Assistive Technology Pilot Training Programme for Schools

Tender description

The DfE will appoint a delivery partner, via a contract agreement, to run a pilot training programme in Assistive Technology (AT) for 100 schools. This includes building an online resource bank and planning and facilitating training sessions for school leaders and 'AT Leads'. The partner will also be responsible for making backfill payments to the schools. We will be procuring an independent evaluating partner who the successful delivery partner must collaborate with. A DfE-commissioned Rapid Literature Review in AT (linked to below) recommended that school staff needed training in the use of and assessment for AT interventions as well as expected outcomes. This pilot is a response to that recommendation. The Delivery Partner will be responsible for planning and delivering training to 20 groups of 5 schools. They will: - October - December 2021 - Produce an online resource bank which will be the intellectual property of the DfE - these will build upon the resources created through the EdTech Demonstrator Programme linked to below. These resources must include practical, hands-on examples of effective AT. - January - March 2022 - Plan and facilitate 7 online sessions for each of the 20 groups: o 2 x 30-minute launch and end sessions for school leaders focused on the whole school benefits of effective AT implementation, securing high level buy-in. o 5 x 1-hour sessions for AT Leads, nominated by the schools, focused on taking the whole school on a journey towards successful AT usage. The sessions must be interactive and promote peer-support networking. - Keep track of attendance at sessions and there may reasonable backfill payments available for this - details to follow The delivery partner must: - Have an excellent understanding of AT, including its use, assessment of needs and expected outcomes. - Understand the needs of schools, ensuring adoption of AT meets, and is seen by leaders to meet, organisational need. - Be able to produce a bank of real-world resources including videos of assessments and case studies - Have experienced facilitators able to develop small groups of staff into school AT Leads - Have administrative capacity to arrange 140 facilitated sessions over 10 weeks and make backfill payments of required to schools who attend all 7 sessions The delivery partner must collaborate with the evaluating partner. The tender will go live on 3rd September 2021. The procurement will be run using the Education and Children's Social Care Dynamic Purchasing System (ECS DPS). To tender for this work and be eligible to bid, you must register in advance on Jaggaer, the DfE's e-procurement system. Following registration, follow the steps as outlined in the guidance below to submit your application to join the ECSC DPS. Please be aware that you must have completed all registration no later than 29th August 2021.