The Free School Norwich heads for the Cloud to meet children and families needs

Community-focused school gets cloud-based learning environment and e-systems for up to 170 users
London, August 31, 2011 A new Government-inspired free school, which will break the mould of classroom-based learning through Cloud-based ICT support, will open its doors in September through expert help from Civica, a market leader in specialist systems and business process services that help organisations achieve a more cost-efficient way of working. The Free School Norwich is directly funded by the Department for Education (DfE) rather than the local LEA and will open six days a week, 51 weeks a year. This will enable local families to get the best education for their children while maintaining their busy working lives. The school is the brainchild of Norwich teacher and now Principal Designate Tania SidneyRoberts. It will provide a curriculum for 96 pupils between the ages of 4-11 from September 5, reaching its capacity of 168 in several years time. Its extended school services will include breakfast, holiday and after school care, enabling parents to continue working full time while playing a close role in different activities. Located in Norwich city centre, the school has a unique emphasis on community-based learning and experiences and already has active support from more than 30 local organisations, ranging from theatres to food suppliers. These partners will support the curriculum by helping to stage classes at their own venue, or in some cases, provide ancillary services such as locally-produced school dinners. By setting up its Our Cloud cloud-based ICT which is based on Civicas CloudBase computing platform the school can stage lessons can be delivered at local sites like theatres, museums and even outdoors. Timetables and homework tasks set are all accessible by parents at any time from any computer or device. The school can provide lessons without opening its doors, for example, during holiday seasons and in bad weather. Tania Sidney-Roberts, Principal of The Free School Norwich, commented: We wanted to bring lessons into the community and not restrict the classroom to four walls. We needed an ICT partner that could help us transform the old concept of the classroom into one that was really flexible that other providers could participate in. Civicas advisors were great. They not only grasped our vision for enhanced learning experiences, they are enabling working parents to actively support children and the running of the school, wherever they may be. All of us at some point have wanted to take our desks outside on a warm day and Civica is helping us do that while boosting the childrens prospects.

The school got the go-ahead in January 2011 and Civicas experts began installing the CloudBase ICT platform on July 1. The company, which provides ICT for schools and academies nationwide, came up with the Cloud Computing specification earlier this year in response to the schools initial tender. The DFEs free school concept encourages active parent participation including a say in setting curriculum objectives. While lessons will follow National Curriculum for Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, parents and staff are able to set, run and manage certain requirements based on the social and cultural needs of its students. Civicas CloudBase software platform provides three main areas of support for children, staff and parents: Classroom providing safe internet access for pupils in order to complete homework and activities outside the classroom Staff room enabling staff to plan lessons, access records and monitor individuals through a shared database Office allowing staff to complete day-to-day administrative activities, including sending emails, downloading policy documents and booking meetings Lee Burley, managing director of Civicas education division, said: We are helping The Free School Norwich to develop a truly innovative learning platform. The systems cloud computing foundation and 24/7 access are bringing the school and the community together to enhance learning experiences and help parents play a practical role in their childrens education.
Free Schools A total of 24 new free schools set up by parents, faith groups and others will open in England next month. The state-funded but semi-independent schools have mostly been created in the 15 months since the coalition came to power. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-14698291 About Civica The Civica Group (www.civica.co.uk) is an international market leader in specialist IT systems and business process services for the public sector. Through experienced people who understand service delivery, the Group applies software, managed services and outsourcing to help customers streamline their activities. Civica supplies more than 2,000 organisations in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Canada and the USA, including more than 90% of the UKs local authorities. About The Free School Norwich The Free School Norwich was formed by a group of qualified, highly experienced teachers and working parents in Norwich. They were lead by Tania Sidney-Roberts, the Key Proposer of the school. As teachers, the group wanted to be given the freedom, time, flexibility and resources needed to deliver the highest possible standard of education for todays children. As parents, the group struggled to find high quality, affordable childcare provision in Norwich which enabled them to succeed as working parents. The group believed that a change was needed in the UKs education system to better meet the needs of children and working parents in the 21st Century. They believed that they could deliver this change through The Free School Norwich and so set about establishing one of the countrys very first new Free Schools.

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