Technology’s “cool” at Collingwood

The Secretary of State for Education Charles Clarke said ‘‘Although ICT is obviously not the only factor, and good teaching is even more important in raising standards, it seems clear that the effective use of ICT is a necessary part of a successful school’’.

Deputy Head teacher of Collingwood Junior School Ian Walker couldn’t agree more. He explains that since receiving a poor Ofsted Report in 2000 that criticised the school for providing "insufficient opportunities for the pupils to apply their developing skills in information technology" the school has focused much of its energies on developing a comprehensive ICT strategy. Funding mechanisms, he explains have been put in place to purchase new ICT equipment and provide sufficient training to enable staff to teach information technology successfully.

"With the NGfL funding we installed a network into the ICT Suite and bought a whiteboard" explains Ian "and although we were now in a position to deliver regular weekly ICT lessons across the two schools, we struggled with our eclectic mix of computers. Compared with the ultra modern X-Box and Game Cube consoles the children were used to ours did little to hold their attention or fire their imagination."

"We were looking for a reliable knowledgeable supplier with solid experience of the schools market and most importantly, longevity" explains Ian. "We made the decision at the beginning that we wouldn’t base our decision solely on cost. Choosing the cheapest solution can be far more expensive in the long term" he adds.