Digital Strategy – How to Make it Manageable

Key to the success of your digital provision is a strategic plan! With many SBLs appointed as the school “Digital Lead”, Clare Skinner shares her tips on how to make IT more strategic

Now I am no technology geek (although I am married to one), but my knowledge and understanding of tech has grown significantly over the years since starting my career in education. That growth has developed my appreciation around the complexity of school networks and the fundamental role that they play in a high-quality education.

Translation Please…

Network, LAN, WAN, server, cloud, profiles, firewalls, Wi-Fi, laptops, desktops, visualisers (apparently fundamental to the classroom teacher) – there is so much unknown language in the digital world it can be completely overwhelming and cause a real block as to where to start.

Whether you have in house or external IT support, start a conversation with them and get them to translate for you. Have them draw you a picture of what your digital structures in school look like so that you can really understand them. Do not be afraid to ask questions, this is a highly skilled area that moves exceptionally fast, and you need expert advice – so make sure you get it!

Where to start?

As usual, I will point you to a source that will feel a bit obvious, but you need to get familiar with the DfE’s Digital Standards document (Education Executive have even been running a series on this very topic!) If you build your plan around this then you will be doing everything that is required of you and that is exactly what I did.

Sit down with your network manager/IT technician/ advisor and work your way through this document. Build it into a spreadsheet that you can use as a self-assessment against the standards it sets out and RAG rate your setting against the requirements. This will become a priority list from which you can turn your greens into points of assurance to SLT/governors/trustees, identify quick wins that turn ambers to green and draw up your plans for the reds.

Don’t forget to include the elements of cybersecurity and linked elements from Keeping Children Safe in Education when developing those priorities; it must come back to this to meet our safeguarding requirements. Also consider the conditions of the cybersecurity elements of your insurance policy and ensure that you are insured!

Asset Management

The next step will be to audit your IT assets, as you need to establish the remaining life span on all of the technology in your setting, so build an inventory. Know when laptops and desktops were bought, what size memory capacity they have, their processor speeds and where they are located in the school. Add in your interactive whiteboards, your MFDs (photocopiers to you and I), even your VOIP system and servers, Wi-Fi networks and broadband line. Everything that makes your network function should be in that list.

Affordability

Once you have your list of priorities, you need to start shopping – which can be daunting as technology is not cheap and moves on so quickly. You need to know if your 3rd gen i5 processor desktop will upgrade to Windows 11 and if it won’t, then you have to replace it. Use your inventory to plan how many desktops and laptops need to be replaced each year to develop a rolling renewal programme rather that incurring a huge cost in one hit by replacing everything all at once.

That sort of expenditure is beyond all of us so you really need to plan over a 3-5 year period and get the investment planned into your budgets or committed to from reserves as a full investment programme, or a mix of the two. Consider purchase and/or rental in your buying options and be prepared to really negotiate when you shop around for your products. Think about whether you buy desktops or move to a laptop with docking system model so that your teachers are truly mobile (and have the facility to work from home to support their wellbeing).

Protection

Once you have made all of the investment in shiny new kit, make sure that you maximise it’s lifecycle by getting it regularly upgraded, provide laptop bags to soften impact, ensure all staff know and understand the ICT Acceptable Use Policy (and they follow it) and provide training on cybersecurity to everyone in your setting. Finally, ensure that your business continuity planning includes what to do when the broadband goes down to ensure you can still educate the children in the absence of the IT!