Transforming technology for The Creative Learning Partnership Trust

Capita Entrust has played a crucial role in helping The Creative Learning Partnership Trust to establish new central processes for IT and build permanent capacity for growth.

The Creative Learning Partnership Trust is made up of seven schools (including primaries, middle and one special school) with a further two schools joining them over the next year. Each of the seven schools joined the Trust with its own IT processes and technical solutions leading to inefficiencies and a lack of governance and collaboration across the schools.

Our approach

Working in partnership with the Creative Learning Partnership Trust, Capita Entrust:

• carried out a full audit of IT across the seven schools
• created a five-year strategic IT development roadmap at Trust level (including details of known commitments and spend cycles)
• aligned the strategic IT development roadmap to curriculum planning
• implemented new broadband to increase bandwidth (all schools are now running a minimum of 100mb/1gb for primary, 200/1gb for middle with the ability to uplift as needed)
• implemented Surf Protect filtering to ensure safe and monitored access to the internet
• started the Trust’s journey to the cloud with a fully managed solution
• implemented changes to the MIS to enable a single view of activity at Trust level (included migration to the cloud)
• implemented cyber security updates to software to ensure insurance requirements are met
• standardised the technical support that each school received in line with Trust priorities (includes a nominated Capita Entrust technical lead for the Trust)
• created a multi-site platform to enable staff to work from any location across the Trust or at home, with the same access as at their local school
• delivered training and mentoring at each school to ensure staff were aware of new systems and processes - this also ensures the Trust gets the most from their EdTech investment to ensure value for money

A key success factor to the project was ensuring all stakeholders had the opportunity to agree timelines, discuss potential challenges, and agree how system downtime could be minimised to reduce disruption to learning. A rolling programme of internal and external meetings were scheduled to provide feedback on progress, ensure timely communications, tweak timelines if required, discuss any lessons learnt, and agree any corrective action if required. Capita kept the project on track hitting the implementation timelines that were agreed with no additional disruption to the seven schools.

The impact

After 14 months of working with Capita Entrust, The Creative Learning Partnership Trust now has a centralised and strategic process for IT, which is sustainable, resilient and ensures value for money. They have a well-conceived, realistic plan and detailed understanding of the impact on their IT by taking on an additional two schools.

School staff have benefitted from greater collaboration and have received training on how to use the technology more effectively to improve learning outcomes for their pupils. They can access resources faster and easier than ever before.

Looking ahead to the future, The Creative Learning Partnership Trust has agreed a three-year IT contract with Capita and now has the reassurance that IT training, infrastructure and standards will be maintained to the required level. Capita also support the Trust by providing governor services, property maintenance and health and safety.

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