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Connect the Classroom
Is your school eligible for a FREE Wi-Fi 6 upgrade?
During the pandemic, many schools provided tablets and laptops to students to continue their learning at home. Now back in the classroom, these devices have added considerable strain to schools’ existing Wi-Fi networks.
Connect the Classroom is a DfE-funded scheme to provide eligible schools with a seamless and future-proof wireless networking solution (Wi-Fi 6), improving connectivity, coverage and speed. All without any cost implications on your school budget.
Walsall/Sandwell Schools – CTC is now live in your area! Get in touch to get the ball rolling today!
Who is eligible?
The DfE have grouped all eligible schools into 3 different categories; Priority Education Investment Areas (PEIA), Education Investment Areas (EIA) and Intervention Schools (IS).
1) Priority Education Investment Areas – All schools in the following areas are eligible.
Blackpool, Bradford, Derby, Doncaster, Fenlands and East Cambridgeshire, Halton, Hartlepool, Hastings, Ipswich, Knowsley, Liverpool, Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire Coast, Norwich, Nottingham, Oldham, Portsmouth, Rochdale, Salford, Sandwell, Stoke-on-Trent, Tameside, Walsall, West Somerset
2) Education Investment Areas – All schools in the following areas rated as ‘Requires Improvement’ or ‘Inadequate’ at their last inspection.
Bedford, Blackpool, Bolton, Bradford, Bury, Cambridgeshire, Central Bedfordshire, Cornwall, County Durham, Coventry, Darlington, Derby, Derbyshire, Doncaster, Dorset, Dudley, East Sussex, Halton, Hartlepool, Isle of Wight, Kirklees, Knowsley, Leeds, Lincolnshire, Liverpool, Luton, Manchester, Middlesbrough, Norfolk, North Northamptonshire, North Somerset, North Yorkshire, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, Oldham, Peterborough, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Rochdale, Rotherham, Salford, Sandwell, Sefton, Somerset, South Gloucestershire, South Tyneside, St. Helens, Stoke-on-Trent, Suffolk, Sunderland, Swindon, Tameside, Wakefield, Walsall, Wirral
3) Intervention Schools – All intervention schools are eligible, regardless of location.
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What are your next steps?
Confirm Contact Information
The DfE will contact your school via email. SIPS are keen to ensure that all eligible schools apply for this funding. We are therefore asking schools to identify the most appropriate contact (normally Headteacher or Business Manager) in the school to receive this communication.
Schools can complete this short online form to notify us of their allocated CTC contact.
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Email from the DfE
All eligible schools will be contacted by the DfE informing them of their ‘phase’ within the Connect the Classroom programme. This phase will highlight when your project must be implemented by in order to achieve the funding.
Within this email, you will also receive four key documents to support your application.
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Contact Us
SIPS can support schools that are eligible for funding as part of the programme. Simply forward your eligibility email, along with the four documents to itpartner@sips.co.uk.
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Site Survey
We will then arrange for a survey to be completed to understand your school’s current setup and future requirements. The information from this survey will be compiled into the four DfE documents.
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Submit the Application
Once your school agrees to the recommended solution, the four documents will be submitted to the DfE for final approval.
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Installation
Finally, once the recommended solution has been approved by the DfE, our project team will undertake the installation.