Computers for Looked After Children At School in Norfolk

Norfolk has received DCSF standards grant funding which will provide a laptop for looked after children at school in Norfolk.

As the educational attainment of looked after children is one of Norfolk's key priorities, Schools Forum have given approval for this funding to be used specifically for looked after children to promote home access to information technology.

The Virtual School for Children in Care (LAC) team are working with ICT Solutions to coordinate the project, which will be rolled out from the autumn term 2008, with laptops being distributed direct to the young person's placement address from the end of September.

Eligibility
Looked after children who attend education provision in Norfolk and have been (or are likely to be) looked after by Norfolk County Council for more than 12 months will be eligible.

The laptop to be provided for mainstream pupils is a Stonebook 5500 Series notebook and the specification will be in line with the Norfolk Standard Product Set. For pupils with learning difficulties or disabilities the equipment will be customised to cater for their specific needs. All machines provided under the scheme will have the same level of security as that used in schools and will include out of hours support and a 3 year next day on site warranty.

Schools role
The warranty has been registered at the looked after pupil's base school. In cases where the lap top develops a fault and requires repair the child will return the laptop to school and the Stone engineer will report to the school to assess the laptop and make the diagnosis.

Training
To support looked after children make effective use of the laptops, initial familiarisation sessions are being arranged for foster carer supervisors, social workers and residential carers to coincide with the roll-out.

Evaluation and success criteria
Evaluation of the impact and success of the programme will be linked to the wider developments being undertaken in relation to children in care, i.e. revision of PEPs and allocation of Personal Education Allowances, and undertaken alongside the other interventions and support now being undertaken through the Virtual School for Children in Care (LAC).