Achieving through Innovation at Newham Improving ... - RM.com

What is Achieving through Innovation?
‘Achieving through Innovation’, a £20-million PFI project, is an eight-year project
involving around 4,200 pupils in thirty primary schools across the London
Borough of Newham. It aims to use information and communications
technology (ICT) to support learning and teaching, both in school and at
home, with the ambition of raising pupils’ attainment.
The project, which started in September 2004, is underpinned by two key
themes:
1. Teachers and teaching assistants (TAs) confidently using ICT would save time
on lesson-planning and preparation and produce more engaging lessons,
differentiated for the specific needs of their pupils.
2. Giving portable computers to each pupil, for use both in school and at
home, would enhance their ICT skills, enrich and personalise their learning
experience and more fully engage both pupils and parents in learning.
Stakeholder engagement with the project
To ensure that schools were both prepared and capable of taking on
such a comprehensive change to their teaching and learning, all
schools interested in the project were invited to bid for a place on
the project.
Schools were provided with an overview of what might be
provided: a comprehensive package including software, technical
back-up and teacher training. They were advised that they would
need to contribute financially and were asked to include a
‘provisional approval’ from their chair of governors, to demonstrate
that they were committed for the full eight years of the project, if their
bid was successful.
“We were at the point in
our strategic plan where our
pupils and teachers were highly
skilled in ICT – it was the next
step. The project offered us an
enhanced tool for learning. ”
Shirlyann Jones, Assistant Head
Teacher, Portway Primary
School
In the ‘invitation to bid’ letter, schools were advised that, to be successful,
they would have to demonstrate why and how they were well placed to
make the project a success in their school. In this way, equal chance was
given to all schools.
The evaluation panel included a head teacher from a school
uninvolved in the project, Paul Stratton, ICT PFI Project Director,
Graham Pragnell, Head of Education ICT and Dave Lee, member of the
School Development Unit.
Targets for the project
“I would do it the same way
again [school selection] because it
was fair, transparent and robust. It also
provided early sign-up from the school –
including the governors – and has given
the authority information from each school
about why it wanted to be involved – nobody
was forced into joining against better
judgement and, therefore, was less likely
to want to back out at a later date.”
Paul Stratton, ICT PFI Project Director,
London Borough of Newham
Newham wanted to build on its existing success with ICT and set ambitious
targets for all of those schools involved with the implementation of the project.
Targets are around:
• raising pupils’ attainment.
• developing individual and independent learning.
• encouraging and developing new teaching and learning models.
• improving school attendance, through exciting and interactive lessons.
• recruiting and retaining high-quality teachers.
Key to the success of the project was a significant investment in:
• technology and support for teachers and TAs.
• technology for every child in key stage 2.
Plus involvement of parents in pupils’ home use of the technology.