Learning from a PFI Pathfinder - RM.com

R
Warwickshire
We-Learn
Project
Learning from a PFI
Pathfinder
“This project aims to use the creativity of the service
provider, in a partnership, to raise educational standards
and transform teaching and learning. This will support
a step-change in educational standards, through a
transformation in the nature of teaching and learning.”
Eric Wood, Warwickshire Chief Education Officer 1991–2006

What is We-Learn?
The Warwickshire e-Learning Community project, known as We-Learn, is one of
four DfES ICT PFI Pathfinder projects, aimed at raising educational standards
through the innovative application of ICT. The eight-year project, valued at over
£16m, was signed on 31 March 2004 and involves 175 schools across the
county: 139 primary and 36 secondary, engaging 1,800 teachers and 40,500
pupils in 1,490 classrooms.
The project has been fully rolled out on time and within budget and will continue
to evolve over its lifetime, until 2012. This includes a full refresh of equipment.
The project is providing the opportunity to introduce a new approach to teaching,
extending the learning environment beyond the classroom and supporting
teachers to introduce high-quality, digital resources – to enhance lessons and
increase engagement and interactivity with pupils.
Objectives of We-Learn
Raised pupil attainment through:
• supporting teachers’ teaching and pupils’ learning, by focusing on
reducing bureaucracy and workload for teachers and helping to
provide enriched and motivational content and material for pupils.
• raising the quality of teaching and dissemination of good practice
across the county, encouraging collaboration among schools.
• increasing pupils’ motivation and encouraging life-long learning.
• developing a high-quality e-learning service which is sustainable,
innovative and available to all of those involved – 24 hours a day,
365 days a year.
• creating a successful and sustainable teaching and learning model.
With the We-Learn project, the authority is looking to:
• improve communications across the county.
• provide curriculum support to teachers, as and when required.
• deliver consistency of ICT across schools, enabling the provision of
effective ICT support.
• share the risk with the private sector, as a result of the PFI funding
route.
• create a successful and sustainable teaching and learning model,
to build on, in the future.
Project monitoring and evaluation
A key part of the We-Learn project is regular monitoring and evaluation,
using feedback to identify areas for improvement. For example, this includes
measuring the confidence and satisfaction of teachers’ use of ICT and
e-learning, plus improvements in attainment at Key Stage 2–4.
Annual attitudinal surveys are carried out among teachers involved in the
project, with the We-Learn solution reporting on community-wide usage.
Success and achievements
to date
“Our vision is of schools staffed
by confident, trained practitioners,
using classrooms equipped with
dependable, exciting technology – to raise
attainment and encourage positive and
independent attitudes to learning. The legacy
for the future will be improved standards of
achievement, a collaborative and skilled
workforce of teachers and support staff, an
outstanding pool of resources, skills and
knowledge and an appetite for learning.”
John Parmiter,
We-Learn Project Director
In September 2005, the project completed the full implementation phase – 1,490
teacher toolkits have been implemented in 171 schools across the county (for more
information about the teacher toolkit, see ‘solution at a glance’ on back page).
Target
Actual
Device availability 99% 99.5% average performance
May 05–May 06
School satisfaction 80% of teachers with 88% of teachers reported a “positive attitude
a positive attitude to their e-learning experience” during the
second contract year (based on Oct 2005
annual attitudinal survey)

“I can now spend a
day planning for a whole
half-term’s work, which is
making my life a lot easier. I’m
not worrying about what I’m going
to teach next week. This whole
system is starting to make a
difference to my workload.”
Rachel Buckingham,
Teacher, Bilton School
“In terms of monitoring,
it has already cut down
on my workload. I can look at
everyone’s planning, without
having to go around
collecting files.”
Richard Machin, Deputy Head,
St Michael’s C of E
Primary School
Benefits experienced by
teachers
Saving time
Once teachers are familiar with, and have confidence and competence in using, the
teacher toolkit, there is strong evidence (from both primary and secondary schools)
that valuable time has been saved in lesson-planning and preparation.
There is also evidence of school managers saving time when monitoring
lesson-planning. Traditionally, managers have had to ask teachers for details about
lesson-planning activity. Through Kaleidos, the virtual teaching and learning
environment (VTLE), managers can search and find lesson plans automatically, to
assess coverage and quality.
Improving teachers’ collaboration
There is strong evidence from several schools of
how the We-Learn solution has encouraged and
developed teachers’ collaboration within schools.
The teacher toolkit and Kaleidos ® have provided
teachers with a consistent way to plan and then
share their lesson plans. This collaboration
shares good practice, is saving teachers’ time and
supporting their professional development.
“We use it (the teacher
toolkit) as a team, each one of us
planning for a year group, then
sharing our lessons using the shared
area in Kaleidos. We have more variety
and learn from one another. Because the
children are seeing more variety in their
lessons, they’re more interested and
joining in more.”
Rachel Buckingham,
Teacher, Bilton School
Motivational benefits for pupils
The way in which the teacher toolkits are being used by teachers is having a big
impact on pupils in primary and secondary schools.
Primary pupils are more engaged with their learning, with the Tablet PC allowing all
in a class to become involved – the interactive content used makes learning appear
to be more fun.
The teacher toolkit allows pupils to demonstrate their achievements; this has
increased pupils’ self-esteem and confidence and is encouraging pupils to be
constructive in giving peer feedback.
Impact on boys
A key benefit of the project has been the motivational impact, an increase in
concentration levels and improved results for boys. The teacher toolkit, used with
interactive software, appeals to the kinesthetic learners and has allowed explanation
and experience of concepts which would otherwise have been very difficult. This has
resulted in boys remaining on task longer.
Improving home-school links
The We-Learn portal is already improving the home-school links for secondary pupils.
Pupils are saving their homework to the portal, accessing it at home on their home
computers and, in many cases, now involving parents or siblings in their homework
activities online.

Learning and sharing experiences
from We-Learn
Pathfinder projects, by their nature, are innovative and ground-breaking; so, inevitably, there are
few similar projects from which experience can be taken and lessons shared. As the project
director of one of four DfES ICT PFI Pathfinder projects, John Parmiter is keen to share the
experience of We-Learn to help and assist other authorities in embarking on projects of this
scale.
The two main lessons learnt are:
1. Change management – the speed of implementation and the change of
teaching practice within schools.
We underestimated the need to engage with teachers and give them the full
vision of where they would be in 18 months to two years’ time.
2. Diverse confidence of teachers – engaging with teachers who are at
different stages in their confidence, ability and competence in using ICT.
“For some teachers, technology was already embedded in their teaching
practice before the start of the We-Learn project; for others, this was not
the case. Some of the more difficult times have been when teachers have
struggled with the technology – this barrier must be overcome. Perhaps, for
these teachers, we have to simplify the technology.”
“Within the change-management budget of the project, it was a challenge to get
the right balance of selling the education vision, delivering technical training and then
supporting teachers in the classroom continually, to embrace the technology and new
teaching practices, with a qualified and competent adviser.”
Addressing lessons learnt through training
The training programme delivered as part of the We-Learn project recognised the variability of
ICT skills within the teaching population and was fundamental to the success of the project.
During the first two years of the project, primary schools receive three days’ training and
secondary schools receive four days’ training. This is delivered both on and off site. By the end of
academic year 2006, all primary schools will have completed their training, while all secondary
schools will have received their day-three training. In addition, all schools are to receive a
programme of planned educational support, tailored to their individual needs; this should help
the schools to move forward and fully embed the project.
Having learned these lessons, the project team is in a much stronger position to move
forward. The team is reviewing the training needs of individual teachers and is now
planning a fourth day of training.
John Parmiter’s advice to another authority about
to embark on a project of this nature:
1. Consult widely with governors and teachers, to understand where
schools are in using ICT to transform teaching and learning.
2. Partner with an ICT provider which fully understands the educational
as well as the technical perspectives of a project of this nature.
3. It is only when there is an effective three-way partnership between
the authority, the schools and the private-sector provider that you
will get a good result.

Working in partnership with RM
RM’s commitment to improving educational outcomes
RM is truly aligned to the We-Learn project, with the project payment which RM receives based
on several project-delivery outcomes, including availability, usability and utilisation of
technology. A proportion of the payment is also linked to the educational attainment of the
students in Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3 national tests and GCSEs. This demonstrates the
commitment and partnership which RM has to the project – sharing accountability for the
educational outcomes, as well as providing the technical and educational service.
RM and Warwickshire – operational partnerships
RM and the Warwickshire ICT Development Service (ICTDS) have formed a successful operational
partnership to provide an effective call-logging and resolution service to We-Learn users.
In order to preserve the ‘one-stop shop’ authority strategy for the management and resolution of
ICT problems, ICTDS provides first-line call-logging facilities to RM’s We-Learn support organisation.
This facility has been further developed by RM, through in-house training of ICTDS help-desk staff.
“I am pleased to
be working in partnership with
RM to deliver this project.
Embedding ICT into teaching and
learning is an important priority for
Warwickshire Authority; RM shares
our vision for ensuring that technology makes
a difference. We chose RM as it offered a
highly innovative ICT solution, rooted in
education experience, with proven ability
to deliver large and complex
public-sector ICT projects.”
John Parmiter,
Project Director
RM has a contract with Warwickshire Education Development Services (EDS) to provide resources for
We-Learn training. From September 2006, a new group, the We-Learn training team, will be set up as
a joint training group, comprising both local authority and RM staff, managed by the We-Learn team.
Next steps for the project
The project is in the second year of an eight-year programme. John Parmiter believes that there is now
a good, sound base from which to consolidate and grow. Key areas for focus include:
• More training and support, targeted specifically at those teachers who need
help the most.
• Quality resources are critical to keep the project moving forward.
Additional primary- and secondary-school-specific content will continue
to be added and made available to all schools in the authority.
• Extending the use of the We-Learn portal across the authority to
both non-We-Learn year groups and schools, to allow greater
collaboration and to exploit the potential of the portal as a
powerful authority-wide communications tool.
• Rolling out Kaleidos and the We-Learn portal to non-We-Learn year
groups and schools, supporting the collaboration and sharing of
best practice among schools.
Tim Pearson, CEO of RM states:
“RM has provided schools in Warwickshire with a solution which goes far beyond
simply using computers to enliven traditional teaching. I am delighted to see
already that the project is making a positive difference to teachers in many
classrooms, and this is having a noticeable impact on teaching and learning.
“The We-learn project is unique and cutting-edge in its nature; like all such
projects, it has faced its own set of challenges. In order to respond to the demands
of the project, RM has worked, and continues to work, openly, honestly and flexibly
with personnel from Warwickshire authority, to meet the needs of the project,
adjusting what we do flexibly and in a true sense of partnership.”

Solution at a glance
Teacher toolkit
Software and content
Services
Consultancy and training
Communication and collaboration
Virtual teaching and learning environment
• Tablet PCs for wireless network connection, providing interactive
capability and portability in the classroom, both in and outside of
school, including home
• Classroom PCs with full multimedia capability
• Wireless network connectivity in each classroom
• Data-projector
• Local-area network server
• Fully managed learning platform
• Fully managed authority-wide portal
• Wide-area network data centre with content resources capable of
access and data synchronisation from school and home
Primary software from a range of providers, including:
• Eye to Eye Britain Kartouche, National Numeracy Strategy, RM Textease
Secondary software from a range of providers, including:
• Actis, Boardworks, DfES strategy materials, Eye to Eye Britain,
Kartouche, Pathe News, RM
• Installation and commissioning
• Performance-reporting
• Project management
• Satisfaction surveys
• Stakeholder engagement
• Technical support
• Curriculum-support consultants
• Educational training
• Technical training
• In total, some 55,644 hours’ training will have been delivered to
2,500 staff, in support of the project start-up phase.
• Microsoft ® share point portal
• Kaleidos
Hardware provided by RM as part of the We-Learn project uses
Intel ® processors.
Intel and the Intel logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its
subsidiaries in the United States and other countries.
Further information
For further information about We-Learn: www.we-learn.com
For further details of RM’s products and services: www.rm.com
The RM Support Partnership for Education aims to work with Partners to support schools in making
the most effective use of ICT to contribute towards raised standards and whole-school improvement.
For more information on the RM Support Partnership for Education,
contact us on 08709 200 200 or email partnerships@rm.com
R
RM, New Mill House, 183 Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4SE
© RM 2006. All trademarks and copyrights of third-party products herein are acknowledged.
PN 4170 06/06