DEPARTMENT FOR
CHILDREN, SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES News Release (2008/0006) issued by
The Government News Network on 10 January 2008
- £30 million for
home ICT for low-income families -
- £600,000 home access pilot launched in 50 schools -
- Further moves to close the 'digital divide' -
All parents will get regular electronic reports on their
children's progress in future - going far beyond the
traditional annual school report, Schools Minister Jim Knight
announced this week.
Opening BETT 2008, the world's largest educational
technology trade show, he said all secondary schools will be
expected to have 'real-time' reporting systems up and
running by 2010 and all primary schools two years later. Many
schools already run these systems.
Real-time reporting means parents will be able to access
frequently updated information on children's achievement,
progress, attendance, behaviour and special needs wherever,
whenever they want - using secure, online systems.
Other systems could include text alert systems, school intranet,
email or even video-conferencing.
The Government's schools technology agency, Becta, will be
guiding schools to adapt their existing technology and advise them
how to improve.
Mr Knight said:
"We know from schools around the country that if families
are going to be involved in their children's education really
effectively, they need a good two way flow of information - a
channel which is more efficient and more frequent than a once a
year written report, or a letter home when there is a problem or
something to celebrate.
"Real time reporting will deepen the school-parent relations
and is not a substitute for regular personal contact with
teachers. Effective technology systems can actually significantly
cut the staff workloads - but it has to be to be manageable for
individual schools and meaningful for parents."
Mr Knight also announced a further £30million over the next three
years targeted at low-income families to buy computers and connect
to broadband internet for school work.
And he launched a £600,000 pilot, run by Becta with key industry
players, specifically looking at lowering the cost of devices and
connectivity and informing parents about the educational benefits
of a home computer.
He also confirmed that the Government's Home Access
Taskforce, set up last year and chaired by Mr Knight, will make
clear recommendations in April on making universal home access a
reality - particularly in disadvantaged areas - and how to provide
the technical and maintenance support to back it up.
Mr Knight added:
"We have to find a way to make access universal, or else
it's not fair. More than a million children - and their
families - have no access to a computer in the home.
"I want a home computer to be as important as having a
calculator or pencil case is. It means children will be able to
access their school work and resources for their learning - and
even download or store homework and get feedback from schools,
wherever they want, whenever they want.
"All these plans which depend on technology risk widening
the gap between the have and the have nots - unless we can make
the technology available to all. The so-called "digital
divide" cannot be allowed to reinforce social and academic divisions.
"I see some tough negotiations ahead with some of the big
providers. But they have a lot to gain too - potentially it will
be millions more customers for them. I don't see why the
Government shouldn't be able to get technology at a good
price for low income families."
He also underlined that home computer and internet access goes
hand in hand with protecting children and young people from
inappropriate or potentially harmful material. Last September, the
Government asked Dr Tanya Byron to make clear recommendations on
this area and she is due to report in March.
The Government has invested £5billion in schools ICT since 1997,
with another £837million earmarked over the next three years -
leaving it with the highest levels of embedded technology in
classrooms in European Union and one computer for every three pupils.
Mr Knight's announcement in full is:
- a 12-week public consultation on the best way to achieve
universal home access - focusing on key issues such as who should
pay for access and how do to ensure that children use the internet
in a safe and purposeful manner.
- a £600,000 Becta pilot scheme to test different ways ensuring
all families have access to a computer at home in 50 schools
across Birmingham, Worcestershire, Stockton and Brent - working
with partners Dell, Intel, RM and PC World to reduce the cost of
devices and broadband connection - and stress the educational
benefits of home access to parents and teachers. This includes
subsidising the cost of acquiring home technology for a whole year
group - with direct funding for schools and parental contributions.
- an additional £30million for low income families from the most
disadvantaged areas gain access to internet and computer
technology at home - funding from within the Department's
current budget which is being diverted to this particular
programme. The Government has already invested £60million in the
two-year Computers for Pupils scheme, which target 1000 schools in
England's most deprived areas.
- a high-level study, called Beyond Current Horizons, working
with the best thinkers in education and involving a focussed
consultation with the industry, parents, learners and the
community, to access the long-term social, economic and cultural
impact of technology on children's lives, their education and
beyond between 2008 and 2025.
NOTES TO EDITORS
1. Home Access Taskforce
Jim Knight announced that he was setting up the Taskforce at BETT
in January 2007. Since then the Taskforce has met quarterly. The
final meeting will be in April 2008, when the Taskforce will make
recommendations about the best way to achieve universal home access.
Becta is investing £600,000 in Proof of Concept activities to
test different ways of delivering access. With the support of
almost 50 schools across the country Becta are testing two main
models. In the first, grants are provided via schools or LAs to
incentivise pupils in the poorest families to buy technology.
Incentive levels are being varied to determine if there is a
'tipping point' at which a public funding contribution
will drive high levels of take up. In the other, grants are
provided to schools to part-finance devices and connectivity.
These grants are supplemented by parental contributions to provide
home technology for a whole cohort of pupils.
The Government is targeting £30 million of the Harnessing
Technology Grant funding to help low income families from the most
disadvantaged areas gain access to technology at home.
The public consultation runs for 12 weeks. The full documents can
be accessed at: http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/consultations/
2. Real-time reporting
By September 2008 all secondary schools will be expected to
provide information to parents covering achievement, progress,
attendance, behaviour and special needs, on a timely and frequent
basis - this should be at least once per term.
By September 2010 all secondary schools will need to offer
parents real-time access to this information (including the
opportunity for secure online access) wherever they are and
whenever they want.
Primary schools must also meet the basic requirement by September
2010 and the real time requirement by 2012.
Becta, is leading on bringing that practice together and are
developing a range of support to help spread this excellent
practice, including:
the latest and most influential research papers and education
reports on the subject to support your thinking and discussion in school;
a growing and categorised resource showing the experiences of a
wide range of schools;
online, real time experiences of others through blogs written by
teachers in the process of implementing real time reporting in
their schools;
and access to tips, ideas and resources to help schools including
video resources and information packs.
3. Futures programm
The Beyond Current Horizons programme is tasked with building a
challenging and long-term vision for education in the context of
social and technological change.
To achieve this aim, the programme will:
rigorously review evidence from science and social science in the
UK and internationally to identify and analyse the emerging trends
in society, technology and education that will act as the most
significant drivers of change in education from 2020 onwards;
identify the future ethical challenges and needs for education
that will be presented by these emerging trends;
develop long-term visions for the potential purpose, nature and
organisation of education in 2025 through the use of creative and
collaborative tools to enable consultation around emerging trends
and challenges with diverse education stakeholders - including
industry, media, parents, students, teachers, education leaders,
governors
build on the evidence and consultation to identify
and analyse key interventions for meeting the challenges and
exploiting the opportunities identified.
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