Acorn Care & Education is an independent provider of education and care for children and young people who have special educational needs. We have eleven schools in the group which are distributed throughout England . Previously the majority of these schools have been owned by individual proprietors and although they provided good education and care for their children and young people investment in educational resources and especially ICT had been low level.

Acorn commissioned Partnership Education to conduct an audit and review across all schools in the group. Each school was visited by two consultants who engaged school leaders and teachers in discussions about the development if ICT in their school as well as assessing the quality of ICT provision, usage and, where possible, network infrastructure. At the end of the process Partnership Education’s report included an evaluation of provision in each school and a proposed ICT strategy with recommendations and an action plan.

Schools were very positive in their feedback about the visit by the consultants. Schools commented that the consultants were well prepared, knowledgeable about ICT, quick in assessing school’s positions, able to offer solutions to some of the initial technical difficulties school’s were experiencing and most important of all the consultants experience of education enabled the school leaders and teachers to engage in a meaningful and forward thinking discussions about how ICT could support the curriculum, learning and teaching.

The consultants were highly professional throughout the process, following through on actions and meeting deadlines within agreed timescales. Reporting, oral and written, was clear, insightful and unequivocal in its evaluation of ICT provision and in its recommendations.

Acorn is now in a position to make informed decisions about the development of an ICT strategy across the group, including infrastructures, the procurement of hardware and software and the professional development of colleagues within schools. We now feel confident that we can move forward in the investment in ICT to maximise the impact of the quality of learning, teaching, care and outcomes for children and young people. We hope too that we can continue to draw on the expertise of Partnership Education as we progress along this journey.

Doug Sharp, Head of Education, Acorn Care & Education

The Firs Lower School

Partnership Education has been working with The Firs Lower School since April 2007.  During this time they have provided us with comprehensive IT Support which continually exceeds our expectations.  Problems are solved quickly and efficiently, usually with same or next day engineer visits when necessary.  Our fortnightly engineer visit allows for effective management of our growing computer network and necessary maintenance of some of our older equipment as well as opportunities for staff training and implementation of new technologies.

The school also benefits from equipment rental which allows us to produce shows and productions with both lighting and audio equipment.  This is delivered by helpful staff who support the setup and use of this equipment as appropriate.

Partnership Education provides a friendly and efficient service, that can be relied on when needed and we look forward to working together in the future, to develop our ICT provision within the school, in order to fully harness the opportunities ICT offers to enhance children’s learning.

Partnership Education Foundation Conference

Held in Milton Keynes on the 25th/26th January 2008 - Click here for the conference evaluations.