team can provide some direct support For BSF, Partnerships for Schools have a team of Education ICT Advisers For many projects additional ICT consultancy may be required – depending on existing resources/capacity of the LA or sponsor – this can be procured from Becta’s Consultancy Services Framework Agreement

Budget issues Particularly an issue with ‘one off’ new builds (Academies and One School Pathfinders) There is a formula for calculating the ICT budget BUT the money is not ring-fenced If the construction budget is overspent the project manager will look for savings elsewhere (especially the ICT budget) Be very clear from the outset what is and isn’t in the ICT budget (e.g. CCTV ‘out’ but music keyboards ‘in’)

Is it all worth it? nogly_and_hadley.jsp#Wow nogly_and_hadley.jsp#Wow

Further information from Becta Capital building programmes Self-review framework FITS Investment planner (follow budgeting, financial planning)

Further information cont Becta Procurement Frameworks Becta Technical standards Partnerships for Schools (for BSF) NCSL BSF Resources bsf.ncsl.org.uk

ICT Excellence Awards 2008 seeking out the best and brightest schools that are using technology to help learners achieve and to benefit the whole school community closely aligned with Becta’s Self-Review Framework and the ICT Mark Includes a ‘support for schools’ category

ICT Excellence Awards 2008 Find out more, view 2007 winners, and enter online at Don’t miss the deadline of 30 April 2008

Thank you Any questions?