DCSF Initiatives
The DCSF and BECTA continually release initiatives that puts schools under pressure to improve and utilise their resources and manage ICT more efficiently:
FMSiS
Financial Management Standard in Schools is intended to help schools in evaluating the quality of their financial management and to aid in training staff to become better financial managers.
As part of this standard all school Assets need to be recorded in an inventory or asset register and kept securely. Additionally Head Teachers should ensure that there are regular checks of all items of school property, that their location is recorded, and that there is insurance cover as appropriate.
Parago has been commended during FMSIS visits to schools – see case study West Sussex.
CfP
Computers for Pupils is aimed at improving the education and life skills for disadvantaged secondary children by giving them access to a computer in their home.
As part of the technical requirements for this scheme BECTA has stated that there is a mandatory requirement for connected devices to be recorded and held in an asset management database.
BSF
Building Schools for the future is the biggest single government investment in improving school buildings for over 50 years. The aim is to rebuild or renew every secondary school in England over a 10-15 year period.
For a Local Education Partner (LEP) delivering a managed ICT service, one of the mandatory requirements is that the LEP must have a method of tracking all ICT and non-ICT assets and their location within schools. Partnerships for Schools (PfS) suggested payment mechanism Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) indicate that all moves and changes should be logged within five days on the asset register and that an annual asset register be available.
