Informer Issue 15 Summer 2010
• Floor Care - all the products and equipment for your summer clean • New Furniture Division Website
Informer SUMMER 10.indd 1
• Procurement - simple guide for schools • KCS Exercise Books Best Value
• Support “Save the Rhino” Win a class visit to Port Lympne • KCS outdoor play contract
10/6/10 10:28:30 am
Look out for...
Dear Customer, Welcome to the Summer 2010 edition of the KCS Informer. This edition focuses on summer floor maintenance with details of the products and equipment available for all your floor cleaning needs. After a great deal of positive feedback, we have updated our Schools Procurement Guide, originally published in our Autumn 2007 Informer. This is designed to be a simple ‘at a glance’ guide to help you avoid the various procurement pitfalls. We are often asked about the difference between our education furniture and that supplied by others. One of the key differences is that all our products are procured through a relevant OJEU Contract and they are selected based on their ability to meet the various UK and European performance standards. Pages 15-18 detail the new developments with our furniture division. Interest in our School Shout pages continues to grow. If your school has a news story that you are proud of, please speak to your sales rep or contact our Customer Care team and they will explain how you can become involved. Once again, thank you for your continued support and if you have any further ideas or suggestions in relation to KCS, please do not hesitate to contact me. Best regards, Steven Munday KCS General Manager T: 01622 605485 E: steven.munday@kent.gov.uk
04
10
15
20
KCS 2GB Flash Drives 19 000 002
Qty 1–29 Qty 30–99 Qty 100+
£6.99 £6.49 £6.00
STEINBEIS PURE Competition 2010 Every time you purchase Steinbeis Pure copier paper (01 977 076), between June and September, you will be entered into a monthly prize draw to win a £100 voucher to be redeemed on KCS stock products of your choice.
WIN
April Winner: Christopher Hatton Primary School, London May Winner: Frant CE School, Tunbridge Wells
This edition contains articles on:
Schools Procurement Guide ........................ 12-13
Your DPN or Account Number
KCS Own Brand .................................................. 03
KCS Exercise Books ........................................... 14
Cleaning & Floor care ................................... 04-07
Furniture ...................................................... 15-18
Save the Rhino ............................................. 08-09
Sales Team Awards / Competition .................... 19
? ? ? ? ? ?
KCS Outdoor Play Contract .......................... 10-11
School Shout ............................................... 20-23
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Please quote this on every order to ensure that it is processed speedily every time!
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KCS Own Brand From humble beginnings in 2006, when we launched KCS Own Brand, our 2010/11 range has grown to over 100 different products with over 200 variations! Before we put our name on a product, we have to assure ourselves of its quality – so offering a best value substitute for a branded line. Over the last 4 years, we have worked with many schools who have thoroughly tested proposed new additions and given us their thoughts as to the potential success of the product.
“6
Top: Launch products, 2006 Above: New products for 2009/10
a quality product, at a competitive price, from a supplier you can trust
products at launch in 2006
2010/11 KCS Catalogue has a complete Own Brand section
100+ products in 2010/11
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“
For those products that we do add to the range, we regularly ask for wider feedback through our annual KCS Customer Care Survey. This includes your views regarding quality, price, lifecycle and packaging.
In the 2009 Customer Care Survey...
95% 90%
of respondents had purchased a KCS Own Brand product of them rated the price as either excellent or good! 03
10/6/10 10:28:41 am
Scrub, P olish and your floo Buff rs for les s! As the h empty s olidays approa chool bu ch and i l d ings bec floor ma kon, intenan c e i conside red and s being planned .
3 pages of exclus iv offers! e
The essential care of floors is necessary but expensive, especially in the high traffic areas. KCS has teamed up with the industry leaders to provide you with the best products for all your floor care needs this summer.
There are special discounts available, so order today to make sure you have everything in place for the summer break 04
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Safety floor cleaning kit
10% OFF
C
A
Regula Catalogure Price
B
A. R400 POLISHER • 380 rpm. High speed machine for polishing. • Takes 17” pads. • Includes drive board and blue & red pads. 056 037 218
Was £614.99
Now £553.49
A. R20/40 DUO SCRUBBER & POLISHER • Dual speed 190/380 rpm. For scrubbing and polishing. • Takes 17” pads. • Includes drive board and blue & red pads. 056 037 217
Was £759.99
Now £683.99
B. NILCO FLOORMASTER 2 TOILET & STAIR SCRUBBER • 2 brush scrubber/polisher with steel casing. • Perfect for toilets and other confined areas. • Includes cleaning pads, polishing brushes and felt pads. • FREE Safety Floor Cleaning Kit worth £49.99. Lifts dirt from Altro floors with ease. Contains 2 drive boards and 2 safety floor cleaning pads. 056 041 516
D. MASTERWASH 240, 340 & 340P • Multi Purpose floor scrubber effectively cleans both carpets and hard floors. • Easy to manoeuvre and quick drying • Cleans right into the tightest corners. • Excellent results on safety floors and tile grouting. • Pump version (340P) has larger tank, but uses less water and leaves floor dryer. • With FREE transport trolley worth £82.99.
£299.99
056 037 201
£1049.00
MW340: 34 cm cleaning path 056 037 202
£1519.00
MW340P: As above but with pump £1725.00
Upholstery Cleaning Kit Worth £84.99 C. NILCO SE1237 (Large area shampooer) • Deep cleans medium to large carpet and floor areas. • Uses less water and less effort than when using standard tub style extractors. • With roller brush. • Optional brush for scrubbing hard floors is available. • 33cm cleaning path, 13 litre clean water tank. • With FREE upholstery cleaning kit worth £84.99. 056 037 166
£829.99
NILCO SE1227 (Medium area shampooer) • As per SE1237, below, but more suited to medium sized areas. • 8 litre clean water tank. • With FREE upholstery cleaning kit worth £84.99. 056 039 658
D
i
Transport trolley
MW240: 24 cm cleaning path
056 037 204
FREE
FREE
Safety Flo Altro Clea or/ nin Kit Worth g £49.99
FREE
Transpo Trolley Wort rth £82.99
£689.99
ONE MACHINE, TWO JOBS Save time and money cleaning floors this summer by using the R20/40 Duo and Nilco SE1237 machines.
With the R20/40 Duo you can strip or scrub at the low speed setting and, with the flick of a switch, you can polish at high speed. The SE1237 will effortlessly clean your carpets and with this great offer it will quickly clean your upholstery too! Promotion ends 31 July 2010.
FREE DEMONSTRATIONS AT YOUR PREMISES AVAILABLE ON REQUEST PLEASE CONTACT DENIS RAWLINS LTD ON 0121 351 4444 Informer SUMMER 10.indd 7
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Win a class visit to Port Lympne Wild Animal Park with Victor Stationery and Save the Rhino!
WIN
Competition Entry: To qualify for entry into the prize draw, a school needs to place an order for 500 RHINO books or more (max of 5 entries per school), taken between 1st June and 23rd July 2010. The Winning School will select a class to visit Port Lympne and one pupil for the Rhino Ranger Day. Contact your local KCS representative for details.
Did you know that every time you buy Victor Stationery’s (www.victorstationery.com) RHINO brand you’re helping conserve rhinos in the wild?
Victor Stationery has provided support to the charity Save the Rhino for nearly 5 years and is now offering one very lucky class the opportunity to visit the rhinos at Port Lympne Wild Animal Park and one even luckier pupil the opportunity to be a keeper for the day.
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Save the Rhino is a UK based fundraising charity that works to conserve viable populations of critically endangered rhinos in Africa and Asia. Save the Rhino has loads of great educational material (like the activity sheet on the opposite page), available completely free of charge to UK schools as well as some great ideas to get your school involved in supporting Save the Rhino. Visit: www.savetherhino.org and click on the ‘KIDS’ tab for more details.
BUYING RHINO SAVES RHINOS
Reg. charity no. 1035072
KCS Stocks Rhino Exercise Books (see pages 55-59) All come with our market leading Customer Care Pledge. • Free next day delivery (£30+ ex VAT stock orders only) • No telephone or fax queues • No minimum order
Howletts and Port Lympne Wild Animal Parks, home to over 900 animals (including the largest breeding herd of black rhinos outside of Africa), carry out extensive conservation work and are keen to encourage children to learn about animals and the environment. To find out about the educational experiences on offer visit: www.aspinalfoundation.org/portlympne/
Terms and conditions: Subject to availability and dates, the school visit needs to take place during term time, Monday to Friday, during the month of October. The Rhino Ranger Day requires an accompanying adult and is offered on Sundays 10am-4pm again to be taken during October.
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Visit: www.savetherhino.org for more educational materials
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KCS Outdoor Play Contract This year will see additional funds available across the country as part of the National Play Strategy to build & revamp playgrounds in public areas. To tie in with this, our Outdoor Playground Equipment (OJEU compliant) contract started on April 1st 2009. Our simple matrix guide below is designed to provide you with details of all aspects of the contract.
Supplier
Stakeholder engagement projects
Line marking a) paint
✔
Blakedown Landscapes (Operations) Ltd CPCL The Children’s Playground Co Ltd Easifall International Ltd Eibe Play Ltd Fenland Leisure Products Ltd Gravity Engineering Ltd HAGS Play Ltd Hand Made Places Ltd Kompan Ltd Lappset UK Ltd Lightmain Co Ltd Miracle Design And Play Ltd
b) thermoplastic
Wetpour rubber safety surface
Rubber safety tiles
Bark chippings
General Playground equipment & safety surfacing
✔
✔
Musical/sound play equipment
✔ ✔
✔ ✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔ ✔
✔
✔ ✔
Nova Sport Limited Playdale Playgrounds Limited Playforce Ltd
✔
✔ ✔
Playquip Leisure Playworld Systems (Europe) Ltd Parkdale Play & Leisure Ltd Proludic Limited Record RSS Ltd Soft Surfaces Ltd SMP (Playgrounds) Ltd Sovereign Design Play Systems Ltd Sutcliffe Play Ltd Timberplay Ltd Wicksteed Playscapes (Wicksteed Leisure Ltd)
Electronic outdoor play equipment
✔
✔ ✔ ✔
✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
✔ ✔ ✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
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Wooden carvings, artwork, Outdoor very large wooden fitness equipment structure (gymnasium style)
Multi use games areas (MUGAs) a) Metal
b) Timber
✔
✔
✔
✔
Skate/BMX parks a) Concrete
Bespoke b) Non-concrete equipment design
✔ ✔ ✔
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✔ ✔
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✔ ✔
✔ ✔
✔
✔ ✔ ✔
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✔
✔
✔
✔ ✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
✔ ✔
✔
Supply only
Inspection & maintenance
✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
For further information please contact Janet Brown on 01622 605436 or email brownj02@kent.gov.uk Or KCS Customer Care on 0845 270 8811 or email kcscustomercare@kent.gov.uk
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KCS Simple Guide to Procurement in Schools Procurement in schools can cover a very wide spectrum of activities from buying pens and pencils to agreeing a new build extension. This of course means that the sums of money involved can differ. However, the fundamental principle should always be the same: everyone involved should strive to get ‘best value for money’ for their school or college. For all of your school’s educational supplies requirements you can buy with confidence from KCS, safe in the knowledge that they have followed all the necessary steps in the tender process to get “best value”.
High Value Purchases: Suggested £50K+
Check and re-check exact details and specification of your requirement. How will this be funded: – Budget? – External funding? – Jointly with another establishment? Prepare a business case to ascertain procurement route. Prepare specification and research the market.
Does the total contract value exceed £156,442? (Supplies & Services) This figure does change. For latest info call KCS
We have been asked for advice for the procurement of items outside the normal scope of KCS and as a consequence have tried to provide for you a KCS “Simple” Guide to Procurement in Schools. These values are for guidance only. They differ for individual LEA’s. For clarification contact your own LEA or KCS. School builds will be covered by a ‘Works” tender process. The EU OJEU value is currently £3,927,260. If your school requires any training on the procurement process please contact KCS.
Top 5 procurement tips for schools 1 Develop procurement expertise - nominate and train someone to coordinate everything centrally. 2 Plan ahead - identify your requirements early to get the best deal. 3 Know your own power - how much can you spend, are there limits? 4 Look for alternatives - branded products may not always be the best. 5 Get it in writing - read & understand the small print. And don’t forget - ask for help. KCS have a team of procurement professionals with a knowledge and an understanding of local issues. We can provide help and advice to schools on the many things that can crop up.
NO
YES KCS/Framework EXISTS KCS source quotes from tendered/ awarded framework agreements
KCS offer impartial advice on procurement
NO Framework (Consult KCS for advice) This tender process, due to total value is subject to EU regulations requiring an OJEU notice and full tender and award compliance. KCS Advice This process requires professional advice, can take up to 9 months to award and is costly.
Select ‘best value for money for your school’
Quickest timescale is 3 months.
Retain details for your audit trail
Tender documentation
Follow the Medium Value Contract route. i.e. KCS or Own Tender. You will need to also seek additional supplier interest via advertisements to add to locally sourced suppliers to ensure “Best Value”. A full tender document will need to be sent to interested suppliers.
This process will require full compliance and advertising on OJEU site.
Evaluation Place Order, take delivery, payment
Award process – Stand still time period – Statistical return This process must fully comply with statutory regulations. Seek ‘HELP’. For further information contact KCS.
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Medium Value Purchases:
Suggested Between £8K – £50K
Low Value Purchases: Suggested Under £8K
Check and re-check exact details and specification of your requirement.
Check and re-check exact details and specification of your requirement.
How will this be funded: – Budget? – External funding? – Jointly with another establishment?
Check that the budget is available.
Prepare a business case to ascertain procurement route. Prepare specification and research the market.
Obtain written quotes. Under £1000 orders can be placed by authorised signatory subject to ‘best value for money’.
2 OPTIONS
2 OPTIONS KCS/Framework EXISTS KCS source quotes from tendered/ awarded framework agreements
KCS offer impartial advice on procurement
Select ‘best value for money for your school’
Retain details for your audit trail
Place Order, take delivery, payment
NO Framework (Consult KCS for advice) Issue requirement to suitable suppliers to ensure a minimum of 3 quotes are obtained
Evaluate (see details on low value purchases)
Award KCS Advice Process costs money, takes time as well as requiring procurement knowledge. You are initiating events that lead to a contract – it has to be legal! Remember to study & fully understand T&C’s, total costs, delivery charges, invoicing/ payment methods plus disposal, ancillary and consumables costs. Check the financial stability of the supplier!
Select ‘best value for money for your school’
Place Order, take delivery, payment
Retain details for your audit trail
NO Framework (Consult KCS for advice)
KCS KCS source quotes from tendered/ awarded framework agreements
Minimum 3 new written quotes required
Evaluate quotes Look at invoicing/payment methods, delivery charges, disposal costs plus ancillary and consumables costs, environmental/sustainability issues. (See LA specific guidelines as necessary) KCS Advice Seek professional help on financial and operational leases. KCS can advise.
Select ‘best value for money for your school’
Retain details for your audit trail
Place Order, take delivery, payment
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KCS Exercise Books – The Best Value Solution!
Price Comp a Exercise B A4 64 page
KCS 2010/11 Exercise Book Range The 2010/11 KCS Exercise Book range comes with our market leading Customer Care Pledge. • Free Next Day Delivery (£30+ ex VAT stock orders only) • No telephone or fax queues • No minimum order All our exercise books are: • Market leading quality • European sourced
A4 80 page 9 x 7” 80 p 8 x 6.5” 48
ook Forma
t
. Pk50
age. Pk100
Loose Leaf
Paper
A4. Box 5 re
ams
KCS Price £15.50
. Pk50
page. Pk10
risons
0
£16.50 £19.50 £11.50
KCS Price £14.50
GLS Price £17.00 £17.75 £22.25 £12.10
GLS Price £16.79
Consortium Price £18.95 £18.17 £22.65 £12.55
Consortium Price £17.49
To request a copy of our new exercise book flyer, please contact our Customer Care Team on 0845 270 8811 or email kcscustomercare@kent.gov.uk Alternatively, see pages 55-59 of the 2010/11 KCS Main Catalogue for further details of the entire range.
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A few facts about our new Furniture Division
FURNITURE
KCS Furniture Division is now a proud member of FIRA. What does this mean for you? µ µ µ
We have access and input to all of the current standards We have access to furniture testing to ensure that you get quality, “fit for purpose” products We can make sure products conform to the very best environmental standards
Did you know the majority of the products we supply have already been through a full European tender evaluation to meet the demands of best value? On your behalf we have: µ µ µ
Tendered items fairly under OJEU procurement rules Evaluated products for quality and performance Undertaken manufacturer visits to understand environmental and ethical processes used in the production process and supply chain
We are fully ISO 14001 accredited. What does this mean for you? µ µ µ µ µ µ
We consider the environment in our product selection We reuse as much packaging as we can We recycle what we cannot reuse Our delivery vehicles run on a bio-diesel mix Our products are sourced from sustainable materials We offer ‘green’ product options where we can 15
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KCS Furniture Division launch a new website for you
www.kcs-furniture.co.uk Over the coming months keep checking, as we will have lots of useful information: online ordering, product guides and of course, special offers designed to make your budget go further.
As we launch the website this month you will find special offers on: µ µ µ µ µ µ
Classroom tables Classroom chairs Exam desks Whiteboards Notice boards Easy chairs
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You will also find information about our projects unit on the new website, www.kcs-furniture.co.uk - whether you have a small refurbishment or move planned, right through to a new school building or extension, KCS Projects can help you through the process. Let us help you plan your space and release the full potential of your building.
We have the expert knowledge to solve your problems and create exciting new environments for: µ µ µ µ µ
IT and Media suites Laboratories Food Technology General Teaching rooms Offices
We can offer Solutions which include the design, fitting and accessories for a room, as well as assisting with such things as IT hardware, software, plus fully hosted and managed services.
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Did you know we make, design and deliver our own ranges of educational furniture? This furniture has been designed and manufactured by us specifically for education. We constantly review the feedback from schools to continually improve these products to meet your changing demands. However, we always make sure quality and product longevity are foremost in our minds when creating a new range.
Our ‘in house’ assembled products Our newest range is the round leg Kentish 2 range shown here. As a special promotional launch for this product, we are offering it in unique colours and at special prices. We offer 2 table sizes W1100 x D550mm and W1200 x D600mm. All the heights meet the new European standards EN1729 and allow for a range of uses from nurseries to higher education facilities.
Promotional Launch Prices... Valid until July 23rd 2010
Height
Size and Colour
Catalogue Price
Special Offer Price
Size and Colour
Catalogue Price
Special Offer Price
W1100xD550mm White/White
W1100xD550mm White/Beech
1-15
1-15
W1200xD600mm White/White
W1200xD600mm White/Beech
16+
16+
530mm
KR 1953 WW
KR 1953 WH
79.50
72.50
X
X
74.99
69.99
590mm
KR 1959 WW
KR 1959 WH
79.50
72.50
X
X
74.99
69.99
640mm
KR 1964 WW
KR 1964 WH
79.50
72.50
X
X
74.99
69.99
710mm
KR 1971 WW
KR 1971 WH
79.50
72.50
KR 1206 WW
KR 1206 WH
74.99
69.99
760mm
KR 1976 WW
KR 1976 WH
79.50
72.50
KR 1206 HWW
KR 1206 HWH
74.99
69.99
Call us at KCS, we’re here to help you! T: 01622
605304
E: furniture@kent.gov.uk or contact your representative 18
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Win Art Products for your School
Copier Paper Price Increases
To win one of three primary class packs or one of three secondary fine art sets.
Due to a combination of exceptional events, ie. Finnish Stevedores strike & Chilean earthquake, both of which have restricted supply, we have unfortunately had to increases our prices.
WIN
To enter the draw for a chance to win one of the above, email your Art Coordinator’s name and email to karen.webber@kent.gov.uk
3 x Primary class pack
3 x Secondary fine art set
Catalogue Code Correction On pages 32 and 1094 of the KCS main catalogue 2010/11 the Lotus Spray Soap Cartridge was coded incorrectly.
Code
Price as of April 1st
Description
New Price as of April 6th 1+
20+
40+
01 977 075
KCS Ultrawhite Copier Paper box x 5reams
10.25
11.50
11.00
10.50
01 977 076
Steinbeis Pure White A4 box x 5reams
11.45
13.50
12.70
11.70
01 977 086
Steinbeis Pure White A3 box x 5reams
25.50
29.20
28.20
27.20
01 977 024
Berga Speed A4 box x 5reams
11.70
13.50
12.70
11.70
01 977 039
Berga Speed A3 box x 5reams
25.50
28.75
27.75
26.25
01 998 900
Berga Speed A4 90gsm box x 5reams
16.60
18.95
17.95
16.95
01 977 089
EPA A4 80gsm box x 5reams
12.50
13.90
13.45
12.90
01 981 457
Data Copy Colour Printing A4 100gsm Pk500
5.60
5.99
01 981 321
Berga Image A4 100gsm Pk500
5.60
6.10
01 981 573
Silver Digital A4 115gsm Pk500
11.20
11.99
051 001 313
Berga Focus A4 80gsm box x 5reams
16.00
17.35
051 001 314
Berga Focus A3 80gsm box x 5reams
32.15
34.95
051 192 088
Berga Focus A3 90gsm box x 5reams
38.99
42.35
051 192 099
Berga Image A3 160gsm 1250 sheets
40.59
45.55
Success for KCS Team Members
Wrong code
06 981 240 Correct code
06 981 235
Congratulations to Victoria Stroud, our Sales Team Manager who recently succeeded in gaining her Professional Diploma in Management.
Congratulations to Wayne Savoury, our delivery driver for the Maidstone area, who recently received the Kent Messenger’s Pride of Maidstone award. Wayne had the presence of mind to intervene in a very difficult situation, thus avoiding any further damage being caused to parked cars by a mechanical digger thief. 19
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School
! t u o h S New Library for Mottingham Primary School “Our new school library is like a children’s wonderland and is sure to enthuse even the most reluctant of readers! The scenery is based on ‘The Gruffalo’ books by Julia Donaldson. Our newly formed PTA worked in collaboration with the staff to paint this amazing design. The furniture fits in beautifully, particularly the sweeping bookcases with the forest scenes on the back. The Mayor of Bromley, Councillor Douglas Auld, officially opened the library and was amazed at the environment - he had never seen anything like it before! The children love using the library, especially when we put the bird music on in the background! The wooden house for the children to read in and under is an added bonus! In addition, the children and staff are really pleased with the great new tables and chairs for the classrooms as they are comfortable, easy to move about and look very smart. They have made a big impact on the childrens’ learning environment! The help and advice that Rob Cox brings is greatly appreciated. He was involved in all aspects of this install from its initial measurement to delivery on site. Thanks KCS”! Marion Drake - Headteacher
Sarah Dennison - Office Manager
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KCS to the rescue! “On Tuesday 6th April 2010, there was a serious fire at Hatcham Temple Grove, the Primary Phase of Haberdashers’ Aske’s Hatcham College, in New Cross. The school was closed to students due to the Easter holidays and thankfully, all staff and contractors were safely evacuated. It took firefighters 24 hours to gain control of the fire and some local residents were evacuated for a week, whilst the building was made safe. Sadly, the 3 storey Victorian building suffered serious damage and the 370 students and 50 staff have had to relocate to a new temporary site.
Initial reports have suggested that there will be no return to the school for 3 years, and therefore, the Haberdashers’ Aske’s Federation are now looking at alternative sites from September. The fire destroyed all of the school resources and equipment, with not even a single chair to sit on! Primary Phase Head, Mrs Penny Jones, is delighted to report the Dunkirk spirit shown by staff, students, PTA and local sponsors who all pulled together to ensure the temporary school was up and running within a matter of days. Many sleeves were rolled up and the students were soon settled into their decorated and fully stocked classrooms. KCS were happy to help in a crisis, with Sales Team Manager, Victoria Stroud, coordinating emergency orders and resources to be despatched to the new site, whilst Sales Executive, Simon York, jumped in to help unpack orders and deliver resource packs to
classrooms in preparation for the return to school. Both were privileged to be invited to the school the following week to see grateful staff and happy students who had settled nicely into their new surroundings. On 23rd April, the school was visited by MP for Lewisham Deptford, Joan Ruddock. She was able to take a tour of the school, and was delighted to see fully functioning classrooms with upbeat staff and relaxed students. Although no resources were salvaged from the fire, we are happy to report that the fire teams did manage to rescue 4 school pets, with 2 giant African Snails and 2 goldfish living to tell of their adventures”. Sian Elliott Federation Events & Development Manager 21
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Teen Café Success! “In June 2008, Great Wakering Primary School agreed to host a youth club on the school premises on Wednesday evenings for a pilot period of six weeks. I can honestly say that even with hindsight we were totally unprepared for the success of this project. On our first Wednesday night 60 young people attended. By the second week, the numbers had increased to 90 and we had to offer a second evening session on Monday nights. By the end of the pilot, we had over 200 members of the youth club that had, in the space of a few short weeks, become known locally as the ‘Teen Café’. The pilot had established a clear need for youth facilities in Great Wakering and funding via local community partners was quickly established to allow it to continue once the initial pilot scheme ended. Soon the Teen Café became the community focus for our young people and it currently offers sessions 3 evenings each week, plus a programme throughout the school holidays.
The mix of activities offered by the club ranges from sports, drama, music and dance through to arts and crafts or just simply a safe place to chill out with your friends. The club is also able to use its sessions to offer young people advice on more serious issues such as drugs and bullying. Our one problem was that as a primary school our facilities were not really designed for use as a youth centre.
requirements were, given the nature of this project, quite diverse and as usual when a big project is underway, delivery deadlines were demanding and complicated by our lack of space to store items. KCS worked hard to accommodate our needs and the finished item has received the ultimate accolade of being awarded the status of ‘cool’ by our young people.
This problem was solved in January 2009 when the school was awarded a capital grant of over £200,000 to provide purpose built facilities and to adapt the premises for public use with full disabled access. It has taken over 18 months but, finally, our youth centre has been completed and was officially opened on St George’s Day 2010 with a performance by the Philharmonic Orchestra in which 50 of our young people also took part.
This project has been inspirational for our school and has brought about real change in our community. At last, our young people have somewhere of their own to go and are moving on to train as young leaders themselves. Last year, one of our young people was awarded the title ‘Rochford Young Citizen of the Year’ for his work with the Teen Café and the Café itself has been nominated for the Home Office sponsored Tilley Award for community projects.
This has been an exciting time for both the school and the local community and as with most projects, one of the most important aspects, has been equipping the completed centre for use. I would have to say that the support we have had from all our partners in this project has been fantastic and proves just what can be achieved when we all work together.
All this from one six week pilot! The lesson we have learnt from all of this is that sometimes you just have to make a leap of faith to change things and most important of all, believe that it can be done!” Julie Hindley - Business Manager Great Wakering Primary School
I would like to thank Kent County Supplies for their contribution to our new youth centre. Our furniture
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Informer SUMMER 10.indd 22
10/6/10 10:30:21 am
Leapers & Creepersschool children meet Rainforest Creatures
“On Monday 26 April, the amazing Tropical Forest Road Show came to visit our Year 7 Focus Group at de Stafford School, Caterham. We have been studying the Rain Forest in class and to touch and see the animals first hand and learn some amazing facts was an unforgettable experience and we really enjoyed it. We were shown a blue tongued Lizard and when you tickled its neck it popped out its tongue. The colour blue in the rainforest means poison. It was so awesome holding the Boa Constrictor, which was very heavy and cold. There were Chinchillas and Bearded Dragons, Spiders, Geckos, Lizards, Snakes and Tree Frogs with sticky feet that stuck to you! We learnt that a Scorpion glows in the dark so that other scorpions can see each other. The Chinchillas and big Tarantula spiders were soft and furry but it felt scarier to hold the spider”. Information supplied by the kids from year 7 focus group de Stafford School 23
Informer SUMMER 10.indd 23
10/6/10 10:30:30 am
The 2010/11 KCS Customer Care Pledge As you will know, we take Customer Care very seriously indeed. We believe that we have to: • Understand your needs. • Meet and at times, surpass your needs in terms of product choice, quality, pricing and delivery. • Be able to demonstrate the value we add. To ensure that you can continue to see and feel the difference in our Customer Care compared to our competitors, we have revamped our KCS Customer Care Pledge.
We pledge... • Telephones are answered within 3 rings. • Telephones are answered not by a machine but by our friendly, well trained sales staff. • No telephone or fax queues. • No quibble stock returns up to 30 days after purchase. • Your own KCS sales rep to advise you on all purchase decisions in the comfort of your school. • Enquiries are resolved speedily: – Telephone: either during the call or within 24 hours. – Fax/Email: within 24 hours. – Post: within 5 working days. • We will provide ongoing training for all our staff to ensure that they are polite, respectful, knowledgeable and able to help. • We have informed all of our suppliers of our pledge and have received their support to ensure success. • We will deliver all stock orders over £30 ex VAT placed with us by 12:00 noon, on the following day (an industry leading 98.4% success rate in 2009/10). • We will involve customers in new product selection through focus and testing groups. • We will expand our KCS Own Brand range to ensure that we can guarantee you ‘a quality product at a competitive price from a supplier that you can trust!’
KCS... putting you first! KCS – A division of Commercial Services
Informer SUMMER 10.indd 24
Printed by County Print & Design 01622 605 368
10/6/10 10:30:37 am