Realising the potential of new technology

8  New information and communications technology (ICT) will be a driving force for change in the 21st century. The aim is to make rapid progress in bringing the full benefits of ICT to schools, colleges and local communities.

This will generate opportunities for motivating and developing young people and help to underpin our overall competitiveness. Equally schools and colleges will increasingly want to measure themselves against what can be provided through multi-media sources as the growth in new IT opens up new ways of learning and teaching. A clear and coherent strategy will be put in place for ICT in the Welsh education system. Key elements will involve:

• equipping new and existing teachers for the information age, with ICT training and development funded from the National Lottery as well as from GEST;

• setting up the new National Grid for Learning in Wales, connecting schools, colleges and libraries; bringing teachers up-to-date materials to enrich their professional capability and to enhance their skills; offering pupils high quality learning materials; and keeping access charges as low as possible;

• removing barriers to learning, ensuring equality of access, notably for those in rural areas, those with special needs and those in areas of deprivation;

• action by ACAC to develop Welsh language multi-media software for primary and secondary schools; and

• action by the National Council for Educational Technology to consult on and publish a strategic support plan for its work in Wales, and to generate more lateral exchanges on best practice between practitioners.

9  The new National Grid for Learning will be vital to greater deployment and purposeful educational use of ICT. It will offer resources for learning and access to education courses and advice. It will initially focus on teacher development, but will be extended later to home-based learning, further education, training for employment, libraries and museums, and lifelong learning. It will therefore link closely with plans for a University for Industry to benefit Wales. The contribution of the private sector will be harnessed through arrangements for competitively managed services providing ICT infrastructure, network links, software, services, and training. Arrangements for technical support will build on the IT Adviser Network in Wales.

10  We shall consult on the National Grid for Learning and its implementation. We will take into account the findings of the 25 pilot projects in schools and colleges throughout the UK under the Education Departments' Superhighways Initiative. The consultation paper will set out plans for the Grid in more detail and seek views on how best to develop them. The scale and pace of development will have to be considered carefully in the light of what can be afforded.

Question for consultation: What should our priorities be for the development of ICT in Wales to get the best educational result?
 
 
Schools and specialisms

Building on schools' strengths
11  Equal opportunities for all pupils does not mean a single style of schooling. We want to release the unique strengths of each school for the benefit of all schools. The Welsh Office will encourage schools to develop their own distinctive identity and expertise in co-operation with other schools and colleges whether in technology, languages, sports, the arts or other fields. We welcome the support of employers and Education Business Partnerships (EBPs) in extending schools' strengths. The GEST programme will be adjusted to enable schools to enter matched funding arrangements with sponsors and to develop their specialisms. This will make the most of existing schools' capacities in the widest interest of the community in Wales without creating different school types. The policy will draw on, and make full use of:

• ICT for work on literacy and numeracy targets;

• homework centres;

• interchange of pupils, including master classes to stretch gifted pupils to their full potential;

• home learning via the Internet or other ICT links;

• provision of facilities for specialist In-Service Training for teachers;

• sharing of teaching materials and best practice in teaching and learning with neighbouring schools;

• adult education and training in the evenings and at weekends;

• summer schools;

• learning networks sponsored by LEA consortia.

School sport
12  This approach will be of particular value in upgrading sport within and outside school. For too long sport and PE have needed to struggle for attention. We are determined to reverse the adverse trends in school sport. Every school should have teams in at least the main sports of rugby, soccer, cricket, netball and, where possible, others like hockey too. Strong links need to be forged with clubs to extend sporting opportunities for children of all ages. We look to establish a new development scheme to provide much stronger incentives for partnership between schools, local sports clubs, and excellent coaching.

Support to LEAs
13  To complement the development of school specialisms, the Arts Council for Wales; the National Museums and Galleries; the National Library of Wales; and organisations like Techniquest will be invited to develop plans to complement the Education Strategic Plans of local authorities.

14  A White Paper on the National Lottery to be published soon will describe how we propose to use lottery funds to bolster out of school learning - embracing voluntary organisations, libraries, leisure facilities, sports, the arts and the National Grid for Learning itself.
 
 
Education Action Zones (EAZs)

15  There are some areas of Wales with a high concentration of socio-economic problems which are of such a character that they severely inhibit the life of the schools within them. The Welsh Office intends to consult on the usefulness of establishing EAZs in such areas. The goal would be to lever-up standards and develop hope among young people on which their motivation in secondary schooling depends. EAZs would provide frameworks to establish stronger partnerships between schools, business, TECs and others - led by local authorities. Local authorities would draw up action plans for the zone. Each partner would be required to set and meet demanding targets. EAZ status would be dependent on doing so. There would be a strong role for parents through home-school agreements and the encouragement of greater commitment from the earliest stages through family learning programmes for example. Subject to consultation, earmarked funds could be provided through contracts negotiated with TECs and by top-slicing resources provided to local authorities. EAZ status could be linked with action to support literacy and numeracy schemes, homework and study revision clubs, family learning, together with housing, health, social service initiatives locally.
 
 
Research and development on schools of the future

16  Across many sectors of the economy and many aspects of our lives, the pace of change is dramatic. New thinking about leadership and management, new uses of information and communications technology and the ever-increasing pressure for high quality have transformed the way we work and live. Just as organisations outside the education sector are striving for continuous improvement and programme personnel development, so must schools. As the pressure of international competition increases, and as we face up to the likely demands of the 21st century, dramatic change in the nature of schooling is likely to take place. We do not want change for the sake of change nor do we want to jettison tried and tested methods of teaching and learning. We do believe, however, that research and development into schools of the future should be encouraged particularly by those in the educational research community in Wales. We want to see much more dialogue between educational researchers in Wales - and publication of results in straightforward and accessible language. We will seek to work with partners in education, in business, and in the media to develop innovative approaches to schooling, particularly to improve the motivation of young people in adolescence.
 
 

Summary By 2002 we will have: assisted schools to review their ways of teaching and learning for all children, underpinned by effective research; better developed ICT within a clear overall strategy; a National Grid for Learning accessible to all schools providing modern teaching and resource material; sustained support for the development of specialisms in schools and the sharing of facilities; assessed the potential of EAZs and implemented them as appropriate following consultation. Issues for consultation Do you agree that the methods of grouping and teaching children described in this chapter have merit? Do you have experience of other methods which work well in raising standards of literacy and numeracy in particular? Do you agree that the targets proposed for Wales in this chapter are the right ones to aim for? What do you think our priorities should be for the use of electronic media in Wales in order to get the best educational result?