Strategic consultancy / Digital strategy review
Where does your school stand on digital and AI?
Most schools have the devices, the platforms and a growing list of AI-related questions. Fewer have an agreed view of what it is all for, or what to do next.
The Digital strategy review gives you that view in writing, within two weeks of my visit.
- Two weeksfrom my visit to your report
- Typically two daysin your school
- £2,850 plus VATone-day visits for smaller schools are available, please ask
What you get.
Everything is included in one fixed price, agreed before we start.
An anonymous survey
Of your senior team and nominated key members of staff. It shows how your digital strategy looks to the people who carry it out, so you know what to build on and where you will need to lead.
A visit to your school
Typically two days: learning walks, and conversations with key members of staff, pupils and the people who run your IT.
A written report
With priorities, owners, recommendations and timelines.
- Optional
A briefing
For senior leadership, the governing body or both.
How it runs.
An initial conversation
To agree the brief, the areas to look at and the date.
The survey
Your senior team and nominated key members of staff complete it before I visit.
The visit
Typically two days. Larger schools and trusts may need more.
The report
It reaches you within two weeks.
The briefing
For senior leadership and the governing body, if required.
Leave with a plan that says who does what, and by when.
The report sets out where the school stands and ends with recommendations, named owners and timelines, so the next step is clear to everyone.
What you will see.
Two examples of what the review produces. You choose the areas it looks at in our initial conversation, with my support. The school and the figures here are made up.
The 360 view
Where your senior team and your staff see the school differently. The widest gaps are usually the place to start.
How the senior team and staff see it
Average from 1 (emerging) to 4 (leading) in each area. 7 senior leaders and 31 staff answered.
How to read it. Each line is one area. The filled dot is the senior team’s average and the ring is the staff’s. The longer the line between them, the more differently the two groups see that area.
The plan
Each report ends with priorities, a named owner for each and a date. These are an example set. Yours come from what the review finds.
Priorities for this year
An example, from section 8 of a report.
| Priority | Owner | By when | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Share a one-page rationale for digital with all staff | Deputy head (academic) | End of spring term |
| 2 | Agree how every department uses the learning platform | Heads of department | Summer half term |
| 3 | Write the AI policy with staff and pupils | Digital lead | September |
| 4 | Choose three measures of whether technology is helping, and review them termly | Head | September |
What the report covers
The sections of a typical Digital strategy review report.
- Where you standA summary for leaders and governors
- Strategy and leadership
- Staff confidence
- Teaching and learning
- Infrastructure
- AI
- How you judge whether it is working
- RecommendationsWith priorities, owners and timelines
- Where to go next
Six areas, one view.
The review can look at strategy and leadership, staff confidence, teaching and learning, infrastructure, AI, and how you judge whether any of it is working. We agree where it concentrates in our initial conversation.
It ends with recommendations and where to go next.
A free assessment, if you want one
The free digital strategy assessment is a quick way to see where you stand on your own. It is optional, and the review does not depend on it.
What comes next
Many schools add the Staff Baseline, so the plan starts from what staff say as well as what leaders see.
You work with me.
I do every review myself. I spent more than fifteen years in senior leadership in schools, eight of them as a deputy head. I am a serving school inspector and a Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching.
Your expertise and professionalism were very well received by our school leaders, José. Thanks for generating an excellent report which gives us real clarity on next steps.
Questions.
How much of our time does it take?
A few minutes each for the survey, and typically two days for my visit. I agree a timetable with you beforehand, so lessons and meetings are disturbed as little as possible.
Do you need to see lessons?
Yes, briefly. Learning walks show how technology is used day to day. I look at practice across the school and do not judge individual teachers.
Is this an inspection?
No. It is a review you commission, and the report belongs to you. It is written to help you decide what to do next.
Can you review a trust and not a single school?
Yes. For a trust, the survey goes to leaders across the trust and I visit a sample of schools agreed with you. The time and the price are set to fit.
What does it cost?
£2,850 plus VAT for the survey, a two-day visit and the written report. A one-day visit is available for smaller schools, so please ask for a price. Larger schools and trusts are priced to fit, and the price is agreed before we start.
What happens after the report?
The plan is yours to carry out. If you want help, I can stay involved on a fractional basis, and many schools add the Staff Baseline.
Find out where your school stands.
Twenty minutes on a call is enough to agree what the review should look at and when.