DfE Digital Leadership and Governance Standards

Appoint a Senior Leadership Team (SLT) Member responsible for digital technology

To develop a digital technology strategy that is led by the needs of your staff and students, it is crucial for your school or college to assign a member of your Senior Leadership Team (SLT) to oversee the implementation. This chosen individual should know your school, staff and students needs and ensure all digital technology is aligned to your school or college’s overall development plan. They will be responsible for managing the strategy, and supporting staff in the use of digital technology, reviewing effectiveness that will inform decision making, and fostering a culture of digital responsibility within the school community.

Hardware and systems registers

Maintaining accurate and readily available records of your schools’ digital assets is essential. This includes hardware and software inventories, licenses, and maintenance contracts – broadband, IT support etc. - and should be updated every time something changes.

Contract registers, asset registers, and information asset registers should be used to log all the physical technology and tools within your school, this includes asset numbers, serial numbers, assignment, location, purchase date etc. These registers will provide valuable insight into the digital data, equipment, and systems your school or college uses, as well as allowing you to keep track of purchasing and licensing that will help you save money and know when to renew software and hardware.

Disaster recovery and business continuity plans

It’s vital to be prepared for the worst-case scenario when it comes to cyber incidents or other emergencies. To ensure business continuity, the DfE advises you print out hard copies of your disaster recovery and business continuity plans, including summary documents. Keep these documents in a secure, shared folder in the cloud, ensuring remote access is granted to your disaster recovery team.

By integrating technology considerations into your disaster recovery and business continuity plans, you ensure your school or college can quickly bounce back from unexpected disruptions, minimising the impact on learning and school operations. A process should be in place to review and update your disaster recovery and business continuity plans on an annual basis, or when significant changes occur.

Digital Technology Strategy

Creating a digital technology strategy aligned to your school or college’s development plan and educational vision will help meet the needs of your staff and students, while ensuring they know what’s required to use digital technology safely and effectively. It will help you manage your budget, buying decisions, and risk possibility, while allowing you to assess the impact digital technology has against your overall strategy.

This document should cover a minimum 2-year strategy, be reviewed, and updated on an annual basis, and take into consideration the changes in digital technology and longer-term plans that might need to be refreshed or replaced.