ECM Think Tank Annex 1 - Key themes

Key themes, ideas and principles of every child matters

What does Building Schools for the Future have to offer to the ECM agenda?

• Money - including 10% that is for ICT.
• Challenge .
• New and refurbished physical and virtual 'school' environments.
• Opportunities.
• Partnership through the LEP can add to a LA's/ school's capacity to deliver.

Challenges for the Think Tank

• We need to be aware that the creation of a virtual learning environment where young people have the opportunity to learn where and when suits them best could deny some the safe 'haven' that is school.
• We also need to consider on-line security and measures to protect young people from on-line bullying.

Building Schools of the Future (BSF) can facilitate the delivery of the five outcomes through ICT in the following ways:

Be Healthy

• The co-location of a multi-agency team that can support the emotional, health and welfare needs of young people and those of their community.
• The provision of sports facilities for a wide range of activities that include cardio-vascular monitoring for both the school's young people and the local community.
• The development of catering facilities and dining areas that reflect a commitment to healthy eating.
• The building of 'green' schools.

Stay Safe

• Secure school entry/exit.
• CCTV - for both internal and external monitoring: young people routinely request this for spaces where they feel unsafe.
• The sharing of data between agencies.
• Monitoring and analysis of tracking of behaviour incidents to create a 'safer environment'.
• The establishment of 'Safer School Partnerships'.
• Safe places and ways to say that you are being bullied or are harmed in anyway.

Enjoy and Achieve

• Enjoyable, meaningful and accessible learning for all young people - including those for whom attending school is problematic.
• Recognition of learning that takes place outside of school.

Make a Positive Contribution

• The engagement of young people through the provision of 'student voice' forums.
• Monitoring and analysis of behaviour incidents to understand and reduce anti-social behaviour, including bullying.
• Links between the school and both its local community and wider, global communities.
• Focus a LA's thinking on its provision for young people who are looked after and for those who have learning difficulties and disabilities.

Economic Well-being

• A personalised approach to learning that reflects a commitment to every young person fulfilling their potential.
• Vocational and work-based learning.
• The promotion of lifelong learning for the whole community.
• Focus a LA's thinking on community regeneration and the economic well-being of the whole community.

6 areas/issues for discussion:

Changing nature and pace of change

The publication of the Children Act 2004 has altered the role of Local Authorities and their relationships with schools. In addition the LA has responsibility for the development of the CYP Plan, in collaboration with strategic partners who are working with children and young people in the authority. The timetable for change is set out in the Act, with a requirement for all authorities to have a Director of Children's Services by 2008.

Changing relationships with partners

There is a need to manage the shift from the "old style" LEA and the new Local Authority with its focus on commissioning services rather than delivering them. The "duty to co-operate" between partners to meet the requirements of the Children Act is strengthening the need for multi agency leadership and governance, breaking down silo working. At the same time, there is an increased emphasis on individual school autonomy. The requirement now is to grow the market, encourage choice, diversity and fair access - and encourage a range of providers, for example in the 14-19 agenda. Where does this leave Regional Broadband Consortia?

Challenges for the LA

Local Authorities need to create a vision for ICT, through working in partnership to influence school developments. Schools will decide their expenditure on ICT in order to meet the personalisation agenda. They need clear and targeted support if the yare to make wise choices. How can Local Authorities Improve?

Challenges from the LA

Challenging schools to improve is now the role of the School Improvement Partner though Local Authorities will still have responsibility for schools in need. How can the LA promote school self-review? What will be the capacity be deliver support?

If ECM, then who holds the data?

Schools need to consider how to link with the community and provide 24/7 provision for all learners. Storage and access to data will be key, as is sharing information between services and partners that is currently held in silos. There are issues over who has access and how access is granted.

How this fits to DfES e-strategy

The DfES e-strategy focuses on all aspects of e-maturity: leadership and vision; managing the curriculum; improving teaching and learning; assessing ICT; CPD; resources; extended school provision - and the impact of all this to improve outcomes for children and young people.

We want the curriculum to enable all young people to become successful learners who enjoy learning, make progress and achieve, confident individuals who are able to live a safe, healthy and fulfilling life and responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society.

Successful learners who...

• Enjoy learning and are motivated to learn .
• Are determined to achieve the best they can.
• Have the essential learning skills of literacy, numeracy and information and communication technology.
• Communicate well through a range of media.
• Think for themselves, have enquiring minds and are open to new ideas.
• Are able to process information, reason, question and evaluate.
• Are creative, enterprising and able to solve problems.
• Understand how they learn and learn from their mistakes.
• Are able to learn independently and with others.
• Are able to transfer knowledge and skills to new situations.
• Appreciate the benefits and fulfilment that learning can bring.

Confident individuals who...

• Have a sense of self-worth and believe in themselves.
• Recognise their talents and have ambitions.
• Are willing to try new things and make the most of opportunities.
• Are able to take the initiative and organise themselves.
• Relate well to others and form good relationships.
• Are self-aware and deal well with their emotions.
• Have secure values and beliefs.
• Make healthy lifestyle choices.
• Are physically competent and confident.
• Take managed risks and stay safe.
• Resist negative pressures and make informed choices.
• Become increasingly independent.
• Gain enjoyment and inspiration from the natural world and human achievements.

Responsible citizens who...

• Make a positive contribution to the communities in which they live, learn and work .
• Feel that they can change things for the better.
• Act with integrity and live according to secure values and beliefs.
• Understand different cultures and traditions and have a strong sense of their own place in the world.
• Respect others.
• Live peaceably and work productively with others.
• Challenge injustice and are committed to human rights.
• Maintain and improve the environment, locally and globally.
• Are enterprising and able to contribute to the economic well-being of society.

Some examples of how ICT can contribute to this vision of the curriculum:

Be healthy	Stay safe	Enjoy and achieve	Participate/contribute	Economic well being
Safe use of computers Safe working practice (RSI etc) Information - diet/food Fitness apparatus	e-safety netiquette respect for others: chat rooms, forums	Creativity & digital media - music, video/film photography ICT capability to support learning across the curriculum & lifelong learning	Communicating presenting and exchanging; collaborative working; global communication & citizenship Web logs; forums	Functional skills Employability Online finance

Challenges for the Think Tank

What personal, learning and thinking skills do all young people need to be successful?
If we want young people to have enquiring minds and to think for themselves, then we need to:

• Give them purposeful reasons to find things out.
• Know what interests them and build on that.
• Connect learning to issues that impact on young people.
• Teach them the skills of research and analysis.
• Promote concepts such as children as researchers, children as reporters etc.
• Experience adventure - trip/visit (PE/history/geography).
• Making choices/ responsibility - plan events/look ahead.
• Make rules - playground behaviour (PE/citizenship).
• Following instructions - cooking (DT) follow a route (geog).
• Stranger danger on-line - boy who cried wolf, three pigs (eng).

Functional skills are core elements of English, mathematics and ICT that provide an individual with essential knowledge, skills and understanding that will enable them to operate confidently, effectively and independently in life and at work.

The e-Strategy

"We want to use ICT to build a society where everybody has the opportunity to develop their potential."[1]
Harnessing Technology set out six priorities which effectively underpin the Department's 5 year strategy:

• Integrated online information service for all citizens.
• Integrated online learning and personal support for children and learners.
• A collaborative approach to personalised learning activities.
• A good quality ICT training and support package for practitioners.
• A leadership and development package for organisational capability in ICT.
• A common digital infrastructure to support transformation and reform.

The DfES Technology Group is providing strategic leadership and drive across the system in four key areas - knowledge architecture, personalised content, e-maturity and strategic technologies. In turn these all support and contribute to the delivery of Every Child Matters. Perhaps the most visible and pertinent is the Strategic Technologies theme detailed below.

Strategic Technologies

Strategic Technologies will enable every learner to access the digital learning resources that support and enhance their learning whenever and wherever it is appropriate both now and in the future.

It builds on the considerable investments and developments that started with the National Grid for Learning programme in 1997 and that continued and under the ICT in Schools brand. The focus so far has been on moving to service-based, collaborative procurement using national framework agreements; and improving learning, connectivity, infrastructure and data services based on national technical standards and specifications. Two key objectives are:

• The connection of all schools to the internet at high-speed bandwidths by December 2006.
• Developing integrated learning and management systems with the specific objective of every school learner having a personalised online learning space that can encompass a personal portfolio by December 2008.

Universal Access

In the 2005 Budget the Chancellor announced £50m to provide home access to ICT for the most disadvantaged secondary school pupils. In the 2006 Budget a further £10m was made available to provide internet connectivity. Plans are being developed for the most effective deployment of this funding. Estimated up to 100,000 households could benefit.

The Department invests significant funding in the National e-Learning Foundation and many schools and local authorities operate loan schemes.

Extended schools, out of school clubs, libraries and UK Online Centres also have an important role to play in providing anywhere anytime access. Those from the most disadvantaged families may be the least likely to take advantage of these facilities.

Challenges for the Think Tank

• How can families who can afford the technology be encouraged to invest and utilise?
• What more can be done within existing resources to ensure children and learners in special circumstances are not further disadvantaged by the continuing spread of technology?
• Setting aside the IS Index and Records Management systems, should there be an overarching ICT strategy for children and families sector?

ECM was set up to prevent vulnerable pupils falling through the net. It requires Primary Care Trusts, Social Services, Education and Police to work together in a multi-agency approach in Local Authorities, reflected in schools. Underpinning this work is the need for the combination of all sources of data into a single repository which will enable alerting, tracking, progression management and personalisation.

• Good information sharing is the key to successful collaborative working and early intervention to help children and young people at risk of poor outcomes.
• Local authorities and partner organisations should ensure that information sharing is properly addressed in their own organisations.
• Change strategies and service delivery plans should incorporate effective and clearly understood mechanisms for sharing information across service and professional boundaries.

Challenges for the Think Tank

• The ECM agenda will require data aggregation across IT systems in order to track the development of the whole child.
• Electronic data is a key area of development as important to ICT professionals as teaching and learning.
• Data analysis and feedback systems will become more widespread, more integral with job functions, and more accessible by teachers, learners and parents.
• All those who work in this area need to be data smart and data confident.
• The development of electronic data in education has significant technical, ICT, pedagogical and professional implications.
• An effective national system for managing data, linking with school learning and management systems, will offer greater personalised learning, achievement and protection for pupils.
• How can Naace extend its range of professional support to members who operate in this area?