Becta ICT Self Review - Ch- Ch- Ch- Changes?
I was in London with Becta / NAACE earlier this week to renew my ICT Mark Assessor status. We are required to attend an annual assessors conference, (although its not really a conference, more of a seminar / workshop), where we get down and dirty with the elements!
John Taylor of Becta gave an interesting presentation on the launch of the Next Generation Learning Charter. I've already covered the move to engaging parent power but there was something new. Its widely agreed that the ICT Mark is a challenging whole school standard for ICT and that Schools have not been queuing to be assessed for the ICT Mark, so it can be assumed that Becta are not meeting their ICT Mark targets as a consequence.
The self review framework is supported by an online tool, and there is soon to be a recognition of schools working towards the ICT Mark with a new set of badges schools they can display on letter headings and websites.
Signing your school up to the self review online tool registers the school as 'committed to Next Generation Learning' and the school can display a badge on letter headings. If a school ticks the radio buttons on the tool and enters evidence that indicates they have reached the requirement for the leadership element and two other elements, and from what was said at the workshop they will be contacted and asked if they wish to be considered for the status of 'recognition of progress'. Provided a trusted party is willing to act as a reference, the school can then display a new logo badge displaying 'recognised for ICT 200X and this can be displayed for up to three years. The expectation is that a school will then work towards the full ICT mark within that time.
- A school can gain a badge for registering on the self review tool.
- The new badges are the same design for the different levels so an ICT Mark (see slide 44) badge looks almost identical to the 'committed to ICT badge.
- The trusted party can be a LA advisor or officer, another Headteacher etc. They are not being asked to verify or assess the evidence but to support the integrity of the school.
- There is a suggestion that schools considered for an ICT Excellence Award should have the ICT Mark which is currently not the case.
The full Becta presentation can be found HERE.
Badge Levels are:
- Committed to ICT (registered with the online tool)
- Recognised for ICT (Leadership and two other elements)
- Accredited (Full award of ICT Mark by an assessor)
- ICT Excellence Award