Curriculum Online
What is Curriculum Online?
Curriculum
Online is central to the Government’s drive to transform
teaching and learning in schools by improving access to ICT and
multimedia resources for all pupils.
To help bring about this aim, the Government has set aside
substantial funds in the form of eLCs (electronic Learning
Credits). This eLC money goes directly to individual schools
(via their LEAs) to spend on multimedia resources. (For more on
eLCs, see What funding do schools
receive?below.)
The Curriculum Online website exists to bring teaching
professionals and multimedia resources together. It offers easy,
pinpoint searching through a definitive catalogue of the
thousands of multimedia resources which schools can buy with
their eLC money, as well as resources that are free. All these
resources are aligned with the curriculum of subjects taught in
schools in England.
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What's new about the Curriculum Online website?
As of December 2003, the site has been redesigned to help
teachers track down the right resource in as targeted and
straightforward a way as possible. Teaching professionals can
now search:
- by subject or title of resource
- by size of resource – eg from a single lesson to whole
school
- by supplier (using the A-Z directory of suppliers)
Users can also limit their search to a specific area such as:
- Special Educational Needs (SEN)
- Foundation/Early Years
- free resources
- interactive whiteboard resources
The site has a number of additional features available to users
who register on the site. When searching for the right resources
to suit their needs, they can keep a record of possible
recommendations for purchase by using the Wishlist facility.
To help make tracking down the right resource even easier, many
have been given independent evaluations, star ratings and/or
teacher reviews. All teachers are invited to add their own
reviews of resources they have used.
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What is a 'multimedia resource'?
The term 'multimedia resource' refers to items of software that
are specifically targeted to support the teaching of the
Curriculum in England through enriching lessons with the latest
technology. Such products can be supplied in many different
formats and at a wide range of prices. The resource may include
items such as user manuals, technical support and the cost of
distribution. Items of hardware are not allowed unless they cost
only a small fraction of the cost of the software and are sold
as a package.
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What funding do schools receive?
Each LEA in England has been given money using Standards Fund
Grant 31c (formerly 618) for pupils in the following areas of
maintained education:
- Government-funded primary schools
- Government-funded secondary schools
- nursery classes in Government-funded primary schools
- Government-funded nursery schools
- Government-funded special schools
- pupil referral units
- Government-funded Early Years education such as places with
private, voluntary and independent providers, funded via the
Nursery Education Grant, are also eligible
For the current 2003-04 eLC allocation, each Government-funded
school would have receive £1,000 baseline and £9.85 for each
eligible pupil. (This figure would have been based on local
circumstances; LEAs may have adjusted the guideline figure of
£9.85 per eligible pupil to take account of their latest data on
eligible pupils across both the Government-funded and non-
Government-funded sectors).
Providers in the non Government-funded sector are not eligible
for the £1,000 baseline funding, as they are not
Government-funded institutions and are eligible for the pupil
amount only.
In order for Government-funded places with private, voluntary and
independent nursery providers to be considered, providers must:
- Be included in the Education Authorities' Directory of all
non- Government-funded nursery providers on 1 April 2003
- Have been registered and inspected by Ofsted, and have had
its provision assessed as being satisfactory or better at 1
April 2003]
- Have eligible four-year-olds in receipt of the Nursery
Education Grant who are eligible for free nursery education
from the start of the 2003 summer term
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How is the money distributed?
LEAs must either give out the money to their schools or hold the
money centrally with the schools' agreement to make bulk
purchases. Likewise, schools may combine eLC allocations for
larger purchases.
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How do teachers buy multimedia resources?
No transactions take place directly through the site. To buy a
resource using eLCs, users need the approval of their eLC budget
holder. They then order direct from a supplier, informing them
that they are using eLCs. The process – from searching to
purchasing - is as follows:
On the homepage users can do any of the following:
- Select a subject and click on "Go" to access a search page
for each subject
- Find resources for pupils with SEN
- Find resources for Early Learning/Foundation Stage
- Find whole-school resources such as reference materials
- Use the A-Z Index of Suppliers to look for a particular
supplier and their resources
- Search for a title of a resource
On each subject search page users can:
- Search by Key Stages and school years
- Select the size of resource they are looking for
- Enter key words and additional search options to make their
search more specific
- Browse resources based on the Programme of Study/Scheme of
Work
The search results give details of each resource and link(s) to
the websites of supplier(s). Follow the link to the supplier's
website to find out how to order the resource. If the resource
is priced, users should tell the supplier if they are using
their eLC money to buy it. Using eLC money to pay for resources
does not alter the supplier's ordering, distribution or
invoicing system; nor does it prevent suppliers from offering
discounts to customers.
When teachers receive the resource, the supplier will invoice
their school directly. The invoice should be paid using existing
school purchasing procedures, and the expenditure recorded in
the school's accounts under Standards Fund Grant 31c.
If the resource is available free of charge, details will be
displayed on either the resource information page and/or the
supplier's site describing how to obtain it.
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When do schools have to spend our eLCs?
All Standards Fund grants must be spent by the end of the
academic year to ensure their effective use. If the money has
not been spent by the deadline, the DfES will reclaim the money
from LEAs so it can be redistributed to other areas.
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Why can't schools buy hardware with their eLC
money?
Curriculum Online is aimed at raising standards in Curriculum
subjects by giving teachers software that will help them teach
in the classroom. Allowing eLC money to be spent on other items
might undermine this aim.
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Want more information?
Go to www.curriculumonline.gov.uk. If you are
unable to find an answer to your query from the information
above or from the site, you can either contact the support team
by completing an enquiry form (accessed from the Helpdesk area
of the site) or by phoning the DfES Public Enquiry Unit on 0870
000 2288. The team is available 09:00 to 17:00 Monday to Friday,
excluding English Bank Holidays.
Additionally, Curriculum Online also has a section of the site
which is dedicated to those organisations - museums, galleries,
libraries and archives - from the cultural sector: http://www.curriculumonline.gov.uk/culture/culture
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