G-Suite for Education and Office 365 for Education are already free-to-use platforms, but eligible schools/trusts can register to receive funded support from an accredited partner to help get set up and trained on their chosen platform. You'll be assigned a partner once you register for support. One of the major partners is Herts for Learning which many schools are working with already for many aspects of their IT provision and training.
Set-up funding for individual schools varies across phase: eligible primaries will receive £1,500 and eligible secondaries £2,000. Funding for academies in trusts is capped at £1,000 per school.
In short, if you access this scheme and get set up on one of the platforms, you'll be able to:
- Assign and assess work, providing feedback remotely
- Communicate with staff, students and parents in real time, using written word, voice and video
- Facilitate collaboration between groups of pupils and teachers
Information and application forms can be found through The Key:
- details of the scheme
- information and comparisons of G-Suite for Education and Office 365 for Education
- apply for support to set up and be trained on either platform.