There has been a change to the way the ICT School Grant is allocated. For more information on this change, please see Allocation of funds.
This grant assists schools to implement the Smart Classrooms initiative by supporting the development of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in schools. It is one source of funding used by schools for developing activities across the four ICT drivers of the Smart Classrooms Strategy:
Further details are contained in the Smart Classrooms website.
Expenditure is restricted to activities that support attaining the target benchmarks of the School ICT eLearning Index. It may include expenditure on Professional Development, ICT equipment, ICT support and ICT content that directly supports the implementation and sustainability of the drivers.
The ICT School grant may be used to purchase ICT equipment and services related to administration requirements of schools as effective administrative processes are required to support the implementation and sustainability of the key ICT drivers.
They must be used to deliver and enhance curriculum delivery and the integration of ICT into teaching, learning and the curriculum. Items such as photocopiers, facsimile machines, electronic typewriters, furniture and furnishings are not considered to be ICT equipment for the purposes of this grant.
Grant funds could be spent on the engagement of an IT technician and/or for purchasing ICT support from third party suppliers (e.g. PC vendors). Using teachers to perform hands-on ICT support tasks will not normally be the most cost-effective use of resources. However, there may be circumstances in individual schools where this is necessary to supplement other support strategies (e.g. high callout costs due to geographic location).
It is also recognised that some of the ICT support activities listed above may be best performed by ICT Coordinators in schools (e.g. managing all of the IT resources at your school and/or providing support to school staff in the integration of ICT within the school). In these circumstances, it is appropriate that the ICT support funding be used to provide relief to teachers (e.g. TRS) to allow them to undertake these specific ICT support activities. Schools may choose to cluster their resources to support ICT within the school.
ICT School grant funding is to be kept separately identifiable and compliant with the expenditure criteria is to be reported in the school's Annual Report. Expenditure of funds according to the above criteria will be reviewed as part of the school audit.
Ongoing
School ICT eLearning Index
Smart Classrooms Professional Development Framework
SCM-PR-014: Community Access to Information Communication Technologies in Schools
State School, State High School, Campus, State Special School, Centre for Continuing Secondary Education, School of Distance Education, Middle School, Junior School, Community School, Environmental Education Centre, Outdoor Education Centre, Specific Purpose School.
Formula-generated cash grant
| Payment | During month of | Proportion of allocation paid |
|---|---|---|
| Semester 2 | Payment in November | All of available funds will be allocated to schools |
In 2011 there was extensive modeling and consultation with key stakeholders from schools, Principals' Associations, regions and corporate units, regarding the allocation of the ICT School Grant. This consultation has resulted in a change in the methodology used to calculate the grant.
Currently, ICT School Grants are based on a ratio of student full-time enrolments (FTE) from the July Census and the number of computers identified in the Smart Classrooms ICT eLearning Census completed in August. Feedback from stakeholders supported a two stage migration to a grant calculation using 100% FTE in 2012.
The major change to the grant calculation, this ratio of FTE to computers, is demonstrated below:
In addition, the weighting assigned to senior secondary student (Years 11 and 12) numbers has been set at 1.2.
For centres where the complexity of their environments is not reflected adequately in the above formula, a supplement will be provided. This is applied to Special Schools, Specific Purpose Schools, Environmental Education Centres and Outdoor Education Centres.
Note: Specific Purpose schools in hospitals use the average enrolment calculated as per the data collected for teacher allocations.
To ensure that no school will be disadvantaged during this transition, a safety net of 10% will be applied. In addition, schools will receive a minimum grant of $1200 after the collection of the Microsoft Enterprise Agreement and Web and Internet Access Service contributions.
Note: Bandwidth upgrade pro rata charges if applicable, will still apply.
The total amount available for disbursement in each financial year is fixed. The grant to each school is calculated as a fraction of the total amount available in the way described above.
| Data required | Data source | Time collected |
|---|---|---|
| Enrolments | School Management System (SMS) data maintained by schools | July |
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