In February 2008, Parliament announced its intention to undertake an Inquiry into the National Curriculum and invited submissions of written evidence.

The Naace Annual Strategic Conference and Exhibition opened in Torquay in early March 2008. This is the definitive ICT Conference in the UK for all those involved in advancing education through the use of modern technologies in learning and teaching.

This short article aims to highlight the background, key features and current vision of the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) project at Ranvilles Infant School. The full version of this research project is available through the University of Winchester library: Aubrey-Smith, F.S., (2007) 'How the implementation of a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) can affect the strategic development of a whole school. MA(Ed) Dissertation. University of Winchester.'

Naace has introduced a 'hot-seat' where invited colleagues field questions over a four week period. Our guest in the 'hot-seat' will either answer online at specific times, or at pre-arranged regular intervals. We look forward to hearing from you!

Naace has been invited to offer two briefing sessions in the Local Authority Lounge. These cover ICT CPD experiences for ICT advisors and the use of web-conferencing to support transition and MFL. Naace will be making four contributions to the Seminar Programme covering collaborative tools in teaching and learning, personalised learning, transforming learning and a report on the 'Let's Play Project'.

The Children, Schools and Families Committee is undertaking an inquiry into the National Curriculum. Following a call for written evidence on 4 February 2008, Naace prepared a submission which is published here.

Following announcements in early January 2007 about changes to the status of the KS3 online ICT test, Naace sought responses of its members and collated their views to inform discussions with Ministers.

In the July issue of Sharing Success, Christina Preston will be our live guest in the 'hotseat'. Our first live session will coincide with the 'Safe Social Networking Conference' to be held at the WLE Centre at the Institute of Education in London on Thursday 10th July between 4-5pm. Please post questions before during and after the live session!

Christina Preston advocates the application of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as a catalyst for change in teaching and learning (www.mirandanet.ac.uk). She is the Founder and Chair of the international MirandaNet Fellowship established in 1992. The MirandaNet Fellowship was established in response to a need expressed amongst teachers for a supportive community of peers who would mentor each other in the exploration of ICT potential in teaching and learning (www.mirandanet.ac.uk).

The MirandaNet Fellowship strives to span national, cultural, commercial and political divides to provide an innovative and inclusive forum for professionals. Fellows who share their experience and expertise are building a professional knowledge base about the use of digital technologies in transforming teaching and learning. Interaction between educators, researchers, industry and government is at the heart of the learning processes that underpin and support good practice. Individual learning patterns and talents are celebrated through practice-based research strategies, peer e-mentoring and collaborative knowledge-building. Dissemination and publication are central to the Fellowship process (www.mirandanet.ac.uk/fellowship/vision.htm).

This paper is not about 'the Literacy Hour' - teachers have got this well sorted. If anything, it is a plea to move on. Many years ago, when working in Special Education carved upon every part of my psyche were the penetrating words of my Headteacher, "Every lesson is a speech and language lesson." So, too, Literacy Skills, in their broadest sense, should be an integral part of every lesson if not a mandatory part of every school's mission statement. The title, therefore, demands more than a cursory nod of approval.