www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk

Children and Technology in Cambridgeshire2012–2015 CYPS Framework for ICT

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Technology has become a dominant force in our working livesand beyond work too. For most children and young people itis a crucial part of the daily landscape.

The purpose of this document is to provide a coherentpicture of the part technology will play in the repertoire ofthose who work for children and young people inCambridgeshire.

The framework is aligned to four key County Councilpriorities. It aims to put Cambridgeshire’s children and youngpeople at the centre by identifying the entitlement we believethey should expect from us.

Children and Technology in Cambridgeshire2012 – 2015 Children and Young People's Services Framework for ICT

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When I need it, I can use technology toimprove my learningwherever I am

Children and Young People’stechnology entitlement

‘‘Staff use

technology to help make my learning assuccessful as possible‘‘

Adults understandhow technology can helpme achieve success atschool and at work‘‘

I learn howtechnology works andhow to use it responsibly,confidently and safely‘‘

Technology isused to improve thesystems that support me‘‘

My personalinformation is used andprotected properly‘‘

Implications for schools

Technically and pedagogically, we willneed to prepare for greater diversityin the devices used by learners andfor a growing proportion bringing theirown equipment. We will need networksystems which make it easy and safeto incorporate these devices and wewill need to ensure as far as possiblethat no children are disadvantaged.We will still need to provide a range ofequipment, both basic andspecialised, but the growth of “bring-your-own-device” (BYOD) may easesome funding pressures.

We can expect a shift of spendingtowards cloud computing andmanaged services, with a reducedneed for our own staff to look afterthe systems and equipment we use.Reliable broadband connectivity withadequate capacity will be needed tounderpin these developments.

We will need to design a curriculumwhich ensures that our pupils developthe digital capabilities they need forlearning now and for their futureeducation and careers. Attainment inICT should compare well with othersubjects, and from the start we mustensure that children are able to learnabout technology and develop

programming skills in an appropriateand enjoyable way.

Professional development will be acontinuing priority to ensure that ourstaff have up to date skills andunderstanding and that no one seesICT as optional. This will include theeffective use of technology in all areasof the curriculum and the analysis ofpupils’ performance data to monitortheir progress and plan appropriateprovision for individuals and groups.

Implications for CYPS and itspartners

By engagement with local high-techbusinesses and with regional andnational professional networks, we willhelp schools and settings to benefitfrom the latest thinking about currentand future technology and its use.Where new schools are planned orexisting schools extended, we willcontinue to ensure that the designreflects good practice in provision forICT. While recognising that spendingdecisions are made at a local level,we will endeavour to ensure that goodquality support for ICT is offered toschools and settings, includingthrough the Education ICT Service.

We will continue to explore ways ofusing technology to provide more

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Helping people to live independent and healthy lives

Improve learning and healthoutcomes for every childand young person

Priority 1

flexible in-service training and meetthe needs of staff in schools andsettings.

Through the Cambridgeshire PublicService Network (CPSN) and ourregional broadband consortium (E2BN)we are ensuring that reliable andaffordable broadband connectivity isavailable to schools. Our neweducation portal will provide efficientcommunication facilities for localauthority teams and the people inschools that they support.

Teams in the Learning Directorateneed a shared understanding of ICTdevelopment and its contribution toschool improvement. Professionaldevelopment will be a continuingpriority to ensure that our staff haveup to date skills and understandingand that no one sees ICT as optional.

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From an early age ICT extends the boundaries of learning, ofwhat, when and how children can learn. Different ways of usingtechnology should be part of every teacher’s repertoire.

With the growth of mobile and personal devices we can expectmore learners to bring their own equipment into schools.

Digital literacy and creativity are key attributes for most areas oflearning and employment, and not enough school leavers arequalified for specialist computing courses in higher education orfor the high tech industries.

Technology has opened up immense opportunities forcommunication and collaboration beyond the classroom, forinvolving parents, and for supporting and challenging learners,whatever their needs and talents.

More than ever, practitioners need the tools and expertise toenable them to track and analyse pupil performance forindividuals and groups.

Implications for schools

An ongoing professional developmentprogramme will help all our staff tomaintain the skills and knowledge ofICT needed to support disadvantagedand vulnerable children fully. We needto ensure that the most appropriateresources are available to learners withthe greatest needs. Our staff mustalso be equipped to use managementinformation tools effectively to highlightthe progress, attainment and potentialof vulnerable groups and individuals.

We will continue to seek the mostsuitable ways of providing for childrenwho do not have regular access to ICToutside school. This may includeproviding facilities at school for

priority children, loaning equipment forhome use, and working with charitieslike the e-Learning Foundation toimprove personal access to learningtechnology for all our children.

Some of our young people may needsuitably located online access pointsfor sensitive and personal information,with their privacy respected. And allsecondary-age children should knowabout Cambridgeshire’s Youthoriawebsite.

By using an online learning platformwe encourage anytime anywherelearning by all our pupils, and we aimto provide some continuity for childrenwhose schooling may be disrupted.We should regularly review the mosteffective communication channels forhelping the parents of vulnerablechildren to support their learning.

Implications for CYPS and itspartners

All Cambridgeshire libraries providefree internet access to children andyoung people. Community AccessPoints located across the county havebroadband connections to the Internet.

We will continue to seek cost effectiveways of providing access to ICT,

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Developing our local economy for the benefit of all

Narrow the gap in learningand health outcomes forvulnerable children andyoung people

Priority 2

including internet facilities, for all ourlooked-after children, and to supportand monitor their academic progressthrough our virtual school. We aim toensure that staff and foster carers areequipped to support young people’slearning with ICT.

We need to build on our experience ofsupporting distance learning fortravellers, excluded pupils and othergroups to make it easier for somevulnerable children and young people tosustain their engagement in education.

Library Learning Centres offer acomplete package of information,advice and courses in a friendly andinformal environment at a pace thatsuits the learner. Free support isavailable to young people to help decidethe right course, the right provider andhow to progress to further learning andemployment options.

We need a coordinated approach to theinformation and services we put onlinefor young people to avoid confusionand wasted effort. We want as manystaff as possible to recognise the valueof our Youthoria website(www.youthoria.org), especially forvulnerable young people. We will reviewthe Voices4Us website which weprovide for the children we look afterand, if appropriate, we will create analternative online space where they canget information and express theirviews. Our online application websitewill make it easier for teenagers to findand sign up for post-14 and post-16courses which match their interestsand needs. We will ensure that ouronline information on special

educational needs is comprehensive,accessible, up to date, and respondsto parents’ needs.

Moving information about children withspecial needs, looked-after children andother vulnerable young people into theOneVision system will improve our abilityto keep track of them and to provideuseful information for parents andcarers. The social care information andplanning (SCIP) database will improvethe information provided to families witha disabled child. We need these systemsto be accessible to support teams in asmany locations as possible.

The use of e-learning toolkits such asthe Inclusion Development Programme(IDP) and the Targeted Mental Health inSchools (TaMHS) will help us toimprove the capacity of the children'sworkforce to promote emotional andmental health.

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It is widely recognised that use of ICT out of school can boosteducational participation and success. Finding ways to make thispossible for vulnerable children plays an important part innarrowing the gap.

Specialised resources can help children with specific needs tofollow an appropriate curriculum or to catch up if they havefallen behind. These can include dedicated hardware devices andsoftware, customising standard software and operating systemsto meet individual needs, and online resources which can beused in or out of school.

Online information and services can be attractive to hard toreach children and young people and to those not attendingschool, helping them to enjoy learning, make better choices andfind support from peers and professionals. Parents and thewider family can become more engaged too.

Implications for schools

Acceptable use agreements forlearners and staff are in place in manyof our schools. We need to review anddevelop them regularly to ensure thatthey address emerging risks andreflect current thinking about the bestway to promote digital safety.

We need to ensure that our anti-bullying and safeguardingprogrammes and policies embracedigital safety rather than treating it assomething separate.

Schools provide a relatively controlledtechnology environment where ICT usecan be regulated and monitored.Children and young people need tolearn to act safely in the lesscontrolled environments they willencounter outside school. E-safety isan ongoing concern for parents andcarers, and guidance from schools isgenerally welcomed. A partnershipapproach with families has benefits foreverybody.

With so much sensitive informationabout children and their families heldin our computer systems, we musttake robust measures to keep itsecure. This will involve ensuring thatonly properly authorised people,including technical support providers,have access to our systems, and thatup to date policies are followed by ourstaff so that procedures for sharinginformation are safe and comply withcurrent regulations. As our staff makegreater use of mobile devices forwork purposes, we need to keepinformation security under review.

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Supporting and protecting vulnerable people

Keep children and youngpeople safe at home and intheir communities

Priority 3

Implications for CYPS and itspartners

We must continue to commission e-safety advice for schools, settingsand support services, and ensure thatappropriate training is available forthose who work with children, youngpeople and their families. We need toensure that the professional expertiseof our e-safety specialists is kept upto date.

We need to ensure that ourarrangements for information sharingare secure and manageable andbacked up with appropriate guidanceand training for staff.

The Local Safeguarding Children’sBoard will benefit from our ongoingsupport in the area of digital safety,and at the same time will help our ownteams to be better informed. Weshould continue to offer advice andguidance to other partners, especiallythe early years PVI sector.

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Technology is at the heart of so many aspects of work andhome life, and we need responsible and confident young citizenswho will make it a force for good.

Our young people are likely to relish innovation and the use ofnew technologies; we need to encourage this while helping themto engage safely.

In the digital age, information security is a challenge and apriority for everybody.

Staff who work with children and young people need to shareand analyse sensitive information about them; they mustunderstand the risks as well as the benefits.

Implications for schools

Technology should be relieving theburden of routine tasks for classroomand office staff. We need to reviewtheir needs regularly and provideappropriate training and support sothat they get maximum benefit fromthe tools which are available to them.

Online booking for parents’ meetings,cashless catering, automatedattendance and library systems are allexamples of convenient solutions whichare already in place in many schools.

Effective communication with familiesleads to better engagement. A rangeof electronic channels are available tosupplement face to face contactwithout replacing it. We need to beconfident that we are communicatingwith families in ways which suit them.Where electronic communication isused, we need clear protocols toensure that both staff and parents’expectations are appropriate andmanageable.

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Support change to enable Children and Young People’s Services to achieve benefits for our children and young people

Develop an effective,efficient and motivatedworkforce

Priority 4

Implications for CYPS and itspartners

Technology should be relieving theburden of routine tasks for all ourstaff. We need to review their needsregularly and provide appropriatetraining and support so that they getmaximum benefit from the tools whichare available to them. Competent useof technology can not be seen asoptional and, recognising theimportance of affordability, we needregular evaluation of systems andprocedures to ensure that technologyis implemented in ways which improverather than impair our efficiency andeffectiveness.

We will continue to explore ways ofusing technology to provide moreflexible in-service training to meet theprofessional development needs ofCYPS staff.

School-facing staff and those workingdirectly with young people need up todate knowledge of the part thattechnology plays in their clients’ worldand of the systems that their clientsuse. They need to know how to worksafely online themselves. Equipmentused by CYPS staff, especially thosewho work regularly away from CCCpremises, needs to be easilyinteroperable with the systems andinfrastructure provided in schools andsettings.

Technology should help us toimplement the Government’s Positivefor Youth policies, which urge localauthorities to give young people avoice locally, to publicise the local offerof services to them, and to enablethem to audit the quality of this offer.We will continue to seek the mosteffective ways to reach children andyoung people, allowing for variation inthe technologies they and their familiesuse. Our Families Information Servicewill continue to focus on a family-friendly information strategy. Forcommunication with staff in schools theredevelopment of our education portalwill help us to ensure that informationreaches the intended audience directlyand in a timely fashion and we willexplore the possibility of extending it toother settings.

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In organisations everywhere, technology can release staff forhigher-order tasks and free up time for more productive contactwith the people they support. It can help us deal with routinetasks more efficiently if implemented well; we should also expectother benefits in our work. Not only should we be able to dothings more quickly and easily; new and improved services forchildren and young people become possible through innovativeuse of technology.

Thoughtful use of technology for both internal and externalcommunications can result in better engagement, understandingand participation especially when it takes account of people’spreferences and the systems which they regularly use. Thisapplies as much to communication with our colleagues andpartners as it does to contact with the children and families weare working for.

How will these aspirationsbe realised?Schools and settings

• Consider the framework and agree which statements you can sign up to.Incorporate them into your development plans.

• Identify where you will need information or support to help you implement yourplans and who can provide it.

• Monitor and review the progress you are making and its impact.

Teams in CYPS

• Consider the framework and agree which statements are relevant to the workyou do. Incorporate them into your work plans.

• If you work with children and families, set out your team’s contribution to thechildren and young people’s entitlement.

• If you work with schools and settings, identify support you can offer to helpthem realise the entitlement for their pupils.

• Identify where you will need information or support to help you implement yourplans and who can provide it.

• Monitor and review the progress you are making and its impact.

This document was produced by The ICT Service in collaboration with servicesacross Children and Young People’s Services (CYPS), Cambridgeshire CountyCouncil – published November 2012.

Contact:

The ICT ServiceTel: 01480 376655Email: info@theictservice.org.ukw

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