Amanda Sistern
25-May-2010 - [Northgate Managed Services]
Hartlepool secondary schools are set to achieve their vision for personalised learning through technology as part of the Government’s Building Schools for the Future programme. Contracted to deliver the £12.98million ICT initiative, Northgate Managed Services - a leading provider of ICT services and solutions - will provide every student and teacher with access to a personal learning device* as just one of a number of strategies to enhance learning.
Northgate Managed Services will deliver its first ICT-only BSF contract to seven schools in Hartlepool. These include: Dyke House Sports and Technology College, Manor College of Technology, St. Hilds C of E School, English Martyrs School and Sixth Form College, Catcote Business and Enterprise College, High Tunstall College of Science and the Council’s Pupil Referral Unit. The investment allows for the provision and management of the very latest learning and teaching tools creating technology-rich learning spaces which are responsive, inclusive and supportive of attainment by all. Committed to providing quality, cost-effective ICT, Northgate Managed Services has worked closely with the local authority and schools to factor existing technology and funding streams into BSF. For example, to give every student and teacher access to a personal learning device without impacting heavily on the Local Choice Fund, Northgate has analysed the percentage of children eligible for a device through the Home Access initiative as well as those who already owned a device at home. This strategy also supports the authority’s personalisation approach, as it not only enables students to work anytime, anywhere, but also allows them to work on a device they prefer to use.
Further supporting the individuality of every school and the concept that one size doesn’t fit all, Hartlepool will benefit from Northgate’s latest development N-able School, an easy-to-use, flexible web portal. This will provide students with their own personalised learning area where they can work on assignments, store their work and access emails, enabling them to communicate with teachers and fellow students.
The portal will provide Hartlepool’s schools with access to core applications and the ability to add customise with additional applications, allowing each school to tailor their web-portal to their individual needs. Schools can integrate key educational and administrative systems they currently use and access them securely through single sign-on from school, home or anywhere else with an internet connection. Northgate will also provide an extended offering to support anytime, anywhere learning for students, with the latest 'Thin Client' solutions which will enable them to access all their school software on the move.
Northgate Managed Services will also be supporting Hartlepool’s ‘Space to Learn’ project - a nationally recognised project which will provide a testbed environment to develop and enhance the best teaching and learning practices in the 21st century. It will consist of flexible learning spaces and innovative technologies which will be used by all schools within Hartlepool supported by Hartlepool’s City Learning Centre and in partnership with Northgate Managed Services. This project also represents the potential for greater collaboration between primary and secondary schools to help prepare younger students for their transition to secondary school. Councillor Cath Hill, Hartlepool Council’s Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, said: “Technology has made massive strides in recent years and in our hi-tech generation young people are used to accessing information instantly – learning anywhere and any time. This contract with Northgate will enable Hartlepool’s secondary schools to meet that challenge and create a new and uniquely flexible teaching and learning environment. It will complement traditional face-to-face teaching and will create a learning revolution which will set the standard for many years to come.”
David Hyland, Managing Director, Education, Northgate Managed Services, comments: “As our first ICT-only BSF contract, we are proud to be in partnership with Hartlepool Borough Council. We now look forward to working closely with the schools and council to achieve their vision for anytime, anywhere learning. By working in partnership with the council and the individual schools, we will be offering innovative, high quality facilities and integrated information and communication technology to help deliver personalised learning tailored to the needs, interests and aptitudes of their learners. Northgate has factored existing technology and funding streams into BSF to create a sizeable Local Choice Fund, giving considerable spending power back to the schools, demonstrating Northgate’s commitment to flexible solutions.”
Northgate already supplies managed services to over 1,200 school and college networks across the UK and is responsible for 20 schools currently benefitting from BSF investment as well as providing interim managed services to an additional 27 BSF schools. This is Northgate’s fifth BSF contract win, in addition to recent success in the single schools and academies market.
For further information about Northgate Managed Services, please visit the website at: www.northgate-is.com/managedservices
*Personalised learning devices include: Desktop PCs, Apple Macs, laptops and netbooks.
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