Bromley ICT Forum Blog

Hold on to your hats folks…it might be a bumpy ride next week 

Update 23/4/2008 

The Synetrix / LGFL Web Hosting upgrade scheduled for Thursday 24th April 2008, has been postponed in light of the pending National teachers strike, along with the current Email Hosting issue. Schools are reporting to us that they wish to communicate to parents, the affect of such a strike on their school, via this LGFL hosted service. Access will therefore be restored within the next 30 minutes. This upgrade has been re-scheduled to take place the following week, starting Tuesday 29th April, with a targeted completion date of Friday 2nd May. I hope that you agree that this is a sensible approach. Should you wish to discuss this further then please do not hesitate in contacting the Synetrix support team on 0870 300 4010

Bromley Schools

Update

Latest information update.

It is my melancholy duty to report that there is a major problem with Synetrix’s email exchange server which has resulted in the following message from the Talk2Synetrix web site

We are investigating issues with the Email platform whereby users will be experiencing slow connectivity and connection errors.  Engineers are working on the issues and we hope to have this resolved very soon. The lead call for this issue is 138116.

For further information please contact the CSC on: 0870 300 4010

I share your irritation  and I can assure you that the issue will be raised at the next LGFL Director’s meeting.

In the meantime you can track the progress of the job by visiting the Customer service site (http://www.talk2synetrix.com ) logging in with your name and password.

If you are unsure about login names and passwords please email me.

Unfortunately the only way I can share this information with our schools is through the ictbromley blog site which is thankfully a Synetrix free zone.

In the meantime if you want to express your opinions about the service please feel free to use the comments area.

Since Bob Usher’s  course in January, many of our schools are now beginning to incoporate Podcasting as a strategy in the delivery of engaging curriculum activities.

We have  examples of teachers using podcasts as a strategy for supporting children with their homework such as teacher,  Karen Easterling’s ‘Division using Chunking’ podcast at Farnborough Primary School. We can also see examples of  students recreating and processing their learning in the form of their own podcasts such as the Year 6 Flashback at Darrick Wood  Junior Primary School. Churchfields Primary School (Christmas in Argentina ) and Warren Road Primary School  have also been very active in using podcasts to supplement their curriculum program.

Podcasts are not hard to do and they can offer  great value to the school’s curriculum program. They can be used successfully from Reception to Key Stage 4.

The LGFL offer a site for hosting podcasts produced by teachers and children. Schools can set up their accounts and load their podcasts to be shared with other schoools. The site also has some great suggestions for incorporating podcasts into currioculum planning along with tools to help you get started (and most of those tools are free). Visit Podcast Central for more information. (Use your LGFL login and password to get cracking…).

If you are interested in having your class participate in a podcast ICT Project Adventure please email me. If any other Bromley Schools (or from any other borough for that matter) are using podcasting, please share your thoughts with us on the blogsite. I would be really keen to hear from your, especially any secondary schools)

Message from Brian Durrant (LGFL Director)

Following the success of this event in earlier years, the London ICT Technicians’ Conference is this year being held in two sittings, morning and afternoon.  The very comfortable seats at the high-tech Auditorium within the BT national HQ are being quickly taken up, but as yet about 100 seats remain

The programme which is aimed at school network managers and details of venue and how to book are attached.  In previous years this event has been greatly appreciated and the preparations for this year will not disappoint.
We are particularly grateful to Penny Patterson and members of L2ICT Environment Group for all the thought and preparation they have put into arranging this conference.

We are also grateful to Atomwide which has agreed to sponsor the lunch for both the morning and afternoon conferences.

We look forward to seeing many of you there.Click here to download the program

17th March 2008

BT Centre, 81 Newgate Street. London EC1A 7AJ

The last conference was highly oversubscribed, so in order to offer this opportunity to as many technical colleagues as possible we will be running this conference twice, using the morning and afternoon slots.   Sessions so far will include: Sophos update, e-safety – technical solutions, MLE update, equipment security.

Click here to book

Gigajam Junior
New on LGfL for music is Gigajam Junior. Gigabot takes you through lessons, video clips, and a Gigapedia glossary section, to give you all you need to introduce the young learner to the world of drumming. Start by going to the Exploring the Drums section to discover what each part of a kit is called and what it does and to build you own drum-kit. www.gigafun.lgfl.net

Newham ICT Scheme of Work

In addition to their foundation stage materials, Newham have now launched their entire ICT scheme of work (covering years 1 - 6). Featuring active flip chart resources and tutorial videos there is a wealth of resources on offer. Importantly every unit contains a challenge lesson which gives the children an opportunity to develop their independent ICT capability. http://www.itass.newham.gov.uk/curriculum/sow.aspx

As part of Becta and the LGFL’s strategy to support school improvement, a school conference was held at the Bromley EDC . The purpose of the conference was to demonstrate how  Becta Self Review Framework  tool can play an important role in helping schools to understand and manage their ICT strategic program and policies.

The session was presented by Simon Shaw (Accreditation Manager, Becta) and John Duffield  (London Learning through ICT). 

A wide range of Bromley schools were represented. They  included Bishop Justus, Langley Park School for Girls, Chislehurst (St Nicholas) CE  Aided, Edgebury Primary School, Grays Farm,Highfield Infant School, Malcolm School Perry Hall School, Pickhurst Infant School, Pickhurst  Junior School, Poverest Primary School, Raglan Primary School, ST Philomenas, St Vincents  Catholic Primary School, and The Highway School.

A copy of the days program can be downloaded here.

Other downloads include

Action Plan

Guidance Notes for Element 7

LGFL and Synetrix are offering another opportunity for Bromley Primary Schools to upgrade their broadband speed from 2Mbps and 5Mbps to a 10 Mbps.

Part of the offer includes

• reduced upgrade setup fee of £3000
• reduced annual rental from £5998 to £4998

For more information about the offer please click here to download a flyer.

For further information please contact John Eaton

Whole School Improvement supported by ICT ‘London Learning through ICT’ (an improvement initiative supported by DCSF, London Challenge and LGfL) has arranged four additional conferences, each providing comprehensive guidance, on the promotion of Whole School Improvement supported by effective deployment of ICT.

Whole School Improvement is about identifying what you do well, where you want to go and what can help you on this journey.

Whole school improvement is also about identifying your priorities and ensuring you stay focused on what is really important. Reviewing whole school ICT and maximising its impact on all areas of Whole School Improvement is a key skill for school leadership teams.

This conference will address how effective use of ICT can result in real learning gains throughout the school and how whole school ICT review and action planning can positively contribute to school improvement planning. The vital issue of Change Management will also be addressed. A process of self review for ICT, using the ICT Self Review Framework, will prove invaluable both as preparation for and successful implementation of the London MLE.

The dates for these events are:

• For East Sector schools 4th February
• For South Sector schools 14th February
• For North Sector schools 27th February
•  For West Sector schools 28th February

All conferences will be held in the Conference Hall at Mary Sumner House, Tufton Street, Westminster. Bromley LA is in the South Sector, therefore please book for the South Sector Conference which is on 14th February, or an alternative date if that date is not possible for you.

Please note that your school must complete the initial SRF registration process in advance of the conference.

This can be reached via http://schools.becta.org.uk/index.php?section=srf&rid=11966

There is no charge for these conferences.

Places are limited, so please register at the earliest opportunity and in any case not later than 31st January 2008.

 Places can be booked online via the link at www.events.lgfl.net It is anticipated that these conferences will be over-subscribed, and, in order that the maximum number of schools can benefit, places are limited to one senior leader per school. Details of additional one-to-one support in applying the Self Review Framework in your school will be supplied at the conference.