With careful planning, ICT can be productive and fun, as a school in Manchester discovered, says Jenny Benjamin
It often seems that ICT provision in schools and nurseries is all about buying hardware. Make enough money on your fete or save enough cereal packets and your nursery's computer needs will be met.
However, the arrival of the hardware is just the beginning. Making ICT work for children is all about forward planning, staff training, integration across the curriculum, technical backup, timetabling, assessment, selecting software and peripherals - the list is quite daunting.
It is particularly inspiring, therefore, to hear the story of Hurstclough Primary School in Hattersley, Greater Manchester. A third of the children at this school are on the special needs register - when they arrive, most have below-average attainment levels. However, Hurstclough recently received a School Achievement Award - the result, in part, of its impressive record with computers.
One of the school's secret weapons is ICT co-ordinator Stacy Corless. Stacy took a degree in IT and was involved in developing educational software before she began teaching. In the four years since qualifying, Stacey has brought ICT into the heart of the school. In 1997, soon after she arrived, Ofsted found the children's attainment was below the expected standard, and teachers were not confident with computers. When Ofsted returned in March 2000, it found pupil performance had improved markedly and now met the National Curriculum's expectations.
This improvement was partly the result of better facilities - Stacy had organised the setting up of a new computer suite with funding from Hattersley's 1998 Single Regeneration Bid (SRB) - and partly the result of the school's intelligent use of National Curriculum work schemes. Good monitoring and assessment also helped, but perhaps the most important factor was the change in staff attitudes brought about by Stacy's enthusiasm and support.
For example, Christine Jewitt, who teaches a mixed reception and year 1 class, is very positive about the children's computer work and confident about handling the technology herself. Her class has two half-hour slots a week in the computer suite. If the children have had enough before the end of the session, they can go back to the classroom where a nursery nurse will look after them. There are also two computers in the classroom, a PC and an old Acorn, which Christine keeps on all the time. Each child gets their own computer in the suite, but in the classroom, the children play in pairs, often with an older child helping a younger one.
Christine doesn't think a computer could ever replace the teacher, but, she says, 'Computers are an excellent resource for reinforcing learning, especially in maths, literacy and science.
'They help extend knowledge, but they also provide excitement and fun, and for the youngest children, the computer is there for enjoyment as much as anything.'
Perhaps this is the key to good ICT provision - start by enjoying your computer, everything else will follow.