UYEASOUND PRIMARY SCHOOL ICT and Response to formal proposal for closure of Submitted by Parent Council Chairperson Mr D. Jamieson Uyeasound Unst Shetland ZE2 9DL
The response of the parent council to the points in the proposal document relating to ICT Proposal paper Learning Environment/Resources Information Communication Technology (ICT) 5.33 received an information and communication technology upgrade at a cost of 9,400 for the school year 2010/11. The school has four desktop computers, six laptop computers, one copier/printer and an interactive whiteboard. The school receives technician support and the average budget for Information Communication Technology for the last three years is 1,200 per annum. The average cost per pupil for Information Communication Technology in the last three years is 126.00 per annum. Baltasound Junior High School 5.34 Baltasound Junior High School has been upgraded previously. The school has 32 desktop computers, 50 laptop computers, one printer/copier and ten interactive whiteboards. The school receives technician support and the average budget for Information Communication Technology for the last three years is 5,300 per annum. The average cost per pupil for Information Communication Technology in the last three years is 85.00 per annum Points to be considered in relation to this part of the proposal document These statements do not compare like for like. Uyeasound Primary is compared with all three departments of Baltasound J.H.School, Nursery, Primary and Secondary. This the comparison used in relation to both the per capita expenditure and the hardwear provision This shows the inconsistency of many of the comparisons within the document where the comparison that weighs the argument for closure as being beneficial is utilised. This is hardly transparent, equitable or fair
THE UPGRADE 5.33 received an information and communication technology upgrade at a cost of 9,400 for the school year 2010/11. This is indeed correct and is part of the roll out of the Pathfinder North Project What is Pathfinder North? Pathfinder North is a project to implement a high-speed future-proof broadband network across the Highlands and Islands local authorities, largely funded by the Scottish Government. Pathfinder North is a partnership of five local authorities: Argyll and Bute Council Highland Council Moray Council Orkney Islands Council Shetland Islands Council who came together to facilitate a combined solution to broadband implementation across the region. What is Pathfinder North Implementing? The Pathfinder North Rollout is designed to connect 800 local authority sites such as schools, libraries, social work offices and other Council buildings across the Highlands and Islands. It will also provide the authorities with high bandwidth internet access, inter-vpn connections between the authorities and Remote Access Services (RAS) for the authorities end-users. Why do we need high-speed Broadband? The high-speed broadband that Pathfinder North is implementing will allow the authorities to run advanced computer software applications. such as real-time video conferencing, interactive service provision to the public and multimedia rich education applications to enhance the traditional learning environment in schools. More specifically for education, it will allow all schools across the region to connect to GLOW, the national schools intranet (www.glowscotland.org.uk for more details), which is set to transform the way education is delivered in Scotland. It will also allow connection to other internet services, as well as, for example, allow teachers in one school to deliver lessons remotely via video conferencing. Councils will also be able to modernise service delivery, improve efficiency as well as boost the provision of services to the public across the region.
Points to consider As this was part of a 70 million government funded project. How much of the amount stated in the proposal was from central government funding and what was from council budgets. This upgrade was to bring Uyeasound Primary into line with all other local establishments not just schools Our upgrade was much later than Baltasound s so is not included in the same financial year so once again is this a fair comparison? Placing Uyeasound on this system will make long term savings in relation to phonecall expenditure. The comparison of financial figures is Uyeasound against the whole of Baltasound J.H.School. The equipment provided by THUS not only serves but acts as a relay site for the core house at the Brucehall terrace complex. This link would need to be maintained or replaced at considerable expense should the school close. This has not been factored in against the financial savings in the document. This would need to be both costed and included both in the ICT section and financial savings. THE HARDWEAR 5.33. The school has four desktop computers, six laptop computers, one copier/printer and an interactive whiteboard. Points to consider The above statement only refers to hardwear provided and maintained by the Technician Service. The school has in fact 4 PC desk top computers and 4 Apple mac computers The school has 7 PC laptops and 1 imac laptop It has one copier/printer and 1 other laser printer It has one interactive whiteboard and also on other portable digital projector
It has 2 DVD camcorders and DVD editing system which is stand alone This level of provision allows for more than one computer per pupil. The portable digital projector can be used anywhere within the school, the community or the Schools Service. A handheld GPS is used for mapping in social studies ICT USE How does the school make use of the ICT technology provided: GLOW This type of connection has allowed the school to engage with GLOW the Scottish Schools Network. Staff are already utilizing this system to participate in In Service Training, cutting expenditure costs. Staff are using the system to engage in meetings again making financial savings Staff are about to use the system to deliver In Service training locally and nationally Staff have created and maintained an inter-authority GLOW group to support the Flexible Routes to Headship Programme in Orkney and Shetland Pupils are also benefiting from the use of GLOW and the social interaction it provides with pupils all over Scotland The school maintains a GLOW wikispace sharing the work of the school with colleagues nationally. Pupils all have access to GLOW and can also access it from home. Both members of staff access the Authority pages on GLOW for information and downloads. Staff can use video conferencing facilities to teach remotely. The Head teacher uses this on a regular basis.
STAFF USE Staff use Internet, Interactive whiteboard, GLOW, Skype, Facebook. Email, Blogging Create Glow Groups, GLOW meet, GLOW lead, GLOW wikis, Video conferencing, online training, PUPIL USE Pupils have access to GLOW and GLOW mail Pupils use the internet for research Pupils use iplayer to access TV programmes Pupils make use of the interactive whiteboard Pupils make use of commercial programmes Pupils use word processing to enhance their writing Pupils use digital photography and editing, resulting in success in a number of national photographic competitions Pupils have created 2 DVDs that have been used by other outside agencies and form part of the Heritage Centre collection Pupils have created and used powerpoint to present information to groups outside of school. Pupils and staff use digital images to create e portfolios which record and moderate the active learning taking place. Our oldest girl has virtual classmates in Loretto school Melbourne to increase her social interaction. The Hmie made the following comments Increasingly, they use information and communications technology to help with their writing. Younger children use computer applications successfully to identify a variety of twodimensional shapes. Contacts with others abroad,including through the Internet, provide further enrichment.
SIC Guest facility The SIC guest facility allows members of the public and visiting authority staff access to the internet. When the local BT system fails the SIC guest facility using the pathfinder connection allows local business people and the community Internet access. PARENTAL USE An email group has been established to pass all information between school and home as quickly as possible The Parent Council has established a Facebook page and communicates the work of the school and information to over 300 friends WIKISPACE The school wikispace Metasaga http://metasaga.wikispaces.com/ was judged to be the 2 nd runner up in the international best educational wikispace of 2010. It made it through the preliminary rounds to the top 40 and was then voted in third place globally. It has had over 9,000 hits from over 60 different countries world wide. Uyeasound is leading the world in educational wikispaces. This is excellent use of the ICT investment in the school.