ICT Policy

Mab’s Cross Community Primary School

 

 

 

 

INFORMATION

AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

 

POLICY

Agreed 21.1.10


ICT Policy

Introduction

 

This policy document sets out the school’s aims, principles and strategies for the delivery of Information and Communication Technology. It is linked to the School Development Plan and should be read in conjunction with the schools ICT Development Plan, (see appendix) which describes the planned development of ICT in school over the next 3 years.

This policy was developed during January 2010 by the ICT co-ordinator.
We interpret the term ‘information and communication technology’ (ICT) to include the use of any equipment which allows users to communication or manipulate information (in the broadest sense of the word) electronically e.g.:

 

  • computers
  • assistive technology e.g. overlay keyboards
  • voice operated equipment
  • programmable toys
  • calculators
  • control and monitoring equipment
  • electronic musical instruments
  • audio and video recorders
  • telephone and fax
  • digital cameras and videos
  • internet
  • Video conferencing facilities

 

 

The school’s aims

 

We believe the ability to use ICT effectively is an essential life skill in modern society. Our aim is to produce learners who are confident and effective users of ICT. We believe that all pupils have an entitlement to the ICT curriculum regardless of gender, disability, ethnicity, social class or special learning needs and we will ensure that our provision meets the needs of all learners. We recognise that ICT has the ability to motivate and enthuse pupils, to enable them to work individually, co-operatively and collaboratively and to develop perseverance and flexibility and we will plan opportunities for pupils to develop these skills. Our aim is to ensure that all pupils achieve high standards in ICT capability and to develop the knowledge, skills and understanding required to become confident and competent users of ICT.

 

 

 

 

We will plan to meet these aims by:

  • implementation of the ICT Development plan to ensure that we have the necessary resources and staffing available to deliver each pupils entitlement
  • ensuring coverage of the National Curriculum ICT through our planning of the curriculum
  • using the ICT Scheme of Work to ensure each pupil receives their entitlement to the curriculum through the delivery of the programmes of study
  • making provision to ensure that all pupils have access to the curriculum, either through specialist aids, software or support
  • providing training for staff to ensure they are confident to deliver the curriculum
  • monitoring the delivery of ICT in school to ensure its effectiveness
  • regularly reviews of ICT to ensure it continues to meet the needs of our pupils and reflects the changing technology
  • celebrating success in the use of ICT
  • giving all pupils the opportunity to

 

    • use ICT with purpose and enjoyment
    • develop the necessary skills to exploit ICT
    • become autonomous users of ICT
    • evaluate the benefits of ICT and its impact on society
    • achieve the highest possible standards of achievement
    • apply their knowledge of ICT in different curriculum subjects
    • use ICT to communicate information, find things out and make things happen
    • use ICT to develop partnerships beyond the school

 

The school’s curriculum organisation

The school has adopted the QCA scheme of work for ICT, which ensures that all pupils receive the statutory ICT curriculum as described by the ICT pprogrammes of study in Curriculum 2000.

ICT is also incorporated into the planning of all other subjects in order to meet their statutory requirements for using ICT as outlined in the programmes of study for each subject.

Each member of staff plans from a yearly planning guide, which details those elements of the programmes of study and the units of work from the scheme of work they are to cover. (see appendix). Medium term planning is based around delivery of the units of the schemes of work and will identify the software programs to be used, the method of delivery and the assessment opportunities presented. Short term planning will vary according to whether ICT is the main focus of the lesson, or is being used as a resource to support teaching in another subject.

When planning work involving the use of ICT, teachers should be aware of the following points:

  • identifying opportunities for the development of ICT skills
  • ensuring progression in ICT capability through different strands of the scheme of work
  • planning activities where ICT is used as a tool to help achieve a curriculum objective for another subject
  • planning activities involving whole class teaching, where ICT is used by the teacher to enhance the depth and pace of pupils learning
  • ensuring there are opportunities for pupils to work individually or collaboratively, in pairs or small groups
  • how activities can be modified to give access to pupils with special needs or pupils who need extension activities
  • ensuring the necessary time or support is available to enable the pupils to carry out the activity
  • use of VLN to enhance home/school communications and improve communications within school
  • extend use of digital cameras and camcorders in cross curricular work

 

The ICT co-ordinator’s monitoring will ensure that the long term planning ensures full coverage and progression in the programmes of study, the delivery of the ICT scheme of work and the cross-curricular requirements of other subjects. The ICT co-ordinator will consult with each teacher to ensure that the medium term planning for the programme of study can be delivered, through the provision of the necessary software and training if this is required.

 

Teachers are responsible for ensuring that the technician, support staff and parent helpers are briefed about the activity they are to support and receive a copy of the lesson plan for that activity.

 

Recording, assessment and reporting

 

Assessment of their ICT capability is recorded at the end of each unit of work by using the end of unit assessment activity and recording the results of this on the end of unit assessment sheet.

At the end of the year a judgment will be made about a pupils level of ICT capability using the ‘best fit’ model against the level descriptors.

Each child keeps a portfolio of their work, to show their progress in the different strands of ICT capability.

The ICT co-ordinator will be responsible for collecting a school portfolio of work, which will be moderated by staff to ensure consistency in their judgments about levels of attainment.

At the end of the key stage the pupil’s level of ICT capability is reported to parents.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Roles and responsibilities
The Head teacher, Governors and SMT will be responsible for ensuring that:

  • the school has an up to date ICT development plan which is used to plan the development of ICT in school over a period of years.
  • the ICT development plan is incorporated into the School Development plan to ensure the necessary resources are available for its implementation
  • ensuring the provision of technical and teaching support for ICT
  • ensuring opportunities for staff to receive the necessary training
  • monitoring the delivery of ICT in the school

 

The ICT co-ordinator will be responsible for :

  • the monitoring of long term and medium term planning
  • supporting the delivery of  the scheme of work
  • managing the budget for ICT and the provision of resources and consumables
  • ensuring that resources are maintained and repaired as needed.
  • preparation and implementation of the ICT development plan (with support from SMT)
  • identifying the training needs of staff and delivery of some training or support in school
  • planning and supporting  technicians, support staff and other helpers

 

The class teacher will be responsible for:

 

  • ensuring each child has access to ICT facilities for at least 1 hour per week
  • knowing the resources available for them to use with their class and obtaining training or support in their use if needed
  • planning, recording, delivery  and assessment of ICT activities
  • ensuring appropriate activities are planned and monitored for support staff and parent helpers and time is set aside to brief them
  • using ICT for their own personal and professional use to complete planning, prepare professional materials (worksheets, labels, posters etc) and for recording and assessment data

 

The support staff and technicians will be responsible for:

 

  • obtaining planning from teachers and being briefed on the lesson
  • supporting the pupils as they work on the computer, discussing the activities with them
  • reporting back to teachers on pupils progress and where the activity did not meet the needs of pupils
  • recording the progress of any pupils as required
  • ensuring they have time to know the program they are to use with children
  • minor troubleshooting of computers necessary to keep systems running during lessons

 

 

Teaching and learning styles

Teachers are expected to employ a range of strategies and to use their professional judgment to decide on the most appropriate teaching and learning styles.  These will include:

  • using the computer to demonstrate to a group of pupils or the whole class
  • leading a group or class discussion about the benefits and limitations of ICT
  • planning for individual or paired work at the computer, giving support through the provision of worksheets or help cards
  • encouraging pupils to support each other
  • ensuring opportunities for collaborative groups work
  • using pupils to demonstrate or teach a skill to others, where this is of benefit to all those involved
  • planning the groups to ensure that all children are equally active and involved in the task and that all have equal access to the computer keyboard
  • planning activities  to allow for different levels of achievement by pupils or to incorporate possibilities for extension work.
  • supporting or intervening where appropriate to reinforce an idea or teach a new point.
  • creating displays of ICT generated work

 

 

 

Inclusion

All children should have equal access to ICT in order to develop their personal ICT capability. We ensure that ICT activities are fully inclusive for all children regardless of gender, disability, ethnicity, social class or educational need by;

  • careful planning of groups to ensure that  hands-on experience is equitable
  • checking CD-ROMs, software and documentation to ensure that gender and ethnicity are reflected in a balanced way without stereotyping
  • providing advice to teachers on the ICT support which can be offered to individual children with particular educational needs, including high ability pupils
  • using  external specialist support to assess a child’s specific needs and providing specialist equipment or software
  • being aware that some children do not have computers at home  and ensuring that there are times when these children can have priority access to equipment
  • ensuring good roles models amongst staff of ICT usage
  • ensuring there is a balance in the activities provided to encourage   collaborative work as well as competitive activities to suite different learning styles

 

 

ICT Resources

The ICT Development plan describes the long term strategy for the provision of ICT resources and the School Development plan allocates the finance to implement the plan. A complete list of the resources available in school in included in the appendix.

Purchases are planned to ensure that the computer equipment and software remains up to date, with a gradual policy of replacement and renewal of older equipment. All old equipment is disposed of in an environmentally friendly way, as described by Council policy. The ICT co-ordinator reviews new equipment and software as it comes on the market in order to remain up to date with developments and to offer advice on the purchase of new resources. Subject co-ordinators are included in planning the purchase of software and equipment for their subject. The list of software and hardware is regularly reviewed.

Computers are organised into two ICT suites so any one class can be split into two smaller groups with the support of the HLTA or support assistant. Computers are also provided in the classroom to support the cross-curricular use of ICT.

All computers are equipped with a set of core software to meet the requirements of the scheme of work and additional software is available to meet the specific requirements of other subjects and for special educational need. A complete list of software is available in the appendix. Software not installed on machines is available from the ICT co-ordinator. Up to date virus protection is installed on all machines.

 

The installation of any software not purchased by the school is not allowed and all software installed on machines has the correct license. The ICT co-ordinator holds an up to date list of all the software licenses and on which computers the software is installed. All staff is informed of the licensing laws for software and the risks from virus infection.

 

Links to the school’s management information system (MIS)

 

The schools MIS is a database holding confidential data about the pupils, however staff have access to the information held on the system, which can be exported into spreadsheets for their own use e.g.

  • record keeping
  • SAT’s analysis
  • target setting

 

As part of the information management strategy Internet access is available on all administration machines and management data is shared with those staff who require access to it.

 

We believe that all staff should have access to ICT equipment for their own professional use and have provided each member of the teaching staff with a laptop. We encourage, and provide training, to support staff in using the computer for their planning and record keeping documents and for the preparation of worksheets and notices for the classroom.

 

Training and Support for Staff

 

The ICT co-ordinator will carry out a regular audit of staffs’ skills, identifying areas for development and training needs. Time will be allocated for the co-ordinator to support staff and all staff will be given the opportunity to attend courses to update their skills as required. Training will be made available for all staff in school, including non-teaching staff.

 

As new staff are appointed to school the ICT co-ordinator will explain the ICT policy of school to them and ensure that their training needs are assessed and a suitable training plan is implemented. No member of staff will be expected to work in the ICT suite unless they have been trained in the use of the system or they have the support of another adult. The training needs of the ICT co-ordinator will also be met and time will be provided for attendance at suitable training events.

 

Health and Safety

 

The school has a health and safety policy, which is available in the staff handbook. The particular issues associated with the use of ICT equipment are;

 

  • all workstations offer a safe environment for pupils and staff to work:
    • all electrical equipment is regularly checked
    • wires must not be allowed to trail on the floor or worktops
    • chairs and tables are at an appropriate height for the children
    • lighting is suitable and monitors are not facing bright direct lighting from a window
    • the room is adequately ventilated
    • children and staff do not eat or drink near the computers
    • children are aware of the dangers of using electrical equipment and are taught the rules for safe use of the computers, such as how to switch them on and off correctly
    • children do not work at the computer for long periods of time without a break

 

Internet and e-mail policies

 

The school has Internet and e-mail policies which were presented to the Governors and accepted and which direct the use of the Internet. All members of staff in school are aware of these policies.

 

Security of the systems

 

The risks associated with having a large number of computers in school have been assessed and advice has been sought from the police on the best form of security. The following steps have been taken to ensure the security of the systems;

 

  • all computers are bolted to the benches
  • all computers have security marking
  • the external windows have security grilles and one way glass
  • the school/computer room is alarmed
  • all original discs are stored separately in a locked cabinet

 

In addition staff will not leave data or confidential information on systems to which pupils have access.

Regular backups will be kept of important files and data and these will be kept secure.

 

Virus protection

All staff are made aware of the issues surrounding the spread of virus infection and the following steps taken:

  • all administration and curriculum machines in school are installed with virus protection software which is regularly updated
  • care will be taken when installing programs from the Internet to ensure they are from reputable sources
  • care will be taken when installing programs from magazine discs to ensure they are clear of virus infection
  • software brought into school will not be installed onto computers unless its origin is know and the correct license is available
  • all staff and students will be made aware of the risks of virus infection from work carried on memory sticks. Memory sticks can only be used where they can be guaranteed free from virus infection.
  • all staff and students will be made aware of the risks from virus infection from attachments to email and these will be virus checked before they are opened
  • if virus infection is suspected action will be taken at once to ensure protection of the system
  • all staff and students will be encouraged to keep backups of important files

 

 

 

Monitoring and review

 

There is an annual review of this policy by the ICT co-ordinators. A major review involving all staff will take place every three years.

 

Appendix 

 

  • Inventory of all ICT resources
  • Audit of software
  • Internet and e-mail policy
  • ICT development plan
  • End of unit assessment sheets
  • Early planning guides for ICT delivery

 

 

E. Housley

L. Jones

M. Wilson

 

1.10