Is there a statututory requirement to have a VLE (primary)

[grinch]

Anyone been asked to find out:-

 

Is there a statutory requirement to have a VLE?

 

Does Ofsted require there to be a VLE?

 

Initially our VLE was being used but now user engagement has dwindled away, I just wonder if it worth providing a service which doesn't get much use.

 

Thanks

[LinkZ]

As far as I remember the requirement to have a VLE was an old BECTA thing which has now gone by the wayside.

[jmak]

Also, define a learning platform. You do have to have a school website, so a page there for pupils/students with links to the online learning resources you use. Sounds like a vle to me.

[MadSmiler]

No, Ofsted does not require a VLE. It just makes the school better.

[localzuk]

It might make the school better, if it is well implemented and has a proper purpose.

 

There, fixed that for you.

[CamelMan]

It might make the school better, if it is well implemented and has a proper purpose.

 

There, fixed that for you.

 

Agreed - we dropped ours as it was simply not being used correctly despite a few staff actively pushing it for years.

 

Cant see why it would be a legal requirement and VLE's are used in different ways across sites, so would be strange if it was.

[sparkeh]

Agreed - we dropped ours as it was simply not being used correctly despite a few staff actively pushing it for years.

 

Cant see why it would be a legal requirement and VLE's are used in different ways across sites, so would be strange if it was.

 

There was a lot of confusion at the time as, if I remember correctly, there was something put out saying it was mandatory. Our LA certainly told us it was.

 

Unfortunately the misinformation is still swirling around.

[localzuk]

There was a lot of confusion at the time as, if I remember correctly, there was something put out saying it was mandatory. Our LA certainly told us it was.

 

Unfortunately the misinformation is still swirling around.

 

It started as "MUST" then moved to "SHOULD" and is now " "...

[hallb15]

We don't have a VLE and it didn't stop us getting a Good Ofsted result in November.

We have a Portal page (run off spiceworks) with links to the online software we subscribe to (PurpleMash, Education City etc) but that's all.

[sparkeh]

Its funny, at the height of the VLE madness we had an inspection. So we prepared loads of stuff to demonstrate how we used our VLE.

Do you know that the inspector said... "What's a VLE?"

 

Awesome.

[Gaz]

Is there anything from Ofsted saying that a VLE isn't a requirement?

[elsiegee40]

Ofsted doesn't mention VLEs = not a requirement. Unless it's hidden in some DfE guidance somewhere

[FragglePete]

We ditch ours last year (Frog); turned into just being a file share that students could access word files, pdfs, links, etc from home ..... we can do that in SharePoint Sites Office365 for free.

 

For parental engagement, we use Schoolcomms to report back things like attendance, reports, behaviour, etc - parents use the Schoolgateway to directly message to school.

 

I reckon in licenses alone we've saved £6k+ a year along with not having to run an on-site server, backing up, etc.

 

Where VLE's are successful is when someone in the school is actively looking after content and there are plenty of examples on here of these successes.

 

Pete

[sparkeh]

Is there anything from Ofsted saying that a VLE isn't a requirement?

Nope but there isn't anything saying it is

[Gaz]

Fair enough, I thought there might have been an official document saying that it wasn't a requirement to pass or meet some criteria of an Ofsted inspection.

[sparkeh]

Fair enough, I thought there might have been an official document saying that it wasn't a requirement to pass or meet some criteria of an Ofsted inspection.

Unless its changed there was a statement along the lines of saying a vle was a feature of an outstanding school. But I am not sure if that is even still there?

[Gaz]

I guess thats why people have them then for legacy reasons in an attempt to gain outstanding status. We just went for a VLE (i wasn't involved in the purchase) which I can almost guarantee wont be used, seems like a waste of money that could have been used to buy much needed new computers.