Case studies

Strengthening pedagogy with ICT: Early adopters' project - case study 4 - Kent

Background

Alison Gaunt and Robert Gibson work as ICT Consultants for Kent LA; Alison supports all secondary schools with the Hands on Support programme and Robert is an ICTAC Consultant for a number of secondary schools across Kent.

The most important things to come out of this project are:

• increased teacher confidence in the use of ICT
• closer departmental working
• SPICT materials supporting journey towards ICT mark
• tangible evidence for threshold and CPD portfolios.

The project
Our project will focus on Hillview School, a girls' mixed ability high school in West Kent. The main aim is to build a whole school mechanism for cross-departmental fertilisation linked to strengthening pedagogy through using ICT.

The project was launched in November 2006 and the headteacher's expectation is that it will continue as a necessary and integral part of CPD. The head's other major goal was to see all departments co-operating more closely with each other, building sustainability through the development of in-house expertise.

Discrete ICT has developed dramatically in the last three years, with ICTAC now becoming a focus strategically within the school.

The school is involved in a local federation where the Becta ICT mark (Self-review framework) and development of a common VLE have been identified as strategic issues. The federation of schools are working together collaboratively to address these developments.

An ICT strategy group was already well-established within the school. This group had a representative from each department, with 14 members in total. They met once a term and the meetings were chaired by the head of ICT who was often supported by the headteacher. Actions and outcomes were shared with all staff at departmental and/or full staff meetings.

The school plays a pivotal role in the local Hands on Support programme. In Kent, HoS is strategically managed by a HoS consultant who works with all the secondary schools, which are geographically organised into 23 clusters. In Tonbridge, there are six secondary schools of which Hillview is one. A key aim is to build capacity, sustainable structures and working practices at a local level. The school has a HoS AST (who is partly funded from the cluster HoS funds). She manages the secondary ICT training programme in liaison with the schools and HoS consultant. See definition of HOS.

Key outcomes:

• Sharing of good practice and expertise in individual departments initially, leading to cross-departmental working as a longer term outcome. This took place through peer observations and feedback using the SPICT lesson observation sheet (amended) and sharing of resources electronically.
• There was involvement in piloting the SPICT materials, which formed an integral part of teachers' CPD and evidence for threshold applications.
•  For the whole school development of ICTAC to support SRF/journey towards ICT mark accreditation.

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