Anthony Hunt
I have spent over 40 years in primary education: from 1973 – 1987 I was head teacher at primary schools in Kent, Bromley and Hampshire before becoming the Primary ICT Adviser for Hampshire LEA, a post I held for 16 years. Since 2003, I worked as an independent ICT consultant before my current involvement as a director of Gatehouse Partnership. The past seven years have, in many ways, been the most educationally exciting of all and the challenges presented by the demise of Becta have been the greatest faced by those of us working in educational ICT. 2010/11 has seen the largest cull of Local Authority ICT Advisers ever and we are now back to pre 1990 levels: trusted Independent ICT advisory services are now more important than ever and Gatehouse is well positioned to help schools, Local Authority and Independent groups cope with the changing nature of ICT.
My educational beliefs are rooted in child-centred learning and I find much of the current emphasis on targets and results too narrow for the needs of many of our children. ICT, with its genuine, cross-curricular approach, provides much-needed opportunities for exploration and innovation in the primary curriculum, as well as excitement for both teachers and children alike. This has been exemplified during my many visits to schools all over the country using the Self-Review Framework: the creative and motivational uses of ICT do make a genuine and positive difference to children’s learning.
I was the SLICT Programme Director for the Hampshire team between 2003 – 2007 and am an accredited Lead ICT Mark Assessor and Moderator as well as helping launch the ICT Mark in Wales and enhancing its development on the Isle of Wight, Windsor and Maidenhead and Plymouth. The successful Strategic Leadership course that we ran in Hampshire in July 2011 will be offered to other Local Authorities across the country during 2011/12. The contract with the Girls’ Day School Trust has been another exciting development for the company and the new contract to examine Teaching and Learning this year will be both important for the Trust and informative for us. The additional contract to work on the ICT Mark process with the Cambian Trust has also been valuable. I have written Case Studies for Becta, following visits to excellent ICT primary schools and discussions with secondary schools, wherein the use of technology is enhancing the latest Government’s initiative on Parental Engagement in Online Reporting. My last piece of work for Becta was a booklet on using the Self-Review Framework in Special Schools.
My main area of enthusiasm concerns the use of ICT to support and enhance children’s learning in all subject areas of the curriculum. I am also interested in the assessment and levelling of ICT skills in a progressive way throughout all stages of the primary age range. The current range of ICT materials available to teachers is both exciting and daunting and I feel that the opportunities to use ICT effectively to support children’s learning have never been greater.
Unlike my fellow directors, I do not keep chickens or tortoises but enjoy most sport including being a lifelong Wolves’ fan which should provide testimony to my long-suffering nature, particularly now they are enjoying their third season in the Premier League. I read as much as time permits, am a computer adventure game enthusiast and like travelling, meeting different people and making new friends. During the past seven years, I have appreciated the opportunity to follow many of the hobbies and interests for which I did not have time before: these do not include gardening, DIY or IT technical ability!
