SGS Diamond Jubilee 18-25 July 2020 Suva Fiji
Celebrating Suva Grammar School 1960 - 2020
The SGS Diamond Jubilee 2020 Facebook Group Project has the goal of raising FJD$96,000 for the Suva Grammar E-Learning Plan 2020.
After consultation with the Principal of Suva Grammar, Mr Chandra Segran Pillay, and in consultation with ex-scholars and the SGS Ex-Students Association Committee, this project has been chosen as it focuses on the new dimension to learning and teaching that is required for the 21st Century.
The Suva Grammar E-Learning Plan 2020 is ambitious, and very well defined with the requirements for hardware, software, services and human capacity set out clearly. Let’s embrace it fully and help give our current and future Grammarians their best opportunity to step into the 21st Century.
For educators, ICT in education will provide the required 21st century skills for its students enabling them to be successful and competitive in their future careers. The presence of technology in the classroom will increase student attention through increased motivation.
There is also evidence to suggest that ICT will also increase student attainment levels, essential to help Suva Grammar fulfill its vision “TO BE THE PREMIER SCHOOL IN FIJI IN THIS MILLENNIUM ”.
To facilitate the collection of funds worldwide, ex-scholar Dr Mike Gosling, will establish a personal GoFundMe account from Australia (GoFundMe does not operate in Fiji). Funds collected, less the payment processing fees (2.9% + $.30 per transaction), will be monitored by Dr Gosling and handed to the Principal, Suva Grammar School, through and in association with the SGS Ex-Students Association Committee, at the 2020 reunion celebration in July, 2020 in Suva, Fiji.
GoFundMe has the facility to track all donations and report the donors and the amount of funds donated on a continuous basis.
To reach our fund raising goal of FJD$96,000, each of the soon to be 5,000 ex-students, their husbands, wives, partners and friends in the SGS Diamond Jubilee Facebook Group is asked to make a $20 donation to the Suva Grammar E-Learning Plan 2020 over the next 18 months to July, 2020. This action alone will get us to our goal of FJD$96,000. Many ex-scholars will want to donate more than $20 and you can nominate the amount of your donation on the GoFundMe web site.
Details of the project are below. If you want a detailed copy of the proposal, please click on the “OPEN PDF” link below.
A Project by Suva Grammar Principal and the School Improvement Team
A NEW DIMENSION TO LEARNING AND TEACHING
The 21st Century has brought about a new dimension to learning and teaching. Schools are now required to prepare students for a global market and jobs that do not yet exist. While the future remains uncertain, most jobs will certainly require a high level of computer knowledge, skills and competencies in planning, designing, evaluating and assessment areas.
Despite financial and other barriers to sustainable E learning adoption, a good number of Fiji schools have successfully incorporated technology in the classrooms. The new methods of teaching keeps students engaged and provides a robust system of lesson delivery, monitoring, data entry, record keeping, effective management system, and has assisted in raising teaching standards.
SUVA GRAMMAR SCHOOL – HISTORY, STRUCTURE AND VISION
Suva Grammar School started as a separate Boys and Girls School in 1917. In 1960, the school was moved to its present site (Nasese) as a mixed school. This is about 3km from the Suva CBD. The school is administered by the Government with the Principal overall in charge of finances, repairs, management and day to day operations. The school has a Deputy Principal who is the operations manager and is responsible for the academic field and an Assistant Principal who looks after discipline and general affairs. The school has 11 Departments Heads who manage their teaching areas.
The school has a roll of 1000 students, 61 teaching staff and 11 support staff. Each level has its own block. The block contains 8 classrooms and ablution block. As such there are 5 blocks, Department Staff Rooms, 3 Science Labs, 2 Industrial Arts Lab, 2 Home Economics Labs, 2 Office Technology Labs, a full sized swimming Pool (closed), 4 playing fields, 1 covered hard court and 4 open hard courts.
The school’s vision is “TO BE THE PREMIER SCHOOL IN FIJI IN THIS MILLENNIUM ”. The large population, parental support and passion from old scholars has led the school to many victories in national level athletics, swimming, rugby, netball and many other extra-curricular competitions.
E-LEARNING PROPOSAL
Recent demands, evaluation, needs analysis and reports have led to formulation of the following draft E Learning Strategic Plan from 2018 – 2020. This is partially drawn from the School’s 2017 – 2020 Strategic Plan.
1. PROJECT DESCRIPTION
1.1 Project Goals
1.1.1 Enhancing the quality of management, learning and teaching through ICT
1.1.2 Enabling the students of Suva Grammar School to enter into university and other tertiary colleges with skills that enhance their capacity to utilize ICT skills to carry out research and serve in their communities.
1.1.3 Enhancing academic excellence through ICT
1.1.4 Set up file server to store e notes and digital content for easy access, monitoring of staff and assist students to catch up when absent
1.1.5 Compete with schools to enroll quality students from primary school and match up with schools such as Yat Sen, Mahatma Gandhi, A D Patel College and Swami Vivekananda College who as pioneers in IT have taken their schools to new heights
2. OBJECTIVES
2.1 Implementing teaching and learning methods that incorporate use of computers and other ICT media
2.2 Improve the information management systems in the school to enhance efficiency and effectiveness in management
2.3 Computerise 90% operations of all administrative tasks in the school and reduce paper work
2.4 Improve the teaching and learning process in other subjects using ICT.
3. BENEFICIARIES/TARGET GROUPS
3.1 Existing and future students of the school
3.2 Teachers
3.3 Support staff
4. METHODOLOGY
4.1 The project will be implemented in five phases, which will take approximately 6 months to complete if all funds are available.
Phase 1 will involve installing of projectors to all classrooms, labs and department Rooms
Phase II will involve setting up of PCs in the 43 stations and networking them to the Host PC
Phase III will involve training of teachers to store notes on server and ‘moodle’ and accessing them in various classrooms
Phase IV will involve connecting the school with appropriate broadband internet connection. This will facilitate accessibility to teaching and learning resource materials through internet connectivity
Phase V will involve regular training and gathering of feedback for improvement
4.2 The following facilities and resources are already in place:
— Rooms: already have cctv cameras – new hardware can be well monitored
— Most staff have been provided a PC with internet connectivity
— There are no issues with electricity however, there needs to be good UPS for power surge, etc.
5. PARTNERSHIP
The school is seeking partners who will be willing to finance the following facilities needed for the project:-
5.1 Modification of space between Hall and Science Block to be converted into a Lecture Theatre (100 seats) : cost of $30,000
5.2 The purchase of 43 computers and accessories
5.3 The purchase of 43 projectors
5.4 The purchase of 1 servers, firewall hardware (such as Fortinet)
5.5 The purchase of a school management software, management of school database
6. ORGANIZATION OF THE PROJECT
6.1 The school being a public institution, is managed by the Principal being the CEO and chief accounting officer
6.2 The project will be managed by the school’s PTA and Old Scholars Association
6.3 The principal will be the financial controller and accounting officer of the project, with delegation to the Bursar and Accounts clerk of grants accessed from operating account
6.4 The school will engage qualified technicians to carryout the installation of the ICT infrastructure
6.5 The school will engage qualified technicians to carryout the maintenance of ICT infrastructure on part time basis
6.6 The school will employ on part-time basis a qualified computer lab technician upon approval from Ministry of Education.
7. SUSTAINABILITY OF THE PROJECT
7.1 After completion and launch of the project, the school will be responsible for sustaining it. The project’s maintenance will be factored in the school’s recurrent expenditure budget, which is funded by Free Secondary Education fees. The school budget will easily cater for the following
– Cost of maintaining and repairing the ICT infrastructure
– Internet connectivity costs
– Electricity bills
– The salary of the lab technician
7.2 The teachers will continue expanding on the programme as per the plan which is to open ‘moodle’ to students and allow BYOD in the near future
7.3 The Principal will take responsibility of training staff and provide monthly report to stakeholders on progress of the project
7.4 The school will engage qualified technicians to carry out maintenance of ICT infrastructure, initially on part-time basis but later when funds are available on full-time.
8. BUDGET
Proposed Cost – See below: BUDGET: E-LEARNING PLAN 2020 $96,000
9. MONITORING AND EVALUATION
9.1 Monitoring
The school will employ a variety of formal and informal monitoring and evaluation mechanisms in order to assess systematically and objectively the effectiveness of resource utilization and the impact or outcomes and overall success of the project.
9.2 Evaluation methods to be used will include;
— Multi-indicator cluster and exit surveys on student computer literacy skills using designed questioners administered by expert consultants
— Feedback from students obtained through oral interviews and questionnaires
— Continuous Assessment marks and summative assessment result data
— Quality Assurance and Standards reports by M.O.E
— Staff appraisal reports
— School data base
10. REPORTING AND COMMUNICATION
10.1 Reporting
During the implementation and after completion of the project, the school will write monthly financial and progress reports.
After completion of the project, a final report on the success and outcomes of the project will be written.
The school will submit these reports to the M.O.E and Old Scholars who will be the donors. The donors on the other hand will write their own reports after monitoring and evaluation. These reports will include financial audit reports, quality and standards Assessment reports and site visit reports. Copies of these reports will be given to the school.
10.2 Communication
The school will use the following strategies to disseminate the results of the project and reports to donors, M.O.E and the public in general.
— Use of project newsletter/school newsletter
— Postings on the school’s website and social media page
— Conferences and seminars
— Site visits
— Displays at meetings
— Speeches
— Audiovisual materials
— Project sign posts/Billboards.
11. APPENDICES
11.1 Appendix 1
BUDGET: E-LEARNING PLAN 2020 $96,000
