School Partner-Finding Tool

Tender description

Why the Work is Being Done The British Council has a legacy School Partner Finding tool that is no longer fit-for-purpose and is built on a platform that will soon become unsupported. The new Connecting Classrooms through Global Learning programme encourages schools to form partnerships with each other and requires a digital tool to enable this. There is currently no off-the shelf solution available to meet our requirements, so we are seeking the development of a new bespoke tool. Problem to Be Solved The British Council encourages schools in the UK and around the world to form partnerships with each other. Partnerships help engage students with real-world examples of different countries, cultures and learning and support teacher professional development through best practice knowledge sharing. Although schools recognise these benefits they need support in finding like-minded partners. This tool will enable schools to search through a global database, filter results based on their preferences and make a connection with the closest match. The tool should be user friendly and accessible to schools in areas of poor connectivity and reduced access to technology. Who Are the Users As a school teacher I need to find a suitable school in another country to partner with the school I work in So that I can expand learning opportunities for the children in my school by introducing them to global themes and develop mine and my colleagues professional skills through sharing knowledge and best practice with teachers in different countries. Early Market Engagement None. Work Already Done We have a schools and user database delivered through the Schools Online website – it is anticipated that schools data would be migrated across and/or integrated with the new tool. We have explored technology solutions and integration requirements with other tools and systems used to deliver British Council schools activity and designed a proposed technical architecture model. A comprehensive set of functional requirements and use case has been produced and we have carried out related user research and developed personas. Existing Team The supplier will be working primarily with the British Council's Education & Society unit, specifically the Digital team of specialist consultants and the Connecting Classrooms global programme delivery team. They will also work with the Corporate IT team and have some engagement with an existing third-party supplier to develop user authentication and data integration with other systems/tools. Current Phase Alpha Work Location The work is not location dependent. The main point of contact for the supplier is based in Manchester, with other members of the team based in London and Edinburgh. There will also be stakeholders in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA), South Asia (SA) and Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Working Arrangments It is expected that the majority of work will be carried out at the supplier's offices and engagement and communications with the British Council to be conducted remotely. We would expect an initial face-to-face session either at the British Council or supplier's offices when the project starts and potentially one further face-to-face session at a suitable milestone later in the project. Security Clearance No specific security clearance required above British Council standard policies. Additional T&Cs To be further defined. Skills & Experience Demonstrable experience and track record in designing and developing device agnostic digital products and services to end-users. Demonstrable experience, track record and skills for developing digital products and services using fully open-source technology and platforms. Demonstrable experience and track record of providing cloud-based hosting and support services for digital products. Demonstrable experience and track record of designing and building database solutions. Experience of working with modular technical architecture and delivering integration solutions and standards between multiple digital tools, systems and databases. Experience of working with user authentication solutions (e.g. SAML) to deliver single-sign-on access across multiple digital products for end-users. Strong understanding of best-practice in usability and accessibility of form design and end-user profile management and can provide examples from other projects. Experience delivering digital services to at least AA WCAG 2.0 web accessibility standard and an awareness of WCAG 2.1. Experience of working with internal IT teams and external suppliers to deliver implementation of integration solutions with existing services. Strong understanding of non-functional requirements and experience of building these into a digital project such as usability, security, accessibility, availability, scalability and compatibility. Understanding of and adherence to the ‘Principles for Digital Development’ https://digitalprinciples.org/principles/ Nice to Haves No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 10 Proposal Criteria Technical solution Approach and methodology How the approach or solution meets user needs How the approach or solution meets our business needs Estimated time-frames for the work How you've identified risks and dependencies and your approaches to manage them Team structure and C.V.s Value for money Cultural Fit Criteria Work as a team with our organisation and other suppliers. Be transparent and collaborative when making decisions. Have a no-blame culture and encourage people to learn from their mistakes. Can work with clients with low technical expertise. Payment Approach Capped time and materials Assessment Method Written proposal Case study Work history Reference Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 70% Cultural fit 10% Price 20% Questions from Suppliers Budget range £40,000 to £45,000 for design, development, build and launch followed by up to £20,000 for one year of hosting/support.