The ICT Development Plan

A development plan sits alongside the school’s policy for ICT. It explains in detail the parallel developments that will need to take place in order to achieve the vision together with the intended timeframe.

The ICT development plan will need to define the key interrelated areas of development necessary to achieve a successful ICT strategy.

These key areas are likely to include the development of resources (infrastructure and digital content), professional development (ICT use and pedagogy), and curriculum development (ICT capability and ICT use in subjects).

The development use of ICT for administration is a separate consideration. Ofsted describes good ICT development plans as ones which "take a strategic view of developments in staff expertise, resources and curriculum and seek to align these."

The ICT development plan should address:

1. Where are we now? An audit of curriculum, standards of achievement, assessment, resources, Staff development, and teacher expertise and an analysis of the current situation. The Supported School Self Evaluation (SSSE) process will help to identify strengths and weaknesses in ICT.

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2. Where are we going? The vision of what ICT will look like in your school in 4 years time.

3. How are we going to get there? Targets and outcomes, which are consistent with the National Grid for Learning, and the school’s development plan.

The ICT Curriculum Support Team can also assist schools in carrying out reviews of IT provision and writing development plans, policies and schemes of work

DfES Standards Fund NGfL guidance (as described by Becta) sets out the areas to be covered in schools' ICT development plans.

These are: • how the
school will use ICT to help raise educational standards by enhancing the delivery of the National Curriculum • in primary schools: the plan should demonstrate how ICT will contribute to the achievement of targets set by the school for improvements in the number of children achieving level four and above in mathematics and English and what use will be made of guidance from the National Numeracy and Literacy Strategy on using ICT to teach more effectively • in secondary schools: the plan should indicate how the schools will use ICT to support developments under the Key Stage 3 Strategy for ICT including the enhancing the school capacity to use ICT for teaching and assessment

• how investment in ICT will be coordinated with meeting the professional development needs of its teachers, including through the take up of training opportunities funded by the New Opportunities Fund (NOF) • how the school will integrate the use of ICT for school management and administration purposes by adopting the standards set out in the DfES Information Management Strategy (IMS) • how the school's ICT facilities will be made available for use out of normal school hours by pupils and for community purposes

• how ICT will be used to promote inclusion, for example by supporting pupils with special educational needs and by developing home-school links (including the development of a school web site) • setting out the school's policy for the acceptable use of ICT, including secure access to the Internet • an audit of levels of equipping, network use and teacher development currently being undertaken • setting out the school's policy for managing, developing and sustaining its ICT provision, including accommodation/access issues • arrangements for technical support • the safe and environmentally friendly disposal of equipment.

Becta identifies four elements to an ICT development plan

• the ICT audit
• aims and objectives
• the implementation plan
• evaluation

Plans should be devised as a result of auditing current practice in ICT and identifying priorities for development. Plans should have clear, agreed aims and objectives that describe the school's vision for ICT. The plan should have a timescale, be costed, show responsibilities and be evaluated. Targets should be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timed (SMART).

A Sample Development Plan is shown in the document:
Bucks Sample School Development Plan for ICT

Procedures for how the day to day organisation of the plan will function are best separated from the policy. It is common for a school ICT policy to have the main messages swamped by rules and procedural issues. Procedures, guidance, rules and other operational matters should be placed in a handbook

The checklist shown below can be useful in helping to formulate your development plan and could also be used during the annual School Improvement plan review process:

ICT Development Plan Review - Checklist