How to evaluate your IT provision 

Neil Limbrick, partner and IT consultant, Limbrick Consultancy LLP, founder of theEducationCollective, and ambassador for the Association of Network Managers in Education, on why developing an IT strategy is more like developing a school improvement plan 

Read the full article below on page 28 in our January magazine

Developing an IT strategy is not easy and perhaps the most difficult part is working out what it should look like – in fact, it is easier to say what it should not look like. It should not be a financial plan for replenishment or replacement and, equally, it should not be a technical roadmap for change or release management. These things are about retaining the status quo rather than looking for new, more effective, ways to do things.

IT strategy is about looking for ways to do things better; this can involve achieving cost savings, bringing technical advancement or introducing increased sustainability – or, ideally, all three!

You should also not start with the solution. I have seen schools decide they want a 1:1 device for every child without first thinking about what the opportunities doing so would bring. This does not mean it is a bad decision, but it is impossible to measure the success of any sort of investment if you do not know the impact you are trying to achieve; too often, simply implementing a solution becomes the goal, rather than achieving the benefits the solution was intended to bring.

Developing an IT strategy is more like developing the school improvement plan (SIP) and the three I’s of ‘intent, implementation and impact’ should apply just as strongly here. 

The intent should not be technical in any way – and it should sound just like those found in a good SIP – ‘improve literacy standards, increase parental engagement and reduce workload to improve wellbeing’ are all intentions that can be met through a largely technical implementation.

There is one single golden rule that can be applied to all IT strategy decisions. 

‘Will this have a positive impact on the relationship between the teacher and the pupil?’

This is because no learning can take place without that relationship being in place, and enabling learning is the primary function of any school. A teacher cannot teach if the child is not present – whether that is in terms of attendance or engagement – and a teacher will not be as effective if they do not have the knowledge they need, or they are tied up with unnecessary tasks or paperwork.

Making this link is not always easy but staff wellbeing, census returns to secure funding, safeguarding, efficient and effective assessment and innovate ways of teaching are all ways that technology can support this relationship.

Whatever your involvement in IT strategy within an organisation, keeping focus on this relationship is key, whether you are looking for justification for the spend, helping solve technical challenges or designing curriculum elements.

While it is rare, although not unprecedented, for IT solutions to be directly mentioned in an Ofsted report, the impact often is. This is because the important thing about an IT strategy is not how technologically advanced it is, or how well the implementation goes, it is about the impact it has once it is in place.