GovWire

Why this standard is important

Schools and colleges need a member of their SLT to:

• have strategic oversight of all digital technology and how it fits with their development plan
• create and manage the digital technology strategy led by the needs of staff and students, not the technology itself
• help all staff to embed digital technology that meets staff and student needs

Having clearly defined roles and responsibilities will help schools and colleges focus the digital technology strategy around their development plan. Without this focus, theres a risk that:

• the use of technology will only meet short-term needs that could potentially lead to additional unplanned costs
• schools and colleges will be exposed to safeguarding and security issues
• new digital technology will not be compatible with existing technology used by the school or college

Who needs to be involved

The headteacher or principal will have responsibility for making sure this standard is met by assigning a SLT digital lead.

The SLT digital lead is usually someone with teaching experience. They will act as a link between:

• technical staff
• the SLT
• curriculum leads
• the data protection officer
• the designated safeguarding lead
• school, college and trust business professionals or the finance team
• the trust IT director or equivalent (if applicable) to align with the digital technology strategy

How to meet this standard

To meet this standard, the headteacher or principal should appoint someone who is responsible for digital technology. They do not need to be an expert, but some technical knowledge or interest could be advantageous for this role.

They will be accountable for:

• the delivery of the digital technology strategy based on teaching and learning outcomes and organisational needs
• encouraging and supporting the use of digital technology across the school or college
• reviewing the effectiveness of IT support to inform decision making and taking action, when necessary
• identifying and acting on digital technology training needs for staff and students

Governors or trustees should also consider assigning a digital link role within the governing body or board of trustees.

When to meet this standard

You will need to assign the role of the SLT digital lead within your school or college before you can create your digital technology strategy.

Why this standard is important

A contracts register, asset register and information asset register will help your school or college to:

• understand what digital data, equipment and systems you have
• manage digital data, equipment and systems effectively
• keep track of buying and licensing so that schools or colleges can get better value for money when renewing software and hardware

Not having these registers in place for digital technology could lead to:

• budget pressures due to accidental renewal of subscriptions, software and hardware that might not be needed, or are not the best value for money
• safeguarding and cyber security issues as software might not be up to date
• lost learning and workload burdens if software or hardware is not budgeted for or supported

Who needs to be involved

To meet this standard, the senior leadership team (SLT) digital lead will need to work with the following people:

• school, college or trust business professionals or the finance team
• the data protection officer
• IT support

How to meet this standard

To meet this standard, schools and colleges should include digital technology within their:

• contracts register
• asset register
• information asset register

By including digital technology in these documents, schools and colleges will know what contracts, digital technology and data they have, and when they need to be reviewed.

Contracts register

The contracts register includes, but is not limited to:

• licences
• subscriptions
• contracts related to your broadband, IT support and technology provider
• a list of your school or colleges approved apps

It can also capture the value of the contracts which helps to monitor spend and make savings where possible.

You can record your contracts using the DfE contracts register template.

Commercial and procurement information should be updated by the business or finance team, and IT support should update technical information. This contract register must be kept up to date.

Asset register

An asset register is a log of all the physical digital technology and tools that are within the school or college and should detail:

• what equipment you have
• asset numbers
• serial numbers
• who it is assigned to
• where it is within the school or college
• when it was purchased
• how
  

  View the original news story