Education Business Volme 16.2

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VOLUmE 16.2

The application process for proposals from individuals or groups seeking to open free schools this September has now closed, and it was encouraging to hear that eight proposals have progressed from business case and plan stage to the pre-opening stage – the final stage before opening.

Hopefully, these establishments will proceed to improve standards for children, as per Education Secretary Michael Gove’s vision.

The school business management profession is a relatively new one, continually evolving as the impact of national policy dictates. EB is delighted to welcome input from the National Association of School Business Management on the training, qualification and professional regulation of the role of school business managers (page 15).

CATERING

FINANCE

SECURITY

EDUCATIONAL TRIPS Opening young minds to new possibilities

largest - preview of the UK’s EDUCATION SHOW 2011

event educational resources

of Edwin Doran Sports Cover image courtesy el’s education division Trav TUI of part el, Trav

In these tough times, when it may not be possible to buy the latest equipment outright, leasing can provide the solution. From computers and AV equipment, to the school minibus or CCTV cameras, leasing can provide access to all of this and more. For the views of BESA as well as the Finance and Leasing Association on this increasingly popular way to get more for less, please turn to page 21.

Enjoy the issue.

editorial@psigroupltd.co.uk

EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE If you would like to receive 6 issues of Education Business magazine for £45 a year, please contact Public Sector Information, 226 High Road, Loughton, Essex IG10 1ET. Tel: 020 8532 0055, Fax: 020 8532 0066, or visit the Education Business website at: P NEWS P FEATURES P PROFILES P CASE STUDIES P EVENTS P AND MORE

8 www.educationbusinessuk.com EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE PUBLISHED BY PUBLIC SECTOR INFORMATION LIMITED 226 High Rd, Loughton, Essex IG10 1ET. Tel: 020 8532 0055 Fax: 020 8532 0066 EDITOR Sofie Lidefjard ASSISTANT EDITOR Angela Pisanu PRODUCTION EDITOR Karl O’Sullivan PRODUCTION DESIGN Jacqueline Grist

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CONTENTS EDUCATION BUSINESS VOLUME 16.2

07 NEWS 11 INTERVIEW Lord Alan Sugar gives his views on today’s education system

15 SCHOOL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT Continuing Professional Development and qualification is essential for all school business managers, says the National Association of School Business Management

21 FINANCE The British Educational Supplier’s Association looks at leasing as an alternative to buying outright The Finance & Leasing Association writes about the leasing options available to schools

29 CATERING Jamie Oliver has taken his campaign to improve school dinners to the USA Vending allows operators the flexibility to vary their offerings in accordance with what their customers want, says the Automatic Vending Association

37 SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS nasen explores how ICT can help improve communication in the classroom

41 EDUCATION SHOW 2011 A visit to the Education Show is a must for all education professionals as it can help schools save money

45 ENERGY The Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers reviews options for saving on electricity bills

51 FACILITIES MANAGEMENT How can schools make their premises safe from arson attack? Tom Welland, member of the FIA’s Fire Risk Assessment Council, investigates

55 DESIGN & BUILD BSEC 2011 will offer a fresh platform to discover how the change of government will affect the industry

57 UV PROTECTION We highlight the importance of outdoor play in an environment safe from harmful UV rays

59 FLOOD RISK MANAGEMENT The Know Your Flood Risk campaign explains the threat of flooding and how schools can prepare

61 SECURITY The British Security Industry Association looks at various security methods that can help keep your establishment protected

68 EDUCATIONAL TRIPS We discuss why teachers shouldn’t neglect school trips as a vital part of education There is a clear, legal obligation to ensure your drivers are trained, says the Community Transport Association

75 OUTDOOR LEARNING Learning through Landscapes explains how to make the most of your school grounds despite financial constraints

77 SCHOOL FURNITURE Cheap furniture is not a long term solution, says the Furniture Industry Research Association The Office Furniture Advisory Service looks at the only standard available for classroom furniture

85 ICT BCS’s Green IT Specialist Group writes on how end users can green their workspace and promote the sustainable use of computing The Business Application Software Developers Association explains its Charters and Codes, all of which will help you when it comes to sourcing software solutions

91 BETT 2011 Thousands of visitors saw a vast array of educational products and services showcased by hundreds of exhibitors at this year’s event

THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE FOR EDUCATION

05

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Education Business | Volume 16.2

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London Mayor urges schools to get growing ondon’s secondary schools, colleges and universities are now able to take part in the Capital Growth schools competition, the Mayor of London Boris Johnson has confirmed.

Building on the success of last year’s inaugural competition aimed at primary schools, this year entries will be welcomed from even more educational organisations wanting to start community food growing projects.

Last year’s primary school entries helped create 50 brand new Capital Growth plots and their creativity included growing food in the head teacher’s shoes, creating a bug hotel and using own-grown rhubarb for school lunches.

Prices include the chance to spend a day at Jamie Oliver’s restaurant

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Fifteen London, raised beds, tools, fruit trees, seeds, gift cards and the chance to come to City Hall’s vegetable patch to meet and show off their skills to the Mayor of London.

Grants up to £1,000 are available for the potential new community food growing projects. For more information visit www.capitalgrowth.org

Culture Secretary sets out plans for School Olympics eremy Hunt, Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport has set out his vision for the new School Games tournament, which will be inspired by the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics.

As part of the offer 500 schools across nine regions will pilot a finals day stemming from a programme of intra-school competition, which will offer disabled children as many opportunities as non-disabled children.

A rolling programme of leagues

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and tournaments will promote more competition between schools at a town or district level.

Up to 60 county or city-level ‘Festivals of Sport’ will showcase the best of local competitive sport in the inter-school finals.

The most talented young sports people will have the chance to represent their schools in a high-profile, national event.

The government will publish a prospectus for schools this spring, setting out exactly how teachers and coaches can get involved.

Young film makers hold mini Oscar ceremony ozens of St Helens school children were given the red carpet treatment as they took part in their very own Oscars ceremony.

The pupils spent their summer and autumn terms making movies for the Local Area Partnership (LAP) Film Festival – sponsored by Riverside, the Co-operative Community Members Group and ReNew, St Helens.

Around 600 young people took part in the project – coming up with their own ideas, writing scripts and storyboards, making their own props, acting and filming.

The films covered every genre – from horror and sci-fi to action and comedy. Some spoofed wellknown TV programmes and films such as I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, Titanic and Home Alone, while others tackled

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serious issues such as bullying, gun crime, road safety and the environment.

The culmination of the two-day festival at Cineworld was a glitzy ceremony, with mini Oscar trophies and mobile phone prizes for best actors and actresses, best films and best scripts.

NEWSINBRIEF New Ofsted chairman appointed Baroness Morgan of Huyton has been appointed the new chairman of Ofsted. She will play a key role in ensuring Ofsted meets government priorities of focusing on pupil attainment, teaching and learning, leadership, and behaviour and safety.

Baroness Morgan has been an adviser to the global board of ARK, a children’s charity, since 2005. She serves on a number of public bodies including the advisory committee of the Institute of Education, and is chairman of the Morgan Inquiry to encourage 18- to 24-year-olds to volunteer. She is a school governor, has a PGCE from London University and an MA in Comparative Education from the Institute of Education.

She has also worked as a secondary school teacher.

The baroness is due to start at Ofsted on 1 March.

Schools get visit from the Healthy Bunch Schools across the South and on the Isle of Wight have had a visit the Healthy Bunch, a series of farmyard characters each with their own special nutritional message.

The Healthy Bunch campaign from independent contract caterers Pabulum’s was designed to help children understand the basics of good nutrition and eat more healthily. Dizzy Dog and Sammy Sheep have been visiting school children to deliver height charts so that pupils can track how healthy food can help them grow up healthy and strong.

Dizzy Dog has been telling pupils that meat has iron in it to help them do their exercises and stay fit, whilst Sammy Sheep’s message is focused on the benefits of vegetables.

Mrs Gillian Cocklin, head teacher at South Ascot Village School, said: “The children love the Healthy Bunch characters and they’ve really enjoyed this visit from Dizzy Dog. It’s a great way to encourage them to buy into the concept of healthy food and learn about its benefits.”

Wakefield pupils prepare to pitch community improvement ideas Over 2,000 young entrepreneurs from Wakefield will have the chance to pitch business ideas to some of the district’s most influential businessmen and women next month.

Year 9 pupils from 11 schools across the district have been asked to develop a plan for an improved, sustainable residential area in the local community and will present their strategies to a panel of judges including Wakefield and District Housing (WDH) chief executive Kevin Dodd.

Each idea must include a project name, a design brief, drawings and models to pitch to the panel, as well as questionnaires and estimated costs to get the pupils thinking of all business aspects.

The competition, which is being run by North East Learning Community (NELC) is supported by WDH and Compact Education Business Services.

WDH has pledged to support the winning entry by committing to bring the idea into reality.

THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE FOR EDUCATION

07

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Education Business | Volume 16.2

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BCS qualification helps keep students safe online he BCS – the Chartered Institute for IT – is launching a new qualification to help students understand how they can protect themselves online.

The BCS e-safety qualification comes as a survey by Childwise revealed that some children are still not placing any restrictions on who can see their personal information online. This is set against figures that reveal 62 per cent of children have their own laptop and some 2 million under 13 year olds are using Facebook despite the fact that it is banned for youngsters under this age.

BCS e-safety is a Level 1 qualification that maps to parts of the National Curriculum for PSHCE – Personal Wellbeing, Citizenship, ICT and Every Child Matters.

The qualification is suitable for delivery in schools at key stage 3 and 4, and for adult learners who work with or care

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for children. It covers four main safety areas: the benefits and risks of using the internet, how to report and respond to e-safety issues, how to protect yourself and your computer online, and the legal issues of downloading from the internet.

Scottish council considers four day school week orth Ayrshire Council in Scotland has said it may consider introducing a four-day week in its primary and secondary schools to cope with planned funding cuts. The council recently approved a 2011-12 budget which included cuts of £8.9m.

If implemented, the four day week could save the council more than £2m.

The idea is said to be one of a wide range of early options which may be considered by North Ayrshire Council over the coming years. The council

N

may also consider starting primary education a year later, when pupils are six years old, although no decisions have been taken on the proposals.

Carol Kirk, the council’s education director, said any plans to alter the current system would be “fully investigated and discussed.”

“The option to deliver the statutory 25 hours of education per week over four rather than five days is also being explored by other local authorities in Scotland,” she said.

Education Secretary pledges £82.5m for music education o ensure young people from every background have access to quality music education, the Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove, has announced that £82.5m will be given to music services across England next year.

The money will be used to make opportunity more equal in music education, and enhance the prestige and esteem of music teaching as a career route for professional musicians.

The investment follows Darren Henley’s review into music in schools. The government will implement Henley’s ideas, including getting more top music graduates and performers into teaching through Teach First, producing

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a national plan for music education, and moving to a national funding formula for allocating funding for music.

The government will publish a national plan for music education later this year.

NEWSINBRIEF Eight free schools have business plans approved Eight proposals to set up free schools have now progressed from business case and plan stage to the pre-opening stage – the final stage before opening.

The eight proposals include Stour Valley Community School in Suffolk; ARK Conway in Hammersmith and Fulham; Discovery New School in West Sussex; Etz Chaim in Barnet; The Free School in Norwich; I-Foundation in Leicester City; St Luke’s Church of England Primary School in Camden; and Woodpecker Hall in Enfield.

Free schools can be set up by charities, educational groups, teachers and groups of parents. They are set up in response to parental demand, will improve choice and drive up standards for all young people regardless of their background.

£13m zerocarbon school for Islington The UK’s first ever zero carbon school is to be built in the London Borough of Islington.

The £13m project called Crouch Hill Community Park will see Willmott Dixon provide new accommodation for Ashmount Primary School and Bowlers Nursery, along with a new community energy centre and a refurbished building for the CAPE Youth Centre.

The school will share heat from the new energy centre with adjacent housing, helping it achieve a carbon negative footprint when in use.

The energy centre will use a biomass boiler and gas fired Combined Heat and Power (CHP) unit to provide the school’s heat and power needs, while exporting excess heat to the adjacent Coleman Mansions housing development.

The school will be completed in summer of 2012.

MPs join to support fiscal education More than 140 MPs have signed up to the first all-party political group (APPG) in support of compulsory financial education in schools, with members hoping to push the group’s agenda to the forefront of curriculum reform.

The call is for compulsory financial education in schools, ensuring young people understand money, consuming and debt.

The APPG was launched by MP Justin Tomlinson with the Personal Finance Education Group (pfeg), and Martin Lewis, founder of Moneysavingexpert.com.

Justin Tomlinson MP said: “Young people are entering an increasingly complex financial world of store cards, mobile phone tariffs, credit agreements and financial marketing.

“I am passionate that financial education is the best way to equip all young people with the relevant skills to make informed decisions and empower them as consumers. I have been working hard to secure cross-party support to help champion this cause, so the next generation is equipped to confidently address the financial challenges ahead.”

THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE FOR EDUCATION

09

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Education Business | Volume 16.2

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INTERVIEW

PREPARING THE WORKFORCE OF THE FUTURE As the host of TV series the Apprentice, entrepreneur Lord Alan Sugar knows what makes an employable candidate. But what does he think of today’s education system that’s shaping tomorrow’s businessmen? has made the headlines for his Twitter blowouts with other celebrities. So how does he feel about social networking in education?

“Social networking is a useful tool for communication. And it will become the new way of passing news in the future after the possible demise of the conventional newspaper.

“However, there are issues that need to be considered as to the addiction to these things which can seriously effect the younger person. I feel there needs to be parental control as to the use of these sites. I also believe that legislation will soon be needed to limit entry and activities of these sites.”

FROM SELLING CAR AERIALS from the back of his car, to now owning a fortune estimated at £730m, businessman and entrepreneur Lord Alan Sugar built his empire from zero.

Despite a humble start to life, growing up on a council estate in Hackney, East London, and leaving school aged 16, Sugar made his name in the business world in the 1980s through his electronics and computing company Amstrad. Moving to present day, he is owner and Chairman of Viglen, a successful IT services provider that caters primarily for the education and public sector.

As a real ‘rags to riches’ success story, did any teachers see entrepreneurial potential in Sugar at an early age? “My headmaster knew I was destined for a commercial future despite me thinking I would follow the sciences and engineering,” he recalls.

ALL CHANGE So how has the education system changed since Sugar was at school? “Everyone always says it was harder when they were at school but I don’t think this is necessarily the case,” he said. “Methods of evaluation have changed over the years as education practitioners learn about different ways of learning. Not all pupils are equal and many have different learning styles and different aptitudes.

“By opening up the examination market to

different players you increase the likelihood of innovation. Boards have to compete with each other and so there is motivation to come up with innovative and effective ways of evaluating students’ knowledge.”

Given the range of subjects on offer nowadays, is it easier to obtain qualifications now than in the past? Sugar commented: “What is important is that the qualifications being offered are relevant and prepare the student for life after their education comes to an end. As the workplace changes the curriculum and qualifications offered should change with it. As an employer you need to know who is the most talented candidate to fit in your workplace.”

COMPUTING ON THE CURRICULUM Back in the 80s, the AMSTRAD brand was responsible for giving many schools their first computing experience. Now ICT is everywhere in schools, enabling innovative and interactive ways of learning across the curriculum, as well as conventional everyday computing.

“The new generation of students will know a computer in the same way as I knew a pencil and text book,” commented Sugar. “Schools have to make the most of technology and use it to its maximum in order to turn out students who are ready for the workplace in which technology has taken over completely.”

Lord Sugar has a large Twitter following and

BUSINESS AND ACADEMIA In today’s education system, the gap between academia and business is getting smaller.

Many schools employ business managers, and academies are often sponsored by private sector organisations and run on a business model. As a successful businessman, Sugar believes this is a good move: “The role of private sector sponsorship in education is a two way thing. Private organisations invest money to improve facilities as well as offering time, experience and advice, while students benefit from the sponsor’s knowledge of the work place.

“Too many students leave school with no knowledge of the working environment so this gives them an advantage which their future employers can take advantage of. In turn we should end up with a better prepared workforce.”

Now more schools are being freed from local authority control and given the freedom to spend their own budgets, the business acumen of staff will be tested.

But are they prepared for this? “With more freedom comes more responsibility and this is an evolving challenge for academies and free schools. They should therefore make the most of sponsors and private sector investors who can offer help and support.

“But with current public sector spending cuts, the key thing is that there is now less money around and everyone has to learn how to spend it more wisely – whether that is the local authority or the school.”

Lord Sugar’s company Viglen, were recently awarded a position on the BECTA ICT Services Framework agreement.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Web: www.viglen.co.uk

THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE FOR EDUCATION

11

U SERIES ULTRA SHORT THROW PROJECTOR WITH

Copyright 2011 NEC Display Solution Europe GmbH. All rights are reserved in favour of their respective owners. This document is provided “as is” without warranty of any kind whatsoever, either express or implied. Errors and omissions are excepted.

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IT’S ALL ABOUT ‘U’ - IMPROVE YOUR PERFORMANCE WITH LESS GLARE AND SHADOW An improved user experience is at the heart of the U Series design concept. Ultra Short Throw means convenient space saving and elimination of glare and shadow, but at the same time NEC U Series projectors offer brightness as high as 3100 ANSI Lumen and a contrast ratio of 2000:1, suitable for even larger meeting rooms and wide or standard formats compatible with all the latest media.

The ultra short throw ratio, advanced range of connectivity options, simple to use remote and automated set up features help deliver fast, accurate projection, that is available almost instantly so your presentations for the classroom or corporate meeting rooms are not delayed.

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Education Business | Volume 16.2

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COMPELLING TECHNOLOGIES AT THE NEC SOLUTIONS SHOWCASE Firmly established as the leading Display Solutions event of the year, the Solutions Showcase, 6 April, provides a unique forum to exchange ideas and to experience a vast range of innovative technology solutions screen technology with the technology of multiple NEC accredited Solutions Partners, visitors to the show will be keenly aware of the very real benefit provided by the close harmonisation and cooperation between NEC and its Solutions Partners.

TOTAL DISPLAY SOLUTIONS NEC Display Solutions stages the annual event to demonstrate how the strength and breadth of their relationship with their Solutions Partners enables them to offer a Total Display Solution to their customers. Summing up at the end of the 2010 show, which took place at the BBC Studios in Wood Lane, Simon Jackson, VP NEC Display Solutions, said: “I am delighted by the response to the Showcase both in terms of the quality, quantity and mix of attendees but also by the genuine cooperation between our Solutions Partners.

“The annual NEC Solutions Showcase is the manifestation of what NEC Display Solutions represents as the leading provider of commercial display solutions.”

THE FORTHCOMING NEC SOLUTIONS SHOWCASE, now in its third year, enjoys an established reputation as a unique forum to exchange ideas and to experience a vast range of innovative technology solutions. The event focuses on application rather than product for a truly beneficial experience for anyone buying, installing or specifying within the dynamic education technology environment.

INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS Taking place 6 April within the iconic Battersea Powerstation, interactive zones encompass real-life scenarios of innovative solutions within the areas of Education; 3D; Professional Screens; Green IT; DooH and Control Room.

In addition, visitors will benefit from two free of charge seminars hosted by The Screen Forum covering ‘Education – avoiding the cuts’ and ‘Wayfinding’ from research undertaken at Westfield Shopping Centre.

The Screen Forum UK is an independent group

dedicated to the ongoing development of the digital signage industry. Its members include representatives from all aspects of this rapidly growing medium, and its events aim to promote best practice across the industry through the sharing of expertise and thought-leadership.

At the 2011 Showcase, NEC will be joined by many of its established Solutions Partners – pioneers within the displays industry who offer superior expertise within their field, including AMX, Amazing Interactive, OneLAN, Sedao, SMART, TeamMate, U-Touch, Unicol, Whitespace Presentations and many more, pledging their support for a proven successful event.

GET HANDS-ON Within the Education zone, get hands-on with the latest innovations including Interactive Whiteboards, Ultra Short Throw Projection, 3D, Interactive Touch Solutions and Digital Signage. Through the integration of NEC’s

ICONIC LOCATION This year, continuing NEC’s endeavour to search out the most compelling venues, the Solutions Showcase is to be hosted within the exceptional surroundings of the iconic Battersea Power Station. The unique boiler house at the very heart of a London icon features a clear roof section allowing the towering majesty of the power station to permeate the venue. Visitors will be able to take a tour of the original 1930s control room before it is completely refurbished in 2012.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Register now by e-mailing Samantha.

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THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE FOR EDUCATION

13

Education Business | Volume 16.2

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SCHOOL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

ADVANCING LEADERSHIP TO BENEFIT THE WIDER COMMUNITY Karen Hughes, director of Professional Development at the National Association of School Business Management, looks at professional development for school business managers EFFECTIVE and knowledgeable managers and leaders are essential throughout all professions and significantly pertinent to those working within the complex field of school business management. The extensive range of skills, knowledge and responsibilities of any school business manager are imperative, particularly because of the impact, ultimately, on the learning outcomes of children, young people and the wider community.

A NEW PROFESSION This is a relatively new profession, compared to the more traditional professions such as accountancy, teaching, nursing, etc. which provide well established routes to study, graduation, entering the profession and maintaining Continuing Professional Development (CPD). School business management, however, is more fluid and continually evolving as the impact of national policy dictates.

The profession itself is complicated with the lack of one clearly defined job title, (school business managers, school business directors,

bursars, director of school support services, etc.), the lack of one specific job description (HR, Finance, Premises, Marketing, etc.) and lack of consistency regarding levels of responsibility (many but not all SBMs on leadership teams).

There is also the demographic breakdown of those working within the profession.

Group 1 have evolved in the job and on the job on the back of school workforce reform from 2003. This group’s development needs have been about supporting and developing skills to grow and evolve within and on the job.

Group 2 have transferred into school business management from varied careers and backgrounds often bringing with them extensive skill sets and qualifications. This group’s development needs are about educational context and understanding the uniqueness and culture of working within educational settings.

Group 3 are those wishing to become school business managers and evidence suggests this group is increasingly growing.

Their development needs are concerned with what do I need and how can I qualify to become a future school business manager?

Recognising that any development offer needs to support new and existing school business managers in post as well as aspiring school business managers, it is very obvious that a “one-fit” approach to school business management development may not be suitable and adequate for all.

SCHOOL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT COMPETENCIES Specific training and qualifications offered via the National College for those already within the profession have developed significantly and provide structured progression routes through the programmes dependent upon roles and levels of responsibility.

‘The Competency Framework for School Business Management’, jointly published

by National Association of School Business Management (NASBM) and the National College in June 2009, describes the professional attributes, knowledge and understanding, and skills relevant to all leaders and managers within the profession. It is designed so that pathways to progression can be identified

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with the core competencies desired across all levels of responsibility shared and understood. It helps school business managers identify gaps in their own knowledge and to recognise the value and transferability of experience to assist with on-going CPD. The Framework itself contains a section on ‘Managing Self and Personal Skills’ which clearly identifies expectations on keeping up to date with CPD. This includes keeping up to speed with pertinent information and local initiatives, identifying own professional development needs by gaining professional qualifications, responding to national initiatives, and using research methods to inform and extend professional development by gaining qualifications at higher degree level. There is a clear indication that professional qualifications are important and that school business managers should be aiming to be qualified to higher degree (masters level or level 7) which will give them parity with qualified colleagues on leadership teams or SBM colleagues that have entered the profession from alternative career backgrounds.

KEY QUESTIONS Before embarking on any CPD for school business management there are a number of key questions individuals must be able to answer before embarking upon any development route: Is it to equip me to be able to do the job or a new element of the job, i.e. what must I know and what must I be able to understand?

Is it to develop my existing capabilities to be even more effective in contributing to future school business management, i.e. what additional skills and behavioural development will be useful to me as we move to become a new academy?

Is it to acquire a recognised qualification or complement existing qualifications that I already possess?

Other questions must also be considered, which I categorise as the 3As: Accessibility – What is the location and format of the study? What type of support is offered to learners? What is the cost?

What level of commitment is required?

What is the timescale for completion?

Assessment – What is required for assessment purposes i.e. examinations, project work, assignments, presentations, etc. and what is the final outcome in terms of qualification and level?

Appropriateness – Are there any minimum entry requirements? Is it the right level for me? Will I be revisiting material covered in my development elsewhere? Will it suit my learning style preferences i.e. workshops, reading, e-learning, online support and communities, etc?

EXISTING QUALIFICATION PATHWAYS Levels of national qualifications are complex with three qualification “frameworks”. The frameworks group together qualifications that place similar demands on learners, however, within any one level, qualifications

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THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE FOR EDUCATION

FHEQ LEVEL

EXAMPLES

SBM QUALIFICATIONS

4

Certificates of higher education Higher national certificates

CSBM

5

Diplomas of higher education Foundation degrees Higher national diplomas

DSBM

6

Bachelor’s degrees Bachelors honours degrees

ADSBM

7

Masters degrees Postgraduate certificates and diplomas

Various university masters programmes Pilot SBD Programme

8

Doctoral degrees

can cover a wide mix of subjects and take different amounts of time to complete.

The frameworks assist in identifying how one type of qualification can lead on to other and higher levels of qualification: National Qualifications Framework (NQF) – This sets out the level at which a qualification can be recognised in England, Northern Ireland and Wales. Only qualifications that have been accredited by the three regulators for England, Wales and Northern Ireland can be included in the NQF. Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF – the new framework for vocational or work related qualifications) – Similarly this new framework contains vocational qualifications available in England, Northern Ireland and Wales and is made up of units that are worth credits.

You can study units at your own pace and build these up to full qualifications of different sizes over time. Units and qualification range in difficulty from entry level to level 8 and more vocational qualifications will be added to the framework over the coming months.

FRAMEWORK FOR HIGHER EDUCATION QUALIFICATIONS (FHEQ) This framework has been designed by the higher education sector and describes all the main higher education qualifications. It applies to degrees, certificates, diplomas and masters academic awards granted by a university or higher education college. The FHEQ broadly corresponds with levels 4-8 of the NQF. NATIONAL COLLEGE SBM PROGRAMMES The National College has successfully been supporting school business managers for a number of years and provides structured progression routes for existing school business managers dependent upon roles and levels of responsibility. ‘The Competency Framework for School Business Management’ reflects four levels of school administration, school business management, advanced school business management and extended school business management. These four levels underpin the four programmes offered via the National College: • Certificate in School Business Management (CSBM)

• Diploma in School Business Management (DSBM) • Advanced Diploma in School Business Management (ADSBM) • Pilot School Business Director Programme (SBD) To apply for any of these programmes visit www.nationalcollege.org.uk for further details.

Please note that from April 2011 a financial contribution will be required through the school.

UNIVERSITY DEGREES Whilst a school business management focused degree is the ideal, many colleagues either continue with the National College offer or pursue more generic business and finance degrees.

Masters level qualifications are important and colleagues should be aiming to be qualified to this level. It is usually a requirement that to study for a master’s degree an individual must hold a first degree or equivalent.

This is not always the case, however, as existing professional experience and other qualifications may be taken into consideration – it is always worthwhile checking with the university directly. The University of Leicester for example, accepts students onto the MSc Educational Leadership with relevant experience and either/or the CSBM and DSBM. From a professional perspective, NASBM recognises anyone that is part qualified at master’s level 7 by offering a Fellow grade of membership. By undertaking master’s level qualifications and academic research, SBM colleagues are contributing to the knowledge base of evidence demonstrating the professional impact of school business management which is essential for on-going professional practice.

PROFESSIONAL AWARDING BODIES Many colleagues may already possess or prefer to specialise in a professional qualifications with specific awarding bodies: • Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) • Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) • Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) • Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) • Chartered Management Institute (CMI)

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SCHOOL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

Safety & Health (NEBOSH) and Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH).

NASBM, with the support of numerous school business managers, developed a specific IOSH Certificate for managing the key health and safety requirements in schools. This two day residential programme awards the IOSH certificate, which is subject to renewal every three years.

The tailored programme specifically catering for managing health, safety and risks within schools covers six modules: Introduction & overview of health & safety management; Principles of effective health & safety management; Health & safety law; Risk assessment; Managing the risks in schools; and Assessment & project.

The programme particularly focuses on school trips, fire, asbestos, design and technology, slips and trips, stress, lone working, control of contractors, workplace and school transport.

EFFECTIVE MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR OF SCHOOL PREMISES NASBM also offers a workshop designed for those managing and responsible for the school site. In light of the reduction in school capital funding programmes this aims to raise awareness of best practice in effectively maintaining school buildings; taking account of cost efficiencies and demanding regulations. This course is suitable for school business managers, premises managers, caretakers and site staff.

As previously mentioned, no one clear pathway is suggested and is wholly dependent upon experience and prior qualification.

ADDITIONAL LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT The government comprehensive spending review has heightened the need for schools to consider new ways of managing and using their resources.

Ultimately collaboration and partnership working will become key components to successfully navigating the reducing resources, whether this is through schools purchasing collectively, sharing knowledge or maximising the people resources.

FINANCIAL & ACCOUNTANCY TRAINING Accredited training to support new academies and free schools will be pertinent and essential for school business managers working within these new settings. Understanding the impact of running trusts and charitable companies will have a specific accountancy skills training requirement alongside the need to maintain accounting records and publish annual reports and accounts. Both the National College and National Association of School Business Management (NASBM) are liaising with a number of accountancy professional

bodies to support this training at the earliest opportunity via online modules and workshops.

Details are provided via www.nationalcollege. org.uk/sbm and www.nasbm.co.uk Introductory AAT qualifications can be accessed locally or via distance learning and more information is available at www.aat.org.uk FUNDRAISING Many colleagues are interested in mechanisms to enable access to fundraising initiatives within schools. There is a Certificate in School Fundraising and Income Generation, which is a six-week online course with assessment awarding the Level 3 certificate – details can be found at www.fundraisingskills.co.uk Additionally NASBM will be running one day workshops nationally, details of which can be found at www.nasbm.co.uk HEALTH & SAFETY TRAINING Health and safety accredited training is imperative for school staff and many schools will be accessing this locally via the local authority or through training providers and colleges. There are two national bodies for health and safety in the UK – National Examination Board of Occupational

PEOPLE AND CHANGE MANAGEMENT Many school business managers need skills and support in managing staff including recruiting effectively and managing annual performance reviews. Change management can be reactive or proactive and school business managers need to be equipped to support and initiate workplace and structural changes. As a school’s largest expenditure, reducing staffing costs may be an unpalatable concept but understanding and supporting redundancy processes may be a requirement facing colleagues in the future. Consultancy is available via local training providers and once again NASBM can support in these areas.

As the impact of the coalition government’s education reform continues, it is clear that new and innovative skills will be required. The future will require new ways of working in response to wholly different changes to school funding, the need for transparency on spending and innovative activity with private and voluntary sectors. Continuing professional development and qualification is essential for all school business managers to demonstrate their value, worth and impact as educational leaders in steering these changes as the role continues to evolve.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Tel: 01788 573300 Fax: 01788 571812 E-mail: info@nasbm.co.uk Web: www.nasbm.co.uk

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Answering your questions about how to convert to an academy with NASBM regional conferences

A

N ACADEMY TRUST is a charitable company responsible for the running of the academy, which has control over the land and the other assets. Academies have freedom from local authority control, which means they have autonomy over the decisions made and the education they deliver.

There are many benefits to becoming an academy, these include increased freedom to decide how teaching and learning is delivered without being overburdened by bureaucracy; greater control over admissions and student numbers; additional benefit of also receiving a share of the local county council’s central funding; freedom to purchase in support services from providers offering the best value and service; and the possibility to apply for capital grants from central government.

Schools must consider that there are a number of hurdles that must be undertaken during this process. These are varying and may involve external advice, including terms and conditions of existing staff are protected by the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006; the pension deficit is passed over from the Local Government Pension Scheme; owning the buildings and lands – bringing both freedoms and legal liabilities.

Also, the Governing Body will need to be reviewed and new additions appointed

In response to tremendous interest and requests from school business managers on the how, why and when to convert to an academy; NASBM have developed a half day event which will run from 9am-2pm. The events are taking place in Bristol 24 March, Twichenham 19 May, and Greater Manchester 16 June, and will cost £105 for members and £135 for non-members.

The event aims to answer the questions that arise when considering converting to an academy, plus highlight the pitfalls that many school business managers have encountered on the way.

The topics covered on the day will include Overview on ‘Why’ and ‘How’ to convert; The legal requirements; Practical considerations and avoiding pitfalls; Advice from SBM’s who have recently undertaken the process.

The event is open to members and nonmembers and is suitable for school business managers, head teachers, deputy heads and any key members of the School Leadership Team that are considering converting.

Additionally, all delegates attending the event will be provided with a copy of an ‘Academy Guide’. The guide provides details on the conversion process, plus information on organisations that can assist. The guide has been sponsored by Lloyds TSB Commercial, an Approved Partner of NASBM.

FOR MORE INFORMATION If you are not a member of NASBM and want to find out more then please contact Julia Warmington on 01788 573300 or via e-mail at info@nasbm.co.uk

Enhance your strategic and financial planning through NABSM training and workshops

T

HE SHORT AND MEDIUM TERM financial position for schools looks challenging to say the least. The following training courses have been developed to help assist schools through the different world that they find themselves in and the financial constraints placed on the school leaders to deliver further improvements.

These courses have been developed for the school leadership team – school business managers, head teachers, deputy heads and governors – plus those aspiring to be future leadership team members.

Strategic HR is a half-day seminar, which will explore strategic HR planning within schools including how to avoid redundancies.

It will explore managing long term sickness and effective use of performance procedures.

It will also provide a practical approach to restructuring and redundancy. AM only course.

Prices: £165 for both NASBM members and non-members.

Dates and venues available are 16 March in Bristol, 9 May in Manchester, and 9 June in London.

Budget Scenario Planning & Reporting is a half-day workshop on scenario planning and reporting, setting out to explain the impact of various scenarios that are facing schools today. Real issues that have a

major impact on the school budget will be examined to give all delegates a greater understanding of the impact in the future, of issues happening today. PM only course.

Prices: £165 for both NASBM members and non-members.

Dates and venues available are 16 March in Bristol, 9 May in Manchester, and 9 June in London.

Financial Management in Austere Times is a one-day course that explains the different world we find ourselves in and the financial constraints placed on school leaders to deliver further

improvements. The course examines what can be done to still deliver the main priorities of the school whilst living within a tight fiscal regime.

The price is £199 for NASBM members and £235 for non-members. It will take place 8 March in Manchester.

FOR MORE INFORMATION To guarantee your place, please book online.

If you require any further information contact Diane Gregory on 01788 573300, e-mail training@nasbm.co.uk

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Looking for an accountant that understands Academies?

For more information on how Dains LLP can guide you through the conversion process and beyond contact: academies@dains.com or call Andy Morris on 0845 555 8844.

much more than chartered accountants...

•charity audit•training & support for governors •establishing financial function•managing surpluses •payroll

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FINANCE

TAKING THE STING OUT OF CUTS Ray Barker, director, BESA, the sector’s trade association, shares his thoughts, advice and experience of using leasing to carry schools through the current climate DESPITE RECENT GOVERNMENT funding cuts, the British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA) identified in their annual survey into the opinions and trends of ICT in UK state schools that schools appear to be remaining positive in their outlook. A majority of primary and secondary schools felt they were likely to maintain planned ICT investments for 2011/12. Their confidence in maintaining levels of investment is not limited to ICT; it appears to span all classroom resources.

However, in this present tough financial climate, when education budgets are being very closely monitored and even cut, how are schools considering maintaining their levels of investment?

LEASING BENEFITS One increasingly popular trend is in the use of leasing. Typically a lease can support access to a broad range of classroom equipment from computers to furniture and can run from one

to seven years. Some leases can even be taken out on products already purchased, freeing up capital to plough back into other requirements.

Looking at the advantages of leasing first, the main and most obvious benefit is that schools can invest in resources they need, when they need them, whether or not the full initial capital is available. The cost is spread over a number of years which can significantly help maintain cash flow, which is critical to all schools.

Leasing can also allow schools to use better equipment, that despite appearing to be too expensive to buy outright, does have a better total cost of ownership. Rather than taking the risk of buying products that have a cheap initial cost but can ultimately cost more, schools can plan appropriate efficient investments.

BESA’s place in the education sector for the past 76 years has been to work with the government and our 300 plus educational supplier members, to maintain standards in education. It is our aim, and the aim of

our members who adhere to a stringent Code of Practice, to ensure we offer added value support, best practice investment and help drive up standards in education. It is therefore important to stress that achieving true value from classroom resources is based on using the product effectively and always considering the total cost of ownership.

Leasing companies should not be tied to any one manufacturer or supplier, so schools can choose the best equipment that suits their individual needs, or that fits in with their current range of products and resources.

TECHNOLOGY UPGRADES Looking at the objectives of using ICT in schools, including motivating children and ensuring they are educated for the global economy in which we need to operate, working with obsolete ICT equipment is no longer appropriate nor efficient.

Today schools are certainly increasingly

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FINANCE

shrewd about their investment. The majority of available leases for school equipment allow for technology upgrades, enabling the head teacher, governors and bursars to manage the life of their products.

Depending on the term of the lease, as new equipment becomes available schools can upgrade to the latest models at the same monthly fee. Of course the upgrade comes with a new fixed term contract but with many ICT equipment leasing programmes, schools have the flexibility to add-on extra computer equipment, or upgrade current computer equipment, enabling schools to progress with the latest technology and equipment and avoiding being left with obsolete equipment to dispose of.

BUDGET MANAGEMENT Another popular advantage of leasing in schools is based on the fact that a lease agreement is almost always a fixed contract, which means it is relatively easy to budget and forecast with. The amount can be worked into the school’s budget much more easily than an irregularly occurring lump sum; allowing better control over current and future cash flow. In the event that an item needs replacing quickly, such as a server, schools can do so with a relatively minor monthly adjustment to the budget, instead of a lump sum that could seriously affect cash flow.

Leasing does not limit schools to just one supplier. A lease can be taken out to finance a broad range of products from a number of suppliers. This is particularly ideal for schools wanting to fund an extensive refurbishment project, such as those who have missed out on Building Schools for the Future (BSF) funding. Having just one lease for all the products supports easy budget management.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

TAX RELIEF In terms of ICT equipment, leasing is wholly allowable against tax, enabling schools to offset the annual monthly charges against taxable profits. However, schools should always check that the equipment is eligible before agreeing to a contract.

Although not a major issue at the current time, leasing is also inflation friendly. Although inflation will be built into the lease, it is based on the current cost of the products rather than how much they will cost at the end of the contract. Of course, with the price of many ICT products falling, this can equally be a disadvantage.

So in summary, when looking at the advantages of using leasing in schools, it certainly can ensure schools don’t take the risk of buying cheap, it helps school leaders manage their budgets and helps schools manage the increasing equipment demands of an education sector with high expectations.

So that’s the good news but what about the disadvantages to using leasing?

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DISADVANTAGES The advantages of being able to buy up front with built in upgrades, come at a cost. Like a loan, the total cost of the lease will be higher than the initial cost of the products with schools paying the cost of the equipment as well as the leasing companies charges. And this is just one of several disadvantages of leasing that must be weighed up before considering this option.

The main disadvantage of leasing is that schools never actually own the product. It remains the property of the leasing company during and after the lease. The only exception being if the school arranges for it to be sold to another company or person, in which case the leasing company would receive the money and a percentage would be passed back to the school.

The rate of change in education highlights another disadvantage.

The fact that schools do not own the products means that they are unable to upgrade to a newer or better product without either paying off the remaining contract, or paying a large fee to cancel it. Hire purchase agreements allow schools to own the product at the end of the agreement, but this is normally more difficult to arrange, and is often available only on highly costly items.

Although schools do not own the leased equipment, they are still responsible for its maintenance and repair. Unlike purchased

22

equipment, the products generally don’t come with training and support.

Unless schools have specifically trained staff to fix the equipment, then this could prove very costly in the event of a serious fault.

Some leasing companies will allow the maintenance and repair costs to be covered for an extra sum. This will of course increase the monthly payments, but may save you money in the long run; particularly with manual or highly technical products that may go wrong frequently, and may cause severe disruption if out of action.

LONG TERM PLANS Possibly the reason that most schools decide against leasing is because of the contractual obligation to continue making payments until the end of the lease. 2010 saw the reduction in schools budgets, which makes regular payments risky over a contract potentially lasting several years. Some schools feel that only buying when they have the budget to do so protects them from potential problems in the future. The school is responsible for paying off the lease, which can create a financial problem for schools if they experience another downturn in funding.

In summary, schools should think very carefully about the way they fund major investments. In these times of uncertainty schools have to think about their long term development plan, what they really need and how they are going to get what they want. Leasing is certainly an option, and the advantages are certainly worth consideration, but it is just one option. Consideration of the total cost of ownership is probably the most important first step in the procurement plan.

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FINANCE

HELP IS AT HAND FOR ACADEMY SCHOOLS Andy Morris, head of the Charity and Education team at accountants & business advisers Dains LLP, looks at the challenge that converting schools now face and the support available “EVERY SCHOOL IS DIFFERENT because the experience of people working within each school varies dramatically. Some schools require support in establishing a financial function and the staff working within it, others are past this point but require assistance in choosing the right software options and considering payroll solutions,” says Andy.

“Choosing advisers to work alongside is not a straightforward decision – it’s very easy to fall into the trap of picking a firm that can deal with the audit requirements of the academy but very little else. We believe that by being involved on a more frequent basis, we can help academies

do as opposed to being a remote adviser who completes an independent audit once a year.”

Fellow partner at Dains LLP, Lisa Richards, chair of Derbyshire ProHelp – a network of professional firms providing advice and support to charities and not for profit entities, believes that academies require more support.

“There is a lack of real help available when it comes to financial advice and support. The academies handbook and the DfE website will only get you so far – sometimes there is just no substitute to picking up the phone or having a meeting with your trusted adviser.

We are enjoying the challenge of supporting

With some careful planning, we can help our clients build a sensible financial plan that works in the long term and protects the interests of all stakeholders to make high quality business decisions in the same way that our corporate clients do.

“Many of our clients seek guidance before making investment decisions so that they can ensure they have considered all options. It’s as important to consider long term cashflow as it is to consider the background behind a major purchase.

“With some careful planning, we can help our clients build a sensible financial plan that works in the long term and protects the interests of all stakeholders. This is a particularly useful exercise to consider upon conversion – especially if the academy needs to access surplus funds.”

Having worked with the charity sector for almost 20 years, Andy recognises that there are cultural differences between academies and businesses.

“It’s vital that advisers recognise and adapt to the culture of the client. We work hard to support our clients so that they understand the roles and responsibilities for trustees and also to establish good governance. Decisions need to be made every day and it is core to the success of the academy that heads, teachers, bursars and business managers understand what they can and can’t do without reference to the trustees.

“Unfortunately, not all advisers are proactive in this area – this can lead to poor governance, which very often results in inefficiency and delays in making decisions. At Dains we believe that helping clients is at the heart of what we

academies – the learning curve can be steep but with the right level of interest and help, it’s surprising how quickly things come together. Once the accounting function is established we can really start to get stuck into day to day commercial issues and ensure the smooth running of the academy.

“There’s no substitute for hard work and rigour at the outset and we like to be alongside clients throughout this process.

This is in keeping with our cultural values of being empathetic to our client’s and working together to achieve our client’s objectives. Last week our team spent an afternoon on site at a school converting to academy status to decide on the most appropriate accounting software package to adopt, later on in the week our team was advising another school on payroll and HR support. It’s great to be involved and really see the benefit of spending time with our client – long before we start the audit work.”

Lisa believes that choosing the right adviser is something to consider early on in the conversion process. “By being involved early on in the process we can deliver our support when it is most needed. Although auditors will not be required on site for some time – it is worth thinking about the support your financial function will need as a whole. Time spent now can help academies avoid some of the problems that others have had in managing cashflow, producing budgets, running payroll etc. Our

Lisa Richards

Andy Morris

advice is to seek advice from a team that understands academies and has the technical competence to deal with charity audit work but more than anything else, recognises the need to work closely with the academy and trustees.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION For more information please contact Andy Morris or Lisa Richards on 0845 5558844 or e-mail: academies@dains.com

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Education Business | Volume 16.2

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FINANCE

GETTING THE MOST OUT OF YOUR BUDGET Clever financing can help fund IT investments in the age of austerity, says Philip White, vice president of the Technology and Business Equipment Group at the Finance & Leasing Association AS A NEW FINANCIAL YEAR BEGINS for schools, the outlook is rather gloomy. Basic funding budgets have been cut by 2.5 per cent compared to 2010/11 and this throws up numerous challenges for schools, not least how they can sustain IT investment to support pupils’ learning and efficient administration.

The good news for bursars is that they can now make their budget work harder using intelligent accounting and financial

instruments that deliver significant cost savings whilst allowing their schools to maintain investment in both staff and equipment.

GROWING NEEDS Schools’ budgets are shrinking but their ICT needs continue to grow.

School ICT budgets have continually expanded since Labour’s 2001 education policy started to support concepts such as

The involvement of IT in the way we live, work and learn has undoubtedly continued to grow exponentially since then, and changes in technology need to be reflected in the ways schools teach and the facilities they offer to pupils

one-to-one learning and “a device for every student”. The involvement of IT in the way we live, work and learn has undoubtedly continued to grow exponentially since then, and changes in technology need to be reflected in the ways schools teach and the facilities they offer to pupils.

As the recession hit, however, this budgetary growth began to falter and that has already taken a dramatic toll on IT investment in the education sector. According to the September 2010 report of the British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA), ICT budgets may fall 14 per cent in 2011 to £502.4 million, from a peak in 2008 of £586 million.

BESA’s research also found that schools estimated that they would be short of 730,000 computers if they were to fully implement their ICT development plans in 2010. In 2011, the shortage of computers in schools is anticipated to increase further to 840,000 units.

SCHOOLS’ APPROACH TO FINANCE Switching from a budgetary strategy that anticipates rising income to one that expects income to fall in real terms for the first time since the late 1980s will be tough, but can schools really afford to change nothing?

Surely, what this pressure on education budgets means is that now more than ever, schools need to get the maximum

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Visit the website to view the categorised product finder

Investec Education – providing compliant operating lease solutions to schools since 1991 NVESTEC EDUCATION has been providing compliant operating lease solutions to schools since 1991.

As one of the few providers of this type of funding to the UK education sector, we ensure that schools are able to arrange the finance they require for almost any equipment purchase, from IT and furniture to sports equipment and vehicles.

The recent government spending review outlines new constraints on cash flow within the education sector and already, we are seeing increasing numbers of schools turning to us for assistance in securing the funding required to develop educational facilities.

Despite these changes and that all leasing must be undertaken via an operating lease, there are still many schools continuing to enter into agreements that are not recognised as compliant with current regulatory accounting guidelines; often resulting in issues that could have been otherwise avoided under the terms of an operating lease.

As with any business, cash flow is under constant pressure, making it essential that schools receive the best value for money on any investments they make. At Investec Education, our operating lease facility allows schools to achieve the equipment they need – when they need it.

Essentially leasing is a means for schools

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THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE FOR EDUCATION

to maximise cash flow, leaving existing budget resources untouched and available for investment in more essential areas of development. Leasing is also an effective means of achieving better cash management given that schools have the ability to spread the cost of repayment over two to five years.

Our specialist team of consultants are well versed in all areas of education funding and will work alongside your school finance team to source and finance the equipment you

require whilst giving you the reassurance that any equipment purchases undertaken are 100 per cent compliant. We provide automatic acceptance on volumes up to £250,000 and have no limit on the total volume of funding we can arrange.

FOR MORE INFORMATION To find out more on how an operating lease could improve your future purchasing plans, contact us today on 01244 525406.

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FINANCE

educational benefit from every pound spent.

At present, leasing rather than purchasing assets outright is all too often overlooked, despite the cost savings that can be achieved. To manage their budgets efficiently, more schools should match up payments for expensive assets like IT equipment with their cash flow and stage those payments over the equipment’s working life. This way, acquisitions can be made in the best strategic interest of the school rather than being driven by the constraints of their annual budget, buying new equipment outright as and when it could be afforded.

fresh capital against the value of investments in IT they have already paid for. The equipment is sold to the finance company and then leased back to the school. The refunded cash can be used to make further acquisitions or for more general expenditure. This has been one of the fastest growing areas of financing for schools.

AVOIDING PITFALLS IN LEASE AGREEMENTS Lease agreements are normally very low risk.

However, as the government has warned in its notes on ‘Improving Efficiencies in

As we come to terms with the constraints in the age of austerity, schools might find that the extra boost that leasing can provide to the budgeting process makes a real difference Staggering the acquisition of IT equipment over several years also prevents schools from taking advantage of very substantial volume discounts. These bulk discounts can more than offset the interest cost of any finance.

In any case, schools are fortunately able to access extremely competitive rates for finance compared to commercial or private sector organisations, making finance doubly interesting for them.

More schools should also look at “sale and leaseback” options, which allow them to raise

Schools’, there are some easily avoided pitfalls which can snare the uninitiated.

In the past, lease operators have been known to include some opaque terms in their contracts, which have deterred schools from using leasing. Common contract terms included onerous cancellation penalties and leases that are longer than the useful life of the equipment.

It is vital that schools contemplating leasing agreements ensure the terms are transparent and the contract is for the

working life of the equipment so that they have the option to upgrade their equipment without incurring unexpected costs.

It’s also worth checking that the finance company is affiliated with the Finance and Leasing Association (FLA), which will ensure that they operate fairly and responsibly as prescribed by the FLA Business Finance Code.

CONCLUSION Capital expenditure is being cut but the need for computers and other ICT infrastructure continues to grow. In this environment, schools could find it hard to maintain the high standards of education that parents expect for their children.

Schools will be challenged to look at all areas of management. Those that squeeze the most out of their smaller budgets are likely to be those that also look at how innovative financing can be brought to bear.

As we come to terms with the constraints in the age of austerity, schools might find that the extra boost that leasing can provide to the budgeting process makes a real difference.

Philip White is vice president of the Technology and Business Equipment Group at the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA), and also CEO of Syscap, a leading independent finance provider to the education sector.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Web: www.fla.org.uk

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AT THE FRONTLINE OF THE SCHOOL FOOD REVOLUTION Whether liked or not, Jamie Oliver’s mission to improve school meals has made the UK and USA sit up and think about what their children are eating at school IN 2005, JAMIE OLIVER LED A CRUSADE to expose the unhealthy, processed nature of food served at schools through a TV documentary called Jamie’s School Dinners.

Bringing such a contentious issue into the spotlight initially met resistance and anger from some teachers, pupils and parents – a situation that even led the occasional outraged mum to deliver burgers and chips to their children through the school fence.

Overall, however, Jamie gained widespread support and what followed were drastic improvements to school food, including a commitment from government to invest £500 million to improve school meals and the introduction of tough minimum nutrition standards.

OBESITY OVERSEAS With the issue of school food firmly on the nation’s mind, last year Oliver set his sights on tackling the eating habits of our friends in the USA. He started his American campaign in Huntington, West Virginia, statistically one of the unhealthiest cities in the country.

While things were bad in the UK, they were considerably worse here. Jamie discovered schools serving pizza for breakfast and junk food for lunch, and was miffed to find that chips counted as a vegetable in the school’s nutritional guidelines.

Meanwhile, many of the six-year-olds were unable to identify common vegetables.

Although he initially met resistance from locals angry that a foreigner was trying to tell them how to eat, he gradually gained wide-spread support for what he was trying to achieve. School cook Alice Gue, who at first clashed heavily with Oliver, received a promotion and the programme won a TV Emmy for outstanding reality series.

Oliver is now in LA about to film his second series. But this is not without its challenges; he has been denied access to film in schools by the LA schools district.

In a speech at the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Public Health, Oliver expressed his frustration: “My filming permit was terminated because I can’t promise that the LAUSD [Los Angeles Unified Schools District] will look good,” he said. “They fail to see me as a positive, and they fail to see the TV as an incredible way to spread the word, to inspire people, to inform parents, to see other teachers doing pioneering things.”

THE DESIRED AFFECT If proof was needed of the positive impact healthy school meals can make, the USA can look at Oliver’s success in the UK, where a

© Chris Terry

Last year, a study by Oxford University and Essex University revealed that children in Greenwich primary schools that banned junk food scored higher grades in Key Stage 2 English and Science than children in neighbouring areas THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE FOR EDUCATION

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Visit the website to view the categorised product finder

Pride Catering awarded Gold Catering Mark

Ensure compliance with Premier Interlink

RIDE CATERING, the Guildfordbased specialist catering contractor, achieved its goal of a Soil Association Food for Life Gold Catering Mark less than six months after garnering a Silver Award. Not only that, but Pride is the very first contract caterer to achieve this distinction in the UK. Once again, the award recognised the work carried out at St Stephens School in Twickenham, a Food for Life Flagship school.

Pride serves over 200 lunches a day at St Stephens and to get the Gold, Pride had to show that two thirds of its food offering is freshly prepared, half is locally-sourced and 30 per cent is organic. Despite budget restrictions, the Pride team were able to source the right suppliers, and the company also demonstrated its adaptability and innovation by designing meat-free menus for at least one day per week. Throughout the company’s

F NEW KITCHEN, catering or dining facilities are required, we can help ensure you comply with 2011 legislation.

Premier Interlink (Waco UK Ltd) has developed and designed a high quality, ready made, costeffective kitchen solution for schools and colleges.

Whether you need catering kitchens for student meals, kitchens for cooking tuition or dining areas, we can provide a fully equipped building in an average of just 8-12 weeks, with far less disruption and site traffic affecting staff, students and visitors. The buildings, on average 80 per cent completed in our quality controlled factory environment, can include a fully fitted kitchen, cookery tuition facilities or a dining area, delivered to site practically ready for use.

These buildings are available for hire or sale, and all the catering equipment is supplied and supported with training,

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operations they only use freerange chicken and eggs, MSCcertified sustainable seafood, and they never prepare meals with GM ingredients or hydrogenated fats.

Liz Stubbs, headteacher at St Stephen’s School, said: “We’re delighted that Pride has been awarded the Gold Catering Mark.

It’s thoroughly deserved. Both children and staff really enjoy our excellent school meals!”

FOR MORE INFORMATION Tel: 01483 575000 Fax: 01483 567880 E-mail: info@pridecatering.co.uk Web: www.pridecatering.co.uk

maintenance, service and spare parts from Whitco Catering Equipment Ltd. Premier Interlink (Waco UK) has over 50 years experience in providing robust, steel-framed buildings for education. We can assist in helping to achieve BREEAM Excellent status where required, and walk you through all stages of a project from conception to handover.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Premier Interlink (Waco UK Ltd) Tel: 0800 3160888 Fax: 01964 545 001 E-mail: sales@waco.co.uk Web: www.waco.co.uk

Gift vouchers and gift cards from Charity Gift Vouchers really are a true “Flexible Friend”

F

ROM THE EARLY DAYS, gift vouchers were the ideal present, giving a choice of goods and retailers, as previously some of us would purchase the wrong colour or size present. As the gift voucher market matured the customer choice expanded with even greater choice offered by the multi-store gift vouchers.

This choice and flexibility made the gift voucher ideal as a retiring or leaving present, and the company Christmas bonus. The issuing of a gift voucher was a simple procedure and market research companies and competition operators chose giving gift vouchers as a preferred option to cash. With the growth of staff and customer reward programmes the gift voucher was ideally placed to fulfil these programmes with inspirational products such as balloon rides, holidays, high street shopping and luxury goods that would not normally be purchased.

Gift vouchers were seen as a personal treat rather than cash, which easily disappeared into the household budget. With almost every purchase experience covered by gift vouchers the value of the reward or incentive programme was enhanced by the feel good factor of the reward. Gift vouchers have also been used to encourage difficult sections of the community such as teenagers and smokers to enrol into programmes that not only help themselves

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but reduce the long term cost to the nation.

With the development of the gift card and associated technologies new areas became available with gift malls opening wherever the public had access. These new technologies have allowed reward programmes that are able to top-up the value of the gift card as performance is achieved, giving quicker access

to the rewards and a greater satisfaction to the customer or staff member.

Recent technologies have been able to reduce the administration costs of reward and incentive programmes, and reduced the delay between achieving the reward and actually receiving the gift voucher or gift card. By the use of a secure code, which is issued to the staff member and an associated secure website, staff members can activate and select from a vast range of gift vouchers to the value of their secure code, giving the greatest choice possible and as quick a delivery as possible.

Gift vouchers and cards can now provide an almost instant reward, incentivising where necessary, rewarding for achievement and as a thank you. And let’s not forget their original purpose, as a gift for Christmas or birthdays.

Many of those working abroad or with the British Forces find sending a gift voucher with the word of sentiment the most satisfying method of sending gifts to family and friends.

The level of choice, variety of values and methods of delivery really do make gift vouchers and cards the true “Flexible Friend”.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Tel: 01323 848686 E-mail: info@vouchers4charity.org.uk Web: www.vouchers4charity.org.uk

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The research results are fantastic as it’s the first time a proper study has been done into the positive effects of the Feed Me Better campaign and it strongly suggests we were right all along – Jamie Oliver web petition calling for nutritional standards to be introduced and junk food banned was signed by over 270,000 people. This had the desired affect and the government pledged £500 million to improve school meals and set up the School Food Trust. Since then, tough minimum nutrition standards for primary and secondary schools have been introduced.

But perhaps the real proof of Oliver’s success is in the improvements to academic results. Last year, a study by Oxford University and Essex University revealed that children in Greenwich primary schools that banned junk food scored higher grades in Key Stage 2 English and Science than children in neighbouring areas.

The study showed it raised the percentage of children reaching level 4 in English by up to six percentage points, and the percentage of pupils reaching level 5 in science by up to eight percentage points. The number of

authorised absences — which are generally due to illness – fell by 15 per cent.

POSITIVE SHORT-TERM EFFECTS Authors of the study Michele Belot and Jonathan James said that the results were particularly noteworthy since they show that changing children’s diets can have positive short-term effects on educational achievements, when it was expected to be a long and difficult process. The report suggests that improving school meals can make an immediate difference to educational achievements.

Jamie Oliver welcomed the report: “The research results are fantastic as it’s the first time a proper study has been done into the positive effects of the Feed Me Better campaign and it strongly suggests we were right all along. Even while doing the programme, we could see the benefits to children’s health and teachers.”

READER OFFER To order Jamie’s Ministry of Food at the special offer price of £19.99 including free p&p (RRP £25) please call the Penguin Bookshop on 08430 600021, quoting “JMOF/ EBusiness” and isbn 9781856132848.

The offer is subject to availability, and open to UK residents only. Customers should allow up to 14 days for delivery.

COOKING AT HOME Not stopping at school dinners, Oliver also tasked himself with improving cooking at home by arming people with the basic, invaluable cooking skills through Ministry of Food cooking centres throughout the UK. The plan was for those he teaches to teach others, who, in turn, will teach others, and so on.

A six part TV series in 2008 showed Oliver trying to get the inhabitants of Rotherham in South Yorkshire to learn how to cook fresh food and then pass on their cooking skills as part of daily life.

Rotherham was chosen because it was a statistically

MINI SHELL PASTA WITH A CREAMY SMOKED BACON AND PEA SAUCE This is one of the dishes I cook for my kids, but to be honest, it’s so good that me and Jools always eat it too! Mini pasta shells are actually meant to be added to soups, but they’re quick and easy to cook, which makes them a good thing to serve with pasta sauces. All in all this should take you no more than five and a half minutes to cook. However, if you decide to go for a bigger type of pasta, remember that it will need more time to cook than these mini shells.

SERVES 4–6 • 10 slices smoked streaky bacon or pancetta, preferably free-range or organic • a small bunch of fresh mint • 150g Parmesan cheese • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

• 400g dried mini shell or other type of pasta • olive oil • a knob of butter • 300g frozen peas • 2 heaped dessertspoons crème fraîche • 1 lemon

TO PREPARE YOUR PASTA • Finely slice the bacon • Pick the mint leaves and discard the stalks • Finely grate the Parmesan TO COOK YOUR PASTA • Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil • Add the mini shells and cook according to the packet instructions • Get a large frying pan over a medium heat and add a good lug of olive oil and the butter • Add the bacon to the pan, sprinkle a little pepper over and fry until golden and crisp • Meanwhile, finely chop your mint leaves • As soon as the bacon is golden, add your frozen peas and give the pan a good shake • After a minute or so, add the crème fraîche and

chopped mint to the bacon and peas • Drain the pasta in a colander over a large bowl, reserving some of the cooking water • Add the pasta to the frying pan • Halve your lemon and squeeze the juice over the pasta • When it’s all bubbling away nicely, remove from the heat • It’s really important that the sauce is creamy, silky and delicious but if it’s too thick for you, add a splash of the reserved cooking water to thin it out a bit • Add the grated Parmesan and give the pan a shake to mix it in TO SERVE YOUR PASTA Divide your pasta between plates or bowls, or put it on the table in a large serving dish and let everyone help themselves. Lovely with a simply dressed green salad

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average town in the UK and because during the school dinners campaign a group of mums from Rotherham had been filmed passing fast food through the school fences to their children.

The first Ministry of Food Centre was launched in Rotherham and there are now centres in Bradford, Leeds and Newcastle. The centres have been successful at attracting people of all ages and backgrounds and classes are fully booked many months in advance.

Meanwhile, the first ‘Jamie’s Kitchen’ has opened in Huntington, America. Like the Ministry of Food Centres in the UK, people from the local community can go to learn about food and find out how to cook. Oliver hopes that more centres will open across the US. The book to accompany the Ministry of Food TV series features simple and tasty recipes that can be mastered by the most inexperienced cook. The recipes in this article are simple to cook and delicious, the ingredients are widely available, and they can be cooked on a large scale – making them suitable for school kitchens.

FOR MORE INFORMATION For further recipes and information on Jamie’s school dinners visit: www.jamieoliver.com

CAULIFLOWER CHEESE SOUP What a veg dish, and what a soup! Try this once and you’ll be hooked. The better the quality of the cheese, the better the soup will be. Try Montgomery’s or Keen’s, available in farmers’ markets and some supermarkets.

SERVES 6–8 • 2 carrots • 2 sticks of celery • 2 medium onions • 2 cloves of garlic • 800g cauliflower • olive oil

• 200g Cheddar cheese • 2 chicken or vegetable stock cubes, preferably organic • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper • 1 teaspoon English mustard • optional: nutmeg

TO MAKE YOUR SOUP • Peel and roughly slice the carrots • Slice the celery • Peel and roughly chop the onions • Peel and slice the garlic • Cut your cauliflower into 1.5cm slices • Put a large pan on a medium heat and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil • Add all your chopped and sliced ingredients and mix together with a wooden spoon • Cook for around 10 to 15 minutes with the lid askew, until the carrots have softened but are still holding their shape, and the onion is lightly golden • Grate the Cheddar into a bowl and put to one side for later • Put the stock cubes into a jug or pan and pour in 1.8 litres of boiling water from the kettle • Stir until the stock cubes are dissolved, then add to the vegetables • Give the soup a good stir and bring to the boil • Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes with the lid on TO SERVE YOUR SOUP • Remove the pan from the heat • Season with salt and pepper and add the cheese and mustard • Using a hand blender or liquidizer, pulse the soup until silky smooth • Divide between your serving bowls and grate over some nutmeg, if you like • Lovely topped with some lightly fried crispy bacon

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TO BE SAFE, COMPLIANCE MUST BE 100 PER CENT Richard Norman, managing director of Indepth Hygiene Services, explains why it is important to give extract ventilation systems the priority attention they require if building occupants are to be kept safe grease deposits in extract ducting can only be fully eliminated by the application of old fashioned elbow grease aided by cleaning chemicals, brushes, scrapers and cloths.

Liverpool St Station fire – August 2010

IN RECENT MONTHS, FIRE & RESCUE Services across the country have reported a spate of fires in catering establishments that have been linked to uncleaned or, inadequately cleaned, grease extract systems. An example of what can happen when extract ducting has not been thoroughly cleaned of grease of deposits was a major fire at the Burger King restaurant at London’s Liverpool Street station. The London Fire Brigade reported that grease in the extract ducting caught fire resulting in widespread and destructive damage. Fortunately, the building was quickly evacuated and nobody was injured.

Such a fire in a school kitchen would have posed serious evacuation problems. It showed once again what can happen when a spark or flame from the cooking units finds flammable grease deposits in the extract ducting. The Fire Authorities are well aware of the potential dangers in these systems.

A spokesman has stated “uncleaned grease extract ventilation systems present probably the greatest potential risk to occupants in buildings with catering facilities”.

LEGALLY REQUIRED COMPLIANCE The Fire Safety Order (Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005) makes compliance requirements quite clear. Any potential fire hazard that might put building occupants at risk must be included in the fire risk assessments

and action taken to eliminate, or at the very least, to minimise the risk. Cleaning the kitchen canopies, filters and the extract ducting as far as can be reached from the filter housings, which is so often the extent of cleaning in so many schools, is not the same as minimising the risk.

There have been numerous instances where a spark or flame ignited combustible grease deposits in the ducting many feet away from the canopy. To eliminate the fire risk requires the extract system to be cleaned in its entirety.

There are other factors that might account for the poor levels of compliance. Extract ducting often runs from the kitchen canopy out of sight behind ceilings and walls. To be made safe access to the internal ducting surfaces for thorough cleaning by way of access panels is essential. There are unscrupulous contractors who will claim to have cleaned the system without the need to install access panels. No access panels installed invariably means inadequate cleaning carried out.

Grease extract ducting cannot be cleaned unless access to the ducting has been effected to allow thorough removal of all grease deposits. Any assurance from a contractor that he will not need to install access panels as he will be using motorised or other mechanical devices to provide cleaning is not acceptable. These might be appropriate for cleaning air conditioning systems but

MAKING SURE CLEANED MEANS CLEAN Poor inspection after a clean may also account for poor compliance in the event of a fire.

It is not a defence to claim “I thought it was being cleaned”. The responsible person who is required to be appointed under the Fire Safety Order must be sure he is getting what is being paid for – a cleaned and therefore safe extract system. Anything less could result in a highly destructive fire and, if death or injury was to result, the responsible person could face criminal prosecutions.

It is now over four years since the Fire Safety Order became law. There is therefore no excuse for its compliance requirements not to have been put in place.

The Fire & Rescue services who are responsible for policing the legislation are clearly struggling to cope with the number of buildings requiring inspection. That further underlines the need for those responsible for building occupants’ safety to take the required action and not wait for the fire inspector to point out deficiencies.

For the cleaning of extract ductwork systems it is essential to select a contractor who will undertake to carry out the work in accordance with the industry standard of excellence – HVCA TR19. This document entitled ‘A guide to good practice for the internal cleanliness of ventilation systems’ and published by the Heating & Ventilating Contractors Association, sets out very clearly the standards of cleaning which must be achieved to ensure systems are made safe.

As an HVCA approved contractor, Indepth Hygiene Services will first carry out a survey of the extract system and provide a detailed assessment of its fire risk condition, quite free of charge. The survey report will invariably be accompanied by a schematic of the system with costings for providing a fully compliant service. Following completion of the work a certificate is provided to be shown to fire inspectors as evidence that compliance requirements for the extract system have been fulfilled.

FOR MORE INFORMATION To contact Indepth Hygiene Services call 020 86617888 or e-mail ductclean@indepthhygiene.co.uk

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REFRESHING CHOICES Jonathan Hilder, chief executive officer, Automatic Vending Association, looks at the benefits of vending in a school setting IT IS FAIR TO ASSUME, that for many of us, vending is a familiar concept. Whether it is vended hot and cold foods, snacks, confectionery or a selection of beverages, providing a product’s packaging is able to come out of a vending machine, almost anything can be vended!

Where education is concerned (with the exception of primary schools, where no vending is allowed to take place), vending is a service that offers great control. To fall in line with government advice, vending within secondary schools allows only school compliant products to be presented and made available to pupils, so not only can you control where students are spending their money, but also on the right sort of items, such as fruit juices, fresh fruit etc.

FLEXIBILITY ON OFFER Whilst vending allows operators the flexibility to vary their offerings in accordance with what their customers want, where education vending is concerned, vending services can be stocked to provide students with products they should be consuming – the healthy options that meet school meal guidelines as per the government’s recommendations – so operators can control what students’ should/shouldn’t be eating and drinking, by stocking school compliant products. When you move into vending within higher education, such as that within colleges and universities, the guidelines are relaxed.

As well as control, vending offers flexibility too. Stock can easily be changed – not just in response to what people want to enjoy, but in line with seasonality and the time of year too. In addition, vended offerings can be extended with a choice of machines.

BOOST PROFITS When a snack vending machine is placed alongside a beverage vending machine, very often, both products are sold – great for boosting profit! With the greater flexibility associated within high education vending in particular, having chosen the vending machines to suit your site, make sure you consider the choice of food and drink items – remember, vended products reflect the type of snacks/drinks/foods seen in general retail, so anything is possible.

Vending machines can even offer hot and/ or refrigerated foods, which can replace the need for a kitchen – and certainly the skilled staff needed to prepare meals everyday. A vended food offering ensures that some form of fortification is available, on demand, and eliminates the time needed to prepare food. Vended food services within colleges and universities ensure

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As well as control, vending offers flexibility too.

Stock can easily be changed – not just in response to what people want to enjoy, but in line with seasonality and the time of year too

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that an offering is available over a longer period of time and until later hours.

SUPERIOR QUALITY Because the overall quality of vended beverages is far superior than it once was (not forgetting the choice of beverages that can be vended; soft drinks, hot beverages and alcoholic refreshments for those over 18 years old – payment by credit card ensures that the purchaser meets the legal requirements for purchasing alcohol, but remember to check the licensing laws within your area – students can purchase a like-for-like high street experience through vending thanks to the larger 12oz paper vending cup and the improved standard of ingredients too. Gone are the days of ordering a poor quality coffee; bean to cup machines allow “proper coffee” to be vended and let customers enjoy the café culture style service they have become used too.

Aside from the actual products that are being vended, installing a vended service can benefit the site’s security – for example, you could choose to offer a cashless system that uses ID cards to operate. Cashless vending encourages up to a 25 per cent increase in spend, depending of course on the site and the situation, because customers who pay when they leave only feel as though they’ve made a single purchase, or customers

who choose to use a pre-paid card don’t consider it to be a real spend as when they leave, all their purchases are together in one payment.

This in turn has additional benefits – it allows the customer’s spend to be tracked, so promotions can be offered, and top-selling products can be monitored. From a safety point of view, a comprehensive vended refreshment offering ensures students stay on the premises. And from an operational level, problems with running a vending machine on-site are minimal (ie. when the machine eats your change) and prices charged are generally small, single transactions.

TRUST THE MEMBERS No matter what vended offering you provide, using an AVA member means you can leave the entire offering in their hands. This means that where a supplier is stocking the machine, they organise the stock count and restocking; so no stock is stored on the premises. All of this saves valuable time, energy and resources.

The AVA can also pass on the services of particular member companies who best suit your site’s requirements, and, for education, Calypso Drinks (with their complete range of drinks to suits school compliance) and Aimia Foods are both examples of member companies who not only understand

AVEX To discover what vending has to offer, and to learn how vending can benefit your business, a visit to AVEX, 15-16 June, NEC Birmingham, Hall 3, is a must. The biennial exhibition organised by the AVA allows you to get up to date with the latest offerings from the vending industry, see new innovations, receive expert advice and attend business seminars.

Visit www.avexshow.com for further information and to find out how to register. vending, but vending to schools especially.

The AVA is a forward thinking, not-forprofit trade body for the refreshment vending industry, and by choosing to source your site’s vending requirements through the Association, you can rest assured that you’ll be in receipt of the very best possible service from members in your area who can provide exemplary service for your establishment.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Tel: 020 88611112 Web: www.ava-vending.co.uk

School motivational merchandise and personalised products offered by Able-Direct Centre Ltd BLE-DIRECT CENTRE LTD is proud to present its new dedicated range of school motivational merchandise and personalised products.

Able-Direct was established in 1954, although many of you may know them better by their trading name ‘Able Labels’.

A family run business with a reputation for high quality goods at affordable prices with excellent customer services.

Based in Northamptonshire, Able-Direct Centre Ltd is owned by husband and wife team Jason and Maggie Stather-Lodge.

The business has been supplying schools with products for nearly 40 years, producing bespoke labels, stickers, stationery as well as printed and embroidered garments. This service was historically only used by those in the know, but has now become available to all through the new catalogue and website. The Able for Schools project was overseen by Maggie who, as an ex teacher and mother of two school aged children, has very close ties to the school environment.

Using their experience and working

A

closely with a number of local schools they have produced a range of fun motivational rewards, which include stickers, certificates, reward charts and yearbooks.

So what makes Able for Schools different to other businesses offering similar products?

For a start, they manufacture all of their goods, allowing them to ensure the highest quality, fast delivery and given their customers total flexibility of design if desired.

Secondly, as one of the UK’s leading supplier of labels and personalised stationery, they are in

the unique position where they not only print their own labels and stickers but also convert the material in house. This means they are able to greatly reduce the production cost of goods, a saving that is passed directly to the customer, making them one of the cheapest suppliers of stickers in the market.

The new website also offers the facility to set up school accounts.

This allows individual teachers to place their orders online, but the order will not be processed until verified by the school’s chosen account holder. This gives the school a central order process, simplifying accounts and saving valuable time.

With their team of designers and state of the art printing and embroidery equipment, they are dedicated to continue to work directly with schools and teachers and always welcome new suggestions or commissioned work.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Tel: 0844 371 2423 Fax: 01604 811251 E-mail: sales@able-for-schools.co.uk Web: www.able-for-schools.co.uk

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1,000s of schools are now working with the Boxes and are finding them indispensable, with many Local Authorities recommending them. The Boxes are ideally suited for Personalised Learning and EAL children, bringing exceptional results. Designed to work alongside any phonics resource that you may have in place, including Letters & Sounds, children and T.A.s both love working with the Five Minute Box.

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Sp.LD Training We can offer training sessions for T.A.s, SENCOs, Teachers and Local Authorities. These sessions can be tailored to your specific requirements and provide practical advice. The sessions have been described as “brilliant” “stimulating” “informative” and “pacey” by those that have attended them.

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Education Business | Volume 16.2

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SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS

SPEECH, LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION FOR ALL Sean Stockdale looks at how ICT can improve communication and help children achieve their potential in learning FOR TEACHERS THE SPRING TERM is a time when we look ahead to the summer term and how we can ensure that our pupils get the most out of the remaining academic year. There might be some daydreaming of summer holidays booked but this is done during the weekends or when waiting for the Friday staff briefing to start.

With the abundance of headlines focused on special schools, the role of the SENCO, and SEN and the disabilities green paper, this spring term special needs children and the pedagogy behind their teaching has never had a higher profile. So it is timely that 2011 is also the national year of communication aptly named ‘Hello’. Lead by Jean Gross, the communication champion, Hello began in January 2011 and includes a host of activities to take you on a journey through communication throughout the year.

SPEECH, LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION So why a national year of speech, language and communication?

The need to place communication at the heart of school improvement is highlighted by the large proportion of special needs children that have some form of speech language or communication needs (SLCN).

The Communication Trust notes that between 5-7 per cent of children starting school have SLCN in the absence of any other difficulty, and they represent the most common need identified in statements.

Given the large amount of press coverage hopefully you will be aware of the appointment of Jean Gross or at least heard of Hello. The importance of meeting children’s communication needs is highlighted in the statistics Jean cites such as: • vocabulary at the age of five is one of the most significant predictors of the qualifications pupils achieve when they leave school • children whose speech, language and communication needs are not resolved by the age of five-and-a-half are almost certain to have lifelong literacy difficulties • two-thirds of 7-14 year olds with serious behaviour problems have a language impairment.

Whatever phase you teach in, these statistics make pretty stark reading and illustrate that teachers have a crucial role to play as part of a nationwide drive to tackle SLCN. However, for those of you looking to improve special

With the abundance of headlines focused on special schools, the role of the SENCO, and SEN and the disabilities green paper, this spring term special needs children and the pedagogy behind their teaching has never had a higher profile THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE FOR EDUCATION

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Education Business | Volume 16.2

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SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS

needs provision, who work in a school where it has fallen off the radar, or want to raise the quality of provision for all children, it also offers the ideal opportunity to put the structures in place to ensure that special needs does not remain the sole preserve of the SENCO, literacy teachers or a small pocket of specialist staff; but is ingrained as a whole school priority.

Anyone who attended BETT or similar ICT based exhibitions will have seen a multitude of software and hardware that purport to help children with special needs. However, behind the marketing hype we need to remember that with over 20 per cent of children having some form of special need, and as schools have limited funding we need to get the software and hardware decisions right.

Key to this is the recognition that all teachers are teachers of pupils with special educational needs, and all staff acknowledging SEN as a whole school responsibility. The Achievement for All project (AfA) cites Ofsted in providing evidence that: “Pupils with even the most severe and complex needs were able to make outstanding progress in all types of settings. High quality specialist teachers and a commitment by leaders to create opportunities to include all pupils were the keys to success.”

IMPROVING COMMUNICATION USING ICT ICT is a key element in offering a range of opportunities to pupils and ensuring that all pupils are effectively included. If the national year of communication has struck a chord with you, as a teacher you have a wealth of technology at your disposal to assist in improving speech, language and communication.

Having attended BETT and judged the nasen Inclusive ICT award, teachers have never been better served by ICT resources to support communication. For example, this year has seen an explosion in the number of cheap and portable devices that allow you to record sound and play it back. Most

teachers will be familiar with ‘talking tins’, but there are now devices that allow you to record sound in steps, to support images (in photo books), include your own images and even connect to assistive switch devices.

However, for those of us wishing to explore using ICT to support communication there are plenty of devices already in school.

MOBILE PHONES Firstly, although their use still divides opinion mobile phones include a vast array of tools to benefit the modern learner – recently qualified teachers should remember that a modern phone has more inbuilt technology than many of us were able to access during our training at university, whether it is the inbuilt camera (excellent for providing images to support writing), voice recorder (speaking and listening practice), access to online resources, or even access to the school’s learning platform. I have even used a dummy mobile phone for pupils to model speaking into – I am always amazed at how easily pupils could hold phone conversations with imaginary book characters.

The same functionality can be gained from a dictaphone, digital camera, wireless netbook, tablet or even the humble PC. Want to gather a sample of text to explore on the interactive whiteboard (IWB) but can’t access a visualiser? How about teaching the children to scan in their work so that you can use the IWB software to annotate their work? If some of your pupils are reluctant to read to the class, send them outside to record their ideas, then use your IWB to play the sound back. Or even use a hand held video camera to create short videos to playback, the list is endless!

EASY SHARING An additional bonus of capturing work electronically is that it is easy to share for a variety of audiences, this might be to support new work, informal assessment

ABOUT NASEN Nasen is the leading UK professional association embracing all special and additional educational needs and disabilities, promoting the education, training, development and support of all those working within this field.

We hold a national event called nasen Live open to all teachers 25-26 May, and run other regional training events throughout the year.

Sean Stockdale is the editor of nasen’s Special magazine and is a former Advanced Skills Teacher (AST) for ICT and English. judgements or improve home school links; with the proliferation of learning platforms there is no excuse for not taking advantage of using new media to allow parents a window into your classroom. The key to taking advantage of new technologies is that the children are trained to do it themselves so it doesn’t become another task to add to your already overloaded schedule.

To conclude, like most things worth doing well in education there are no quick fixes, meeting the needs of children with special educational needs requires planning, preparation and a consistent application of approaches across the school. As AfA rightly identifies that the commitment and expertise of teachers is key to pupil success, and by addressing pupils communication skills and exploiting existing ICT resources we could enable so many more children to take advantage of the opportunities a high quality 21st century education provides.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Join the national year of communication: www.hello.org.uk If you wish to find out more about nasen visit: www.nasen.org.uk

Accessibility software for dyslexia and the physically disabled ENFRIEND XL is a predictive typer, on-screen keyboard and screen reader: a utility application to help some physically disabled or dyslexic people write faster by finishing words they have just started to type.

Penfriend gives a level playing field to those with additional needs in accessing the curriculum. It is designed for simplicity and learnability, benefitting busy teachers and users with real work on their minds. It is efficient; saving keystrokes, reducing stress, letting people concentrate on meanings, not letters.

It works along-side word processors or other applications on Windows. Version 4 adds screen display modes, more voices and better word learning. Penfriend facilitates

topic words and personal writing styles as you write, or from other material. It enhances Clicker 5 with predictions and switch access.

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Education Business | Volume 16.2

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EDUCATION SHOW 2011

THE RIGHT RESOURCES FOR LEARNING Visit the Education Show, 17-19 March in Birmingham, for ideas to help you to save money and make a difference in your school

SCHOOL BUDGETS continue to be under pressure and the business of education faces a time of very real change. So, why is a visit to the Education Show a must for all education professionals and just how is it helping schools to save money?

Expert guidance, subject-specific advice and continued professional development (CPD) are more crucial than ever before for all education professionals and best-value procurement decisions must be a staple across all stages of education. With this firmly in mind, the Education Show has concentrated on making the life of educationalists a little easier, with the introduction of a number of cost-saving offerings that are designed to enhance education and be kind to the pockets of schools across the country.

SEMINARS AND WORKSHOPS For the first time since its creation 21 years ago, the show offers accredited and peer-led CPD seminars and workshops to enable teachers to discover the latest and most effective teaching methodology across all subject areas and key stages. In addition, discounted procurement schemes are offered by many of the 400 plus exhibitors to allow education professionals to make the most cost-effective purchasing decisions to meet the need of their pupils.

To help make your visit run smoothly, the British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA) information point on stand H50 offers assistance

and advice to help plan your visit. Visitors can also pick up a copy of the BESA book, which lists all 300 plus BESA members who adhere to a stringent Code of Practice, giving school leaders peace of mind when looking for new products and services for their school.

ZONES TO VISIT To help overcome budgetary constraints and maintain best practice, the 2011 seminar programme sees the introduction of over 80 free, accredited CPD seminars. Entitled ‘Learn Live’, the sessions are delivered by leading practitioners and look to address all areas of education in a series of targeted sessions that help teachers navigate the sea change in education. Policy associations and agencies will also be present at the show to answer practitioners’ questions on current education initiatives and their implications for specific subject areas.

Workshops addressing areas such as literacy, phonics, numeracy and SEN provision are also introduced for the first time this year. Free workshops delivered by leading publishers Scholastic, Oxford University Press and Pearson examining teaching strategy with regards to literacy and numeracy promise to be oversubscribed, so visitors are advised to visit the Education Show website and book in advance.

Meanwhile, workshops focusing on SEN also promise to be popular with visitors; Achievement for All is a national

project developed by the Department for Education (DfE) in partnership with the National College and National Strategies.

These workshops aim to improve the access, aspiration and achievement of children with special educational needs.

Practical teaching ideas are also a theme for the Resources Live zone at the show, which offers demonstrations of resources in action, enabling teachers to take back inspirational ideas to use in the classroom.

The focus for the area is Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and the zone aims to give practitioners exciting new ideas to help bring these subjects to life.

ICT & INNOVATION 2011 sees the return of two popular zones to offer teachers a taste of the innovation that the sector prides itself on. The BETT Zone, a dedicated ICT and software area, showcases the very latest in education technology. The Innovation Zone, meanwhile, is a testimony to the belief that innovation drives industry and education forward, offering ideas, resources and suppliers that will engage and inspire.

In addition to the BETT Zone, the Software Information Point in association with TEEM, enables visitors to keep in touch with what is new when using ICT resources effectively in education. For practitioners who wish to uncover ideas for health and sustainability, the Outdoor Learning Zone highlights new resources and the latest learning techniques to motivate pupils, making outside learning fun and inspiring.

Meanwhile, the SEN Zone makes a welcome return to the 2011 show, with the Special Educational Needs (SEN) Information Point hosted by nasen, the UK’s leading organisation embracing all special and additional educational needs, on stand SN69. The forthcoming SEN Green Paper will herald a period of change in SEN provision and school leaders can visit the nasen stand to find out about the implications of changing policy, along with ways to meet the needs of all learners.

A TASTE OF WHAT IS TO BE SHOWCASED Visitors looking to build upon school communications should visit SchoolsWire on stand B49. SchoolsWire is a web based product that enables primary schools to create easy to update web pages, with little IT knowledge required. There are a range of themes to choose from, and schools can switch between them at the click of a button for an ever-changing site that keeps itself looking fresh and up to date.

For curriculum-led resources, practitioners might want to take note of Fieldwork Education and the International Primary Curriculum on stand T56, who are showcasing the new International Middle Years Curriculum (IMYC).

This outcomes-led international curriculum for 11-14 year olds is based on recent research into how students learn, taking into account the need for a smooth transition from the primary

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Education Business | Volume 16.2

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EDUCATION SHOW 2011

phase into secondary. Literacy is a crucial skill that many exhibitors can help to develop.

On stand SN79, Read Successfully is launching trugs II, a budget friendly version of the popular trugs (teach reading using games) card games. These games provide an effective, fun way to teach students to read, following an easy to use synthetic phonic structure.

its wars and histories, and the period of peace and unity that we now enjoy, simply and clearly with interesting facts and colourful illustrations to help explain what the European Union is and how it works.

With education not limited to core subjects, professionals may want to pay a visit to Positive Psychology on stand J80. The Strengths Gym is a wellbeing course for Years 7 to 9 that has been designed to encourage the recognition and learning of strengths of character. Each lesson has been designed by a psychologist and a teacher and explores one of 24 ubiquitous strengths of character or moral virtues.

SCIENCE-RELATED RESOURCES Meanwhile, visitors looking for science-related resources should visit Collins on stand P90, to see brand new resources for the new GCSE Science specifications. Collins New GCSE Science resources will help educators to deliver the specifications with separate components that build on each other so educators can buy as needed. All exam boards are covered, with tailored resources for AQA, OCR Gateway, OCR Twenty First Century and Edexcel. For the Primary market, visitors can also find out more about the best selling Collins Big Cat series and explore the 38 new titles this academic year.

To give pupils an understanding of the geopolitical world around them, the European Commission on stand A80 is asking visitors to sign up for free copies of ‘Let’s explore Europe’. This book for children (of roughly 9 to 12 years old) tells the story of Europe,

TAKE A JOURNEY Espresso, the cross-curricular digital learning service used in 10,000 schools, is bringing its well-known characters to life at the Education Show (stand O56) and introducing its very first series of books for primary children.

Discover how the Espresso gang – Sal, Ash, Kim, Polly and Scully – can take children on a journey through phonics and short stories, introducing fun narrative whilst supporting the teaching of reading.

In addition, a series of non-fiction books explore popular topics like the Olympics, in a cross-curricular format. All books come with

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‘Espresso Connections’ suggesting related activities and resources on the Espresso Primary service. Pop by the stand to see the books and for the chance to win a life size cardboard cut-out of one of the famous Espresso characters for your school.

Finally, Stand Against Violence is a new and rapidly developing registered charity, whose aims and objectives are to reduce violent crime in UK communities. The organisation offers free online educational material consisting of films, interviews and lesson plans aimed at secondary school pupils from year 9 upwards.

Teacher comments include the following from the King’s School, Devon: “Occasionally in teaching, you come across a resource that you know will have a dramatic impact on the students in the classroom. The challenging subject matter in the Stand Against Violence resource provoked some incredible and emotive discussions from all of the young people.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION For more details of what you can expect to see and to plan your visit, go to www.education-show.com and register for fast-track entry into the show, quoting priority code epr13.

Inspiring confidence with responsibility IVE-N-LEARN design and deliver innovative and inspiring motivational programmes for schools, businesses and education services throughout the UK. Based around Dr. Carol Dweck’s research on Mindsets, Live-N-Learn’s dynamic, interactive multi-media learning experiences encourage young people (5-18) to take personal responsibility, develop resilience and adopt a ‘Growth Mindset’.

Set up in 2006 by teachers Alan Black and Scott Goddard, Live-N-Learn now work with over 400 primary schools, secondary schools and colleges every year.

The phenomenal growth in all parts of the UK is down to word of mouth. Schools are realising that Live-N-Learn offers something quite exciting and different to what they have seen anywhere before, both in terms of their message and their delivery style.

Live-N-Learn’s team of experienced and qualified presenters tailor programmes to

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9/2/11 10:35:06

address themes including Subject Choices, Study Skills, Motivation, Leadership, Enterprise, Careers and Health. Live-N-Learn help schools deliver enrichment days, induction events and exam preparation workshops. Their work is supported through voting response systems, online materials, parent seminars and staff development events.

Live-N-Learn’s unique work has been highlighted in Parliament, featured in the TES and is now valued by hundreds of schools in all corners of the UK. Find them on Stand T73 at the Education Show.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Tel: 0870 998 4432 Fax: 0131 777 2577 E-mail: info@live-n-learn.co.uk Web: www.live-n-learn.co.uk

Education Business | Volume 16.2

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EDUCATION SHOW 2011

COMBATTING CHILDHOOD OBESITY Working alongside education and government authorities, BounceKids aims get the nation’s children leading happier and healthier lifestyles WITH A DROP IN PHYSICAL ACTIVITY both in and out of schools, and a rise in hours spent in front of video games, televisions and computers, kids are getting less exercise than ever before.

This leaves our children open to the dangers that obesity can bring, including increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, stroke, breathing problems and arthritis to name but a few.

If we don’t take action fast, our children will grow up to be unhealthy and obese adults of tomorrow – something has to be done.

BounceKids with Mr Motivator is ready to take its position as a leader in childhood health.

Working alongside education and government authorities, BounceKids will get the nation’s children leading happier, healthier lifestyles by: • Education – Teaching children good habits and explaining to them about health matters when they are young, is the key to healthy adults • Exercise – Getting children to enjoy moving around and taking part in physical activities is the first step to fitness • Nutrition – Healthy eating is so simple, and knowing how to do so at a young age will shape future habits • Fun! – Combining colour, games, music and Mr Motivator’s trademark energetic approach, fun is at the heart of getting children motivated!

MAKING EXERCISE FUN Covering all areas of nutrition, wellbeing and exercise, we will bring BounceKids to the UK’s 23,000+ primary schools and inject some much-needed fun into health at fitness. The fun starts with the core of the activity programme: bouncing!

Organised to make it as easy as possible for schools to integrate activities into lessons, BounceKids is not just a programme but also a support system. The physical activities offered by BounceKids will grow from bouncing to include skipping, dance classes of every style, and much much more.

Bouncing appeals to all genders and abilities. Unlike team sports there’s no competitive element, something that can exclude less sporty children.

Autistic children have also been seen to benefit from bouncing, as the activity has clearly defined individual boundaries within a fun group activity.

“Bouncing is fun! The feeling of weightlessness is akin to flying, to being in space – if only for a millisecond. This is why people of all ages love bouncing on trampolines – it’s a euphoric feeling, and the higher you bounce the longer it lasts. Most importantly, bouncing is FUN,

so we stick to it!” says Mr Motivator.

By purchasing the Bouncing programme, primary schools will automatically gain access to the comprehensive BounceKids programme.

Our initial package will include the following: The Bouncing Package: • A regional workshop led by Mr Motivator • One Bouncer per child, per class, with safety guide • Three Mr Motivator’s BounceKids DVDs • One BounceKids t-shirt and cap per child • Twice yearly workshops from a BounceKids Motivator • One Health Focus Training Day • Motivational rewards pack to include items such as stickers and badges.

HEALTH MATTERS EDUCATION We have already formed a partnership with established schools programme Health Matters Education, which will work as part of BounceKids to deliver the educational programme. Health Matters (primary schools) and Busy Feet (preschool) work closely with schools and local authorities to educate and encourage children to lead healthy, active lifestyles.

Founded and driven by Vicky Bowen, a mother of three with over 20 years in the fitness industry, Health Matters Education helps thousands of children across the UK. Vicky’s success, experience and

passion for implementing children’s health education nationwide will play a vital role in the overall success of BounceKids.

Health Matters Education is a recognised national partner in supporting Change4Life and, more recently, Healthy Schools. Health Matters Education also works in partnership with afPE (the Association for Physical Education) and all nutrition content provided has been approved by the Foods Standards Agency.

THE FUTURE OF CHILDREN’S HEALTH BounceKids with Mr Motivator will premiere 17-19 March at the Education Show at the NEC Birmingham. Drop by our stand (D79) to find out more or see a live on-stage demonstration featuring Mr Motivator and his team at the following times: • Friday 18 March, 11:00am – Early Years Theatre • Saturday 19 March, 2:00pm – Primary Theatre.

If you can’t make the Education Show, we will be holding regional taster sessions run by Mr Motivator himself so that local authorities, schools and sponsors can experience BounceKids first-hand.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Tel: 020 88648666 E-mail: mrm@mrmotivator.com

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THE PROPERTY CHALLENGE ACHIEVING VALUE FOR MONEY IN THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT Value for money starts with us; we provide financial and management advice at every stage of the development life cycle.

Our approach enables Higher and Further education institutions, Academies, Schools and other education sector bodies to respond proactively to the Government’s agendas for improving the educational environment and facilities.

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Education Business | Volume 16.2

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ENERGY

SAVE ELECTRICITY – SAVE MONEY Hywel Davies, technical director of the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers, reviews some options for saving on electricity bills, and considers how the Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme may affect the education sector WITH PRESSURE ON BUDGETS, schools will be looking to cut their energy bills, and with the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme coming one way or another, they will also need to pay attention to their carbon emissions.

The key to reducing energy use is to measure it, and manage it. You cannot manage what you don’t measure, so the first task is to find out how much energy you use, by reading your meters. Larger schools, colleges and universities may have half hourly metered data, but every school has meters. It may require perseverance to track down the data from past bills or, better still, regular readings. If you don’t have automated reading and the bills are estimated, then start a programme of weekly readings, or, if possible, every Monday and Friday, so you know what’s used through the week and at the weekend.

MINIMISE WASTE Once you know how much is being used, you can check for obvious clues to waste. If weekend use is 25 per cent of the electricity used during the week, it suggests either a lot of out of hours working or lettings, or a lot of

out of hours waste! Things are being left on at weekends, and probably every night too. So its time to tackle the first task of energy reduction: reduce demand by switching off unnecessary equipment, systems and processes. In some cases that alone could save 10 per cent of bills.

I sometimes despair when I visit schools out of hours and see how much is left on constantly. There will always be genuine cases

money that can be better spent elsewhere, it is teaching energy efficiency, change management, and good cost control. They may not directly contribute to the EBacc, but they are all useful life skills for young people.

Also, it’s amazing how many cleaners believe that the best way to clean is to walk through the school turning all the lights on at the start, and then repeat the process, turning

I sometimes despair when I visit schools out of hours and see how much is left on constantly. There will always be genuine cases of equipment that must run 24/7, but it should not include every computer in the IT suite of equipment that must run 24/7, but it should not include every computer in the IT suite.

In schools, there is a huge educational opportunity to engage pupils in identifying savings and then introducing ways of making them, and making sure that they don’t just last a few weeks. As well as saving

lights off, at the end. Over a two to four hour shift that can be a lot of lights in winter.

How many monitors, copiers, and other machines are left running overnight? And how much of the building’s plant comes on too early, goes off too late, and runs at weekends. All this can be detected by a bit of

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Education Business | Volume 16.2

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Transform sunlight into energy for your school RANSFORM THE sunlight into energy for your school whilst you reduce your energy bills, earn real money from clean and free solar energy, and also help save the planet.

Melton Electrical Services Ltd specialises in solar photovoltaic and energy efficient lighting installations, helping schools to generate revenue. We can help you join the green revolution by investing in solar power.

Solar PV provides a free and clean source of electricity, which can cover much of your energy needs each year. With the governments newly introduced Feed in Tariffs, you also have the option to sell electricity back to the national grid, which will provide additional income as well as energy.

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3 Deliver the service with value for money.

3 Provide Solutions

Expertise My extensive range of expertise and knowledge makes me uniquely qualified to provide a comprehensive range of services and solutions. In addition, I have access to a network of professional people. We will be able to deliver solutions to all aspects of the built environment.

Background I have worked in buildings of all types’ shapes and function for more than 30 years. I have managed projects, supervised maintenance operation and driven energy reduction activities.

You can talk with me on free phone 0808 1088057 email gerry.goldner@systematic-energy.org.uk

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THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE FOR EDUCATION

to reap the rewards immediately.

We will help your school generate a guaranteed income for 25 years; reduce your electricity bills and carbon footprint; educate the next generation about renewable energy; and provide savings – collectively around £8,000 a year.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Tel: 01664 564223 Mob: 0797 6651216 E-mail: shaun.nolan6@ btinternet.com Web: www.melton electricalservices.co.uk

Clean green renewable energy from the sun POLLO SOLAR is a professional solar panel installation company working for all types of organisations, and fully qualified under the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS).

As experienced electrical contractors we ensure the technical design of your system achieves optimum results and we can design and install higher capacity bespoke solar PV systems to all types of buildings. We only use the highest quality components in our solar power installations.

Apollo Solar selects system components from market leading manufacturers with proven track records within the Solar PV industry. All product components are British Standards approved and MCS accredited where applicable.

Panels: All MCS accredited solar panels come with a 25 year performance warranty, guaranteeing losses of not more than 20 per cent over this period of time. Sharp panels are sold with

A

a manufacturer’s 5 year warranty against manufacturing defects.

DC Inverter: SMA inverters come with a 5 year manufacturer’s warranty against manufacturing defects as standard.

SMA offers extended warranties ranging from 10 to 20 years which are available at an additional cost.

Mounting system: Schueco mounting systems come with a manufacturer’s 5 year warranty.

All Apollo installations come with a Solar Care 10 year warranty provided by Quality Assured National Warranty (QANW). This warranty provides both deposit protection and a ten year workmanship warranty. The Quality Assured National Warranty (QANW) is the product recommended by the REAL.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Tel: 08456 808 103 E-mail: info@apollosolar-panels.com Web: www.apollosolar-panels.com

Education Business | Volume 16.2

www.educationbusinessuk.com

ENERGY

observation and analysis of meter readings.

Once the data is collected then you can identify where savings are possible. In schools and colleges the biggest gain will come from managing demand and encouraging people to turn things off when not in use. They may need to be motivated, so weekly measurement of savings against the initial readings can be used to show how well people are doing.

And with just a little maths, the energy saved can be converted into money saved – and that can soon be turned into examples of what the money saved has been spent on.

Once the low hanging fruit is collected, then what? Whenever energy using equipment is being bought, make specific enquiries about the energy it will use. Is it A rated? What does it use in standby? If the ability to turn on and use quickly matters, find out how quickly it can be used – if it is not quick enough then it will default to on – and to spend. What are the running costs? These may be energy costs, but they can be toner or cartridges. For lighting, there is specific guidance on lighting for schools within the SLL Lighting Guide 5 (Lighting for Education) 2011. This reiterates the need for controlling the lighting so it is only on when required. Even the simplest PIRs and photocells can make a tremendous difference to energy use and they can be retro-fitted into

existing lighting systems without huge cost.

Many of us think about miles per gallon when we buy cars, so it is not too different to think about energy costs when buying equipment.

CRC The Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme, known as CRC, started officially in April 2010 and is expected to have a wide reaching impact on all large scale energy users, as well as consultants and other service provides. CRC aims to deliver energy and carbon reductions in large, non energy intensive organisations.

Local government, which includes schools, and the tertiary education sector are prime targets.

Organisations with total electricity consumption greater than 6,000MWh are included in the scheme, which is intended to raise awareness, especially at senior level, and encourage changes in behaviour and infrastructure.

The detail of the CRC scheme is being reviewed by the coalition government, but however it is finally implemented it will involve payments linked to the scale of emissions, and so reducing energy demand and therefore emissions will save on the energy bill and the CRC payments, a winwin. Together with the financial and reputational considerations, the scheme encourages

Hywel Davies

organisations to develop energy management strategies that promote a better understanding of energy usage. As further information emerges it is expected to appear on the website of the Department of Energy and Climate Change.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Tel: 020 86755211 Web: www.cibse.org

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www.educationbusinessuk.com

Visit the website to view the categorised product finder

Bespoke training from Gully Howard

Wireless communication systems for schools

SIGNIFICANT change in the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 was the inclusion of mandatory training for those liable to come into contact with asbestos. Regulation 10 states: “Every employer shall ensure that adequate information, instruction and training is given to those of his employees who are or who are liable to be exposed to asbestos, or who supervise such employees”.

Asbestos awareness training is required, amongst others, for: • General maintenance staff • Electricians • Plumbers • Gas fitters • Demolition/construction workers • Roofers • Heating and ventilation engineers • Building surveyors and other such professionals We are pleased to offer a three hour training course covering the four key areas: • Properties, uses and

ALL SYSTEMS Technology is the UK’s leading supplier of wireless on-site communications to education; schools, academies, colleges and universities use our products for student, staff and site safety, medical and fire alerts and lone worker protection.

15,000 UK customers and our many distributors around the world are evidence of the technical excellence of our products and the superb service we give to customers.

Our solutions encompass fully duplex voice communication, personal paging, two-way radios, call buttons and panic alarms. Our sister company

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risk to health • Use of asbestos in the construction industry • Risk of exposure and control methods • Legislation Gully Howard Technical Ltd is run by qualified scientists, occupational hygienists and surveyors who have extensive experience in providing training in all aspects of asbestos work. Training can be delivered in our dedicated training facilities or we can organise course training at your own premises.

supplies video surveillance and analytics, time and attendance and advanced biometric access management systems.

We build solutions around the establishment’s needs and budget. Call Systems Technology has the experience and the systems to supply and service the right solutions.

We also supply communications solutions to hospitality, healthcare, retail and enterprise sectors.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Talk to us: 0800 389 5642/ 020 8381 1338 or e-mail solutions@call-systems.com Visit us at www.call-systems.com

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Education Business | Volume 16.2

www.educationbusinessuk.com

ENERGY

RENEWABLE HEAT PUMP BOILERS READY FOR COMMERCIAL SECTOR Mitsubishi Electric launches a new range of heating products to allow the majority of commercial buildings to achieve renewable energy targets with more ease, reliability and flexibility than any other technology, including biomass boilers THE NEW CAHV-P500YA HPB commercial Ecodan® is an air source heat pump boiler that can supply a building’s domestic hot water and heating. The air to water system has been designed as a factory-sealed unit to allow for straight forward installation without the need for any refrigeration work on site.

“Traditional systems are built to produce water at very high temperatures which is highly inefficient, when you consider that today’s well-insulated buildings can achieve a warm and comfortable environment at much lower temperatures,” explains Philip Ord, product marketing manager for Mitsubishi Electric’s Commercial Heating Systems Division.

CARBON INTENSIVE BOILERS “We have removed the need for these carbon-intensive boilers that can only operate at high temperatures and replaced

free, renewable energy from the air or ground to maximise efficiency and minimise energy consumption. This means that for every 1kW of electricity they consume, at least 3-5kW of usable heating energy is generated and supplied to the building.

Figures from the Department of Energy and Climate Change1 show that 55 per cent of the energy used in the average commercial property goes on space heating and hot water, so anyone designing or operating a building is under pressure to find more efficient ways of delivering energy.

“Other renewable systems such as solar thermal, wind turbines, photovoltaic, MicroCHP and biofuels each come with limits to their use. For the majority of situations, the limits in renewable capacity or sole dependence on seasonality restrict how they can be used,” explains Ord. “Even biomass boilers

We have removed the need for these carbon-intensive boilers that can only operate at high temperatures and replaced them with a system that delivers much higher efficiency levels coupled with more flexibility of design them with a system that delivers much higher efficiency levels coupled with more flexibility of design,” he adds.

Available immediately, the mono-bloc system comes in units of 43kW to offer space heating and domestic water up to 70°C. It is also available with multiple unit control of up to 16 units to provide a maximum of 688kW of renewable heating for larger buildings.

A built-in Flow Temperature Control unit compensates for the weather conditions to deliver guaranteed year-round performance. In addition to helping new-builds achieve planning permission, the range can be retro-fitted to existing buildings, and will work independently or alongside other heating systems.

There are a vast number of situations where heating now needs to demonstrate renewable energy use such as schools and halls of residence, hospitals and offices, and this new system makes this much easier to achieve.

Heat pumps are classified as renewable technology by both the European Union and the UK Government because they harvest

are not suitable for every situation because of their high maintenance, the need for regular fuel deliveries and the amount of space required for secure fuel storage.”

The heat pump boiler uses a factory-sealed circuit of R407C refrigerant which enables the system to achieve the high temperatures needed for the domestic water supply. However Ord also highlights how heat pump boilers require a change in thinking amongst building operators: “We need to move away from the belief that a radiant system always has to operate at maximum temperatures possible and realise that we can keep our buildings warm at lower temperatures which gives us much higher efficiency levels,” he says.

HIGHER EFFICIENCY At standard conditions of 6-7°C, the CAHV unit will achieve a COP (Coefficient of Performance) of 4.13 at a flow temperature of 35°C (independently tested at BSRIA to EN14511), although this lowers to 1.76 COP when the water is set to 70°C.

The unit operates effectively in ambient temperatures of -20° to 40°C and can deliver water tempatures of between 25°C to 70°C at a flow rate of 7.5m3/hr to 15m3/ hr. The minimum circuit size is 360 litres.

“These systems can deliver renewable heating effectively to a building at between 40-50°C and they only need to achieve 70°C for the domestic hot water,” adds Ord. “We therefore control the water temperatures to maximise efficiency whilst meeting the building’s heating requirements.”

The in-built software allows up to 16 units to be cascade-controlled together and will automatically switch units on or off and vary the capacity of each unit to meet demand. This includes a ‘rotate’ ability to control which individual units run in a multiple system, to maximise operating life.

A ‘backup’ function also means that if half of the unit stops working – for example during the defrost cycle – the other half will continue to provide heating. This is achieved with two separate refrigerant circuits which allow one side of the unit to stop working and the other side to continue.

FLEXIBILITY “We have specifically designed these systems to meet the heating demands of today’s commercial buildings in a way that satisfies the demand for renewable energy,” says Ord. “We have also built as much flexibility as possible into these systems so that they will work effectively on their own, or alongside other heating systems.”

Installation is straightforward with the entire commercial heating system covered by a five year warranty and incorporating proven technology to offer consistent, reliable heating with unparalleled design flexibility.

1. Source: Department of Energy and Climate Change – secondary analysis of data from the Digest of UK Energy Statistics and Building Research Establishment 2009.

FOR MORE INFORMATION The new range of commercial heating heat pump systems is available immediately from Mitsubishi Electric and further details are available by calling 01707 282880 or e-mailing commercialheating@meuk.mee.com.

THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE FOR EDUCATION

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www.educationbusinessuk.com

Visit the website to view the categorised product finder

Do you require asbestos Setting the tone for awareness training? acoustics in education T IS HARD TO BELIEVE that every week 20 tradesmen, including plumbers, joiners and electricians, die from asbestos related diseases caused simply by breathing in asbestos fibres. Asbestos-related disease is the biggest single cause of workrelated deaths, and accounts for around 4,000 deaths per year.

The HSE’s Approved Code of Practice states that asbestos awareness training is the appropriate information instruction and training for persons who are liable to disturb asbestos during their everyday work, people such as: • General maintenance staff • Electricians • Plumbers • Painters and decorators • Joiners

I

• Fire and burglar alarm installers ARCA is the leading supplier of asbestos awareness training aimed at building and maintenance workers.

ARCA trainers have considerable experience within the asbestos removal industry and understand the issues that are faced every day.

The range of courses which ARCA have available is comprehensive.

Each has been designed to ensure that your staff acquire a real depth of knowledge and capability.

FOR MORE INFORMATION To find out more or to arrange a no obligation meeting to discuss your employees asbestos awareness training needs, please contact ARCA on 01283 531126.

E OFFER ACOUSTICS

W DESIGN and consultancy for music and drama facilities and general classrooms, new buildings and renovations.

There is now substantial research documenting the reduced quality of learning due to poor acoustics.

Through creative design and practical recommendations we can improve the speech intelligibility in classrooms; the connection between student and teacher.

We work collaboratively to find novel design solutions to meet the requirements of BB93 acoustics guidelines for schools and BREEAM Education, delivering results more valuable than these minimum standards. Our tools are sound reflection and absorption, sound insulation between rooms and control of mechanical and electrical systems noise.

We put our clients’ money where it matters most, working closely with each school to achieve their functional goals for performance facility or classroom.

Our leadership on concert hall and theatre projects sets each

project apart. Recent successes include music and drama facilities for the Yehudi Menuhin School, Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto, Uppingham School, St Mary’s Ascot, Sherborne School, St Catherine’s School Bramley and a new wing at Lowther Primary School, Barnes.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Address: 2 St. George’s Ct 131 Putney Bridge Rd London SW15 2PA Tel: +44 (0)20 88775868 Fax: +44 (0)20 88759385 E-mail: acoustics@sound spacedesign.co.uk Web: www.sound spacedesign.co.uk

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Education Business | Volume 16.2

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FACILITIES MANAGEMENT

SAFEGUARDING YOUR SCHOOL FROM DELIBERATE FIRE ATTACK Tom Welland, member of the FIA’s Fire Risk Assessment Council, investigates how schools can make their premises safe from arson attack This will ultimately come from training and improving fire awareness knowledge. It should not always be presumed that when a school experiences a fire through vandalism it was the vandal’s intention to inflict that much damage. It may have started out as messing about with lighters/matches which simply got out of control. This is why it is important to keep any fire safety measures effective. I would suggest that the checking of these precautions be carried out on a highly regular basis as they can be so susceptive to vandalism.

It is also important to note that if a fire were to occur in the day time and it is full of children, the priority is for the safety of life. So it is a must that your fire precautions are all automatic and are under a good maintenance and testing regime by a competent person.

WHETHER YOU PUT IT DOWN TO ARSON, lack of security or lack of maintenance the number of fires in schools is not dwindling.

ATL, the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, reports that on average 2,000 schools are damaged or destroyed by fire each year – that’s one school totally destroyed by fire every week! Each year a school has a one in eight chance of having a fire. The annual cost of rebuilding or refurbishing schools destroyed or damaged by fires was almost £100 million, making fires in schools are a worrying problem for our economy.

Rather than a fire consultant working on the premise of reducing risk emitting from the usual, machinery, lack of compartmentation and insufficient staff training, we are now having to consider the minds of young disgruntled fire setters.

Arson is something that you can make harder to happen by way of reducing combustible material around the site and improving security but it is not something that you can ever eradicate. So if we focus on malicious fires and how we can reduce the impact of them there are a few simple steps to restrict the spread of fire and smoke.

government and budgets being slashed I don’t think that this fire feature is something that will be introduced across the board any time soon.

Recent reports produced by the Fire Protection Association show that in 2008 the number of serious fires in education premises most commonly occurred in storage and production areas. This is perhaps down to lack of focus when it comes to out of bounds areas for pupils. Out of bounds for children is something that we all know is rarely adhered to. So it is vital that all areas of the buildings and the immediate vicinity are looked at in order to reduce and remove any risk of fire. I have been to a number of schools and have often found that the old cabin hooks are still in use. I think that this is down to a case of lack of training, perhaps lack of suitable risk assessment that allows these hooks to still be in situe. It is evident that a building with heavy traffic and young arms will find fire doors cumbersome but they are one of the best protections measures you can have. Studies suggest that the majority of fires in education occur at night and the impact can be heavily reduced by ensuring that all fire doors are closed.

LONG-TERM DISRUPTION Over 90,000 pupils a year will experience disruption to their education as a result of damage to classrooms or school property.

This can range from an individual classroom being out of action for a matter of weeks to whole schools being taught in temporary accommodation for two-three years. One very effective, widely called for means of protection is sprinklers. The case for sprinklers in all schools is an ever growing one with a lot of wide spread support, however with a new

BE AWARE OF ARSON Security shouldn’t just encompass things like locks and CCTV, it should also be about making the premises safe from arson attack.

Ensuring bins are locked and kept away from buildings, making the site well lit and not leaving potential ignition sources unattended so they cannot be tampered with.

A fire safety manager will ensure that they make it as hard as possible for their premises to experience a fire, however it is every employee’s responsibility to assist their efforts.

SAFEGUARDING THE BUILDING Large school fires devastate. Their aftermath lingers for years. The long-term disruption that follows puts staff and pupils under stress and imposes large financial, educational and administrative costs. I think that to spend money and time on any building it should not just be for financial reasons. If a school had a fire and part of the premises were lost, you are quite likely to have to resort to cramped classrooms and the use of portable classrooms. This is not the best learning environment and the children are our future so it is imperative that not only life but the building is safeguarded from the effects of fire.

After analysis by a competent person, a fire risk assessment will reduce, remove and resolve the risk. By ensuring schools have adequate fire precautions in place, ensuring people on site have adequate knowledge (this includes pupils) and by keeping the process under review, the risk of fire by arson, mechanical fault or human error can be significantly reduced to a level which is as low as reasonably practicable.

Risk assessment is always proven to be the most effective tool in reducing the risk and keeping the premises running as effectively as possible. When it comes to enlisting the help of a risk assessor you should always be wary of anyone who is unable to give you any solution either than the one that best suits them. Does that solution cost money? Will it mean buying products or further services from said expert? This should make you question the authenticity of their “unbiased” advice. If you are engaging a consultant’s services you are paying for a qualified experienced point of view. You are not paying to give them the chance to sell you more services. If you are commissioning a company who already maintain parts of your fire precautions, do you really expect them to criticise their own work?

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Education Business | Volume 16.2

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DESIGN & BUILD

NEW THINKING, NEW ADVICE AND NEW BUILDS AT BSEC 2011 BSEC 2011 will help cut through the confusion on school builds and refurbishments, as new research reveals wide-spread confusion over future funding and the impact of a school environment on educational attainment ORGANISERS BEHIND BSEC 2011 have identified some of the worst traits in modern schools and discovered much confusion over funding for building and refurbishment work. This research has been unveiled in the run up to the UK’s only conference and exhibition dedicated to the latest building and refurbishment challenges facing the education sector. The event will run from 23 to 24 February at London’s ExCeL. BSEC is considered the primary destination for all types of education establishments, as well as architectural and construction businesses involved in education build and refurbishment projects. Continuing essential dialogue between these two parties is key to BSEC 2011 in the light of the government’s new education policies. The free to attend exhibition runs alongside the two day paid-for conference.

Key issues being addressed at BSEC include new procurement and funding models, how to create spaces built for purpose on low budgets, practical advice to link educational style with buildings and how to improve existing stock.

NEW RESEARCH BSEC’s research surveyed a broad spectrum of people working in education on key topics around the school environment, including how informed they have felt over the recent changes in government and subsequent policy changes.

The majority of those surveyed (66 per cent) felt confused, misled and have found it difficult to get information regarding funding for building projects, with only four per cent of those surveyed feeling fully informed and up to date. BSEC will this year deal with this confusion and help visitors understand the latest policy changes, get advice from those involved, understand where to go for the latest news and speak to peers managing similar projects.

The importance of a good school environment was also clarified in the research, with 99 per cent stating that a well-designed school is important for pupils and their academic results. Furthermore, 88 per cent felt an improved education environment would generate a more positive attitude from pupils, with 53 per cent believing pupils would be better behaved and 52 per cent stating that pupils would be more focused.

Samuel Jennings, BSEC event director said: “The importance of a well designed and positive education environment clearly has a strong influence on the success of a school and their pupils’ academic results, and this has now been backed up by our research. We’re looking forward to welcoming many of those working in the education sector to join us at

BSEC 2011, including those setting up new free schools. This event will help visitors find out about the latest government announcements on funding for school buildings and how to practically improve and develop the best environment possible for their school.”

PANEL DISCUSSIONS AND SPEAKERS Conference discussions will explore what the new government policies mean for all types of education establishments, new procurement and funding models, how space can best support the curriculum and how to improve existing stock and adapt existing buildings to create quality education spaces.

The practical building requirements for new free schools will also be highlighted at BSEC, with a keynote speech on the exhibition floor from author, broadcaster and free school founder Toby Young, who commented: “BSEC offers a fantastic platform to openly discuss the recent education white paper and the raft of education proposals set by the coalition government. I’m looking forward to sharing my thoughts on what these new policies mean in practice for everyone involved in improving school environments and I will be talking about my personal experience in creating a new free school in West London.”

The BSEC conference speaker and seminar programme will incorporate interactive panels, case studies, and question and answer sessions with leading industry and government figures. Key speakers include Stephen Heppell, recognised leader in

education through new media and technology, Sir Bruce Liddington and Simon Harris.

EXHIBITION Exhibitors at BSEC 2011 come from all aspects of the education building landscape and include HLM Architects, Space Group and Scott Wilson. Sponsors include Skanska and BAM, Capita Symonds, Graham Construction, as well as Carleton Furniture, EC Harris, Steljes, RIBA, Surface to Air and Technogym.

Mace, Partnerships for Schools, Class of Your Own and NAACE are event partners.

With more than 5,000 visitors attending in February 2010, BSEC has become a key event for those at the forefront of the design, management and procurement of school builds and educational refurbishment initiatives.

The 2011 event looks forward to welcoming visitors from teaching, school management and local authority backgrounds, as well as architects, engineers and contractors.

2011 is anticipated to be the most important show yet, adopting the changing models needed for those at the forefront of school buildings and will, without doubt, cut through the confusion in the new education environment.

FOR MORE INFORMATION For more information and to register for the free exhibition or book conference sessions go to www.bsecevent.com Ticket prices for the BSEC conference start from £285.

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CR Swift Landscaping Ltd have worked with many schools on a wide range of landscaping projects including creation of additional car parking, paths, planting areas, tree and hedgerow work and grounds maintenance. Our sports field drainage division have successfully created many new sports surfaces which have remained useable throughout the sports season.

In 2011 we are introducing a range of steel & fabric structures serving a range of uses from simple and ornate sun screens to multi-purpose indoor facilities Contact Carl or Steve at C R Swift Landscaping Ltd for further information and a free consultation. Greenwoods Farm, Crondon Park Lane, Stock, Essex CM4 9QS.

www.swiftlandscaping.co.uk

Tel: 01954 288870 / 01277 840732 Mobile: 07889 110415 / 07860 350522 Fax: 08712 564002 / 01277 840732 www.swiftlandscaping.co.uk info@swiftlandscaping.co.uk

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Education Business | Volume 16.2

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UV PROTECTION

FUN IN THE SUN – THE NEED FOR PROTECTION Steve Mcmillan, CR Swift Landscaping, highlights the importance of outdoor play in an environment safe from the sun’s UV rays THERE IS RIGHTLY A TREND TOWARDS encouraging outdoor activities within schools and parks. Children do need to get out into the fresh air and away from televisions, computers and games consoles, contributing factors in the rise of obesity through lack of exercise.

It is important that we all appreciate the benefits we get from natural sunlight by way of vitamins, however, over the years the effects of man on the ozone layer has resulted in a deterioration in the layer that protects us from harmful UV rays. As a result there is a need for UV protection.

Also, we now live in a society aware of litigation and damages awards and as such need to address the risks children are exposed to and minimise these risks at every opportunity.

THE DANGERS It is estimated that 80 per cent of a lifetime of UV exposure occurs before the age of 20.

Through media, we are repeatedly made aware of the dangers of over exposure to UV rays. The sun’s rays, whether direct or reflected, generate UV rays, commonly known as UV-A and UV-B. UV-A cause’s skin damage by drying

skin and causing wrinkles, UV-B are cancer causing rays that damage the skin surface and can last a lifetime.

Children don’t have fully developed pigment cells meaning they burn faster and the damage can last a lifetime. It can take only 15 minutes of exposure to summer afternoon sun to burn a fair skinned person. People with fair skin, light coloured hair, blue or green eyes and people with freckles are at greater risk.

THE C-WORD Young skin is delicate and very easily damaged by the sun. All children, no matter whether they tan easily or not should be protected from the sun. Skin cancer is very rare in children, but many skin cancers take years to develop. Damage to the DNA of our skin cells when young may develop into skin cancer several decades later. The most serious type of skin cancer (melanoma) is the second most common cancer in 15-34 year olds.

Studies by Cancer Research UK have found that sunburn during childhood can increase the risk of skin cancer later on in life. This is why it is important to ensure children stay safe in the sun.

EVERYONE NEEDS PROTECTION Teenagers and young adults are being diagnosed with skin cancer more than ever before, so where does the answer lie?

We know the importance of outdoor life and much emphasis has been placed on sun block creams but how practical are they and who is responsible for ensuring they are applied whenever necessary? On the opposite side of the coin there was a recent case of over use of sun block depriving a youngster of vital vitamin D readily available in sunlight resulting in a case of rickets.

By using shade structures up to 98 per cent of the sun’s harmful UV rays can be blocked.

Mesh fabrics allow for cool air circulation reducing temperatures underneath by up to 30 per cent. Strategically placed structures can not only provide protection but can add to the outdoor learning experience.

We must safeguard children at play, be it in the school playground or the local park, by educating them of the need to stay and play safe. Provide areas where they can enjoy outdoor play and learning sheltered from the dangers of UV exposure.

The cost per child throughout the school year is outweighed by the benefits and the lifespan of the structures. The piece of mind knowing that steps have been taken to protect children avoiding costly litigation at the same time means everyone can sleep easy.

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Education Business | Volume 16.2

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A NEW LOOK AT AUTISM Life Beyond Labels Autism Resource section is a supportive web based resource, utilising social media to help all those whose family, friends, helpers and medical advisors place labels upon them SOME OF THE THINGS YOU CAN GET FROM LBL • help with teenage emotions • help with handling your child • help with designing your life path • help with your health • help through music and the arts as therapy • help in making friends • help in building self esteem • help in developing listening abilities • help in learning skills that others acquire automatically • help in avoiding unnecessary mistakes

SOME OF THE THINGS YOU CAN DO AT LBL

Lawrence Mitchell

AUTISM IS MUCH IN THE NEWS and many people have no idea what it is or what is being done about it. It is often described as a spectrum of psychological disorders, including acute difficulties in personal communication and in relating to others.

Laurence Mitchell was only diagnosed as autistic, in his case with Aspergers Syndrome, at the age of 48. Despite a lifetime of interpersonal difficulties and communication challenges, Laurence has determined that his life’s work is the development of a web resource for all those who have been labelled in some way as “different” or “not normal”.

Laurence’s site, Life Beyond Labels, gives anyone who has been labelled the opportunity to choose another kind of label – one they are happy to wear. It is also a major resource where those who suffer from any form of autism, those who care for them and those seeking to offer them treatment, can distribute information, tips and share on their own particular wall. Not a wall to protect – but a wall to share thoughts and ideas, offer support and find friends with.

Using the latest web technology, Life Beyond Labels is an enabling resource to help anyone manage their thoughts

and organise their lives. A person’s own wall can be used for several purposes: • For personal development by organising the labels on a person’s wall according to their current importance in a person’s life.

• To help, teach and support those with special needs and challenges of any kind.

• To open up any label and develop it into a personal website.

“Your wall is your life and within it there are a number of walls which a person can design and build to support them,” says Laurence.

HUMPTY DUMPTY Your guide through the world of Life Beyond Labels is Humpty Dumpty. But not the Humpty you may be familiar with from the children’s nursery rhyme. This Humpty is no longer a cracked egg as he cannot fall off his wall as he has learned to tear off any unhelpful and unwanted labels others have pinned on him.

Whether your interest is to build a wall built of a single label or a thousand, very simple and straightforward instructions apply. The first thing you have to know is that it is a requirement to become a member of the LBL community to be able to access all the tools on Life Beyond Labels.

Laurence’s site, Life Beyond Labels, gives anyone who has been labelled the opportunity to choose another kind of label – one they are happy to wear

• organise and prioritise in your life • custom build your own mind • games and exercises • create a guide to your life • deposit and retrieve any information you want • network • upload videos and images • join forums and meet like-minded people • make friends with those who have common interests or conditions Once you have registered and are logged in with your username and password you will be ready to build your wall.

When you log into your account for the first time you will see Humpty Dumpty sitting on a wall built of a single row of labels delivering the message: “Select a Topic and Start rebuilding your life, brick by brick.”

YOUR CHOICE Each wall is a technical masterpiece in its own right because not only can you build walls with it but you can turn it into a game, a diary or organiser, learn how to organise your mind and manage your life and many more things. Each wall has been designed to make sure you don’t have to have any technical knowledge so it doesn’t matter whether you are a novice or expert all the hard technical stuff has already been done for you.

For more information on how to build a wall, the types of walls that can be built, about labels, adding images to labels, adding content, types of content, adding images and other media to content, information about content, you can view the instructional video.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Web: www.lifebeyondlabels.com

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Education Business | Volume 16.2

www.educationbusinessuk.com

FLOOD RISK MANAGEMENT

HOLDING BACK THE WATER James Sherwood-Rogers, chair of the Know Your Flood Risk campaign, discusses the threat of flooding and how schools can use risk management to make sure they are prepared IN RECENT YEARS, the UK has seen unprecedented levels of rainfall and subsequent flooding, which is the world’s most common natural disaster. Flooding throughout the country has dominated the news agenda on many occasions with individual’s stories, dramatic rescues and the exceptionally high costs of repairing the damage highlighted in the press.

Since the infamous 2007 floods, which affected families, businesses and schools across the UK, flooding has also been the subject of extensive political comment and debate. Following the floods, the government commissioned a comprehensive review of events. The Pitt Review documented 92 recommendations in order to better prepare for future flooding, one of which stated that the role of local authorities should be enhanced so that they take on responsibility for leading the coordination of flood risk management in their areas.

TAKING RESPONSIBILITY The government’s response to the Pitt Review was the Flood and Water Management Act 2010, which aims to improve the ability to manage the risk of flooding in the UK by clarifying who is responsible for what. The Environment Agency (EA) has an overview of all flood and coastal erosion risk management, whilst Unitary and County Councils are responsible for managing the risk of all local floods.

Whilst this will avoid any delay or confusion about who is responsible, it does not prevent individuals from making full use of all capabilities, resource and experience locally.

UNDERSTANDING THE RISK Despite the extensive damage that flooding has caused in recent years, many commercial property owners just don’t think it will happen to them.

The truth is that more properties are at risk than people think. Statistics show, for example, that 185,000 commercial sites, including 2,358 schools in England, and 1 in 4 homes in England and Wales are at risk of flooding.

Following the extensive damage to schools during the 2007 floods, the government distributed £14m amongst schools in the north of the country alone. As one of the most affected areas in the country, £3.2m was given to Hull as only eight of its 99 schools remained unaffected during the flooding. When one also considers the fact that the summer 2007 floods cost affected businesses on average between £75,000 and £112,000 and that the average cost of repairing a flood damaged home ranges from £20,000 to £30,000, the financial implications of flood become clear.

It is not, of course, only the financial

implications for schools that need to be considered, however. Flooding can cause site erosion, structural and non-structural building damage, and damage to or loss of contents. It can also bring health threats from contaminated floodwater. These effects can all lead to temporary or even permanent closure, thereby greatly affecting pupils and their education. In 2007, GCSE pupils at a school in Hull had their exam papers re-examined owing to the fact that not only did they lose coursework in the floods, but that their final weeks of learning and exam preparation were so disrupted.

RISK MANAGEMENT & PREPARATION The onus is on property owners and councils to ensure that they are properly prepared for flooding. There is no need, however, to worry unduly: there are a number of resources that can be used depending on the nature of the business. Home and business owners as well as councils can obtain reports that will not only advise of an individual property’s flood risk but also guide on how to prepare for flood.

With the Environment Agency recently warning that communities will have to pay more towards flood defences in their area, despite taxpayer funding of £629 million towards flood management, it is clear that individuals should be aware of how to mitigate risk and lessen the financial impact of flooding.

PRACTICAL ADVICE The Know Your Flood Risk (KYFR) campaign, which launched in 2009, aims to provide practical guidance and support for business

and homeowners to help them become more knowledgeable of their own flood risk. Since its launch, over 200 members have joined the campaign, including legal and property professionals, housing developers, flood protection specialists and homeowners, through to national government and local authorities.

Working in association with the National Flood Forum (NFF), the UK’s leading flood charity, which provides support and advice to communities and individuals that have been flooded or are at risk of flooding, KYFR has produced a ‘Flood Guide for Councils’. The guide is a tool for councils to offer information and guidance for residents and businesses.

The guide includes the following: • an explanation of the types of flood risk • how to establish whether a property is at risk from flooding and how to protect it • information about the ongoing flood recovery operation • an emergency pull-out guide providing practical advice in the event of future floods The National Flood Forum has also created the ‘Blue Pages Directory’, which is an independent directory of flood protection products and services for anyone at risk of or affected by flooding.

FOR MORE INFORMATION For more information on the Know Your Flood Risk campaign and to join today, visit www.knowyourfloodrisk.co.uk For information on the NFF’s Blue Pages Directory, visit: www.bluepages.org.uk

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In an ever more demanding world, Variable Message Signs Limited combines innovation, experience and technology in strategic and urban driver information. Our road traffic product range covers applications in the strategic , urban, and traffic management equipment sectors.

We offer a full range of services to suit individual client requirements from design, manufacture, supply, installation and commissioning of LED driver information systems, including fully UTMC compliant systems and all for clients, which include the Highways Agency, Transport for London, Local Authorities, Local Health Authorities, Hospitals and others.

We have supplied and installed a number of hospital sites which use our Safewatch range of vehicle activated signs for road & patients safety, by advising and reinforcing the speed limits and other hazards, such as pedestrian crossings, side roads and car park entrances and exits, etc;

Our range of car park guidance and information signs advise drivers where the car parks are on site and the number of spaces left within each, providing information and choice for drivers entering the site, and via our TRAMS car park management software package, the hospital / customer has control over all the listed car parks, the number of displayed / available spaces as well as providing various management reports and helps reduce emissions by keeping traffic moving and avoiding queuing.

Variable Message Signs Limited now introduce for the very first time, Pegasus our new range of urban dual colour full matrix signs. The sign’s attractive and slim design is especially suited to today’s urban streetscape, where it will deliver driver and pedestrian information.

The sign is offered in three sizes, with high resolution matrix areas suitable for the display of four lines of text with character heights of 160mm, 100mm, and 50mm. All variants are capable of displaying combined text and pictogram information and employ a dual-coloured, amber and red, matrix.

A special feature of the new sign system is the ability to mount it in a landscape or portrait format, with five mounting options for landscape fixing and three for portrait fixing.

VMSL The sign of the times; There’s no substitute for quality:

Variable Message Signs Limited Unit 1, Monkton Business Park North, Mill Lane, Hebburn, Tyne & Wear NE31 2JZ T 0191 423 7070 F 0191 423 7071 E ghutton@vmslimited.co.uk W www.vmslimited.co.uk

Education Business | Volume 16.2

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SECURITY

THE SAFETY OF EDUCATION James Kelly, chief executive of the British Security Industry Association, examines various security methods and how these can benefit the education sector ALTHOUGH THE EDUCATION SECTOR encompasses a diverse range of institutions, all of them have in common an underlying commitment to ensuring the welfare of their staff, students and visitors. Factors such as size and location of the building, as well as whether it is a primary school with pupils attending in the daytime, or a University with 24-hour learning resources areas, will have an impact on the type of security strategy required to effectively secure each premise, however, a holistic approach that combines various security methods is recommended in the majority of cases.

The safety of the staff and students during working hours must be paramount, as is providing visible and strong systems that can both deter or even apprehend potential intruders out of hours. There also needs to be the ability to react quickly to developing

situations within the school’s own corridors, so ensuring the monitoring of the inside of the buildings and sites with so many people using them can prove quite a logistical challenge.

CCTV In an educational setting CCTV not only provides security for staff and students, it is also

an effective deterrent for criminals wishing to break into a building or penetrate a perimeter.

Modern CCTV systems and associated technology is now an extremely cost effective method of providing security in large areas.

During busy periods, if monitored from a central control point CCTV technology can help to identify where individuals are at any one time.

Factors such as size and location of the building, as well as whether it is a primary school with pupils attending in the daytime, or a University with 24-hour learning resources areas, will have an impact on the type of security strategy required to effectively secure each premise

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Total Parking Solutions: The UK’s leading car park management operator “With over 30 years’ combined experience for Total Parking Solutions managing is not simply about fulfilling a contract, but it is constructed around a thorough understanding of our business and the goals of our clients. Meeting those goals means harnessing some of the most advanced technical products and systems, experience, knowledge and resources that are available to us. A major player in UK parking operations, we can therefore, make available our extensive knowledge and experience to provide an economically efficient operation and high quality service to our Clients. What distinguishes TPS is our genuine commitment to the continuous improvement of our services and the range of products being offered to our clients”.

“The company has achieved a reputation as one of the leading providers of car park management services, operating extensively throughout the UK. We differentiate ourselves from other operators not just in our open approach but in the comprehensive bespoke services we can offer our clients. Parking solutions have been developed around a well-established client base to deliver a complete parking management, tailoring our services to

each of our clients and their respective customers.

“Our company focus from an early stage has ensured that all our operations comply with the British Parking Association Code of Practice. Recognising the importance of customer satisfaction, we engaged consultants to implement a best practice quality management structure around the BSI ISO 9001 standard accredited to our company. All our team members understand the company’s quality policy and objectives, all our processes are clearly documented to ensure consistency and competency. Operational staff are fully trained for professional performance and regularly monitored with management reviews to identify actions for continual improvement.”

“By adopting this philosophy has enabled us to provide an effective parking service to the NHS across numerous public Pay & Display, Pay on Foot , restricted, limited waiting and permit only parking areas. Throughout the contract length the company understands the sensitive nature of the services, striking a balance between efficiency and professionalism.

Total Parking Solutions Ltd, SATRA Innovation Park, Rockingham Rd, Kettering, Northants NN16 9JH Telephone: 0845 257 3540 Fax: 0845 257 3541 info@totalparking.co.uk www.totalparking.co.uk

Education Business | Volume 16.2

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SECURITY

Entrance control systems, which include turnstiles and speedgates as well as detectors to trigger alarms and prompt CCTV, are useful in preventing tailgating, a recurrent problem in premises with a constant flow of people. Often supported by methods such as RFID cards, turnstiles for example can help overcome tailgating issues and identify stolen cards, by displaying on screens the picture of legitimate card owners New developments in smart CCTV technology mean that out of hours, instead of one person having to monitor a bank of screens, motion sensors can trigger an automated warning to control centre staff. According to a survey conducted by the BSIA, educational establishments are failing to take full advantage of the latest BS8418 CCTV solutions to protect themselves from the cost and disruption associated with out-of-hours attacks.

BS8418 is the British Standard for remotely monitored, detector-activated CCTV systems.

When deployed, BS8418 compliant solutions consist of cameras and detectors placed strategically around a site, linked together by specialised transmission equipment to a Remote Video Response Centre (RVRC).

Here, operators can visually confirm what is happening, call up on-screen plans of the site and even issue verbal warnings to intruders via on-site speakers. If necessary, the RVRC operators can also alert the police who, as the incident is confirmed visually and is associated with a URN (Unique Reference Number), should

provide a rapid response. The BSIA urges all educational establishments to consider this solution when reviewing their security strategy.

MANNED SECURITY Physically manning an educational facility will always have many plus points. It allows for interaction between the staff and students, a visible deterrent for potential intruders and an onsite security force able to react quickly to any incidents that may occur. This could prove especially useful should there be incidents between students in busy areas of the site, where potential flashpoints can very quickly develop. This solution provides a hands on approach that can be extremely effective at deterring potential incidents and thefts.

Private security guards supplied by a BSIA member company have proved to be invaluable assets in some of the prestige schools and colleges in York. Officers’ day-to-day duties vary from escorting trespassers off site and dealing with pupil substance abuse, to traffic and parking management for functions and events.

A uniformed security officer also provides a very real deterrent to the casual thief, and is a natural focal point for visitors to come

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Education Business | Volume 16.2

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SECURITY

Physically manning an educational facility will always have many plus points. It allows for interaction between the staff and students, a visible deterrent for potential intruders and an onsite security force able to react quickly to any incidents that may occur to with enquiries, who can then quickly guide them to the correct area and more importantly clear the reception area.

ACCESS CONTROL A popular method of providing security, access control systems have now become commonplace in education establishments. These systems are designed to allow free passage for authorised personnel between different buildings and areas, and are increasingly being used because of their effectiveness.

Depending on the location and sensitivity of the building or area to secure, access control measures can range from paper-based logging systems through to access control cards using radio frequency identification (RFID) chips for more convenient proximity reading of card details and activation of gates, turnstiles and vehicle barriers.

Increasingly common in schools, and areas of further education buildings such as libraries, are, for example, entrance control systems.

These systems, which include turnstiles and speedgates as well as detectors to trigger alarms and prompt CCTV, are useful in preventing tailgating, a recurrent problem in premises with a constant flow of people. Often supported by methods such as RFID cards, turnstiles for example can help overcome tailgating issues and identify stolen cards, by displaying on screens the picture of legitimate card owners. A recent installation undertaken by a BSIA member at a college in West London has improved the security at all entrances by adding speedgates to supplement their current access control system.

Data gathered by access control and visitormonitoring systems can also be used to inform building energy management systems (BEMS) of the nature and function of the people occupying a heating zone. This information is applied by the BEMS to heat-loss algorithms to determine the minimum amount of heat to be applied to a

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Visit the website to view the categorised product finder

“Simple technology is vital for economic survival in all sectors,” says Sir Bob Geldof

S

IR BOB GELDOF, co-founder of one of the education sector market leaders in communication and data extraction tools, Groupcall, has criticised the government for imposing over-complex systems on administration and teachers at the detriment of the education sector.

Speaking at BETT 2011 in January, where Sir Bob unveiled Groupcall’s latest innovative education app, Emerge, he highlighted the need to “make systems function simply, efficiently and costeffectively”. Some existing technologies pose the problem of being too complex, slow or not readily accessible, preventing users from “getting to the future instantly,” he added.

Emerge is designed for the Apple iPod touch with Wi-Fi, or an iPhone/iPad with Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity. It delivers up-tothe-minute Management Information System (MIS) data instantly and securely, with access on an anytime, anywhere basis. It is designed specifically for senior leaders, administrators and teaching staff at both primary and secondary level, providing them with access to on-thego key data from a compact mobile device.

Via Emerge, registration can be taken while simultaneously being written back to the

school’s MIS. Additional student information including student and parental contact details, timetables, attendance and behavioural data can also be accessed wherever the teacher is located (both on and off school grounds) without the need to rely on a desktop PC. Sir Bob explained that essentially, the application “puts the school in a teacher’s back pocket. Equipping teachers with a tool that gives them immediate access to the information they require is not only beneficial in terms of significantly lowering a school’s administrative costs, but also encourages

increased time management efficiency.

Simplicity and speed are key.”

These cost cutting benefits, however, are not restricted to within the school gates, he quickly pointed out: “We are going to try and explain to government how over-complex systems will fall over and how there is technology available that gives them the tools they actually want. Fundamentally, the necessity of the economy is to reduce, which means that government will be aiming to spend less on over-complex systems and be forced to look for simplicity.”

It comes as no surprise, therefore, that his plans to lobby government to raise awareness about technologies, will not stop with the education sector. Sir Bob also referred to the technological problems encountered by the National Health Service (NHS) computer system, stating: “once [the system] has doubled the costs and is in the millions, it becomes too complex and fails to work. It needs to be simplified”. Furthermore, he ardently announced that Groupcall’s technology has applications suitable for other sectors too, including the police and security.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Web: www.groupcall.com

Ten Reasons to Play Safe With The Leading Supplier In Physical Security Products • • • • • • • • • •

Visit: www.sws.co.uk Email: info@swsuk.co.uk Call: 01524-772400

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Over 25 Years Experience All Security Products Designed, Tested and Manufactured in the UK A wide range of Loss Prevention Certification Board Approved Products Large range of styles and colours to suit your application Built in and built on options A national team of fitters and maintenance engineers Site surveys as standard to make sure you have the right products to meet your needs Peace of mind during school holidays Provide a secure yet aesthetically pleasing environment for your students and colleagues Worry free with all products offered with on site warranty as standard

Education Business | Volume 16.2

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SECURITY

A measured, thoughtful approach to guarding our educational establishments is essential to providing a safe and productive learning environment particular area, reducing the amount of energy consumed and avoiding unnecessary wastage.

PROPERTY MARKING Property marking is effective as a deterrent to the potential thief, ensuring property is

uniquely marked either visibly or invisibly to the naked eye. Advances in technology have led to the development of unique tagging technology, which uses DNA-style chemical coding within property marking solutions, to enable stolen property to be traced back

to its owner with even greater accuracy.

This makes it a less attractive proposition to would be thieves, and if signposted effectively, can work just as well as any physical barrier that may be in place to prevent a break in.

With this in mind, there is a real benefit for schools and other educational establishments to mark their property, especially as they are likely to have large amounts of valuable electronic equipment kept on site at all times, such as computers and monitors.

Every school in the East London borough of Havering is now being protected by a BSIA member’s DNA forensic marking solution, following the introduction of an extensive scheme in the area, resulting in a dramatic decrease in the amount of property theft. Prior to this, theft from schools had been a major problem for Havering Local Education Authority (LEA), costing approximately £250,000 over an 18-month period prior to the introduction of the scheme. Local police have also confirmed that the forensic marking is extremely effective at deterring thieves, especially when the scheme is properly advertised and promoted locally with warning posters.

A measured, thoughtful approach to guarding our educational establishments is essential to providing a safe and productive learning environment. By utilising some or all of the above systems and technologies, the security of our educational facilities is in safe hands.

BSIA members meet strict quality criteria and as such, the Association’s website is a great place to start when considering your next security investment.

FOR MORE INFORMATION To locate a supplier in your area, or to find out more about the solutions mentioned in this article, visit www.bsia.co.uk

World renowned entrance control and anti-tailgating products HE AWARD WINNING Fastlane® Turnstiles and Door Detective brands are designed and manufactured in the UK by Integrated Design Limited (IDL).

Through intensive research and development, and by listening to our customers, a range of products have evolved which offer innovative solutions to many of today’s most common security dilemmas. Our Fastlane® Entrance Control range and Door Detective anti-tailgating products are exported and supported across the world by a network of installers, systems integrators and OEMs. Fastlane® products are designed to reinforce the use of access control systems in the corporate and educational environment, by offering an extra level of protection; whilst remaining user friendly and aesthetically pleasing to the eye.

T

Products range from optical only products, through tripods and barrier arms to sliding and hinged glass panels to suit all environments.

The use of turnstile barriers is proving more and more attractive to educational establishments; as the need to offer a secure, safe environment becomes paramount. Entrance control offers easy access for authorised students and staff, while stopping unwanted visitors. IDL’s long association with the security industry means that all products integrate seamlessly with new or existing access control, CCTV and fire alarm systems.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Contact: Tony Smith, Integrated Design Limited on 020 8890 5550, e-mail: info@fastlane-turnstiles.com or visit: www.fastlane-turnstiles.com

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Education Business | Volume 16.2

www.educationbusinessuk.com

EDUCATIONAL TRIPS

INSPIRING YOUNG MINDS THROUGH SCHOOLS TRIPS Organising outings has changed over the years but with so much choice at hand, teachers cannot afford to neglect this part of education, says Ian Finlay of TUI Travel PLC’s Education Division I’VE BEEN WORKING IN TRAVEL since 2001 and have witnessed a lot of changes over the years. A decade ago, teachers were very comfortable with taking school groups away on trips and had very little paperwork to complete. Today however, they have so many hoops to jump through to organise a trip that activity trip providers support them with their administration and offer guidance on filling out risk assessment forms.

In 2003 the School Travel Forum was set up to raise health and safety standards on school trips and a quality badge accreditation scheme was established to make the process of choosing a supplier easier. Being a member of the British Activity Holiday Association has really enabled organisations to collaborate with other activity break specialists for the greater good. Adopting appropriate safety benchmarks for activities such as archery and high-ropes, companies regularly meet to discuss ways of shaping the industry and to drive up standards.

COMMON SENSE The importance of safety is paramount of course but we must try not to lose sight of the fundamental benefits that school trips can bring to students, such as the opportunity to learn new skills and travel.

As Lord Young of Graffham advocated in his recent government review, there is definitely a call for a “common sense” approach to legislation on public events.

School trips open doors for pupils by presenting them with new situations, they open young minds to new possibilities whether that be conversing in a foreign language to buy lunch for the class, or discovering that they have a natural talent for a new sport they hadn’t tried before.

A positive development for the industry is that with all the extra pressure being put on students to pass exams, teachers are now focusing on rewarding students for their hard work throughout the year and making them well rounded individuals. In doing so this helps them build their confidence by trying exciting new things that take them outside their comfort zone. Learning outside the classroom can empower students to become more responsible and sociable and teaches them valuable team building skills.

Added to this, learning outside the classroom can be used to meet some of the demands reflected in the government’s white paper ‘The Importance of Teaching’, namely, improving teaching standards by engaging

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students and instilling discipline as school trips often reduce levels of poor behaviour.

BENEFITS To raise awareness of the importance of school trips and learning outside the classroom, in November we unveiled the findings of our independent survey of 512 primary and secondary school teachers from across the UK and Northern Ireland. The research uncovered some compelling findings: 99 per cent of teachers said students are more animated

and engaged when learning on school trips, compared to 84 per cent who said that school trips improve behaviour. Stressing the benefits of school trips, 89 per cent of teachers saw the main advantage of school trips as helping bring the subject to life, 83 per cent highlighted the social benefits and 71 per cent spoke of the cultural benefits.

A useful barometer of what teachers think, the survey also revealed what teachers thought their students favourite trips were.

An overwhelming majority of teachers said

Education Business | Volume 16.2

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EDUCATIONAL TRIPS

students would vote theme parks and going overseas as their favourite school trips. Theatre trips including professional performance skills workshops with the stars of West End and Broadway shows also came out top.

SPORTING TRIPS Recent hard-hitting headlines highlighted that provision for encouraging children to play competitive sports is at risk. The Department for Education funding for School Sport Partnerships has only been secured until the end of the summer term 2011. Previously threatened by proposals to cut all £162 million of funding for School Sport Partnerships, the decision to keep it going in the short-term follows widespread opposition from students, teachers and many in the sporting world.

The government has, however, pledged £65 million in 2011/12 and 2012/13, to ensure one PE teacher per school is released for a day a week to encourage competitive sports.

Students give full marks to sporty school trips with companies where students get to ski and discover the local language and geography, and others where they can compete against a local team of similar ability level. Setting sport against the backdrop of an out of this world destination, hockey, netball and rugby

matches are combined with excursions to sites of historical or geographical importance.

TAKING ON THE WORLD Other casualties in the government’s reform of the education sector will be schoolleavers who have their sights set on going to university. There will be a freeze in university places in 2011 and 10,000 fewer places in 2012. Also, with higher fees on the horizon, students will really be feeling the pinch, and may choose to condense or forego their year out and instead focus attention on using their summer holiday to go on an expedition.

That said, it is important to note that whether their venture be a visit to a developing country, a longer gap break abroad, or learning a new skills helping with community projects, construction or conservation; referring to what they learned in their university application could also set them apart from their peers.

Moreover, the building of a “career passport” that incorporates their academic qualifications with the skills, qualities and experiences gained from a truly educational travel experience demonstrates to admissions tutors and future employers the ability of a student to balance their study with other valuable activities.

The strange paradox in this climate of

rren a W p a Hindle Centre r Outdoo www.hindleapwarren.org

High quality outdoor education residentials and day courses for schools 300 acres of beautiful woodland packed with adventurous activities high in the Ashdown Forest New £2 million development now open Very experienced, qualified, friendly staff team Contact Russell Dolton 01342 822625 russell@hindleap.com

tightening budgets in education is that the demand for all schools to offer educational visits has really stepped up a gear, and the growing choice of destinations mean that all age groups and curriculum subjects can be catered for.

PUPIL PREMIUM Starting this year, the government has introduced a new pupil premium to raise the achievement of disadvantaged pupils. In light of this, we want to ensure that the choice to participate in the huge range of school trips available is open to all students regardless of their social mobility.

Where school trips are concerned, winning the hearts and minds of teachers and parents will never be an issue but they will need the support of responsible providers that will go the extra mile to support them with risk assessments. Providers must also offer genuinely engaging trips that are competitively priced and enhance students’ learning and wellbeing.

After all, there is nothing more rewarding than discovering something new that you’re good at, or reaching the top of a proverbial mountain, that yesterday seemed impassable.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Web: www.tuieducation.com

www.euro-study-tours.co.uk/ebm Specialist Study Visits for Schools Colleges & Universities Unique Inspirational Conferences 29 Years Experience

Over 80 Destinations Worldwide

New York Paris London Berlin Barcelona Iceland China 4 Art 4 History & Politics 4 Media Studies “The trip was a fantastic success, learning objectives all met.” Dalbeattie High School

4 Business Studies 4 Geography 4 Science & ICT “An excellent trip, well organised and ideal for educational students.”

South Staffordshire College

Contact us today and let us put together the perfect tour for you and your students!

Tel: 0844 576 1954 Email: eb@euro-study-tours.co.uk Please quote EB1 when you enquire with us

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Education Business | Volume 16.2

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EDUCATIONAL TRIPS

SAFE DRIVING WITH THE RIGHT TRAINING Maxine van den Bergh from the Community Transport Association looks at the health and safety issues of driving a minibus and the need for driver training when taking pupils out on trips THE HEALTH AND SAFETY EXECUTIVE now regards driving as one of the most dangerous regular activities that most people do. Statistically, working as a driver is almost as dangerous as being a deep sea fisherman or working in a quarry, and more dangerous than working in the construction industry.

Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, organisations, including schools, have a responsibility to provide information, instruction, training and supervision to all their staff, and a responsibility to protect the health, safety and welfare of everyone affected by the organisation. This is further endorsed under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, which also place a duty on organisations to provide appropriate training to staff. So there is a clear, legal obligation to ensure your drivers are trained.

We previously provided the legal and best practice requirements that a school faces when it operates its own minibuses.

(Education Business, November 2009). In this article we provide more detail about driver training and assessment procedures and the

Minibus Driver Awareness Scheme (MiDAS).

Before considering any on-going training and assessment of drivers it is important to make sure drivers hold the correct driving licence. Contact the CTA’s Advice Line if you in any doubt. However, a driving licence is for life and does not contribute to any form of risk management.

DRIVER AWARENESS SCHEME MiDAS is a nationally recognised minibus driver’s awareness scheme designed to make appropriate training, assessment and accreditation available to minibus drivers from schools, colleges and universities. MiDAS is a risk management tool that helps to improve minibus safety by enhancing the driving and passenger awareness skills of minibus drivers. MiDAS was introduced in 1994 and currently over 75,000 drivers hold a valid MiDAS driver’s certificates.

In its guidance to schools using minibuses, the Department for Education cited MiDAS training as a good practice for all schools.

The extensive network of MiDAS trainers means that training is readily available

throughout the UK. The significant difference that MiDAS offers compared with other driver training schemes is that it is not simply a oneoff training course and a test. MiDAS has a four-year refresher cycle, drivers must attend refresher training (including another on-road assessment) every four years in order to retain their entitlement. This not only means that their driving skills are maintained but that they are also fully equipped with the latest information on legal and safety issues.

MANY BENEFITS Besides the obvious legal and risk management requirements there are many other benefits to your school and to your drivers and pupils.

MiDAS trained drivers drive your vehicle in a more sympathetic manner, thus helping to reduce maintenance and fuel costs. Your school’s environmental impact will also be improved. There will be fewer accidents, resulting in lower insurance premiums and vehicles spending less time in the garage.

Perhaps the most significant benefit of all is to the pupils, who will be transported in a

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EDUCATIONAL TRIPS

safe and comfortable manner. So there are far more reasons for training than simply because health and safety law says you have to.

MiDAS is a membership scheme which is free to join, and many schools and educational establishments have already joined. An important risk management aspect of MiDAS is that when schools join they commit to quickly getting all drivers to hold a MiDAS certificate in order to drive their minibuses.

For schools that use smaller vehicles such as MPVs or even private cars driven by teachers or parents, the MiDAS training and assessment suite has an alternative version – MiDAS for Car & MPV. TRAINING AGENTS MiDAS operates on a “cascade” approach, with a number of ADI qualified training agents providing training for local minibus driver assessor trainers (DATs) or driver observers who deliver training and conduct assessments for drivers. In order to maintain their level of skills, knowledge and training entitlement, all trainers are required to attend refresher training every two years.

Some schools choose to have their own trainer by contacting a training agent, whereas others choose to approach another MiDAS member to train and assess their drivers.

Whichever approach is used, drivers will receive the same level of training and be required to achieve a common assessment standard.

They will have the option of purchasing a comprehensive Minibus Driver’s Handbook or a Car & MPV Driver’s Handbook.

Under MiDAS, drivers attend an intensive classroom-based theory training session that looks at: • Defensive driving • Drivers’ legal responsibilities • Passenger Safety • Health & Safety awareness • Manual handling awareness • Personal safety for drivers • Collision and breakdown procedures They also undertake an on-road assessment

of their driving skills and a written, multiple-choice theory assessment before being awarded a certificate.

Drivers of accessible vehicles undertake further training in the skills and knowledge they require to safely use an accessible vehicle. They must successfully complete a practical skills assessment before being issued with their accessible certificate.

Drivers of accessible vehicles are given training on the following topics: • Disability Awareness • Passenger Assistance • Safe use of passenger lifts, ramps and steps • Safety for passengers who use wheelchairs in minibuses • Legal requirement and good practice A membership application form can be downloaded from the MiDAS page of the CTA website, or alternatively one can be requested by e-mail. Once an application has been processed the school will be issued with a membership number and can then access the training and assessment programme.

ADDITIONAL MODULES We have found that people who get involved in MiDAS become more aware of the risks involved in operating vehicles. Three additional modules are available to address additional risks: Emergency Aid – which includes generic first aid practices and procedures particularly covering the problems presented by treating people in the confined space inside a vehicle.

Manual Handling – which for special schools includes assisting pupils to board and alight from vehicles together with safer manual handling techniques for sports equipment etc.

5 Steps to Safety (vehicle evacuation procedures) – which helps drivers understand the dangers involved in vehicle fires and advises them on what to do to reduce the chances of fires breaking out, as well as how to respond safely if their vehicle catches fire.

In 2005 there were 65,200 road vehicle fires, of which 860 were in buses, coaches

or minibuses. This figure may appear to be high, but it does represent a 10 per cent reduction on the previous year and is actually the lowest figure since 1995 and it is worth noting that there are currently over 32 million road vehicles registered in the UK. There were 62 fatalities in road vehicle fires, which equates to 1 death per 1,000 fires (compared to 6 deaths per 1,000 fires in dwellings).

The 5 Steps to Safety course makes use of classroom based training and practical, in-vehicle demonstrations and exercises.

This course would be appropriate for all school staff that may travel in vehicles.

Those attending this course will learn: • How to recognise common causes of fire • How to reduce the risk of vehicle fires starting • When and how to use a fire extinguisher • How to safely evacuate a vehicle using 5 STEPS to Safety.

ABOUT CTA The Community Transport Association (CTA) is a UK wide charity giving voice and providing leadership, learning and enterprise support to a wide range of civil society organisations many of them delivering innovative and flexible transport solutions to achieve social change. The CTA’s UK wide advice service is partly funded by the Department for Transport and by the Welsh Assembly.

FOR MORE INFORMATION A full list of Training Agents and their contact details can be found on the MiDAS page of the CTA website: www.ctauk.org or alternatively a list of DATs can be obtained by e-mailing MiDAS@ctauk.org If you would like any further information on operating school minibuses please contact the CTA either via our website, where you can download a number of useful leaflets, telephone our advice service on 0845 1306195 or e-mail advice@ctauk.org

Cotswold Wildlife Park – quality education outside the classroom OTSWOLD WILDLIFE PARK is set in 160 acres of parkland and gardens around a listed Victorian Manor House and has been open to the public since 1970.

The Park is home to a fascinating and varied collection of over 300 species of animals from all over the world. It aspires to show animals to pupils and students so that they can come to understand and respect all forms of wildlife, to understand what is special about each species, and how those species that are considered vulnerable are being conserved.

In 2010, in excess of 24,000 visitors to the Park came as members of groups from educational establishments. Many of these groups had a

awarded the Council for Learning Outside the Classroom’s quality badge in 2009, one of the first establishments to be awarded one.

Talks and tours are free to education groups between September and March, and cost £20 in the summer months. Bookings can be made via the Internet or on the phone.

C

FOR MORE INFORMATION talk or a tour from the Park’s keepers or its education coordinator. Almost all of these used the Park itself, rather than a classroom, as we believe that this provides one of the greatest teaching facilities in England. The Park was

Tel: 01993 825720 Fax: 01993 823807 E-mail: education@cotswold wildlifepark.co.uk Web: www.cotswold wildlifepark.co.uk

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OUTDOOR LEARNING

GETTING BEST VALUE FROM YOUR SCHOOL GROUNDS Despite financial constraints, schools can improve their outdoor environments by developing existing spaces at little or no cost, writes outdoor learning charity Learning through Landscapes IN THE CURRENT ECONOMIC CLIMATE many schools will be reviewing their budgets, and plans to develop their grounds may become postponed or even abandoned. Let’s take a look at how schools can continue improving their outdoor environments by developing spaces that reach their best potential, at little or no cost.

GETTING STARTED Before embarking on a school grounds project, it is important to consider what you already have, how you use it, what you would like to achieve and how it can be done. Although you might be keen to get the project underway, hasty changes can be more costly in the long run and can often bring more problems than benefits. Thoroughly surveying the site and its uses will allow you to recognise and rectify problems or issues, and help you to avoid making mistakes or removing features that are working well.

It is also vital to consider the value of pupil engagement in all areas of the development.

The project will benefit from the children’s knowledge and experience of the grounds, and will be more sustainable where pupils feel a sense of ownership. Pupils’ confidence and self-esteem will also increase upon learning new skills, working with others and seeing their suggestions acted upon.

USING THE SKILLS AT HAND One of the most economical ways of making any improvements to your school grounds is to involve the parents and families of the children in the planning and development process. Each school will have access to a huge number of skills possessed by parents and the wider school community, and most will find that many parents would be more than happy to help. Find out what sort of jobs the parent group can do and what sort of skills they can bring to your project. This is best done informally, for example, by putting posters up around the school inviting parents and other family members to volunteer their skills.

A great way to find out what kind of help is readily available is to do a skills audit.

You’ll find that everyone will have something to offer whether they are fundraisers, bricklayers, writers, photographers, gardeners, artists, carpenters or tea makers. Creating a skills audit questionnaire is a good way of gathering this information, but keep it simple and make it easy to complete.

Involving as many people as possible means you will have a broad range of skills, knowledge and experience to draw on throughout the school grounds development process. Make sure the parents understand the value that their skills can bring, ensure that they feel welcome, communicate with them effectively and you will reap the benefits, not just in your grounds, but also in the broader life of your school. The children will also be delighted to see their family members make improvements to a place they value and spend time in every day.

MAKING CHANGES Making the most of your school grounds doesn’t necessarily mean making big physical changes to the landscape. In many cases huge improvements can be made simply by changing the way in which a particular space is used. For example, the quality of break times can be improved simply by adding resources and offering equipment that inspires play. Inexpensive materials such as large pieces of fabric, tablecloths, blankets, wooden dolly pegs and washing lines will allow children to create structures for dens using existing features in the grounds such as trees, railings or climbing frames. You could also consider adding scrap materials, musical instruments and art resources such as chalk and charcoal for those tarmac masterpieces.

Some schools are lucky enough to be surrounded by woodland areas that offer many natural play resources. However, if you are not this fortunate, you could try bringing in your own natural play resources.

Branches, sticks, twigs, ropes, moveable log seats, wood off-cuts, shells, gravel, pebbles, slate pieces, willow, pine cones, acorns and clay are all cheap and flexible in their use.

These resources fire children’s imaginations and potentially provide endless opportunities for play, from creating pictures and decorations to laying trails and creating story circles. Natural resources can generally be sourced locally, from your local wildlife trust, forestry commission or garden centre.

Growing plants from seed can be virtually cost free and can add to your science curriculum at all levels. Plants and flowers also help brighten the overall appearance of the grounds and growing vegetables may even help relieve the catering budget.

Murals can be painted directly onto a wall and often paint can be obtained from parents

and local DIY stores who frequently donate end of lines or damaged tins of paint.

EXISTING SPACES The location of some small spaces makes them ideal as a peaceful haven for children to use at break times. Incorporating sensory elements – such as music, colour and texture – will make the area more atmospheric and inviting and these need not be expensive improvements. Ideas could include growing tall grasses and aromatic plants, windsocks, bamboo, hanging baskets, wind chimes, mirrors, mosaics, murals and sculptures.

Growing from containers can be done in various spaces and offers a cheap and simple way of growing herbs, vegetables or bulbs. These can be placed in containers that are little or no cost at all such as tyres or other recycled materials.

If you have a larger space available you could develop a quiet seating area for circle time or storytelling. This could be created by simply using logs for seating with bark spread across the ground. The area will also make a perfect outdoor classroom for other occasions.

FUNDRAISING If you are planning a large scale project, then consider obtaining support from local businesses. Approaching individuals and organisations is a challenge but worth the effort if you are successful. Large high street retailers and smaller locally-based businesses will often be willing to provide support if they can benefit through good publicity.

When making individual requests to local organisations and businesses consider the project from their perspective and adjust your approach accordingly. What is it about your project and its aims that will appeal to them? How will supporting your cause benefit them? Establishing a relationship with potential funders in your community at an early stage will pay dividends in due course so be sure to acknowledge their support.

Many schools have also been able to raise reasonable amounts of money by holding sponsored events. Some of these events will require more commitment and organisation but can be hugely rewarding – not only in financial terms but also in terms of raising awareness and getting parents more involved in your project.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Web: www.ltl.org.uk

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Every item in the vast range of Willowbrook furniture is made in the UK. All our furniture ranges are designed by us and usually trialed with the cooperation of Local Education Authorities and individual schools throughout the country.

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SCHOOL FURNITURE

VERSATILE ENVIRONMENTS CONDUCIVE TO LEARNING School furniture is in danger of being downgraded further but Levent Çaglar, senior ergonomist at the Furniture Industry Research Association, urges us to think before we buy NOW THAT THE GOVERNMENT has ended the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme, there will be a restricted amount of funds for school re-building or re-furbishing. In addition, in the current economic climate, funds are difficult to find and it is difficult to justify how you spend them. The temptation will be either to continue using the ill-fitting, old, worn out, unergonomic, unhealthy and unattractive furniture or to purchase new cheap tables and

chairs for the children. This will perpetuate, if not make worse, the existing situation for children’s wellbeing, concentration and behaviour. Decisions on purchasing furniture should not be based solely on price as cheap furniture is likely to be costly in the long term.

The lack of application of ergonomics in analysing activities in schools and using this to inform the design of buildings and the choice and use of furniture has detrimental

The lack of application of ergonomics in analysing activities in schools and using this to inform the design of buildings and the choice and use of furniture has detrimental effects on children’s wellbeing

effects on children’s wellbeing and learning.

About 12 per cent of 12-year olds and 22 per cent of 16-year olds experience recurrent back pain, and 15 per cent of 12-16 year olds seek medical care for this. Causes of this back pain include using ill-fitting furniture during the 15,000 hours children spend sitting at school under the important stage of their life when their body is growing.

ADDRESSING THE PROBLEM Clearly we need to address this problem because, as children become less and less mobile through increased time sitting at computers, they will be more prone to back problems. Research shows that children and teenagers who experience back pain are more likely to have back problems as adults. Back pain is the largest cause of absence from work, with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) stating that it accounts for one in every six days lost for sickness and affects four out of every five people. It has a major effect on the economy through time off work and the

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The Demco Europe family of companies – Specialist suppliers of Library & Educational Furniture, and much more…

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SCHOOL FURNITURE

Being able to make slight movements unconsciously, so you do not need to fidget to overcome discomfort, increases your circulation and helps you to stay more healthy and alert cost to the National Health Service. Back pain is also a chronic pain that lowers efficiency at work, learning at school and enjoyment of life.

In addition to encouraging children to do some physical activity, such as walking or cycling, we should give them furniture that allows them to adopt good dynamic ergonomic postures. Being able to make slight movements unconsciously, so you do not need to fidget to overcome discomfort, increases your circulation and helps you to stay more healthy and alert.

Fidgeting, such as rocking on chairs, can make children distracted and unmotivated, and sometimes it can extend to disruptive behaviour.

LOOKING AT THE PRICE Currently the most commonly purchased combinations of table and chair cost about £20. We expect to use them for about 10 years, which is almost as long as a child spends at school. In other words, we are prepared to spend £2 per year per child on furniture. A pair of designer trainers costs at least 2 to 3 times as much as we spend on furniture throughout a child’s life at school.

The danger with selecting furniture on price alone is that its lack of comfort and incorrect match of size to that of the child start the decline in back health that can lead to chronic back pain and permanent damage.

In addition, bad sitting postures, such as slouching, are caused by ill-fitting furniture, and often stay with children and adults as habits for life, creating back problems for them.

Ill-fitting and uncomfortable furniture also inhibits children’s learning. It forces them to adopt postures where their abdomens and chests are compressed, reducing their oxygen intake and consequently restricting the supply of oxygen to their muscles and brain. This makes their limbs feel tired and their brain less alert. It inhibits their learning by reducing their concentration levels and attention span. Other shortcomings of cheap furniture are that it often lasts for only 2 or 3 years, or breaks easily and becomes unsafe.

An important drawback in much such furniture that is often overlooked is its unmotivating and uninspiring impact on children. If children do not like furniture or feel that care has not been taken in providing it, they do not feel so comfortable or positive about what they are doing.

Head teachers, local authorities and buying consortia should be aware of the possible effect of cheap furniture on children’s wellbeing and academic achievements, as well as their

behaviour. They should choose tables and chairs that are safe, durable and will match the sizes of today’s children. Price, although important, should not be the first criterion.

Instead, compliance of furniture with the European school furniture standard (BS EN 1729) should be the most important one. Only then can they be sure of the furniture’s safety, durability and match to children’s sizes.

BS EN 1729 is the European standard for furniture in schools. It was introduced in all European countries at the end of 2006.

It replaced the old British Standard, BS 5873, which should no longer be used.

The new standard comes in two parts: Part 1 on dimensional requirements and Part 2 on safety and durability requirements. The dimensional requirements were based on data from European countries, including FIRA’s 2001 survey of school children in England.

The current furniture in use in UK schools was designed to comply with the old standard, BS 5873, which was based on dimensional data from the 1970s. Since then, children have grown more rapidly. FIRA’s research showed that, by the 1990s, the furniture did not adequately fit the children. Similar studies in Europe arrived at the same conclusion.

Across Europe, there was also recognition that ill-fitting unergonomic furniture was adversely affecting children’s wellbeing and growth. In order to address and resolve these issues, it was agreed to develop a European standard for school furniture.

A WIDER RANGE The new standard, BS EN 1729, ensures that the furniture purchased will fit the sizes of the children, be safe for children to use for a long while, and be good for children’s posture and for the long-term health of children’s backs. It includes a wider range of furniture than the previous standard, such as height adjustable tables and chairs, and standing height work surfaces. Standing height surfaces are suitable for group work, discussion and short periods of computer work, such as looking up references. Having standing height tables should allow children to alternate between sitting and standing postures, which helps their concentration.

Since its introduction, the new standard has encouraged designers and companies to make new designs of furniture that are good for children’s wellbeing, specifically for their backs. This significant development has also produced many aesthetically pleasing items

that give the perception of comfort and help children feel more positive about learning.

Every school has a statutory responsibility for the health and safety of children, so none should buy any furniture which does not comply with the current standard, BS EN 1729. Any furniture not complying with this standard, even if it complies with the old standard, could be ill-fitting, unsafe or adversely affect children’s wellbeing.

HELP AT HAND FIRA, Counties Furniture Group (CFG), the Department for Education and BESA have designed a website to help you choose the correct size of school furniture and fittings for children of different ages. It also provides a wide range of useful information such as the height of shelves, computer screens, basins and worksurfaces, the depth of dining tables and the field of view at worksurfaces, based on the 2001 survey.

If you are not refurbishing the entire school but you are replacing only a handful of tables and chairs scattered across the school, you should consider buying good new ergonomic furniture for one classroom at a time. In other words, do not try to purchase furniture matching the old furniture or mix old and new furniture. Just buy sufficient numbers to equip one classroom at a time, so that the sizes of tables and chairs are well matched to each other and to the children.

Complying with the standard is only the starting point. If you want truly ergonomic furniture which genuinely promotes the wellbeing of children and raises academic achievement, you should look for furniture that: • promotes dynamic postures and allows movement • allows flexibility in teaching and learning styles • is easily and quickly adjustable • is comfortable to use • is easy to maintain and has a suitable warranty • is aesthetically pleasing.

IN CONCLUSION When you are considering buying new chairs and tables for your school, you are strongly advised to ask the supplier if their furniture complies with the European educational furniture standard (BS EN 1729). The furniture should comply with both Parts 1 and 2 of the standard.

You should remember that, before a manufacturer can claim that their chairs and tables conform to the standard, they must first have them tested by an independent testing organisation (FIRA, the leading furniture technology centre, is the most widely used in the UK) and obtain a certificate to show that the furniture has fully complied with the requirements of both parts of BS EN 1729.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Web: www.schoolfurniture.uk.com www.fira.co.uk

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J F John F. White Ltd cabinetmakers

Quality, bespoke and affordable school furniture • Full installation service available • Traditional or Contemporary • Free design service

We’ve been working with schools and colleges for 15 years creating bespoke school furniture.

We pride ourselves on our quality, our diversity and experience.

We also do a range of work in the leisure, commerce, health, shop fitting, and export sectors.

John F. White Ltd Cabinetmaker, Unit 6, Veasey Close, Attleborough Fields Industrial Estate, Nuneaton, CV11 6RT Tel: 024 76 347347 Fax: 024 76 382077 Email: enquiries@jfw-cabinet.com Web: www.jfw-cabinet.com

Education Business | Volume 16.2

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SCHOOL FURNITURE

BACKING GOOD FURNITURE With back pain an increasing problem for both children and adults, we look at BS EN 1729, the only current standard specifically targetting classroom furniture BS EN 1729 IS A TWO-PART standard looking firstly at the dimensions and the shape of product, and secondly at the strength and stability – ensuring that the product will endure the heavy demands placed on it by children, without compromising their safety.

TIMELY ADVICE The Furniture Industry Research Association (FIRA) and British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA) worked jointly to collect the necessary data in a broad-ranging survey of pupils in schools. In the many years since the subject was last addressed by British Standards, the height of children had increased to a considerable degree, and the recommended sizes in the new standard reflect this change.

Six height ranges, together with an age guide, have been identified, each colour coded, and specifying the required seat and table height. Ergonomic features are also addressed,

particularly in the shape and design of seating and the possible need for height-adjustability.

The UK has lagged behind many European countries – and most notably Sweden, Finland and Germany – in addressing the health and safety issues allied to needs of children throughout their education. One can only

imagine the damage wrought to growing youngsters spending much of the school day on “cheap as chips” polypropylene chairs with desks of inappropriate heights. Even now, this new standard is advisory only and schools are not legally obliged to comply.

Whilst it is possible that some manufacturers

The UK has lagged behind many European countries – and most notably Sweden, Finland and Germany – in addressing the health and safety issues allied to needs of children throughout their education. One can only imagine the damage wrought to growing youngsters spending much of the school day on “cheap as chips” polypropylene chairs with desks of inappropriate heights

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Manufacturers of Quality Fixed and Free Standing Educational Furniture Lab Systems Furniture Limited have been in the Education Service Industry for over 35 years and have a wide customer base comprising Schools, Colleges and Universities. We have extensive expertise in the design, manufacture and installation of fixed and loose furniture, fume cupboards and related services within the classroom environment.

Our furniture is carefully designed with both style and functionality in mind. Customer’s exclusive requirements are welcomed and implemented. The materials and components we use are of the best available quality. A wide spectrum of system types and finishes are available, from general purpose installations to highly specialised requirements.

Lab Systems Furniture Ltd, Rotary House, Bontoft Avenue, Kingston upon Hull HU5 4HF Tel: 01482 444650 DDI: 01482 467286 Fax: 01482 444730 www.labsystemsfurniture.co.uk Email: sales@lab-systems.co.uk

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Education Business | Volume 16.2

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SCHOOL FURNITURE

may continue to make furniture in the existing sizes, but they will be expected to move to the new sizings. Schools may continue to use their existing furniture, but it is in everyone’s interest if the recommendations are adhered to as and when furniture is replaced.

LESSONS FROM SCANDINAVIA One commercial furniture company, Kinnarps, manufacturing in Sweden, has for many years endeavoured to create better working environments for UK businesses, and they are now drawing on their experience and success within the Scandinavian sector to help improve some of Britain’s largest and most important workplaces – schools, colleges and universities.

Head of marketing at Kinnarps, Marc Bird, offers a few thoughts on the subject: “There is a gap between the quality of the working environments found in the education and business sectors. Why is it OK to seat students and teachers on chairs that would be illegal in UK offices? In Sweden there is a passion about the welfare of teaching staff and pupils and the need to protect them with good ergonomics in the classroom. Are we as concerned in the UK? “Great ideas are being developed and piloted by educational experts and indeed

by UK government. Are the people who are actually designing and building schools and colleges facilitating these advances in educational practice? Do they speak to real teachers and thought providers? Or does flexibility come at too high a price?

“The health of the working population is inevitably linked to the equipment and support they receive in their formative student days. Investment in education facilities today is an investment in a healthier and more productive workforce of tomorrow. Is the British mentality to be reactive – waiting for health problems to solve – rather than the Scandinavian pro-active approach? Is the emphasis on building and refurbishing schools too focused on the architectural beauty of the exterior or are we building practical, well-designed interiors that support new teaching methods and improve learning?”

Now there is great opportunity to grasp the awareness that the standard is generating.

We must hope that everyone involved in the furnishing of our schools – government, local authorities, head teachers, architects and interior designers, the furniture manufacturers and suppliers – all take stock and resolve to appreciate the long-term benefits that ergonomically sound furniture for our children will deliver. What a great trade in: a few extra pounds spent now against a lifetime of back-related sick leave!

Margaret Haynes is director of OFAS, The Office Furniture Advisory Service, the impartial and independent advisory service offering advice and information on commercial and contract furniture.

ABOUT OFAS OFAS was founded in 1987 and has evolved into the leading resource in its field. OFAS is a membership organisation offering detailed and impartial information on all aspects of office and contract furniture and related subjects, and is funded by the members it serves.

OFAS also provides impartial consultancy services for specific office and contract furniture related projects - usually for facilities managers and specifiers who may require assistance with, for example, implementing a furniture audit, advice and recommendations on furniture selection, or guidance on the most suitable procurement process.

In addition, OFAS offers a complete

event organisation service for seminars, product launches, conferences, and training and motivation days. It has access to an impressive array of proven presenters and facilitators and can orchestrate all aspects of such an occasion.

The OFAS newsletter is a quarterly, full colour publication widely distributed to the trade, facilities managers and specifiers, and includes amongst other things information about new products, company news, recent contracts and personnel news.

Tel: 01344 779 438 E-mail: ofas@ofas.org.uk Web: www.ofas.org.uk

THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE FOR EDUCATION

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Schools choose ECDL Extra because it is an internationally recognised qualification.

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Education Business | Volume 16.2

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ICT

HOW TO GO GREEN AT LOW OR ZERO COST Professor Margaret Ross, secretary/vice chair of the BCS’s Green IT Specialist Group, writes on how end users can green their workspace and promote the sustainable use of computing GREEN IT IS TODAY AN ISSUE FOR all, but particularly for school teachers and administrators, as their actions will influence not only their pupils and hence their families, but it also future IT users. The need to reduce the carbon footprint, the consumption of power, water and other resources, is not only good practice but also good economics.

While touring the Outer Hebrides last year, I was amazed to see small wind turbines in the playgrounds of the small island schools.

Generating power perhaps is not an option for the majority of schools and colleges, but there are many actions, at zero or low

cost, that can be undertaken, to provide financial as well as environmental benefits.

The justification to “go green” is well known, not only to reduce the carbon footprint, save power and water (both potentially limited resources), but also to enhance the feelgood factor, improve reputation, as well as issues like saving the polar bear. Other outcomes often lead to saving money.

I am going to consider our use of computers as end-users in many schools and offices.

Many of these ideas can also be utilised in home use of your computer to reduce your own costs and improve your green footprint.

The need to reduce the carbon footprint, the consumption of power, water and other resources, is not only good practice but also good economics

CHANGING OUR ATTITUDES It has been found that we are much more conscious of saving power and hence reducing our carbon footprint at home, than at work.

Over 80 per cent turn off their computers and over 90 per cent turn off the lights at home compared with about 66 per cent in both cases at work. We need to encourage the same green attitude at work as at home.

One of the first options is to establish a senior manager as a green champion and then to engage all staff and students, by encouraging groups to come up with their ideas.

One method could be to explain the implications of acting in a more carbon efficient manner, not using technical terms but utilising typical examples, produced by the Carbon Trust such as: • The cost of leaving a computer on 24/7 can be reduced over a year to a saving of enough energy to make 34,900 cups of coffee

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ICT

• A PC monitor switched off overnight saves enough energy to microwave six dinners.

Another way is to illustrate the amount of cartridges and paper used in a month.

Figures produced by the Carbon Trust indicated that “lighting an office overnight wastes enough energy to heat water for one thousand cups of tea” and that “a typical window left open overnight in winter will waste enough energy to drive a small car for more than thirty-five miles”. Stickers on light switches that control lights that are not on automatic timers or motion detectors, can remind people to turn them off.

SAVINGS THOUGH SIMPLE ACTIONS Make savings by switching off or putting computers into sleep mode. Software, some available free, can assist with this. The brightness on monitors can also be reduced.

One manager from a local authority walked round the departments after staff had gone home, either putting a sweet on the desk of those that had turned off their computers, or sending an e-mail to those that had not.

When his action was repeated about a month later, it cost him many more sweets!

Active screen savers could be removed, as the same power is used to run the screens savers as the working monitor. HM Revenue & Customs expects reductions

secure and non-confidential outputs. Others have introduced a code system so that the printing will only be undertaken when the relevant person keys in their code to the printer, but these involve costs to establish.

It was reported that the Department of Work and Pensions will save two million sheets of paper per year, thereby reducing pressure on the environment (both trees and water to produce the paper) as well as carbon footprint and cost. The use of partially or wholly recycled products and materials is good, as is requiring information from suppliers on the “greenness” of their products and services, not forgetting the implications of transportation.

RECYCLING & RE-USE Provide recycling bins, including ones for used batteries. Many supermarkets and shops now provide collection points for dead batteries, make arrangements for those collected in a school to be taken to one of these collection points, subject to the supermarket’s agreement. Some of these approaches to greenness can also be utilised at home.

Consider upgrading rather than purchasing new equipment. It was estimated that the carbon footprint to produce desktop PCs was more than generated by its usage for a three-year period. The Crown Prosecution Service estimated savings of

Although many of these actions seem to make very little difference to the wider problem of reducing the carbon footprint and the use of fuel and energy, I personally think the expression that ‘every little helps’ is worth taking on board of 12,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide and £2m savings per year by enabling active power management on PCs and laptops.

It is estimated that there is an approximate 50 per cent increase in storage each year so everyone should be encouraged to remove unwanted files on a regular basis.

SAFETY, SECURITY & SAVINGS The concept of “hot rooming” could be introduced when only a limited number of staff are working late or over weekends. By using specified areas only, rather than their normal desks and offices, reductions in heating and lighting can be achieved, also improving the security for the building and the personal security for those working outside normal hours.

We should all ask ourselves if it is really necessary to print, and if it is, set printers to double sided printing as the default option. Moving the printer out of easy reach can discourage un-necessary printing.

Some organisations have moved printing to centralised points; this is suitable for non-

£2.35 million by replacing computers every five years instead of every three years.

LEGISLATION The new Energy Bill and the pressures to reduce carbon footprint with target dates of 2020 and 2050 together with the introduction of carbon trading have brought green IT to the top of many managers’ concerns.

The effect of the WEEE (Waste of Electrical and Electronic Equipment) legislation must always be taken into consideration. Ensure that an asset register is kept up-to-date, particularly with respect to the disposal of all equipment. Contracts could always include “new for old” type clauses.

The deletion of data is a major problem when disposing of equipment. Unfortunately there are ethical aspects when sending used computers to developing countries, as the immediate benefit is widely accepted but there is also a long-term problem that is also being exported, in that eventually the equipment itself will have to be

ABOUT THE AUTHOR – MARGARET ROSS MBE, FBCS, CSCI, CENG Professor of Software Quality, Southampton Solent University.

Longstanding independent PITCOM member, and previous PITCOM Council; BCS Council member, vice-chair and secretary of the BCS Green IT Specialist Group, and also on BCS committees of the Quality SG, e-Learning SG, BCSWomen and Chair of BCS Hampshire Branch.

Margaret was previously an Engineering Council Senator, and currently on the ETB Careers Panel.

She is a Freeman of the City of London and Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Chartered Engineers. disposed of at the end of its life.

Various initiatives have been developed to encourage the reduction of carbon footprint, such as the European Union CleanTech initiative that aims by 2020 to achieve savings of 20 per cent of primary energy consumption, reduction of greenhouse emissions by 20 per cent and raising the share of renewable energy by 20 per cent. The EU Code of Conduct for Data Centres provides an opportunity for commitment and measurement of reduction of the carbon footprint.

HELP AVAILABLE BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, offers an ISEB Diploma for Data Centres and a Green IT Foundation qualification, the latter is aimed at end-user departments, local green IT experts, teachers, and those that use computers at work or at home.

The BCS Green IT Specialist Group holds events and produces e-leaflets to help end users, their departmental managers, home users and SMEs to achieve a more green approach.

Although many of these actions seem to make very little difference to the wider problem of reducing the carbon footprint and the use of fuel and energy, I personally think the expression that “every little helps” is worth taking on board.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Web: www.bcs.org

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ICT

REASSURANCE ON SOFTWARE The Business Application Software Developers Association explains its Charters and Codes, all of which will help you when it comes to sourcing new software solutions SELECTING A SOFTWARE PACKAGE involves not only straightforward calculations of cost vs function, but may also comprise consideration of social responsibility, software security, and ethical or environmental policies of the supplier. BASDA members support various Charters and Codes, designed to reassure customers of their credentials.

The BASDA Code of Practice commits its signatories to abide by rules covering basic good principles of business practice in the software sector, such as commitment to appropriate and timely communications to customers of updates or product withdrawals, useful and accessible documentation and information, equitably-priced software support and a clearly defined dispute resolution process.

GREEN ISSUES The Green Charter was developed in response to BASDA’s stated aim to spearhead the drive to create the standards, measurement and reporting mechanisms for this vitally important, but ill-defined topic.

BASDA members have already worked together to launch Green XML, a development of the popular BASDA XML data exchange standard, that will allow business applications ways of automatically collecting data on issues such as carbon footprints and embedded water.

In addition, BASDA members who commit to the Green Charter state that they will strive to play their part in combatting climate change by taking pro-active steps to increase the carbon efficiency of our own organisations and enhancing their software solutions to enable customers to become part of a carbon efficient economy.

should assure the customer that the vendor deals with their business in a professional fashion and following industry best practices.

BASDA member companies such as the Access Group, Symmetry, UNIT4 Business Software, and Bond Teamspirit support these initiatives, particularly the new Software Security Code of Practice.

ABOUT BASDA BASDA was founded in 1993 and today acts as the voice of the UK-based business software industry. BASDA represents IT organisations of all sizes from the world’s largest business software suppliers through to UK headquartered medium and small sized businesses.

For the past 17 years, BASDA has worked with government, standards and policy making groups in the UK, Europe and worldwide to provide a forum for collaboration to resolve issues that affect the business software industry and our customers.

BASDA provides independent news, opinion and commentary from its position as a non-profit making organisation that represents the collective voice of the UK-based business software industry on behalf of its members. BASDA also produces white papers and reports on current legislation and changes that affect the software industry.

FOR MORE INFORMATION See our website www.basda.org for lists of our members and look out for our logos on their websites and other marketing collateral

SOFTWARE SECURITY During 2010, BASDA launched two new codes, both aimed at reassuring our members’ customers that both the company and their products will meet specific criteria.

The BASDA Software Security Code of Practice was drawn up to help meet the needs both of software users, such as HMRC, and of BASDA members for a simple way for vendors to demonstrate their commitment to address security issues, concerns and perceptions.

The Code is a voluntary, self-certifying code, but condition-based, which will reassure customers of member signatories of their competencies and attitude to such an important product attribute.

The Code of Practice covers six areas of compliance, relating not only to software design principles, but also the software usage principles, enabling any certified member company to show that they guide their customers into good practice as well as following it themselves.

The first area relates to data protection compliance, ensuring that software designed to handle data and data processes enables and facilitates compliance with all relevant legislation, and that users of the software are fully aware of their responsibilities under such legislation.

Secondly, the Code looks at software function and data access controls, with specific recommendations for both designers and for users relating to password controls, user profiles etc for access to complex and sensitive processes and data.

Other aspects in the Code are data storage and audit trails, and also data recovery, again taking into consideration the potential sensitivity of data held.

CLOUD VENDOR CHARTER The Cloud Vendor Charter is the latest launch from BASDA. It aims to differentiate from other codes on the market, by addressing more technical issues. The Cloud Vendor Charter outlines the minimum best practices that BASDA recommends be followed by cloud vendors to protect their customers’ interests.

The Charter seeks to encourage a responsible approach to Data Management, Application Availability, Security and Customer Management throughout the lifecycle of the customer engagement, and aims to enhance the commercial success of both customer and vendor. Adhering to the Charter should not be overly burdensome for the vendor but

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Education Business | Volume 16.2

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BETT 2011

EQUIPPING LEARNERS WITH ESSENTIAL TECHNOLOGICAL SKILLS The biggest trade show of educational technology and resources proves as popular as ever despite the current climate. Let’s find out what happened at BETT 2011 BETT, AS MANY OF YOU WILL KNOW, is the world’s largest technology in education show. As educators from far and wide made their yearly pilgrimage to Olympia from 12 to 15 January, the 700 or so exhibiting IT companies showcased their latest products, newest innovations and best practice techniques. And they needn’t have worried about challenging economic conditions and the UK’s change of government affecting visitor numbers. Figures released by organisers Emap post-show confirmed that over 29,000 visitors attending the exhibition – a number on par with the attendance at BETT 2010.

Schools are still focusing on technology as a solution, just in a tougher economic climate, and they are looking for ICT that is both effective and good value for money. Tighter budgets mean teachers are having to be more imaginative in their use of ICT, and subsequently looked to BETT for ideas. Let’s take a look back at some of the highlights of this year’s event.

WHAT VISITORS EXPERIENCED Something that could not be missed this year was the exciting ‘Visual Learning’ central feature, led by Professor Stephen Heppell and sponsored by Impleo. In light of the current economic climate, the feature focused on learning for less and how technology can improve learning through visual stimuli.

The feature area was split into three key themes: Revision, Transition, and Girls and Science. These themes were developed by students at Lampton School, Hounslow, who were on stand for the duration of BETT demonstrating new technologies. To ensure the presentations were matched to educator’s challenges, their inspirational teacher Juliette Heppell, was also available on the stand.

The students had a great deal of input on the whole design of the feature; something which has supported their research for the design of a futuristic school learning space after Year 9 students won a ‘Classroom of

the Future’ competition. The competition provided students with £30,000 to make their dream learning environment a reality, including equipping the classroom with ICT equipment.

Prof. Stephen Heppell said: “Many children still spend hours copying work directly from the board, an extremely ineffective process that limits opportunity for learners to contextualise topics. Providing images and visuals on the other hand, is a great way for learners to really engage with the learning content and truly think about what it is they are seeing before them. The Visual Learning feature at BETT was a fantastic place to demonstrate how technology can help achieve this.”

Impleo, a consultancy and installations provider within the telecoms, education and location based solutions sectors, was on hand to demonstrate the concept of Visual Learning through the use of high end innovative AV technologies. Mike Fry, head of AV, said: “Impleo was delighted to be working with

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Spend less - achieve more Sound familiar?

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Education Business | Volume 16.2

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BETT 2011

Prof. Heppell to deliver this feature at BETT 2011. We are perfectly placed to showcase pioneering solutions that complemented the three key areas of discussion.”

The Demonstration Zone at BETT provided the opportunity to receive an in depth, hands-on illustration of a product or service, and see how it could be used in practice.

Sessions led by company leaders, specialists and developers allowed them to share their expert knowledge of their products with the enthusiastic visitors. For example, Chris Britaan from Elmo presented a live demonstration on how to bring lessons to life using visualisers.

Visitors received a practical application of visualisers and picked up various lesson ideas on how to embed their use in the classroom.

The Future Learning Spaces feature at BETT 2011 was a uniquely valuable area in light of the funding cuts and the introduction of academies and free schools. Those looking to create a truly modern learning space with a limited budget were able to articulate their new requirements, and see demonstrations of products and services that have been developed to meet the new challenges. The series of specialised seminars offered visitors the chance to get to the heart of issues concerning investment and development in learning environments today.

WHAT VISITORS SAW Almost 700 exhibitors at BETT 2011 showcased technologies at the forefront of their field, with many utilising BETT as a platform to

Schools are still focusing on technology as a solution, just in a tougher economic climate, and they are looking for ICT that is both effective and good value for money. Tighter budgets mean teachers are having to be more imaginative in their use of ICT, and subsequently looked to BETT for ideas unveil the latest offerings to educators.

New exhibitor Vocab Express showcased its online modern foreign language vocabulary learning application for KS3 to KS5. Pre-loaded with vocabulary from the major exam boards and leading publishers, this motivational resource provides an independent tool through which children can build their vocabulary.

Developed in close partnership with MFL teachers, students can get instant feedback on work, whilst their progress is monitored and tracked by teachers. Visitors to the stand had the opportunity to experience firsthand the innovative nature of Vocab Express, which engages students, keeps them actively learning, and raises attainment levels.

Channel 4 Learning Clipbank showcased its recently launched ‘News Blast’ daily news service for secondary schools. Clipbank is a complete learning service that provides video clips, lesson plans, worksheet templates and much more. News Blast is broadcast

on Clipbank daily at 8am during term time, providing students with a 60 second bulletin containing four headlines and accompanying transcripts. Containing the latest news for that morning, the fast-paced bulletin is ideal for showing in assemblies, form tutor time, PSHE or Citizenship lessons, pre or post school clubs or on screens located around the school.

ACHIEVING OUTSTANDING WORK Serif was demonstrating how it can provide schools with a lower cost package that still produces professional results. Serif’s Design Suite has repeatedly been praised for its powerful yet easy-to-use software enabling all pupils, whatever their level of experience, to achieve outstanding work. It is also some of the most affordable software on the market.

To prove just how professional students’ designs can be, Serif was displaying work from Nottingham Bluecoat School, whose Diploma class had been busy designing marketing

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IT products and services for schools and colleges LACKBOX, the Acer Experience Centre based in Preston and Lancaster, serving the entire country, has teamed up with ACER Education to provide exceptional levels of service and products for schools across the range from primary to universities.

Drawing on their experience of 15 years Richard Alford (MD) is ably supported by a close nit team of 25, and aims to offer a professional service.

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Education Business | Volume 16.2

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BETT 2011

materials for the stand. On the Friday of BETT, they also had Weydon School students on stand to showcase their GCSE ICT work.

Ensuring successful and beneficial communication between school and home has always been a hurdle; time consuming and often ineffective in accomplishing the parental involvement that can be the key to driving achievement in students. BETT 2011 was a platform for visitors to explore communication tools on offer in order to solve this issue.

Though it has been successfully providing communication products to the primary and secondary education market for over 20 years, ParentLink® only recently entered the UK market. It used its presence at BETT to globally announce Teacher Reach™, the company’s newest educational technology product, which was well received by visitors to the show. Designed and tested by real teachers, Teacher Reach provides a powerful yet easy way for teachers to build parent partnerships and engage families. With Teacher Reach, teachers can instantly send pre-crafted or custom messages to all students, groups of students, or individual students – all with a single mouse click. As a completely webhosted solution, Teacher Reach can quickly and easily integrate with any school information system, instantly putting all of the student contact data at a teacher’s fingertips.

BOOSTING STUDENT LEARNING PolyVision launched its new budget-friendly, interactive classroom solution, eno one. eno one combines an interactive whiteboard, integrated multi-media projector, mounting solution and educational software in one packaged classroom technology solution.

Saving money, enhancing teacher instruction and boosting student learning have been found by PolyVision to be the primary concerns among school administrators at this present time. Therefore, a solution which provides infinite ways to transform teaching and boost student success while limiting monetary expenditures was warmly received at BETT. Bob Crain, PolyVision’s general manager, said: “Today, more than ever before, kids are part of a connected generation. However, classroom environments have not evolved to capture the needs of today’s learners. eno one meets the emerging needs of teachers and students alike through an interactive learning ecosystem that bridges traditional teaching methods with innovative instructional tools to inspire creativity, collaboration and engagement.”

ADVICE AND SUPPORT Time and performance management have become a growing concern for teachers and leaders within the education sector in recent years. Many of the specialist exhibitors at BETT 2011 proved to be places where educators could ask questions, seek advice and find new ways to effectively lighten their

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BETT 2011

workload, thus putting their focus back onto the teaching and learning experiences. One such exhibitor was Cosby Clifton Computer Consultants, which offers ICT consultancy services to school. Cosby Clifton provides advice and support to those seeking to develop and extend their ICT resources, and who wish to ensure that these resources are properly managed and properly utilised.

To ensure this, Cosby Clifton has been working with Dynistics and its ‘Active Dashboards’ business intelligence software to help schools maximise their return on investment. The Active Dashboards’ graphical reporting software helps educators to analyse and present data relevant to their institution in a visual format that aids rapid interpretation and action. The software has proven to be especially beneficial when implemented to aid Ofsted inspection preparation, eliminating an enormous amount of preparation time prior to inspection as the school’s key performance data is shown in real time through graphical dashboards.

themes to allow visitors to maximise their visit: management, training and development, curriculum and assessment, innovation, and special education needs (SEN). This year BETT also played host to the first Open House @ BETT sessions, a new programme of seminars that enabled visitors to find inspiration and innovation in highly interactive formats.

The new BETT co-located conferences, BETT International and UK Education Leaders @ BETT, provided valuable opportunities for robust debate, discussion and reflection at the event.

Tim Loughton, Parliamentary Under Secretary for Children and Families, gave the opening address at UK Education Leaders @ BETT, speaking about the future of education in the UK. Mr Loughton focused on the significant role that technology plays in education and stated that the government will continue to support leaders and educators, offering the freedom to make their own procurement decisions. He noted that “the time has come to place technology at the absolute centre of our aspirations for a world-class education sector”.

WHAT VISITORS LEARNT As ever, the renowned seminar programme at BETT 2011 offered visitors valuable, accredited continuing professional development (CPD) certified opportunities. A full schedule of seminars was categorised into five main

POSITIVE COMMENTS After an exhausting but enlightening four days, both visitors and exhibitors were impressed with what BETT 2011 had to offer. Heather Ryall, The Vyne Community School, commented: “It has been inspiring to see how technology can

Video conferencing stars at BETT 2011 ARKET

M LEADING Visualiser manufacturer AVerMedia received a big thumbs up from visitors for its new Video Conferencing range, shown for the first time in the UK at the recent BETT show. Known as the AVerComm H Series, the product is easy to set up and use, as well being highly cost effective.

AVerMedia, with its leading product technology gained in the educational visualiser market, designed the AVerComm video conference system with outstanding performance for a value for money price. The system is intended to bring video conferencing to everyone, wherever in the world they are. Compared with other products available at the same price point, the AVerComm range provides users with a fully-integrated video conference solution for an affordable price.

AVerMedia marketing manager

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Nigel Roberts said: “We are incredibly excited about the launch of the AVerComm range in the UK as it allows users to hold meetings remotely, therefore saving travel time, cost and the environment. The AVerComm system is easy to operate and can offer real benefits in the classroom, bringing full interaction and spontaneity between sites or with other schools around the world.

“The beauty of the AVerComm system is its low cost, straightforward installation, portability and ease of use, which few existing systems can compete with,” Roberts concluded.

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be used in the classroom to further education, and the exhibitors here at BETT have proven to be very friendly and informative.”

Arsin Ilazi, educational technology coordinator, AED, Albania, said: “I found my visit to BETT to be very useful. There has been so much information that I will now have to rest for a week to let it sink in! This has been my first visit, but I have made so many useful exhibitor contacts.

BETT has proven to be the place to be.”

Jim Black, marketing manager, Bloxx, who was exhibiting at the show said: “It has been a very transitional year in the education sector – with schools having more autonomy. This appears to have resulted in BETT 2011 exceeding our target in terms of the number of quality leads generated.”

BETT will return 11-14 January 2012. For those who cannot wait that long, you can visit the UK’s biggest education resources event, the Education Show, at the NEC Birmingham (1719 March) where the BETT Zone will showcase some of the ICT highlights from BETT 2011. For more details, visit www.education-show.com

FOR MORE INFORMATION For a comprehensive directory of educational suppliers, visit the BETT website www.bettshow.com

Dartfish – believe in the learning power of video HE EMERGENCE of easy-to-use video devices indicates that visual learning content is rising dramatically across all subjects of the curriculum.

Dartfish brings the complete and seamless video solution for efficient teaching and learning. We develop video analysis applications to provide schools with the necessary tools for integrating and using video in the classroom, theatre, gym, lab, on the field and more.

With Dartfish applications, teachers will be empowered to easily address the following teaching and learning processes: • Create automatic review of exercises and practices with “live in-the-lesson” feedback • Annotate performances with bookmarks and highlights • Enrich video with visual effects, annotations, analysis and assessment • Create interactive lesson plans • Distribute video content online

T

The integration of video in teaching generates many benefits for both teachers and students: teachers can teach instead of demonstrate, and students rapidly improve and strengthen their knowledge and skills.

Stand-alone software, video learning platform, network solution, simple or elaborate deployment – Dartfish delivers the tool teachers and students need to make video content available anytime, anywhere.

Believe in the learning power of video. Integrate Dartfish in your teaching for the best impact on learning.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Tel: 0845 0043414 E-mail: info.uk@dartfish.com Web: www.dartfish.com/ education or www.dartfish.tv/education

Education Business | Volume 16.2

www.educationbusinessuk.com

MAKING LIFE CLEARER WITH ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY Sight and Sound Technology is the UK’s leading provider of hardware and software solutions to the blind, visually impaired and those with learning and reading difficulties from customers. We work with publishers and manufacturers to make sure their technologies fit the needs of the UK market, and our customers know that we are going to continue providing them with innovative products.”

These technologies are continuously developing; new products that are soon to be launched include a handheld device that will recognise an object it is shown and read it aloud to the user, and an application that links mobile phones to a small Braille display so that text messages can be easily read. “Our solutions can cover any age group and any part of life,” adds Glenn. “We want to link all the different elements together to provide a truly integrated solution and take people’s mobility further.

“Our whole aim is to ensure that everyone is able to operate equally and, by using our technology, on a level playing field.”

FROM HUMBLE BEGINNINGS as a computer maintenance company in 1981, by 1983 Sight and Sound Technology had become one of the founders of the UK assistive technology industry, offering tailored solutions for blind and visually impaired people or those with reading and learning difficulties, such as dyslexia, dyspraxia and dyscalculia.

From screen readers, magnification and specialist software equipment for the blind and visually impaired, through specialist software for those with reading and writing difficulty to desktop equipment, handheld devices and mobile phone technology, the products it offers, according to CEO Glenn Tookey: “help people get the most out of life; certainly in education where students can achieve better learning outcomes on an equal footing.”

SUPPORTED LEARNING Sight and Sound Technology works with a wide range of charitable and commercial organisations, as well as private individuals, but its solutions are particularly beneficial to educational institutions. “We provide specific education-targeted technologies,” explains Glenn. “Our range of products has been proven to enable students to read better, improve their writing, and use and understand the Internet more easily.”

When working with educational institutions, the company either supports specific students or works with a disability support team to meet the requirements of groups.

Appropriate computer software is delivered across the whole of the establishment’s network, and solutions are tailored to meet each student’s individual needs so when they log on they can access their own unique profile.

“It’s much more efficient and less costly,” says Glenn. “For example, we work with the University of Stirling using an integrated literacy solution called Kurzweil 3000, which has a range of functions and features to assist learning, reading and writing but also allows teaching staff to track students’ progress.”

In addition to bespoke learning packages, students and staff are fully trained by Sight and Sound Technology’s certified trainers, and have the support of a dedicated helpdesk that can provide advice or solve technical problems over the phone or via e-mail. This is part of the company’s goal to provide a one-stop-shop, offering higher-education students everything they need for the software and equipment part of their Disabled Students Allowance (DSA).

AT HELPDESK The new world order in education has seen many front line teaching and support professionals lose the Special Educational Needs (SEN) support they rely upon to meet the needs of disadvantaged learners.

Sight and Sound Technology offers LEAs, HEIs, colleges and schools a bespoke support service contract that covers assessment, provision of assistive technology, training and most importantly day to day helpdesk support for students and professionals who need advice and guidance in the use of assistive technology.

“If you have a problem with your IT you call the IT helpdesk, if you have a challenge with learning disability, then call the AT helpdesk,” says Glenn.

Sight and Sound Technology is keen to engage with individual schools, cooperatives and education authorities who need help, guidance and support with AT.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Tel: 0845 634 7979 Web: www.sightandsound.co.uk

LEADING-EDGE TECHNOLOGIES Working with market- and world-leading brands, Sight and Sound Technology has an exclusive contract as sole distributor of their products throughout the UK and Ireland. It is this long-standing and trusted relationship that Glenn believes accounts for a key strength: “Because of our length of time in the market and our exposure to a wide range of age and disability groups, our suppliers trust the feedback that we give

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