ICT Mark and Self Review Framework Focus

This post is designed to help support those using the self review framework to lead ICT and to work towards achieving the ICT Mark. It outlines some of the key elements that I found effective to focus on developing when leading ICT and achieving the mark in my current school.

Vision

Absolutely key to everything is to have a clear and concise vision for ICT within the whole school. This should be created in conjunction with stakeholders including parents, learners, staff and governors. The vision we decided on was:

All learners are empowered and inspired by enthused and confident teachers to embark on learning experiences that harness technology and enhance the skills they will require for the future.

In my opinion, anything longer than a paragraph is not a vision. Nor should the vision be an A4 page of bullet points. If this happens, the vision slips into how it will be achieved, which should be kept separate as the core message and ethos will be diluted when trying to get staff and others on board. Our vision is far from perfect, it doesn’t include personalised learning for example, but the vision should be revisited and adjusted as and when necessary. The vision should be repeatedly refereed to, shown on the school website, VLE, start of staff meetings involving ICT etc.

Curriculum

The ICT Curriculum and how ICT fits in with the wider curriculum should be clearly mapped out. In our school, we follow a skills based ICT curriculum. This makes things very fluid but also difficult for staff to make sure all skills are covered in appropriate depth. In order to support staff, I created a series of progression maps for each strand of our curriculum. I also elaborated the ICT curriculum document to include relevant links to previous QCA units, and software, hardware and ideas relevant to each skill. Whichever path your ICT curriculum follows, it needs to clearly flow from the vision and be methodical in how it should be put in place by staff.

Training

There should be a strategic use of training in order to support teaching of ICT within the curriculum. This can seem overwhelming if you are the sole provider in a large school. What has worked for me is to put on occasional workshops and ICT staff meetings which focus on particular elements. However, by utilising a central resource such as the school’s VLE, you can link to a variety of external resources such as how to videos and blog posts as well as store your own staff meeting notes and training resources. This allows staff to dip into the provided training materials when needed and provides continuation of training should the key provider leave their current role.

Assessment

Always a tricky one. I implemented a skills based assessment which was an excel document listing all skills and whether each child had achieved that skill. Whilst this has proved effective in terms of ensuring the depth and coverage of skills taught is sufficient, it is quite heavy handed for busy teachers. It was suggested by our ICT Mark assessor that we use APP for ICT where possible. This currently goes down to level 3. Personally, I think combining the techniques of APP in our existing ICT assessments will prove most effective. Whatever method chosen, as long as there is documentation of ICT levels included and the assessments cover the ICT curriculum, that should be sufficient.

Other things

Resources: Difficult not to focus on if you are under the perception that your school is badly equipped! All I would say is there is no point in having interactive whiteboards, class computers etc if staff are not using them. There is lots of great online free software around now and coupling them with curriculum covering applications like Knowledgebox Online, Espresso and Education City you can provide rich curriculum experiences without breaking the budget.

Extending Opportunities: Whether you use blogs, your school website or a VLE, as long as pupils, staff and parents are using your systems to communicate and continue learning experiences, and you have a plan to extend this in the future then that should be sufficient.

ESafety: A growing area in terms of importance. We use the standard thinkuknow eSafety lessons and materials and have yearly talks by an eSafety expert for parents. This was sufficient in achieving that strand in our ICT Mark assessment.

Final thoughts: I hope that this post is of use to people, it is not intended to be a definitive way forwards and many people will be way ahead of where I have led our school so far. I would appreciate comments and questions from people who are looking to develop ICT and also anyone who feels they would like to add to the areas I have gone into above.