Lincoln Anglican Academy Trust Connectivity & Security Services Partner

LAAT is a strong, outward-facing multi-academy Trust that operates within Greater Lincolnshire. We are committed to transforming lives through education and believe that every child has inherent potential.

We strive to ensure we have the very best colleagues in our settings, well supported by their school-based colleagues, Leaders, and wider network of schools, as well as a dedicated central team of experts. The Lincoln Anglican Academy Trust (LAAT) is a Trust of 24 Lincolnshire, North East Lincolnshire and North Lincolnshire Primary/Infant Schools and one Secondary school (William Lovell).

The Trust is characterised by the fact the majority of the schools are either in market towns or more rural areas. Underpinning this for all schools are the strong family links between the members of the LAAT itself and the objectives of the Diocesan family.

LAAT is dedicated to supporting school improvement and Christian distinctiveness, whilst maintaining each school as a special and unique place in the heart of its unique context. Since it was established LAAT has demonstrated its ability to provide excellent school improvement and back office support to its schools, taking the majority to Ofsted Good.

OUR VISION Our Excellence, Exploration and Encouragement powered by Equity vision statement encapsulates the Trust we are today and the Trust we aspire to be in the future. It has meaningful resonance with the work we do and our commitment to overcoming the social inequality faced by our children and young people.

We are passionate about improving the life chances of every child in our care, meeting them where they are. Grounded in faith, we seek to see and understand all in our diverse communities and beyond.

Every pupil has the right to flourish; academically, physically, emotionally, and spiritually, through an educational experience based on Excellence, Exploration and Encouragement. Every pupil has the right to receive what they need.

And every child will need different things at different times. Providing this, is Equity at work.

Excellence, Exploration and Encouragement powered by Equity. The LAAT Website is https://thelaat.co.uk The Trust has an ambitious Digital Strategy Plan which includes the 1:1 provision of devices to pupils (https://thelaat.co.uk/digital-strategy/).

The new connectivity solution needs to cater for the current requirements that a modern, connected Trust requires and also allow for the anticipated increase in usage that the digital strategy promotes. The Trust estimates that it may grow by another 5 small to medium size schools over the life of this contract.

This procurement encompasses a full outsource of all the connectivity and associated security services, such as firewalls and protection from cyber-attacks. At a high level the key deliverables are: • A managed connectivity service to connect schools anywhere in England • A broadband service for each school that meets (as a minimum) DfE guidelines and enables the Trust to deliver on its ambitious digital strategy. • A 'failover' line • A firewalled service • Support and maintenance service • Full end to end single SLA approach • Management of any 3rd parties required to provide the service • Relevant monitoring, management, and reporting • Full installation and transition service • Value added services • A commitment to open, transparent and timely communications with both with the Trust and their IT Support provider Technical interface into the Trusts outsourced support provision.

From the Trust's point of view, the successful bidder should be prepared to work directly with the Trust's ICT Managed Service Provider to resolve any issues and/or requests. To all intents and purposes, the MSP should be viewed as 'part of the Trust'.

Web filtering is not required as part of this solution - this is managed by the Trust's ICT support provider. For the avoidance of doubt telephony is not included in this procurement, but the solution must support the current VoIP solution.