ICT IN PRACTICE AWARDS 2005 - ADVICE AND SUPPORT WINNER 
Norman Crawford, head of schools ICT service, Tameside

By Dorothy Walker

"ICT has opened up so many avenues for us - and much of that is down to Norman Crawford and his team. We have really benefited from the fantastic facilities that Norman's ingenuity and drive have brought to schools." Phil Davies, head of Hollingworth Primary and Nursery School, expresses a view that is shared by many colleagues in Tameside, Greater Manchester.

Norman Crawford is head of the Schools ICT service in Tameside. All the borough's 103 schools have opted into the support packages offered by his team, and Norman himself has visited every school during the last six months. He says: "There is no better way to know your schools than by getting in there, face to face. I go with my quality manager, and we do three things: we gather hard data on the ICT in the school, we give an update on ICT developments and we go through every element of our service, asking for suggestions on how we can make improvements. We never accept second best, and we know we can always do better."

He believes in offering an all-embracing service, spanning technical support, e-learning and information management. Schools receive free broadband, and a central IT procurement team negotiates good prices on their behalf. Teachers can mix and match from a range of training options, calling in Norman's consultants to help with anything from setting up a website to delivering model lessons.

Norman says: "A good service based at an ICT centre is fine, but we find we make a much bigger difference when we work with teachers in the classroom " An innovative Hands on Support package provides teachers with interactive whiteboards and laptops, together with classroom support from fellow practitioners. Every school has subscribed.

The Hands on Support scheme employs Tameside's Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), created by Norman's development team. Schools have free access, and the VLE is currently being used by secondary consultants to help Year 11 students prepare for exams.

Norman says he would like to see the VLE used extensively throughout the borough. "My ambition is to help make personalised learning a reality, with ICT employed as a transparent tool - simply part of the furniture. One of the reasons we like interactive whiteboards, particularly the SMART Board, is that the technology is transparent. It replicates the way teachers have worked for many years, yet it also brings powerful new tools into the classroom."

New initiatives are launched only after a careful planning campaign, to prevent expectations being dashed. Videoconferencing, for example, has just been introduced in eight of Tameside's schools, and Norman says: "We are now looking at how we will allocate bandwidth when more schools come on board, to ensure everyone gets a good service. We will then negotiate the best price on hardware, and offer a Tameside package of equipment and support."

Launched last month, Tameside TV broadcasts programmes of local interest on the web. A series on ICT in Schools will feature consultants and teachers working together in classrooms, and filmmaking workshops are being organised to help pupils make their own programmes.

Another recent milestone is the completion of a Computer Passport system for Key Stage 2 ICT, which aims to raise the number of pupils attaining Level 4 or above in the subject. Free to schools, it follows on from a successful paper-based scheme run in primaries, and guides teachers step by step through the often difficult task of assessing pupils' work, as well as helping children take a more active role in their own learning. A KS3 system is already in use, and the aim is to build a record of achievement which will accompany a student throughout school. Norman says: "Schools don't have to use the system, but I hope everyone will be convinced of the benefits."

Already convinced is Phil Davies at Hollingworth Primary, who is full of praise for Norman's can-do approach. "Ask Norman to do something, and if he can do it, he will. When I arrived here our computer suite was in need of modernisation, and within minutes of me asking how much it might cost, Norman had made a few phone calls and sorted it out. We have had masses of training - his consultants are professional, approachable and not at all the anoraks you might expect ICT people to be. I moved from a go-ahead borough, but Tameside is light years ahead. Schools here are very lucky."

NORMAN'S TOP TIPS

• Know your schools. We liaise regularly and visit all schools to carry out a service review every two years, using software to help manage our follow-up tasks.
• Service Level agreements have to meet real needs - and one size does not fit all. Consult with schools and act upon what you learn.
• A good centre-based service is fine, but we make a bigger difference - and schools prefer it - when we work with teachers in the classroom.
• Build a complete, holistic service. We encompass e-learning, information management services and technical support, we have a central helpdesk and provide broadband and procurement services.
• We never accept second best, from ourselves or from our partners. We hold regular sessions to review our work and explore new possibilities.

NORMAN'S TOP WEBSITES
BBC Learning
Online learning, support and advice 

Becta 
Becta's site is a great source of information for me and my team.

November Learning
Alan November has been a guest speaker in Tameside. His ideas are inspiring and challenging and his site features many of his presentations.

Global Leap
Global Leap supports the development of videoconferencing in the classroom and offers many exciting videoconferencing opportunities.

Film Education
Schools will be making films to be shown on Tameside TV, and the Film Education site has a wide range of useful resources.

NORMAN'S TOP TECHNOLOGIES
Tameside Virtual Learning Environment (VLE): We developed our own borough-wide VLE using Moodle open source software. Free to schools, the VLE forms an integral part of initiatives such as our Hands on Support training programme. Moodle

Interactive Whiteboard Systems: Now in more than 60 per cent of Tameside's primary classrooms and 35% of secondary classrooms. We prefer the SMART Board, and we are particularly impressed by the latest version (9.0) of the software. Steljes: 08000 151 603