London Borough of Newham invests in BSF

The £53m IT contract with supplier RM will cover 19,000 pupils in the borough as part of its Building Schools for the Future scheme

London Borough of Newham has signed a contract worth up to £53m with supplier RM for the provision of computing and IT services.

The 11-year deal will will serve more than 19,000 students in 15 schools and a sixth form centre as part of the borough’s Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme.

Under the Newham Learning Partnership (NLP) consortium rules, RM will deliver in-school systems and software infrastructure, a central datacentre and integration with the London Grid for Learning's managed learning environment.

“Within a year we will start to see new school buildings that will allow our secondary schools to deliver a transformed curriculum for the young people of Newham,” said Newham Council's cabinet member for children and young people councillor Quintin Peppiatt.

“Newham’s new and improved buildings, facilities and technology will have an enormous impact on the life chances of every child in the borough for decades to come,” said Partnerships for Schools (PfS) chief executive Tim Byles.

PfS is the government agency responsible for delivering BSF nationwide. The programme is the largest national schools investment scheme and aims to improve educational standards throughout England by investing significantly in IT.