Education Business 25.5

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ISSUE 25.5

Business Information for Education Decision Makers FINANCE

TUTORING

PANDEMIC RECOVERY

DESIGN & BUILD

THE SCHOOL REBUILDING PROGRAMME Is the government’s ten-year school rebuilding programme enough to create a better and greener school estate?

PLUS: CLEANING | SCHOOLS RE-OPENING | IT & COMPUTING | SPORT

Cover Image: Botley Primary School

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www.educationbusinessuk.net

A member of

ISSUE 25.5

Business Information for Education Decision Makers FINANCE

TUTORING

PANDEMIC RECOVERY

DESIGN & BUILD

THE SCHOOL REBUILDING PROGRAMME Is the government’s ten-year school rebuilding programme enough to create a better and greener school estate?

The “new normal” for schools It’s September, and schools have opened to all pupils, albeit with new Covid-safety measures in place.

Schools have had the difficult task of balancing risk management with providing the full educational experience that pupils so desperately need, after months of school closures.

PLUS: CLEANING | SCHOOLS RE-OPENING | IT & COMPUTING | SPORT

This issue of Education Business looks at how schools can move forward in a safe manner, while Covid-19 still poses a real threat.

We gather advice from a range of experts on page 36 on how schools can operate safely during the ongoing pandemic, such as by implementing robust cleaning and hygiene measures, as well as addressing staff and recruitment issues, and the safe use of school facilities after hours.

With further disruption to learning possible, caused by self isolating pupils or another lockdown, schools must have a remote learning plan in place. On page 43, Amy Cook from the Key outlines the benefits of getting a digital education platform set up, as well as what support is available from the DfE.

Follow and interact with us on Twitter: @EducationBizz

The government’s ten year school rebuilding programme is also examined – from both an environmental point of view (page 23), and from a design perspective (page 19).

Angela Pisanu, editor

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Issue 25.5 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Contents

Contents Education Business 25.5 19

36 Expert Panel: Pandemic

07 News Third of local areas risk over subscribed secondary school places; Two-thirds parents support car restrictions around schools; and Ofsted to begin SEND visits in local areas from October

With Covid-19 still a threat, Education Business gathers the views of a range of experts on how schools can move forwards, to ensure they are as safe as possible for pupils and staff, and to ensure pupils can catch up on lost learning

13 Finance With many schools having lost income due to coronavirus restrictions, Linda Unternahrer from The Key outlines what you can do now to raise money, and what to consider for the long term to increase your budget

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43 IT & Computing As the coronavirus pandemic continues to evolve, schools need to make sure they still have a plan in place for remote education. Amy Cook from The Key takes a look at the benefits of getting a digital education platform set up and explains the ins and outs of the DfE funding scheme

16 Education-sector Trends As the new academic year gets underway, Caroline Doherty, head of education strategy at The Key, reflects on how many of our 2020 education sector predictions ended up being far from reality and examines which trends might be here to stay

49 Sport Lockdown has had an impact on children’s activity levels, so the reopening of schools is an important moment to help increase the amount of sport and activity they’re doing, writes Sport England

19 Design & Build 57

Good design must be made a priority in deciding how the government’s new investment into school buildings is spent, writes RIBA’s Client Advisors

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57 Schools Re-opening A report by the National Foundation for Educational Research looks at the significant impact the Covid-19 pandemic had on learning, and outlines the challenges schools now face

23 Design & Build The government’s ten-year school rebuilding programme is a step towards creating lowcarbon classrooms, but more investment and ambition is needed, writes Alex Green, schools programme manager at Ashden. In the meantime, there is a lot schools can do themselves to protect the planet and lower their bills

60 Procurement There is currently a wide range of varying information available from both official and unreliable channels in relation to PPE so it can be difficult to know what the best option is when procuring it. This article will guide you through what information to look out for and the best routes to market when securing PPE for your institution

29 Cleaning & Hygiene

63

Regular and enhanced cleaning, as well as extra hygiene measures from pupils and staff, play a vital role in limiting the transmission of Covid-19 in schools. We summarise the latest government advice

Education Business magazine

63 Tutoring John Nichols, President of the Tutors’ Association, shares how schools can make use of the National Tutoring Programme

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News

SCHOOL PLACES

Third of local areas risk over subscribed secondary school places meet any demand. This would allow councils to meet growing demand for places, meet their legal duty to ensure every child has a school place and cope with a surge in primary school pupils moving through the system.

Judith Blake, chair of the LGA’s Children and Young People Board, said: “Councils have an excellent track record of fulfilling their legal duty to ensure every child has a school place available to them and want to work with the Government to meet the challenges currently facing the education system.

“It continues to make no sense for councils to be given the responsibility to plan for school places but then not be allowed to be open schools themselves. Councils do not want any families to have to face uncertainty over securing their child’s secondary school.

But with the number of pupils is growing at a far faster rate than the number of places available and councils need to be given the powers to help solve this crisis.”

New analysis by the Local Government Association has shown that up to a third of local areas in England risk being oversubscribed for secondary school places within five years, leaving almost 80,000 young people and their families at risk of missing out on a place.

With two-thirds of secondary schools now academies, councils need powers to tackle the looming places crisis by having the power to open more secondary schools or direct academies to expand to meet demand.

As children and young people return to school following the coronavirus lockdown, the LGA’s annual school places analysis

reveals that a failure to create more secondary places will mean 11 council areas will face a secondary school place shortfall in 2021/22. This is expected to increase to 28 in 2022/23; 45 in 2023/24; and 49 in 2024/25.

Furthermore, by 2025/26, a total of 50 council areas face not being about to meet demand for 77,085 places. The LGA, which represents councils across England, is calling for the government to use the forthcoming Spending Review to hand councils back the power to open new maintained schools where that is the local preference. It said councils should also have the same powers to direct free schools and academies to expand to

DESIGN & BUILD

OBESITY

Number of Scottish schools in good condition rises

Urgency needed to tackle childhood obesity

According to Scotland’s School Estates 2020 statistics, the proportion of schools reported as being in good or satisfactory condition has increased to 89.9%, up 1.6 percentage points over the last year and 29 percentage points since April 2007.

Since 2007-08, 958 schools have been built or substantially refurbished.

The number of pupils educated in schools classed as being in poor or bad condition is now at its lowest level since this series of statistics began, decreasing from around 257,000 in 2007 to around 62,000 in 2020.

Education Secretary John Swinney said: “These statistics show the tremendous progress we are making in building modern, high quality and fit for purpose schools that make a real difference for pupils and teachers.

9/10 pupils, more than ever before, are now being taught in good or satisfactory buildings.

“When complete in early 2021, the Schools for the Future Programme will have delivered 117 top quality school projects for more than 60,000 pupils, which does not include the local authorities’ own school improvement programmes.

“And our new £1 billion Learning Estate Investment Programme aims to benefit around 50,000 pupils across Scotland by the end of the next Parliament.”

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The National Audit Office has warned that it is not clear if government plans to tackle rising childhood obesity will be able to make the change needed in the timescale available.

In 2018/19, 9.7 per cent of four-to five-year-olds and 20.2 per cent of 10-to 11-year-olds in England were obese.

Research indicates that children in deprived areas are twice as likely to be obese than those in less deprived areas, with the gap wider for the older age group.

The NAO also reports that obesity rates for children in different ethnic groups vary considerably, with just nine per cent of white children were classified as obese in 2018/19 at age four-to-five, compared with more than 15 per cent of black children. These rates increase to more than 18 per cent and nearly 29 per cent respectively by age 10-11.

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The government estimates that the cost of obesity to the NHS is £6.1 billion and £27 billion to wider society.

The NAO recommends that by autumn 2021 ministers should introduce stronger procedures that allow the Department of Health & Social Care (DHSC) to hold other departments responsible for delivering their elements of the Childhood Obesity Programme. In the proposed spending review, the government should target support and funding to local authorities and groups who have the greater obesity problems.

DHSC should also provide greater support to local authorities to help them implement efforts to reduce childhood obesity.”

CLICK TO READ MORE

Issue 25.5 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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News

ROAD SAFETY

Two-thirds parents support car restrictions around schools The majority of parents support investment in safe walking and cycling to protect children on their journey to school from both COVID19 and road danger, an opinion survey in 11 countries conducted by YouGov for the Child Health Initiative (CHI) shows.

Half of UK parents (48%) with children between five and 18 felt streets were not safe on the journey to school, while concern was more acute for parents with children below the age of five, 56% of whom reported feeling concerned.

More than two-thirds of respondents (67%) supported measures to slow, restrict or ban cars

around school zones, rising to three quarters (74%) of parents with children under 18.

Almost half of parents (48%) whose children do not walk or cycle to school currently would commit to shift modes to support COVID-19 distancing measures, but only if the streets were safe. This represents a potentially huge change in how millions of school journeys are made – reducing pollution, encouraging physical activity, and reducing congestion, while at the same time reducing the risk of COVID-19 transmission.

Air quality was a particular concern for parents of younger children (newborns to four years old) with almost half (46%) concerned

MENTAL HEALTH

SCHOOL MEALS

Teen back-to-school mental health study launched

Action needed for families experiencing food insecurity

Oxford University is launching a new phase of its Oxford ARC study to understand how certain aspects of the school experience is helping or harming young people’s mental health during the transition back to school and into the ‘new normal’.

The first stage of the research, launched in May, found that during lockdown, teenagers were struggling with mental health compared to their parents. It found that teenagers consistently report higher levels of anxiety and depression than parents. Around 35% of teenagers are saying they feel lonely often or most of the time, compared to 17% of parents. At the same time, about 40% of parents say they never feel lonely, compared to only 20% of teenagers.

Since May, teenagers consistently reported that they felt unable to control the important things in life, with rates as high as 60% last month.

The Oxford ARC study (Achieving Resilience during COVID-19) will investigate what helps and what hinders psychological resilience in young people during the transition back to school.

Seventy-five per cent of mental health conditions present themselves during this key phase in child development. Despite this, only a minority of research funding goes towards understanding mental health during adolescence.

Most disconcertingly, young people report feeling left out of the COVID-19 conversation.

In the Oxford ARC study, teenagers have their say by being a fundamental part of the research. There are over 1,000 teenagers and their parents participating in the study so far, but they need many more to get the best picture of how to promote resilience and optimal wellbeing in young people. The results will provide vital information that can help create a better response to the mental health needs of teenagers now and in the future.

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New data from the Food Foundation reveals that 13.6% of adults living with children reported experiences of moderate or severe food insecurity in the past six months. Four million people live in these affected households, including 2.3 million children. This remains higher than pre-Covid-19 levels of 11.5% of households with children.

Ten per cent of parents/guardians, affecting an estimated 1.9 million children, reported that food insecurity had affected their children in a variety of ways in the last six months, forcing them to rely on only a few kinds of low cost food to feed their children (6%) and provide unbalanced meals (5%), and to resort to smaller portions (1%) or skipping meals entirely (2%).

Food Foundation is one of many organisations that has joined footballer Marcus Rashford’s new Child Food Poverty Task Force, which is calling on the government to implement three policy recommendations included in the National Food Strategy. This includes

about air quality, compared to 42% of the wider population. Concern in urban areas was notably higher – 21% of Londoners reported feeling ‘very concerned’ about the air and 68% were concerned to some extent.

Following the findings, UNICEF and Child Health Initiative have published guidance to help schools, policymakers and local governance to develop the safest, most appropriate interventions to make kids safe as they return to education.

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a call to expand eligibility for the Free School Meal scheme to include every child (up to the age of 16) from a household where the parent or guardian is in receipt of Universal Credit (or equivalent benefits).

Under this recommendation an estimated additional 1.5 million 7-16 year olds would benefit from Free School Meals.

Other recommendations are to extend the Holiday Activity and Food Programme to all areas in England, so that summer holiday support is available to all children in receipt of Free School Meals, and to increase the value of Healthy Start vouchers to £4.25 per week and expand the scheme to every pregnant woman and to all households with children under 4 where a parent or guardian is in receipt of Universal Credit or equivalent benefits.

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CORONAVIRUS

£2.3m to provide face coverings for secondary schools in Wales The Welsh Government has committed more than £2.3 million to provide free face coverings for all learners in secondary school and further education settings. £1.8 million will be provided for schools and £469,000 provided for further education settings.

Face coverings are to be used in a range of settings in secondary schools where other physical controls cannot be or are unlikely to be maintained. This may include communal areas of schools where the physical layout means that contact groups cannot remain separated to the same degree.

This announcement follows a statement made by both the Education Minister and the Minister for Health and Social Services Vaughan Gething in which they provided new guidance regarding the use of face coverings in education settings.

Wales’ Education Minister Kirsty Williams said: “I am pleased to announce the Welsh Government has made more than £2.3 million available to provide face coverings to all pupils of secondary school age or in further education settings.

“It is vital children and young people, parents and the education workforce feel confident that all measures are being taken to protect them as they return to schools and colleges.

“We have also recently updated our operational guidance for schools and FE to require settings and local authorities to undertake risk assessments of their estates to determine if face coverings should be recommended for their staff and young people in communal areas - this includes school and college transport.”

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Issue 25.5 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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News

SEND

Ofsted to begin SEND visits in local areas from October

From October, Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) will be visiting local areas to find out about their arrangements for children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), and Ofsted has

published guidance setting out the details of how these visits will be carried out.

The visits are designed to understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the SEND system and to support improvement. Inspectors will work with local areas to identify what has worked well for children and young people with SEND and their families over recent months, what the challenges and lessons learned have been, and what the opportunities are for improvement for the future.

Ofsted and CQC will be publishing a series of reports on what they have found during the local area visits. These will share insights to promote whole-system learning towards

a stronger SEND system in the wake of the pandemic, as well as highlighting how services and support for children and young people with SEND have been adapted.

Inspectors will not be visiting every local area and participation in the visits is voluntary.

The visits are not inspections, nor will they replace the current area SEND inspection cycle. Rather, they will provide insights into how the SEND system is working over the autumn term while the area SEND inspection cycle remains on hold. Ofsted will restart those inspections when it is right to do so.

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CORONAVIRUS

Ofsted ‘visits’ are an added pressure for schools, says ASCL School leaders union ASCL has said it does not support Ofsted’s school visits this autumn, saying they would put too much pressure on schools.

Ofsted announced earlier this year its inspectors would be making ‘visits’ to schools to find out how they are operating during the ongoing Covid 19 pandemic.

Ofsted has stressed they are not inspections with a resulting grade, but a letter based on discussions with the school.

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders said: “Ofsted appears to be fixated on the idea of publishing letters about each of the schools it

“We have also been clear that the letters for parents would be a simple summary of what school leaders told us – nothing more and nothing less. Our national summaries will contain much more information and insight.

“Suggesting that we should not publish any information at all for parents after a visit to their child’s school is not acceptable. We would urge schools to read our guidance – you do not need to prepare for visits and you do not need to be concerned about letters.”

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EARLY YEARS

SCHOOL LEAVERS

Guidance on reformed EYFS framework published

Funding for school leavers to do extra year of study

grasp of language, literacy and maths – the building blocks for success later on in life – as they move into Year 1 and beyond. Other changes include removing the requirement for local authorities to moderate teachers’ EYFS profile assessment within schools, freeing teachers from excessive burdens of paperwork, allowing them to spend more time teaching and interacting with children.

Over 2,800 schools who have signed up to be early adopters of the revised EYFS will also be able to use the new curriculum guidance, developed by Dr Julian Grenier, and will change their practice and see the benefits before the revised EYFS becomes statutory for all registered early years providers in September 2021. Those who are not participating in the early adopter year may also choose to refer to the new curriculum guidance from now if they so wish, but they will still need to follow the existing EYFS framework until statutory roll out of the reforms in September 2021.

To support young people affected by Covid19, the government has announced £111 million to support school and college leavers at risk of becoming unemployed, to do a fully funded optional extra year of study.

Other measures include £2 billion for a new kick-start scheme to create fully subsidised jobs for young people across the country. £17 million is also being invested to increase participation in our sector-based work academies, to upskill job seekers to fill locally identified vacancies.

To boost apprenticeships, employers are being offered £2,000 for each new apprentice they hire aged under 25, and £1,500 for each newly recruited apprentice aged 25 and over. This includes taking on an apprentice who has been made redundant.

The government is also providing a new online and telephone support service for apprentices who have lost their jobs during the Covid-19 outbreak.

The Department for Education has published new guidance called Development Matters which will support more than 2,800 early adopter schools as they deliver the new Early Years Foundation Stage framework this year.

The reformed Early Years Foundation Stage framework, with its revised educational programmes and early learning goals, was published in July, following a pilot and a consultation. The focus of the revised framework is on improving outcomes for all children, but particularly for disadvantaged children.

All seven areas of learning have been strengthened to support children’s holistic learning and development. The changes also ensure all children in Reception year leave their crucial first year of school with a better

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visits. Even though these letters will not give a graded judgement, this will make visits seem like inspection by another name. It is frustrating that Ofsted in one breath agrees with the need to suspend inspections while schools reintegrate children and manage safety measures, and then in the next breath decides on an approach which contradicts that objective.”

A spokesperson for Ofsted said unions have been “involved at every stage as we developed our plans for the autumn visits, including the letters. We have been clear throughout that the visits are not judgemental and that they require no preparation.

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BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR DECISION MAKERS IN PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION | www.educationbusinessuk.net

What is certain is that the school environment has needed to adapt to minimise the risks to pupils. Social distancing challenges are some of the biggest obstacles for schools to overcome – not only in the classroom, but in communal areas such as the dining hall.

The Department for Education’s (DfE) guidance states that schools should stagger or extend lunch breaks to minimise traffic in the canteen, with additional cleaning between servings and the recommendation that lunch is brought to classrooms or elsewhere if this is not possible. If they’re not doing so already, schools must look for digital processes that support this approach.

Technology has improved people’s locked-down lives, keeping us connected and safe – supporting vital services and, in many cases, enabling remote teaching and learning. As schools open more fully, cloud technologies such as cashless payment and pre-order systems are key to reducing risk to both pupils and staff.

The risks around germs and cash are well known and pupils and staff should be extra vigilant when handling money. Cashless, contactless payments are a wise choice in the

current climate, allowing parents to remotely pay for items and top up balances, reducing the amount of cash on school grounds – and therefore reducing infection risk.

Of course, cashless payments aren’t a new trend. The latest statistics from industry association, UK Finance, reveal that cash usage in Britain has fallen to an all-time low. Developments in payments technology, and the growing popularity of alternative methods, have meant that just 23 per cent of all payments were made by cash in 2019. The impact of the pandemic is sure to see this trend increase.

Schools will be expected to consider the benefits of cashless payment technology, especially in places such as the canteen.

Improving efficiency and reducing risk in the canteen The canteen is a high traffic area of any school, as pupils from all year groups spend time queueing and eating together.

With social distancing key to minimising the spread of the virus, reducing these queues and limiting the numbers of pupils eating in the canteen can help.

Cashless catering technologies often don’t just include payment software, but many allow pupils to pre-order food in advance.

This not only helps to reduce queues, but can make the kitchen more efficient – vital when the normal processes are difficult to uphold.

Pupils can select their meals in advance and specify a ‘delivery location’, which can help greatly if social distancing guidance means that different groups of pupils need to eat in different locations around the school.

With pre-order processes, kitchens prepare only the food that is needed, reducing waste and streamlining food service – even if the school is providing a much smaller menu.

Additionally, online payment portals allow parents to manage their child’s balance remotely, removing the need for the pupil to handle cash and use shared machines. It’s important, with today’s uncertainty, to choose a system which settles funds immediately, allowing you to quickly respond to payment and refund queries: not only for meals but also trips and other extra-curricular activities.

Many schools currently operate a biometric fingerprint identification process for security. To maintain safety, these need thorough cleaning between each use, which may be impractical. Contactless payments using personal swipe cards and pre-ordering allow pupils to pay for their meals without touching hardware.

Aside from reducing risk of spreading the virus by minimising contact in the canteen, cashless catering systems hold information about pupils’ allergies – preventing allergens being inadvertently supplied. With different and unusual lunchtime arrangements and limited menus, there is a risk that this could be overlooked if such a system is not in place.

Looking longer-term, the cloud-based nature of the technology means that it can be easily customised to meet changing demands, with payment options that meet the individual school’s budget and preferences. Guidance is still changing and it’s difficult for schools to plan long term at the moment. While we’re unsure about how school life will look into the future, or when normal catering service will resume, a cloud-based cashless catering system will provide schools with agility in case their menu or processes need to change quickly, and offer efficiency benefits that will last long after any lockdowns are over. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.civica.com/pre-order

Written by Mike Stead, managing director, Cashless Solutions at Civica

Uncertainty has impacted all of us throughout the pandemic.

For parents, extended school closures have added concerns over the detrimental impact on pupil progress and wellbeing. Parents want to be reassured that their children are safe in school

Advertisement Feature

How online payment technology can help keep schools safe during mealtimes

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BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR DECISION MAKERS IN PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION | www.educationbusinessuk.net

Many of the typical sources of extra income for schools have dried up due to social distancing measures and fears of infection.

You’ve likely been unable to hire out your facilities or perhaps your income from school meals and clubs has dropped? Summer fairs and fetes will likely have been cancelled too.

It might not be all bad news though. The government is continuing to fund schools as normal and you can apply for additional funding to cover some coronavirus-related extra costs related to deep cleaning, free school meals, opening during holidays (and certain other extraordinary expenses, in some cases). Also, you might have made some savings along the way, such as from reduced utility bills.

Consider all these points when you’re figuring out how much deficit you’re faced with. Although it might feel quite soon to start thinking about income generation while you’re still taking your first steps on the road to normalcy, it’s worth exploring the subject early on.

Quick ways to raise money Involve the community, where you can. Try to think beyond the usual fundraisers. You could, Apply for grants and other for example, ask for direct contributions. funding opportunities This is fine to do, so long as you’re clear to There’s an array of funding opportunities parents that it’s voluntary. While there’s a schools can apply for, as well as freebies great deal of financial hardship arising from you can take advantage of. Research which the pandemic, that’s not the case across the ones might be relevant for your school, board. Some people in your community might being sure to note any deadlines so that be willing to donate the cost of their weekly you can get your application in on time. commute or the cost of their daily coffee or lunch. If donations are going to a charity Think strategically for long-term you’ve set up, like a PTA, make sure Gift Aid It’s worth developing a coordinated strategy is being claimed - it takes less admin for generating income. This can help and effort to do this if you set you avoid a scatter-gun approach, up donations through an It’s wor which is both inefficient and online fundraising site. t h develop ineffective. Consider all of the You could ask factors below when you’re parents to check with a coord ing inated creating your strategy their employers for strateg to maximise income ‘match funding’ y for genera and minimise risk. programmes. In ti Stay true to your vision these programmes, This canng income. and ethos. Make sure E employers match help

Written by Linda Unternahrer, The Key

With many schools having lost income due to coronavirus restrictions, Linda Unternahrer from The Key outlines what you can do now to raise money, and what to consider for the long term to increase your budget

Use fundraising websites Sites that offer “cash back” to schools for online purchases are definitely worth exploring right now. Shops may have reopened, but there’s no question that online shopping is here to stay. These cash-back programmes allow purchasers to designate a charity - like a PTA - to receive a portion of each sale. Some examples include Easy Fundraising, School Fundraising and AmazonSmile.

Finance

Recovering lost income after prolonged closure

funds raised by their employees for charities or community groups (often up to a certain limit).

You could also get your community to volunteer and do work that you might otherwise have to pay for. If you have any parents who are builders, might they be able to help fix the school fence out of good will?

Do any parents have website management or editing skills, and are they willing to donate some time to update the school’s website, so you don’t have to pay an external person?

you avoid a s c a t t er gun ap proach -

Issue 25.5 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Are face coverings the best option for keeping your school safe?

The government has now made face coverings mandatory in corridors and communal areas in secondary schools, but mandatory or not, the case for wearing them is difficult to dispute.

Both the World Health Organisation and Unicef have endorsed the use of coverings in children aged 12+, while the Centre for Disease Control recently published scientific evidence that teenagers transmit the virus more than young children.

It is difficult to predict the impact school re-openings will have on transmission rates, but educators will inevitably seek to minimise risks wherever possible.

Traditional face masks, however, can prove challenging. They can be difficult to breathe through, irritate skin and steam up glasses, limiting visibility and making them uncomfortable to wear for long periods of time.

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In classrooms, there’s a greater challenge; the barrier to effective communication between teachers and pupils. Masks make it harder to understand conversations, and because they effectively hide expressions, it can be difficult for pupils and teachers to pick up on important queues, causing added complexities for SEND pupils.

Recognising these challenges, more and more schools are turning to visors as a safer, more effective and more comfortable alternative. The face shields on most visors feature anti-fog materials so don’t steam up, and as well as the mouth and nose, they also protect eyes – a potential entry point for some viruses.

Unlike masks, they offer full visibility which makes breathing and communication much easier.

The UK’s market-leading visor is RamfoamCare+, manufactured by Midlands-based Ramfoam - one of the key suppliers to the NHS and an emerging supplier to the education sector.

RamfoamCare+ visors feature anti-fog shields attached to a comfortable, latexfree, hypo-allergenic foam headband which prevents the ingress of sweat, liquids and aerosols that can harbour bacteria. The headband can be easily adjusted to fit the wearer’s head, and both materials can be cleaned to enable continual re-use.

Medically approved and certified to EN 166:2001 standards, RamfoamCare+ visors can be produced with your school logo in multiple colours, and personalised to identify class bubbles, zones or houses.

As we move towards the difficult terms ahead, RamfoamCare+ visors will help to give staff, pupils and parents peace of mind that their school is safe and protected. L FURTHER INFORMATION 01384 453 160 visors@ramfoam.com www.ramfoam.com/protectyourschool

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR DECISION MAKERS IN PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION | www.educationbusinessuk.net

 that any potential partnership aligns with your school’s vision and values. A lot of common sense goes into this. Before you enter into any partnership, make sure you know exactly what the other party does and how they market themselves.

Try a range of different methods. Try not to rely on just one source of income. Along with the more traditional fundraising done by the PTA, a well-designed strategy might include fundraising online, outsourcing your staff members’ expertise and hiring out the school premises, once it’s safe to do so. We’ll talk more about those last two ideas below.

Consider whether you can help the community too Imagine a Venn diagram with your school’s needs in one circle and your community’s needs in the other. The area where they overlap is the ideal area to focus on for potential income. For example, imagine that your catering company has a surplus of fresh fruit and veg that will spoil quickly.

You could organise produce boxes for your local community and use your school communications to let people know they’re available for purchase. People in the community can pay and pick up the boxes at the school gates and you can share profits with the catering company.

Consider resource implications Some potential partnerships could have more hidden costs than possible income. Before you consider any commercial relationships, make sure you’ve thought about any hidden costs and resource implications. Ask yourself

the following questions: Are there going to be additional cleaning costs as a result of this partnership? What about extra caretaking costs because you need someone on site to open and close the school? Will this partnership result in additional wear and tear on the building or any of the equipment? Will we need to get additional insurance or incur extra legal costs in order for this activity to be done on our property? Will there be any workload implications for school staff?

Ideas to consider for later You probably won’t be able to act on the following ideas now, but keep them in mind for later as part of your strategy.

Attracting pupils to your school is the most obvious way to maximise income, since funding follows pupils. Also, make sure you’re getting all pupils who qualify for free school meals (FSM) signed up, to secure all the pupil premium funding you should be getting.

Hiring out your premises is another way.

If your school is new to this, you can lay the groundwork by checking the providers are suitable and in line with your school values (as explained earlier). Then take legal advice and talk to your insurance provider about the potential risks and liabilities specific to your context. Finally, all being well, put together a premises hire policy and develop a marketing plan that includes which facilities to hire out and for how much.

Your school could also sell services.

You may have staff with specialist skills that might be especially useful.

For example, a deputy headteacher at a school with a successful sixth form

Finance

Although it might feel quite soon to start thinking about income generation while you’re still taking your first steps on the road to normalcy, it’s worth exploring the subject early on

Advice and ideas for raising money Use fundraising websites – sites that offer “cash back” to schools for online purchases are definitely worth exploring right now.

Apply for grants and other funding opportunities – there’s an array of funding opportunities schools can apply for.

Try a range of different fundraising methods – a well-designed strategy might include fundraising online, outsourcing your staff members’ expertise and hiring out the school premises Consider whether you can help the community too, for example, by selling surplus fruit and vegetables boxes Consider resource implications – some potential partnerships could have more hidden costs than possible income so do research first Maximise per-pupil funding – attracting pupils to your school is the most obvious way to maximise income, since funding follows pupils.

Hiring out your premises – check the providers are suitable and in line with your school values first Sell services – you may have staff with specialist skills that might be especially useful.

can offer advice on post-16 provision elsewhere. Or HR and premises officers at a large secondary school might advise the headteacher at a feeder primary school.

Before you take this route, think about the following: are staff covered by your school’s existing insurance arrangements when doing consulting work for another school (e.g. professional indemnity insurance)?

What’s the maximum amount of time staff can spend away from school or work outside their core role, and who can approve this? Will staff be paid extra for any kind of consultancy work? Make sure you seek HR advice and agree a clear policy. L

Linda Unternahrer is a Content Editor at The Key, a provider of up-to-the-minute sector intelligence and resources that empower education leaders with the knowledge to act. The advice in this article was taken from The Key’s resource “School reopening: ways to raise money”, which we worked on with our associate education experts Julie Cordiner, Nazli Hussein and Graeme Hornsby.

FURTHER INFORMATION www.thekeysupport.com

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Education Sector Trends Written by Caroline Doherty, head of education strategy at The Key

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Has 2020 proved we should stop trying to predict the future?

As the new academic year gets underway, Caroline Doherty, head of education strategy at The Key, reflects on how many of our 2020 education sector predictions ended up being far from reality and examines which trends might be here to stay Back in January I shared my thoughts on what the education sector could expect in 2020. I considered manifesto commitments (that December election feels a long time ago now) and topics like Ofsted, funding and curriculum.

Unsurprisingly perhaps, I didn’t suggest a global pandemic might force the country’s schools to close to the majority of students at a moment’s notice, or that teachers would undertake a vast remote learning experiment.

I also failed to predict that we’d take, albeit tentative steps, to examine the concept of

there are still some big unanswered questions. What’s going to happen about exams next year? How will rotas, if needed, work in practice? Could schools close again in the event of a second nationwide spike?

I’ve learnt from my previous prediction experience, and won’t attempt to answer those questions here, but I will stick my neck out and suggest three emerging trends that are hopefully here to stay.

race in our society and our curricula. So, I think it’s safe to say I won’t be taking up a career in fortune telling any time soon.

But in all seriousness, as the new The power of academic year begins, where are collaboration we now and what’s next? As Teacher Everyone in education the reality of living with s will hav shares a common purpose, COVID-19 sets in, and we their w e so joint working is get our heads around out ass ork cut nothing new, but the the tiers of the ‘contain essing p speed and depth of strategy’, year group learning upils’ partnership working bubbles, staggered ensurin gaps and has increased hugely. starts and facemasks,

g on pup that those i don’t g l premium et fu behind rther

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR DECISION MAKERS IN PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION | www.educationbusinessuk.net

Tackling the growing disadvantage gap As attention turns firmly to catch-up, evidence confirms the gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers has grown even wider. The Education Policy Institute recently showed it has actually stopped narrowing for the first time in a decade. While progress on closing the gap was stalling even before the pandemic, disadvantaged pupils in England are now 18.1 months of learning behind their peers by the time they finish their GCSEs – the same gap as five years ago.

The introduction of the National Tutoring programme later this term as part of the wider “catch up premium” promises to provide some additional support to schools. However, teachers will have their work cut out assessing all pupils’ learning gaps and making sure that those on pupil premium don’t get further behind, particularly if schools have to return to periods of remote learning.

Diversity and inclusion A positive change in the past few months has been a new openness and appetite for discussing systemic racism, unconscious bias and the vital roles schools can play in developing the kind of society where everyone can achieve and succeed.

Curriculum review was, of course, the hot topic last September with the introduction of the new Ofsted framework. However, the urgency and potency of the Black Lives Matter movement is leading to even more important work being done in schools to use their curriculum to work towards racial justice. There is also a huge amount of work to do on diversity in school leadership. As Mindful Equity founder, Youlande Harrowell points out, staggeringly just 0.1 per cent of assistant heads are from mixed white, black African and Chinese groups.

Building inclusive workplaces and facilitating flexible working is another issue that has been thrown into sharper

focus this year, with many teachers working at home while looking after their own children. Staff meetings and CPD sessions via Zoom may mean less pressure for staff to be physically present beyond their time with pupils and even open up the hitherto unimaginable prospect of “teaching from home”. Bearing in mind how exhausted the school workforce is, and the challenges this year will hold, I’m sure lots of schools will be thinking about how they can use technology to reduce workload and work more flexibly for the long term.

The leaders running our schools have proven time and time again, their flexibility and willingness to adapt to whatever is thrown at them, in order to do the best for their pupils. If COVID19 has taught us anything, it’s that we should hold on to what we do know about our schools, teachers and pupils and stop trying to second guess or predict the future for a while. L

Education Sector Trends

When the crisis hit, the focus was on shared humanity, and professional generosity abounded (as it always does in education).

Schools have repeatedly gone above and beyond to support each other and the communities they serve. Whether it be projects on the scale of Oak Academy, or school leaders sharing their preparations and documents with peers or just providing a sympathetic listening ear, colleagues across the country have truly united.

This powerful common purpose makes the sector much more of a force to be reckoned with and has made the government reconsider its actions on too many occasions to mention.

Hopefully, we’ll see more of this powerful, collective voice of the profession this academic year.

Caroline Doherty is head of education strategy at The Key, a provider of upto-the-minute sector intelligence and resources that empower education leaders with the knowledge to act. Caroline has been a school governor for 10 years.

FURTHER INFORMATION www.thekeysupport.com

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Design & Build

The ten-year rebuilding programme for schools Good design must be made a priority in deciding how the government’s new investment into school buildings is spent, writes RIBA’s Client Advisers which we have demonstrated over the last two decades. The profession’s progressive and continuous development on sustainability and environmental design also puts us in good stead to take a holistic, whole-life approach to this new phase of school projects.

The value of good design We know that schools play a vital role in influencing our children’s outlook and life chances – from academic learning to social skills – they help shape us into the adults we grow into and the communities we are a part of.

The Royal Institute of British Architects’ Better Spaces for Learning report, published in 2016, demonstrates that good design must be made a priority in deciding how this new investment fund is spent.

Our research highlights the important role that good design plays in the efficacy of The best prepared projects have a school for both the pupils, their families the best chances of success and staff. This research indicates that good Sustainable design is a collaborative design, which includes good quality natural endeavour. Bringing together design light, good acoustics, flexible spaces and professionals, clients, contractors and simple, natural ventilation systems, has most importantly the building’s guardians, been proven to positively impact pupil its teachers and children behaviour, engagement, wellbeing and is key to success. attainment. It also indicates that good Architects are ready design improves school staff’s to take the lead. productivity, with the most To We have a wealth comfortable and well-designed continu u s of professional schools demonstrating a 15 l y i mprove expertise in per cent increase in this area. our schools school design In addition to improving ,w

educational outcomes, good design makes good business sense – well-designed schools are cheaper to run. According to our research in 2016, an excess of £150 million is being spent annually on services and maintenance. Such additional expenditure could be avoided in the future by having a more holistic and coordinated approach that includes robust briefing in the design process of new schools.

Crucially though, good design of school buildings must encompass sustainability and work to address the climate emergency. It should aim to reduce the environmental impact of the building through both the energy consumed during construction and once in use.

Written by RIBA Client Advisers

In June 2020, the government announced £1billion of investment for schools. This ten-year investment programme is the first significant wave of funding launched since 2014. As a result, it needs to both play catch-up and forecast future needs.

We know that new school buildings help deliver better educational outcomes, tackle wider societal issues such as the climate emergency and act as community hubs. This isn’t an accident; working with the right team can help to dramatically raise the chances of success.

A RIBA Client Adviser can work with schools to guarantee that the right questions are asked and the appropriate guidance is given at every stage of the building programme, helping to ensure that the needs of the students and teachers are at the centre of the project and that sustainability is considered throughout.

The role of architects in helping to tackle the climate emergency Understanding and ensuring good, sustainable design in schools is where the role of an RIBA Chartered Architect and particularly, an RIBA Client Adviser can be extremely beneficial. E

use the e must lesso learned from sc ns h already built anools d in use

Mercia School by Bond Bryan Architects, received a RIBA Yorkshire Award in 2019.

Photo by Phil Grayston

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Advertisement Feature

Moving towards net-zero carbon schools An environmentally sound, fully recyclable hardwood floor from Junckers can support schools with their net-zero emission goals

The welcome news that schools across England are set for a transformative ten-year construction programme under new plans set out by the government has provided a much-needed boost to the sector. The first major school rebuilding programme to be launched since 2014 will start in 2020-21 with the first 50 projects receiving over £1 billion in funding. Projects for the first phase will be confirmed this autumn with construction set to begin from September next year.

A major change since the initial school building programme was released is a new procurement process focused on carbon reduction. The Department for Education has announced its aim to build net zero carbon schools and informed its framework of contractors to submit tenders accordingly.

Working towards a net zero carbon future, every part and every detail of a project count. Every material specified needs to meet crucial criteria – Is it sustainable? Is it reusable? Is it recyclable? How long will it last? How is it produced? How can in contribute to a better cared for environment?

Universally known for its high environmental credentials, wood is a material that scores highly on all aforementioned criteria. Every Junckers floor is made of strong, durable solid hardwood, there are no layers of inferior quality; no glue or harmful chemical substances which can adversely affect the air in a room. Crucially, there is no reliance on fossil fuel derived materials, as with other sports flooring surfaces. Vinyl (PVC) sports flooring, once commonly used in schools, is an oil-based product. Oil is a non-sustainable resource and therefore does not fit in with the current drive to safeguard our environment for the future. Old vinyl floors cannot be reused or recycled and most of the waste is taken to landfill sites. As vinyl flooring is not biodegradable, it sits in landfill for generations and is hazardous and costly.

In contrast, an environmentally sound, fully recyclable option, albeit after a much longer lifespan than any other sports flooring surface, is a solid hardwood floor from Junckers. Junckers timber comes from legal and sustainably managed sources, and the company has internationally known FSC® and PEFCTM accreditations as well as EPDs (Environmental Product Declarations) for all its flooring. Junckers floors have BREEAM A+ rating.

Timber is a natural carbon-neutral material, storing carbon during its life then releasing it at the end. Junckers does not intensively

reprocess the wood by multi-layering or using large amounts of energy, glue and resins. Wood waste is used to power the entire factory site, but this produces more electricity than the company needs. The surplus is sold to the local grid making Junckers a carbon neutral company.

Junckers’ solid wood floors retain their strength exceptionally well throughout their lives. Independent testing shows that a Junckers sports floor, after two sandings, has more strength than a “equivalent” engineered floor that has never been sanded. Unlike an engineered board, a solid wood floorboard has no core structure to break down, and the central dovetail in a Junckers board can be sanded without loss of strength. A Junckers solid hardwood floor may be sanded between eight and ten times during its life. Life spans in excess of 60 years are easily achievable, which means lower demands upon natural materials and a long time span between installation and when the floor needs to be recycled.

Solid hardwood boards can be reclaimed if they have useful life remaining. Floating or nailed floors are eminently re-useable and when sanded and sealed can look like a brand new floor. If need be, solid wood waste is easily recycled and is usually uncontaminated.

The combination of performance, longevity, low lifecycle costs and ease of maintenance of a Junckers wood floor is often the deciding point for schools and further education colleges. The exceptional durability means it can be used for so much more than sports and activities. In current times, your sports hall may have to double up as a teaching space or dining area, the floor will easily stand up to the change in use and does not need to be covered or protected in any way.

A Junckers sports floor is strong enough to accept tired seating, making it suitable for performances and tournaments – the floor could earn its keep during out-of-school hours.

Now, with the focus on achieving net zero carbon schools, choosing a Junckers floor with full environmental credentials means your investment helps future-proof your school.

Since 2015, Junckers has supplied sports flooring for 1,583 schools, which amounts to 615,000m2 of flooring and equals 1035 four badminton court size sports halls. And for nonsports projects, Junckers has installed its solid hardwood floors in 390 schools = 126,000m2.

To receive one of Junckers’ guides to sustainable flooring, please contact sales@junckers.co.uk We offer technical help and advice tailored to each project. L FURTHER INFORMATION Tel 01376 534 700 junckers.co.uk sales@junckers.co.uk

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Mercia School by Bond Bryan Architects, Photo by Phil Grayston

 Sustainable design can be complex and what works on one site may be unsuitable for another. Each project has to balance the effective allocation of site and resources, alongside the school’s long-term operations objectives. Warmer summer weather presents a significant challenge for designers. A good team will consider key factors including natural ventilation with openable windows, sufficient room height and depth, effective layout of classrooms and corridors, and good daylight, while taking into account the room’s orientation.

Taking a holistic approach to design, sustainability and user wellbeing will help save money in the long term. This could be through more energy efficient buildings which reduces energy costs, greater utilisation of internal and external spaces, and by making it easier to attract and retain the best teachersaccording to our research, 20 per cent of teachers have considered quitting because of the current condition of school buildings.

Design & Build

Good design, which includes good quality natural light, good acoustics, flexible spaces and simple, natural ventilation systems, has been proven to positively impact pupil behaviour, engagement, wellbeing and attainment

Modern methods of construction Recently the use of Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) has gained attention in both the public and private sector. Rather than building from scratch on a building site, using MMC, parts are built under factory conditions and shipped to site for assembly. The RIBA believes that MMC has the potential to become increasingly cost and time efficient as the technology develops. For schools where onsite construction can present particular disruption and safety challenges, this has the potential to be a game changer.

MMC provides the opportunity to facilitate a step change in how we build schools and for holistic design governance. This is useful in schools where standard designs can be appropriately adapted to meet the client’s requirements. Here, the role of a RIBA Client Adviser can be incredibly useful.

They can be your advocate, understanding the needs of the school, defining a clear brief and appraising advantages between standardisation and contextualised design, utilising MMC where it is most effective.

Ensuring design quality To continuously improve our schools, we must use the lessons learned from schools already built and in use. What worked on paper during the design process does not always prove as effective when up and running. To avoid repeating this performance gap, a wellstructured and comprehensive assessment of existing school buildings, through Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE) is essential.

POE is the process of obtaining feedback on a building’s performance in use after it has been built and occupied. Capturing lessons learnt and sharing these in a structured way will help ensure that continuous improvement and best practice are informing ongoing and new projects. The information collected and the feedback loop is especially valuable in assessing how energy can be better managed. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.architecture.com

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Advertisement Feature

A safe environment to return to this September Facilities management providers like ISS play crucial roles in delivering welcoming and safe environments. From enhanced touchpoint cleaning, to porters who can setup classrooms in a socially distanced manner, user safety is paramount for ISS one-way systems, washing hands, and sanitising workstations before and after use.

We can also bring best practice from other institutions, such as banking or healthcare.

We at ISS are the largest supplier of Soft FM to the NHS – 11,000 healthcare staff look after over three million square metres of hospital estate across the country. At the Nightingale Hospital London, we combined a healthcare cleaning solution with our newly created COVID-19 customer confidence platform to successfully set up and run a full Soft FM service in just ten days.

The education sector is currently feeling the impact of significant change. Initially the pandemic caused a shift from in-person, oncampus classroom learning to online, digital classes. But now that exam results are being debated and clearing processes followed, universities and schools are finalising their numbers and readying their estates for the upcoming academic year. Facilities management providers like ISS play crucial roles in delivering welcoming and safe environments – by partnering with our clients, our placemaking solutions reconnect pupils and teachers with their places to make this new world work better.

Returning to learning by balancing virtual with in-person lessons Remote learning has been the primary way of studying over the last few months, but with establishments planning to reopen in full, the whole industry is exploring methods for students to come back in person. As quick as the shift was towards e-learning, there is now a perceptible return to in-person learning – pupils and parents want value for money that they feel isn’t achievable outside the physical classroom. And while generation Z is well versed in forming strong online communities, courses with heavily practical elements need a controlled learning environment with experts on-hand to guide and mentor.

There is also the student experience to consider, the social interactions that form lifelong friendships during this formative period in our lives. We play a role in this – our FM services provide places that think, work and give to support students form these connections and make memories. It’s more than learning and knowledge imparted, it’s a way of life through experiences shared.

For the international student community, there is the added uncertainty of travelling to

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consider. Universities like Middlesex University have a large contingent of students that travel to their campuses from abroad. Here, our highly visible partnership with the university helps provide a safe and secure environment that fosters learning and protects the students.

A flexible labour model to support the uncertainty in student numbers Exam results and the subsequent clearing process make for a particularly unclear and turbulent summer this year, and the lower student numbers and reforms of previous years is still keenly felt. With the pace of economic recovery ranging from 18 months to three years, we proactively support these vitally important, world-class institutions navigate the unknown.

We constantly flex our operational models to help our institutions best prepare for reopening.

In Scotland, we are already supporting students through their further education journey at Edinburgh College. Our partnership with Wigan Council’s 50 schools and colleges – which we previously only cleaned before and after the school day – is now operating on enhanced cleaning of touchpoints in between classes as well. But there is a balance to be found – an additional workforce costs money, so our clients need confidence in our solutions before authorising the additional expense.

Technology to keep learning environments safe and hygienic We are utilising new technology to help our education partners prepare their sites for the new academic year, at whatever capacity appropriate. We provide extra cleaning on high-touch surfaces, using chemicals proven to reduce sources of infection. To speed up touchpoint cleaning, we are investigating the use of spray guns for evenly distributing cleaning chemicals on surfaces – the potential for this to reduce a 15-minute room clean to five minutes will help lower our labour costs for our clients.

Our monitoring technology measures surface cleanliness and gives our clients more confidence in our solutions. And while we are putting further preventative measures in place, we are still prepared for instances of localised outbreak and lockdown. Through our national supply chain, we have access to Clorox equipment so that we can quickly respond to any deep cleaning requirements.

Our learning institutions are adapting daily, to support their communities in unprecedented ways. As a trusted partner, we can help education institutions stabilise, reopen and evolve for the future. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.uk.issworld.com enquires@uk.issworld.com

An integrated approach to facilities services The benefit of our approach as an integrated services provider is that we can influence multiple services throughout the entire estate.

From enhanced touchpoint cleaning, to porters who can setup classrooms in a socially distanced manner, our priority is user safety.

Keeping the environment hygienic is everyone’s responsibility and it is for us in FM to lead the way, educating our end customers on following

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR DECISION MAKERS IN PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION | www.educationbusinessuk.net

The government’s ten-year school rebuilding programme, announced this summer, is a step towards creating low-carbon classrooms for every child in the country.

But it will only be effective with a much bigger injection of investment and ambition.

Schools face a nervous wait for genuinely national action – but in the meantime, there is lots they can do themselves to protect the planet and lower their bills.

To launch the rebuilding programme, 50 projects, worth £1bn, have been promised in England, as well as £560m for school repairs and upgrades. Revealing these plans, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “This major new investment will make sure our schools and colleges are fit for the future, with better facilities and brand new buildings.”

Smart tech for retrofits The case for retrofitting goes beyond fixing cold and draughty classrooms. Energy is the second largest budget item for schools after But the scale of the challenge is huge. staffing, every pound spent sorting out leaky There are about 24,000 schools in England and energy-guzzling school buildings can – so 50 projects will address just 0.2 per be money invested into children’s learning. cent of the country’s crumbling school Retrofit solutions – such as improving estate. If this 10-year plan is to achieve insulation and ventilation, or investing in more nationwide change, the chancellor will need efficient boilers – can dramatically lower bills to go far further when he lays out his full and emissions. plans in the Autumn Spending Review.

The cost of inaction is enormous. In What’s more, the first of the 50 planned 2017, the National Audit Office projects will not begin until September estimated that the cost of 2021. With climate scientists There dealing with major defects warning of a pivotal decade are abo in UK schools would to transform our societies, double between 2015the clock is ticking.

24,000 ut 16 and 2020-21, as Sixty per cent of UK in Engla schools many buildings near school buildings were n d – so 50 projects the end of their built before the mid w ill addre useful lives. E seventies. So energy just s

Written by By Alex Green, programme manager (awards and schools), Ashden

The government’s ten-year school rebuilding programme is a step towards creating low-carbon classrooms, but more investment and ambition is needed, writes Alex Green, schools programme manager at Ashden. In the meantime, there is a lot schools can do themselves to protect the planet and lower their bills

Design & Build

The action needed for low carbon classrooms

retrofits – improving energy efficiency in existing school buildings, thereby saving carbon emissions and ultimately fuel bills – is essential, rather than concentrating solely on new school builds. Seventy-two per cent of England’s school buildings are still expected to be in use in 2050.

A host of solutions can improve efficiency in new builds and existing buildings. With an enormous task ahead, the government will need to embrace a range of strategies in order to overhaul the school estate.

And a local level, schools should realise that upgrades or new building projects are a unique opportunity to work together with their local community – from small businesses to voluntary groups. A joined-up approach will bring massive benefits within and beyond the school gates.

s 0.2 of the c per cent crumbl ountry’s ing sc estate hool

Botley Primary School are part of the Low carbon Hub project

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Exploring the possibilities of covered outdoor areas to create new learning spaces for children Over recent weeks, there has been an influx of UK educators realising the potential of their outside space. Playgrounds, MUGA and unused external areas are being prepared and surveyed for canopy installations so they can be transformed into covered ‘open’ spaces suitable for use throughout the year. When chosen correctly, canopies are designed to protect users from both rain and UV, creating truly all-weather areas.

The benefits of outside learning are well documented, with both the Department for Education and teaching unions such as the NUT highlighting the emotional, cognitive and behavioural gains outdoor classrooms provide. Perhaps not bought to the public eye quite as directly, until recently, are the more direct positives for health.

Covering a MUGA or playground to allow full access to sport when it is raining is a clear benefit, but it does not finish there.

These covered areas have the flexibility to play multiple roles for a number of classes, all in a fresh and open environment. While one section of the playground may be

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hosting a science lesson, another may be in use for art or environmental studies.

Not only do larger canopies create cost effective additional learning space, but they also help address the moot point of social distancing in schools.

The New York Times recently posted an article highlighting interesting points from the turn of the 20th century, where Rhode Island doctors developed the idea of outside learning to mitigate transmission of tuberculosis, not only between children, but also via the educators who taught them. This system sadly fell out

of fashion due to the harsh winters in New York, but much of America is looking to copy European countries and reintroduce the possibility of covered outside learning space.

It just needs to be implemented well and while such structures will serve a defined purpose now, if chosen correctly and engineered thoroughly, they will continue to deliver all of the above benefits to students and their teachers for decades.

For 55 years Fordingbridge structures have been produced in-house in their custom built West Sussex facility.

This allows them to provide an industry leading 25 year guarantee on all canopies, as testimony to their confidence in design and engineering. With a complete service, from design through to manufacture and installation completed inhouse, ensure they are your canopy contractor of choice for your next project. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.fordingbridge.co.uk

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Thornhill Primary School in Cardiff

Sixty per cent of UK school buildings were built before the mid seventies. So energy retrofits – improving energy efficiency in existing school buildings, thereby saving carbon emissions and ultimately fuel bills – is essential, rather than concentrating solely on new school builds  But support for schools is available. For example, Salix Finance provides interestfree government funding to the public sector to improve energy efficiency, reduce carbon emissions and lower energy bills.

Salix was created in 2004 by the UK, Scottish and Welsh governments, and has so far funded 18,780 projects – bringing schools annual savings of £203million.

In the capital, the Mayor of London’s retrofit accelerator promises to deliver participating schools an average saving of 15-25 per cent on school energy bills, access to interest-free loans, new equipment and lower maintenance costs, and access to approved service provider to do the work.

But what cutting edge solutions could drive a national retrofit effort in the years ahead? Many start with a smarter use of data, using new software and machinelearning to find inefficiencies in heating and cooling systems. A few simple fixes or improvements can deliver big savings.

One low tech but efficient solution, for new builds or retrofits, is passive design.

This technique maximises the use of natural sources of heating, cooling and ventilation to create comfortable conditions inside buildings. It harnesses environmental conditions such as solar radiation and cool night air to control the indoor environment – cutting the need for gas and electricity.

A passive design-focused social housing project in Norwich won the 2019 Stirling Prize for architecture – proving that this approach isn’t just for luxury homes or offices. Schools in Wolverhampton and Cambridge have shown how effective it can be in an education setting.

Funding and support to go green Sustainability initiatives frequently bring wider benefits beyond reduced emissions.

In the case of schools these include lower fuel bills – but also the chance to create stronger links with local communities.

Oxfordshire’s Low Carbon Hub supports a huge range of carbon-cutting initiatives across the county, including many in schools.

It recently helped West Witney Primary install 108 solar panels, enough to generate 28,820kWh of clean electricity every year.

This generation means that West Witney can meet approximately 18 per cent of its energy needs through the panels, as well as saving 11 tonnes of CO2 emissions each year. The project is projected to save the school around £15,000 over the lifetime of the project by reducing their energy bills.

The work came at no cost to the school.

However, it was supported by the hub’s Community Energy Fund share offer, which allowed local people to invest in green solutions in their own neighbourhoods.

Design & Build

The school’s commitment to going green also includes hosting a lively ecoclub for pupils. With backing from Low Carbon Hub, Witney has demonstrate how infrastructure projects can be the centrepiece of broader sustainability effort.

The success of Low Carbon Hub shows the value of networking organisations in helping schools embrace sustainability solutions. Such organisations are well placed to provide advice, recommend contractors and help schools access funding. Lowering emissions can seem a daunting task – but schools don’t have to do it alone.

Unite for change As well as looking to supportive organisations, schools can also benefit from tackling sustainability challenges together.

This includes coming together to discuss common challenges and share solutions.

LESS CO2, Ashden’s peer learning programme for low-carbon schools, connects local schools seeking to tackle energy use.

It is also vital that schools unite to call for change from the government, because the ambition shown so far just does not meet the challenge ahead. If the Government is serious about ‘building back better’ after coronavirus, not to mention the education of future generations, it must crank up its efforts and unlock greater investment.

That challenge has inspired the Let’s Go Zero 2030 Campaign, through which schools are making a public commitment to becoming zero carbon. Those taking part are demanding the government sets out a roadmap to making all schools zero carbon by 2030. On this crucial issue, headteachers, governors and students are leading the way. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.ashden.org www.letsgozero.org

Let’s Go Zero 2030 Campaign Ashden has launched the Let’s Go Zero 2030 Campaign, through which schools can make a public commitment and take action themselves to reduce their own climate impact. It will demonstrate to national government that there is a substantial demand amongst teachers and pupils to become zero carbon.

Those taking part are demanding the government sets out a roadmap to making all schools zero carbon by 2030

Visit www.letsgozero.org for more information.

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www.Nilcouk.com

NILCO – Saying No to COVID-19

The Nilco brand is manufactured, researched and produced in the UK and products are trusted by professionals with scientific research into cleaning surface technology and skin sanitising giving users confidence to know that not only are surfaces clean, but also free from contaminants and harmful bacteria.

Nilbac High Contact - A dry-touch sanitiser spray that gets to work straight away to remove viruses and bacteria from surfaces such as tables, chairs, light switches, handles, worktops and preparation areas.

Nilbac Max Blast - A dry-touch fine mist effortlessly sanitises entire spaces in a few short bursts. This ‘no wiping just spray’ product will cover two average rooms, approximately 50m area, and will be dry touch within 10 minutes. A perfect solution for sanitising any area at the end of a working day ready for the next.

Nilfog PPE Anti Mist - A product that eliminates condensation that can occur on PPE screens and protective eyewear, such as goggles, visors, glasses and helmets. The strong anti-fog formulation creates a micro thin film, allowing for clear visibility and a streak free finish.

Nilco Antibacterial Car Sanitiser Kit – The powerful antibacterial agents clean and sanitise the whole car including the air conditioning system in under 10 minutes without the use of any specialist equipment leaving the interior clean and purified. Simply turn on www.facebook.com/nilcouk

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the air conditioning, place the atomiser in the footwell or cup holder, activate the trigger and close the door.

Peter Schofield, Tetrosyl Group Chairman, said: “The Nilco range is a perfect fit for any business due to its professional bacterial and virus control. We are proud to be supporting the likes of schools, dentists, barbers, beauty salons, offices, garden centres, bars and restaurants in their pursuit to return to full strength and continue to operate in the safest way possible.”

Businesses are turning to the Nilco range as they feel confident in the knowledge that the products meet and exceed European Standards for bacteria and virus control with approvals on BS1276, BS1327, BS1500, BS13697, BS13704 and BS14476 including BRC consumer product certification.

Nilco has an extensive portfolio of hand and room sanitisers, PPE anti-mist products, car sanitisers, glass, floor and fabric cleaners. For more information and to see our professional products in action visit www.Nilcouk.com or check out Nilco on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

www.linkedin.com/company/tetrosyl

www.twitter.com/nilcocleaning

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR DECISION MAKERS IN PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION | www.educationbusinessuk.net

Cleaning & Hygiene

Cleaning in Covid times Regular and enhanced cleaning, as well as extra hygiene measures from pupils and staff, play a vital role in limiting the transmission of Covid-19 in schools. We summarise the latest government advice Cleaning and stricter hygiene measures have been a fundamental part of schools’ safe re-opening strategies.

Transmission of coronavirus (Covid19) mainly occurs through respiratory droplets generated during breathing, talking, coughing and sneezing. This can happen when the droplets get onto and contaminate surfaces, which are then touched and introduced into the mouth or eyes of an uninfected person.

The infection risk from a Covid-19 contaminated environment decreases over time. It is not yet clear at what point there is no risk from the virus, however, studies suggest that, in non-healthcare settings, the risk of residual infectious virus is likely to be significantly reduced after 48 hours.

Extra hygiene measures and cleaning of surfaces and ‘touch points’ is therefore extremely important.

Schools are asked that everyone washes their hands more often than usual, particularly on arrival, when returning from breaks, when changing rooms, and before and after eating or handling food, as well as after touching your face, blowing your nose and sneezing or coughing.

Pupils and staff should be told to wash their hands thoroughly for 20 seconds with running water and soap and dry them thoroughly, or use alcohol hand rub/sanitiser ensuring that all parts of the hands are covered.

Reducing clutter and removing difficult The ‘catch it, bin it, kill it’ approach to to clean items can make cleaning easier. respiratory hygiene must be communicated Increase the frequency of cleaning, using to pupils and staff. This involves covering standard cleaning products such as your mouth and nose with disposable detergents and bleach, paying attention tissues when you cough or sneeze. If one to all surfaces but especially ones that is not available, sneeze into the crook of are touched frequently, such as door your elbow, not into your hand. Dispose handles, light switches, work surfaces, of tissues into a disposable rubbish bag remote controls and electronic devices. and immediately clean your hands with As a minimum, frequently touched soap and water or use a hand sanitiser. surfaces should be wiped down twice a The government’s guidance advises day, and one of these should be at the schools to enhance cleaning. This means beginning or the end of the working more frequent cleaning of rooms day. Cleaning should be more or shared areas that are used Waste frequent depending on the by different groups, as well number of people using as frequently cleaning does no t the space, whether touched surfaces, such n eed to they are entering and as door handles, b e segrega exiting the setting and handrails, play ted unl ess an indiv access to handwashing equipment, toys, and and hand-sanitising electronic devices the sett idual in ing sho facilities. Cleaning of (such as phones). ws sympto frequently touched All education, m surfaces is particularly childcare and tests po s of or sitive fo important in bathrooms children’s social r Covid-1 and communal kitchens. care settings should 9 When cleaning surfaces, follow the PHE it is not necessary to wear guidance on cleaning personal protective equipment for non-healthcare settings, (PPE) or clothing over and above which we summarise here. what would usually be used.

In bathrooms, frequently touched Cleaning and disinfection surfaces should be cleaned regularly.

Regular cleaning plays a vital role in Ensure suitable hand washing facilities E limiting the transmission of Covid-19.

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What should good and effective cleaning look like in our new Covid-19 era and beyond?

We asked Richard Jowsey, a senior facilities management consultant at BenefitFM, for his view on Covid-19 cleaning measures: “Many organisations have no way of knowing what has been done or to what standard and may just have a simple tick box, but suppliers are very quick off the mark to sell more and spread fear.

“What’s needed is clear evidence that cleaning has been done to mitigate the risk not just that more money has been spent.

“Before increasing budgets, step back and consider the risks and how best to mitigate, flex the schedule, and use technology to evidence that the job you’re paying for really has been done. It will save you thousands, alleviate fear, and ensure your environment is really clean and safe.”

So, what should good and effective cleaning look like to support these points in our new Covid-19 era and beyond?

We spoke to our education customers who wanted to achieve the following: promote wellbeing, confidence and assurance across their site(s) and deliver high standards of cleanliness and hygiene as efficiently as possible.

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Customers also wanted to optionally join-up cleaning with maintenance, compliance and evidencing processes, and effectively manage cleaning teams and zonal ‘bubbles’.

They also need to meet extra reporting demands from SLTs and governors, and improve data insights to help demonstrate value for money and better outcomes.

Cleaning costs have increased substantially and the DfE only allows some incremental costs to be reclaimed so it’s easy to see why these are priority areas.

To satisfy these requirements we combined readily accessible technologies such as smartphones, barcodes and QR codes with a cloud-based application to manage the data. Cleaning activities

can be managed standalone or integrated into other maintenance and inspection processes.

A highly visual approach using site and floor plans makes it easy to create and update isolation areas. Alerts can be triggered for events such as missed cleans or maintenance requests in an isolation area.

Barcodes enable cleaners and site teams to record and access cleaning information about an area, room or asset such as vents, extractor fans, shower areas or even minibuses.

Colleagues can scan QR codes to see summary cleaning information you’ve decided to share. For example a traffic light indictor indicating the cleaning status.

In the ‘new normal’ of site management, where cleaning has become a strategic priority, it is now possible to manage it strategically. L FURTHER INFORMATION altuity.com info@altuity.com

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR DECISION MAKERS IN PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION | www.educationbusinessuk.net

bag’ waste bins. You do not need to put them in an extra bag or store them for a time before throwing them away.

Cleaning after a confirmed case If there is a confirmed case of Covid-19 in your school, the minimum PPE to be worn for cleaning is disposable gloves and an apron.

Wash hands with soap and water for 20 seconds after all PPE has been removed.

If there is a confirmed case of Covid-19 in your school, the minimum PPE to be worn for cleaning is disposable gloves and an apron. Wash hands with soap and water for 20 seconds after PPE has been removed

If a risk assessment of the setting indicates that a higher level of virus may be present (for example, where someone unwell has spent the night (such as a boarding school dormitory) then additional PPE to protect the cleaner’s eyes, mouth and nose may be necessary.

Public areas where a symptomatic person has passed through and spent minimal time but which are not visibly contaminated with body fluids, such as corridors, can be cleaned thoroughly as normal.

All surfaces that the symptomatic person has come into contact with should be cleaned and disinfected, including all potentially contaminated and frequently touched areas such as bathrooms, door handles, telephones, grab rails in corridors and stairwells Use disposable cloths or paper roll and disposable mop heads, to clean all hard surfaces, floors, chairs, door handles and sanitary fittings – think one site, one wipe, in one direction.

Cleaning can be done with either a combined detergent disinfectant solution at a dilution of 1,000 parts per million available chlorine (ppm av.cl.), or a household detergent followed by disinfection (1000 ppm av.cl.).

Follow manufacturer’s instructions for dilution, application and contact times for all detergents and disinfectants. If an alternative disinfectant is used within the organisation ensure that it is effective against enveloped viruses.

Avoid mixing cleaning products together as this can create toxic fumes. Avoid creating splashes and spray when cleaning.

Any cloths and mop heads used must be disposed of and should be put into waste bags as outlined below.

When items cannot be cleaned using detergents or laundered, for example, upholstered furniture and mattresses, steam cleaning should be used.

Personal waste from individuals with symptoms of Covid-19 and waste from cleaning of areas where they have been (including PPE, disposable cloths and used tissues) should be put in a plastic rubbish bag and tied when full. The plastic bag should then be placed in a second bin bag and tied. This should be put in a suitable and secure place and marked for storage until the individual’s test results are known.

This waste should be stored safely and kept away from children. It should not be placed in communal waste areas until negative test results are known, or the waste has been stored for at least 72 hours.

If the individual tests negative, this can be put indisposed of immediately with the normal waste.

If Covid-19 is confirmed this waste should be stored for at least 72 hours before disposal with normal waste.

If during an emergency you need to remove the waste before 72 hours, it must be treated as Category B infectious waste.

You must keep it separate from your other waste and arrange for collection by a specialist contractor as hazardous waste.

There will be a charge for this service. L

Cleaning & Hygiene

 are available including running water, liquid soap and paper towels or hand driers. Where cloth towels are used, these should be for individual use and laundered in accordance with washing instructions.

Waste does not need to be segregated unless an individual in the setting shows symptoms of or tests positive for Covid-19.

Dispose of routine waste as normal, placing any used cloths or wipes in ‘black

FURTHER INFORMATION Read the government guidance here

Issue 25.5 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Cleaning Interactive

Cleaning Interactive: innovation in infection control and knowledge sharing Ceris Burns, managing director of CBI VR Experiences, shares how this virtual event which champions cleaning innovation and expertise, is tailor-made for the education sector As the new term begins and schools welcome Free to attend, this cutting-edge event is back students, heightened cleaning and focused on showcasing innovation in a safe hygiene measures remain vital for their safe and effective format. It enables education operation. To support schools, there are a and facilities managers to discover the wealth of services and innovations being latest developments, products and services, developed by the cleaning industry to help the technical changes and legislation affecting sector not only provide the highest standards cleaning operations. of education, but also the best in The virtual event combines a digital sanitation and care. exhibition platform with a smart Now the sector has the interactive stage and mixed reality The opportunity to safely technology, with an intuitive, v irtual e learn more about user-friendly interface. Kärcher v ent combin these cleaning UK, the world’s largest e s a digita exhibiti and facilities manufacturer of cleaning l on plat management machines, is the headline f o rm with a innovations sponsor of the show. s interact mart at Cleaning

Whilst this pandemic InteractiveTM, the has been extremely tough, and mi ive stage xed cleaning industry’s it’s also taught us new techno reality first high-tech ways of communicating and logy event incorporating emphasised the fact that we visualisation technology. don’t have to physically be in The digital event takes place the same room as each other to do online from 6-7 October 2020. serious business.

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Some of the fresh-thinking organisations and brands who have committed to being involved in this virtual cleaning event as exhibitors and supporters include the British Institute of Cleaning Science; Bunzl Cleaning & Hygiene Supplies; CBRE; Churchill Group Services; Cleaning & Hygiene Suppliers Association (CHSA); Denis Rawlins; Facilicom UK and Ireland; GOJO Industries-Europe; The Hillbrush Company; Incentive QAS; Katrin; Metsä; Metzger; the National Carpet Cleaners Association; Purex®; SAVORTEX®; SiteZone Safety; SpaceVac International; UhUb; Unger; and the Worshipful Company of Environmental Cleaners.

The event is run by CBI VR Experiences, sister company of longstanding cleaning, FM, and environmental industry PR agency, Ceris Burns International. It is backed by an extensive, international PR and marketing campaign.

Virtual visitors This virtual showcase delivers all the standard features of a live trade show while taking

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR DECISION MAKERS IN PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION | www.educationbusinessuk.net

Cleaning Interactive

online relations to another level. The format allows people that wouldn’t traditionally go to live events to interact and take part.

Visitors can do all the usual things they’d do at a show: visit exhibitor stands, see innovations, watch demos, schedule one to one video appointments, plus fill their virtual briefcase with information and brochures and consume live and on-demand content from international leaders on two stages. They can also try the show’s scavenger hunt to win prizes, and get social in the networking lounge.

Interactive stage Special features include virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) for an almost full sensory experience. Top tier exhibitors will demonstrate their products from an immersive studio, with bespoke 3D sets, and mixed reality elements to add impact. This places the presenter in a dynamic, 360-degree virtual studio environment, which is visible in realtime to visitors online.

Visitors log in to enter the stage and step into the presenter’s world virtually, with questions being answered there and then. This real time contact between the presenter and their audience enables instant engagement and discussion, making it feel as close as possible to an in-person, physical connection.

The Indie Stage Visitors can join flexible format sessions on this stage which will provide a second space for participating companies to deliver private online meetings, panel discussions, corporate presentations, product demonstrations and more. Sessions can be live, semi-live or prerecorded in line with the exhibitors’ preference.

Visitors will enter the sessions directly by clicking on the stage door. They will be able to contribute to live Q&A sessions via online chat and text applications.

Battle of the Apps Interested in seeing the latest technology to aid cleaning and hygiene? The event gives visitors the chance to vote for the most innovative app in the ‘Battle of the Apps’ free competition.

Shortlisted organisations will demo their apps at a live webinar at the event. Demos will last between 3-5 minutes maximum.

Who will be crowned the winner? Visitors will vote for their favourite and results will be displayed on screen as soon as the poll ends.

A fresh approach Take the opportunity to update your industry knowledge and meet suppliers based on your requirements – all without the need to travel. Benefits include staying safe, reduced costs, more time efficiency, and minimal environmental impact. This is a totally new approach to sharing innovation and doing business without leaving your desk and the event is guaranteed – the showcase will go on!

We’re delighted to have Education Business on board as a media partner for Cleaning Interactive 2020. Thank you for your support!

To register for this free to attend event, please visit cleaninginteractive. com. For further information, including sponsorship opportunities please contact info@cleaninginteractive.com or call Ceris Burns on mobile: 07847 642543 Tel: 01825 729941. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.cleaninginteractive.com @CleanInteract #CleaningInteractive2020

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Advertisement Feature

Providing the education sector with safe, clean, and hygienic environments Working with its educational clients, Nviro delivered over a million hours of hygienic COVID-19 related cleaning, without a single case of the virus among its staff – a testament to its safe working methods Nviro is a leading provider of cleaning and hygiene services. We support over 220 educational sites across the South and South East, cleaning around 2.4 million m² a day for over 100,000 students, teachers, and site staff .

Our vision is to consistently provide safe, clean, and hygienic environments in which our customers can thrive. Through our ethos of ‘Cleaning with a Conscience’ embedded throughout our organisation, our mission is to look after our people so that they look after our customers, which is ultimately how we assist in achieving the desired outcomes of our partnerships.

Providing cleaning and hygiene services to a wide variety of educational facilities helps us understand the varying complex demands of different establishments and campuses, and how the requirements change throughout the academic year.

Our ethos and practice We are a people focused organisation and recognise the worth of every employee.

Comprehensive industry-recognised training programmes and strong, personable management support results in a highly motivated, well-trained workforce. In an industry with historic retention issues and high staff turnover, we are confident that our ethos is successful, boasting a staff retention rate 20% higher than the industry average. We value the family feel our company has and know that a happy team means better productivity, better staff retention, higher standards, and ultimately results in driving down costs.

As forward thinkers in the industry, we provide the best combination of experience and innovation. The pioneering machinery we deploy makes light work of tasks in hand to reduce the physical impact on our operatives while providing exceptional end results. Labour-saving equipment improves productivity, ultimately resulting in cost savings that we share with our customers. This also aids our recruitment strategy and contributes to our strong workforce; operatives are supported in their physically demanding duties with the right equipment, reducing work related injury and increasing job satisfaction.

Our customers tell us they need more from suppliers and that successful contracts are won by those not only delivering sustained quality and demonstrable value, but also by those

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offering intangible benefits. We have rigorous monitoring systems and customer feedback mechanisms, which tell us our customers value us for our unwavering focus on innovation and the environment, sophisticated quality monitoring technology, innovative and improved cleaning methods, investment in market-leading equipment, and a consistent goal towards continuous improvement.

Responding to the pandemic Nviro have been stringently following the latest expert and governmental advice regarding COVID-19 since February, and our mission to provide safe, clean, and hygienic environments has never been more important. Working with our educational clients, we’ve delivered over a million hours of hygienic COVID-19 related cleaning, without a single case of the virus among our staff– a testament to our safe and effective methods of working.

Responding to the ‘new normal’, we have worked with our schools, colleges, and universities to ensure their facilities are COVID-19 secure for their students, staff, and stakeholders. Implementing new hygiene regimes has routinely reduced the risk of transmission and controlled infection using a combination of our experience, people, and innovation.

Through increased janitorial provision focused on touchpoint cleaning recommended by the British Institute of Cleaning Science - our customers see areas with a high risk of virus transmission regularly sanitised throughout the day. This also provides a visual demonstration that sites are proactively cleaned during building use and that education providers are managing and addressing the safety of their building users. Our service is further enhanced by electrostatic spraying, innovative technology that disinfects all surfaces in a room using a 3D ‘wrapping effect’. We also work with our customers to provide full surface protection in the form of a new-to-market antimicrobial shielding chemical, proven effective against envelope-style viruses such as COVID-19.

Education providers, parents and students are rightly looking for reassurance from their cleaning providers that their environments are safe, and our hygiene regimes offer demonstrable evidence of effective sanitisation. Backed by scientific testing and visual indicators, our robust monitoring

systems offer hygiene reports so that parents can be assured that their child is studying in a clinically clean learning environment.

We understand the pressures of the new climate, and the onus is on all of us to keep children and building users safe.

We are ready to help and keen to share our expertise with you. Our consultants are available to offer their technical input and design a cleaning and hygiene service that meets your requirements, while as an organisation we will build a partnership with you to support your growth and values. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.nviro.co.uk shine@nviro.co.uk 02392370044

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR DECISION MAKERS IN PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION | www.educationbusinessuk.net

Advertisement Feature

Washroom experts help UK schools get back To The Pump after lockdown To The Pump has developed a range of washroom and hygiene packages exclusively for the education sector to help it reopen responsibly, efficiently and economically, in-line with government guidelines

by COVID - as not everyone is lucky enough to be going back to the pump.

“We feel organisations upping their hygiene games isn’t and shouldn’t be a short-term box ticking exercise, it must be a long term mindset that the overall staff and student body should be adapting to help everyone remain safe as the world continues to ride the wave of COVID for many months, if not years to come. Self Help UK is doing great work in the community, helping people to help themselves recover from their ordeal in however long it takes, and we’re proud to support this charity.”

Visit www.tothepump.co.uk to find out more, or call 0114 3540047 or email orders@tothepump.co.uk for a chat about your site’s specific hygiene and washroom requirements. L To The Pump*, a firm that has specialised in supplying environmentally-friendly washroom products to commercial and educational organisations since 2012 – working with the likes of the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford, and Durham and Newcastle Universities – has developed a range of washroom and hygiene packages exclusively for the education sector to help it reopen responsibly, efficiently and economically, in-line with government guidelines, whilst keeping students and staff safe in the long-term.

Educational institutions require solutions that are particularly robust and mess free, whilst operating within a limited budget, which is why the award-winning washroom experts have developed an affordable, tailored package** for schools which includes a free, high-quality 1.1L auto hand sanitiser gel dispenser, worth £17.95, with every five litre gel pack.

The UK-manufactured and bottled, World Health Organisation compliant, hand sanitiser gel kills 99.99 per cent of bacteria and viruses, and includes moisturising glycerine which is ideal for frequent use, whilst providing an environmentally-friendly, low-cost solution.

The top quality dispensers, along with the low-cost refills, at £24.99 per five litre, which equates to 5,000 shots of sanitiser, will ensure the units remain

well stocked. What’s more, the firm will supply replacement dispensers should they ever experience damage in situ, enabling schools to save money, stay safe, be hygienic and remain sustainable.

The team behind To the Pump believes that schools must avoid cheap, quick fixes, like disposable hand sanitisers and poor quality equipment, and invest in cost effective, durable solutions that will remain long-term fixtures on their sites. Optimum hygiene mustn’t be seen as a short term, unsustainable fix, but a long term, workable strategy.

When purchasing any products from To the Pump, a charitable donation for every sale will be funneled directly to Self Help UK, a charity that facilitates support groups in communities. The charity’s COVID support strategy is based on the reality that the effects of COVID do not end when a person leaves ICU or gets better, the physical and psychological repercussions will last for a long time.

Andrew Cameron, founder of To the Pump explains: “We have been in the washroom facility and hygiene business for a long time. Although we’re well placed to be supporting organisations with their unprecedented and unexpected new hygiene needs, it felt like we should be giving something back to people that have been adversely affected

*To The Pump is a sub brand of Intelligent Facility Solutions. ** To The Pump schools offer package includes a free, high-quality dispenser worth £17.99 (+VAT) with every 5Ltr gel pack. Minimum order 8 x 5ltr.

Replacements for damaged products will be arranged for the duration of the customer / supplier partnership. Schools can order other washroom products from To The Pump in addition to this package.

FURTHER INFORMATION www.tothepump.co.uk orders@tothepump.co.uk

Issue 25.5 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Expert Panel: Pandemic Recovery

EXPERT PANEL PANDEMIC RECOVERY With Covid-19 still in the community, Education Business gathers the views of a range of experts on how schools can move forwards, to ensure they are as safe as possible for pupils and staff, and to ensure pupils can catch up on lost learning Brian Warren, managing director, Nviro Brian is the managing director of Nviro, a leading provider of cleaning and hygiene services. With a background in the education sector, he is passionate, driven, and caring in aligning staff and customers with a common purpose of providing safe, clean, and hygienic environments in which everyone can thrive.

Andrew Cameron, owner and founder, Intelligent Facility Solutions and To the Pump Sheffield-based businessman, Andrew Cameron, founded Intelligent Hand Dryers in 2012 when he discovered a gap in the market for environmentally-friendly washroom solutions and hand drying in commercial premises and educational institutions. During the pandemic, Andrew and his team launched a new brand, To the Pump, to help organisations reopen their businesses responsibly, efficiently and cost effectively.

Victoria Short, managing director – Randstad Public Services With over 20 years of experience in the Randstad Group, Victoria Short heads up Randstad’s busy public services division. Her expertise lies in leading the way in the growing area of managed service provision and flexible labour resource management.

Chris Smith, head of community, Kajima Community Kajima Community provide lettings solutions to schools across the UK. Their solutions are designed to help venues not only to maximise the income from their facilities but to use the spaces to provide a hub for the local community and support local activity providers. Chris Smith has over 16 years’ experience of the school lettings market as well as previous experience in health and sports development.

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With coronavirus (COVID-19) still a real threat, schools have re-opened with new safety measures in place. They’ve had the difficult task of balancing risk management while still providing a full educational experience for children and young people.

This is all the more important given that 98 per cent of teachers believe their pupils are behind where they would normally expect them to be, according to a recent NFER report.

While class bubbles are no longer in place, school are still required to minimise the number of contacts that a pupil has during the school day. This is generally done by keeping children in year group ‘bubbles’.

Staggered drop-offs and pick-ups have also been implemented, to reduce the amount of parents on site at one time, as well as one way systems.

“The Department of Education have outlined a set of actions that all schools can take,” comments Victoria Short, managing director at Randstad Public Services.

“Encouraging good respiratory hygiene will be key with the ‘catch it, bin it, kill it’ approach, amongst other hygiene measures.

“Something else to be considered is to have consistent groups or ‘bubbles’ of pupils and teachers. This will help minimise transmissions and also make it quicker and easier to identify who may need to be tested if a case does arise.

“Even though social distancing between pupils may be difficult to achieve, schools can still look to make minor adjustments to support distancing. For example, changing the seating arrangements and only keeping daily use furniture within the classroom to allow more space.”

Hand washing, hygiene and cleaning is central to the safe operation of schools in Covid times, as explained by Andrew Cameron, owner and founder of Intelligent Facility Solutions and To the Pump: “When it comes to official advice on reducing the spread of coronavirus, hygiene is at the very top of the list. WHO recommends regular washing and thoroughly drying the hands using either paper towels or a warm hand dryer, or using alcohol based hand sanitiser to kill any viruses on the hands.

“It’s critical that schools provide sufficient facilities and supplies in order to maintain the required hygiene standards, which means plenty of hand sanitiser stations around

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Expert Panel: Pandemic Recovery

the building and sufficient soap and drying facilities - empty dispensers are not an option if headteachers want to keep their students safe.

“Hand sanitisers at every entrance, exit and high-traffic points might be something we’re used to seeing in medical environments, but this now has to become the norm for schools in the long term. Staff and students must adopt not just different habits, but a new, long-lasting mindset towards hygiene.”

Properly drying hands is an essential part of pupils’ hand hygiene routine. Andrew advises schools to consider swaping expensive and messy paper towels, that often create cross contamination points when reaching in to extract blocked paper dispensers, for touch free, low cost, HEPA filtered air hand dryers. “Unlike paper, hand dryers cause very little environmental damage and never run out,” says Andrew.

Looking long term, Andrew believes that school budgets must be readjusted to allow improved hygiene practices to continue as an ongoing strategy, not just a temporary ramp-up to get through the pandemic.

Clear and succinct communication around personal hygiene is essential, as well as making it fun for younger pupils, believes Brian Warren, managing director of Nviro. He explains: “From conversations with our clients and in our experience, positive messaging through signage, posters, and stickers is a great way of reminding people of new hygiene measures.

“Song and ‘gamification’ of hand-washing and social distancing may help to keep students, particularly younger ones, engaged.

“It’s also really important that teachers and school leaders pave that way and demonstrate these measures to the children – setting an example will help the culture change.”

Cleaning Cleaning is a vital component in the fight against coronavirus. But how exactly should cleaning be conducted during a pandemic?

Brian Warren from Nviro shares some advice: “The British Institute of Cleaning Science recommends a higher frequency of cleaning for touchpoints – door handles, light-switches, and other high-traffic areas. An increased hygiene solution is the best way to mitigate the risk of infection, which can take several formats. Additional operatives can be resourced to clean touchpoints and routinely disinfect hygiene-critical areas, ensuring potential contaminates are regularly and effectively removed from surfaces that children come into contact with throughout the school day.

Innovation such as electrostatic spraying also enables the cleaning operation to be enhanced to further reduce the risk of transmission.”

Technology too can plan its part in cleaning. Brian Warren explains: “Ensuring environments are safe and hygienic is essential and innovative testing technology can be used to monitor hygiene levels. ATP testing works by assessing levels of living organisms on a surface using swabbing and ultraviolet technologies. This means cleaning providers can carefully monitor the effectiveness of cleaning and resource appropriately to target key areas that might pose a greater risk of transmission.

“Schools are rightly looking for reassurance from their cleaning providers that their environments are safe, and in addition to ATP testing we have been using a newto-market PH spray to monitor hygiene.

The spray uses a colour-changing solution to establish if surfaces have been fully disinfected and sanitised. A robust hygiene

monitoring system is an important measure in maintaining safe environments.”

Andrew Cameron adds that cleaning can be supported with UV air sterilisers which can kill up-to 98.11 per cent of odour causing bacteria and viruses in air and on surfaces.

“With no filters to change and minimal maintenance, the UV sterilisers provide an easy, environmentally friendly solution that reduces the need for consumable chemicals whilst supplying 24/7 air and surface sterilisation using a technology which creates powerful disinfectants of ultraviolet light, ozone, plasma and negatively-charged ions. All of which already exist in nature,” Andrew says.

Staff and recruitment challenges During lockdown, more people were looking at teaching as a potential career, perhaps because it is seen as a secure job amid the economic and job uncertainty caused by the pandemic.

The charity Now Teach reported a 70 per cent rise in numbers of applications in people wishing to become teachers under lockdown.

But with lockdown in place and social distancing a requirement, the recruitment of teachers and support staff may have been a challenge for some schools.

According analysis by SchoolDash, published in a joint paper with the Gatsby Foundation and Teacher Tapp, this year’s recruiting season has been “dramatically affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting school closures”.

So how can schools overcome these challenges? Victoria Short comments: “Due to the physical barriers that have been in place since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, many schools have had to resort to recruiting remotely over the summer period. Like all other organisations, schools have been forced to E Issue 25.5 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Expert Panel: Pandemic Recovery

 adapt at speed to a new way of remote working and communicating.

“Using supply teachers may also have been a concern due to the risk of transmission, however as long as you take the relevant precautions and ensure any new member of staff coming into your school is aware of your safety protocols, supply teachers can play a key role within your school team amongst permanent staff.

“Within my own team of recruiters, we have ensured all our tutors, teachers and support staff have completed mandatory Covid awareness training in line with government guidelines. Furthermore, we can also let our schools know exactly where anyone coming to work in their school has been in the previous two weeks, supporting the school bubbles.”

It may be mandatory for schools to open, but staff may still be concerned about coming back to work. So how can schools reassure staff about coming into work during the ongoing pandemic?

Victoria Short said: “Communication will be key between all the stakeholders and particularly staff, to ensure they feel more comfortable to return to school. School leaders

will need to ensure staff are fully aware of the additional measures the school has in place for everyone’s safety. There may also be a need for individual conversations with certain staff members who are concerned about returning.

“The current situation may be making some individuals more anxious than others and it is vital that as schools and employers, we keep a focus on mental health and are supporting the wellbeing of our staff where we can.

At Randstad, we provide our candidates with access to a mobile app where they can quickly connect with a qualified counsellor via a telephone helpline and confidentially discuss any personal or work related issues.”

Third party use of facilities Schools also need to ensure that organisations using their facilities out of hours are adhering to Coronavirus safety guidance. Chris Smith, head of community at Kajima Community, explains how: “At present, we are following, and advising our partner schools to follow, the latest government advice around group sizes for activities. Schools under our BookingsGuru service can be confident that we are liaising regularly with activity providers, on their behalf,

to ensure that guidelines are being adhered to. In addition we’re asking all hirers returning to our schools to carry out additional risk assessments and we’ve amended our codes of conduct and terms of hire to ensure robust procedures are in place to manage the safe return of activities. Class times will also be staggered to allow safe access and egress from venues.”

Those renting school facilities also need to ensure robust cleaning procedures are followed.

Chris Smith explains: “We’re providing all of our schools with a COVID-19 Cleaning Guide which outlines additional steps which should be taken to ensure facilities are clean and safe to use. This includes more regular and thorough cleaning of communal areas, prohibiting access to changing facilities, cleaning of ‘high-risk’ touch points after each use of the space and restricting the use of certain types of equipment (those which cannot be easily cleaned, such as upholstered furniture).

“We’ve also introduced sanitising stations across our own schools and advised our partner schools to ensure this is in place at their sites too. Our site staff have received additional training around new cleaning protocols and we’ve introduced the use of special sanitising fogging machines to completely sterilise entire spaces over-night, ready for use by the school the following day.”

It’s important that those using school facilities after hours adhere to government guidelines when it comes to hygiene. Chris Smith comments on the steps Kajima Community has taken: “Community activities across our sites involve users of all ages and class sizes have been reduced with additional measures put in place to ensure good hygiene. Our principal customers are encouraged to communicate these new protocols to their users. In addition, as well as providing sanitising gel for customers on site we actively encourage our customers to bring their own to maintain maximum hygiene standards.

“The use of signage to remind users about their own personal hygiene as well as verbal reminders at the start and end of classes ensures good house-keeping. It is important that all users feel safe inside the schools and they see that staff are actively monitoring compliance of others that are sharing the communal spaces.”

Ensuring there’s a Plan B Schools may be open to all pupils now, but there is still a high possibility of disruption to learning, for example, if pupils are self isolating, there are local lockdowns, or individual schools have to close due to positive cases.

Schools are therefore expected to have a remote learning plan in place to support those that need to learn from home. So how can schools prepare so teaching can continue?

Victoria Short said: “I believe that as long as schools prepare contingency plans and plan ahead for various scenarios whilst utilising the experience gained from remote teaching, teaching can continue to a good standard.

“My advice would be to work collectively within your school, with other schools and with your recruitment agency if you use one to ensure that you have got plans in place to minimise disruption to learning. Communication is a two way street so do ensure that you not only communicate your plans to all relevant parties but also take feedback on what else to consider.

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BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR DECISION MAKERS IN PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION | www.educationbusinessuk.net

Victoria Short Using supply teachers may have been a concern due to the risk of transmission, however as long as you take the relevant precautions and ensure any new member of staff coming into your school is aware of your safety protocols, supply teachers can play a key role within your school team amongst permanent staff.

Within my own team of recruiters, we have ensured all our tutors, teachers and support staff have completed mandatory Covid awareness training in line with government guidelines.

Furthermore, we can also let our schools know exactly where anyone coming to work in their school has been in the previous two weeks, supporting the school bubbles.

Expert Panel: Pandemic Recovery

Final thoughts

Brian Warren An extremely effective technique of disinfecting and applying a chemical to a surface is using electrostatic sprayers, of which Nviro were among the first to deploy in the UK. The sprayer can achieve total coverage of a room using a 3D ‘wrapping’ effect which bonds disinfectant particles to infected surfaces, stopping pathogen mobility and reducing the transmission of disease. This technique enables classrooms to be disinfected in under 15 minutes and mitigates the possibility of human error in wiping down surfaces. As labour is the most expensive part of a cleaning service, electrostatic spraying can reduce the cost of a hygiene solution for schools.

“Also, be prepared for another working from home scenario; ensure that your staff have what they require to do their job effectively from home. Talk with them and advise them. Preparation boosts confidence and minimises disruption. In any case, it will be important to keep your staff informed and motivated, be it physically or remotely.”

Brian Warren from Nviro said: “Keeping children in education is a priority and with additional measures in place, such as managing personal hygiene, sanitising personal workspace, additional cleaning and testing surfaces for safety levels, schools could still offer a safe place of learning for children.

“In the event of educational facilities closing or reducing capacity, cleaning providers should work in partnership with schools to maintain safe environments. We know the importance of keeping students safe in school and recommend maintaining a minimum standard of cleaning, such as wiping down surfaces and touchpoints. This means that once the lockdown eases, education can resume as soon as possible. A decontamination clean of all floors and surfaces is also essential in the event of a suspected case or if a student is self-isolating, and throughout this time it’s crucial that schools and educational settings work closely with their cleaning providers and communicate any changes. Schools must feel assured that their provider will maintain a safe, clean, and hygienic environment.”

Andrew Cameron believes that we are now better equipped to deal with lockdowns. He said: “Local lockdowns are already happening, and people are much more geared-up to act quickly and appropriately to see the mini-lockdowns through successfully. Young people are much more clued-up on the importance of good hygiene, and what they see happening in schools in terms of reminders, facilities and consistent messaging should help them to remain hygienic and safe as they continue to work from home.”

Commenting on the innovation seen from activity providers during lockdown, Chris Smith says: “Throughout the initial lockdown, we heard from many enterprising hirers who were looking at new, innovative ways to deliver sessions to their users.

Instead of physical classes, many hirers moved to hosting sessions online.

“From fitness sessions to children’s dance, Pilates and language classes, we’ve seen a real influx in online activity that has in some cases benefitted a whole new audience, as people from outside of the local area have been able to access sessions they would not normally have been able to. This online presence has not only resulted in people continuing to be active but undoubtedly contributed to their mental well-being. Schools can prepare to re-activate physical, onsite lettings by planning a phased re-opening of firstly, outdoor facilities and those indoor facilities where additional space can be offered to accommodate social distancing.” L

Chris Smith At present, we are following, and advising our partner schools to follow, the latest government advice around group sizes for activities.

Schools under our BookingsGuru service can be confident that we are liaising regularly with activity providers, on their behalf, to ensure that guidelines are being adhered to. In addition we’re asking all hirers returning to our schools to carry out additional risk assessments and we’ve amended our codes of conduct and terms of hire to ensure robust procedures are in place to manage the safe return of activities. Class times will also be staggered to allow safe access and egress from venues.

Andrew Cameron There are many ways school leaders can effectively and economically factor increased hygiene facilities and supplies into their budgets such as To The Pump’s hand sanitiser and refill package, which includes a free, high-quality, hand sanitiser gel dispenser, worth £17.95, with every 5 litre gel pack, along with replacement units should the dispensers ever experience in damage in situ. Schools can also swap expensive and messy paper towels, that often create cross contamination points when reaching in to extract blocked paper dispensers, for touch free, low cost, HEPA filtered air hand dryers, the savings from which may well cover the cost of hand sanitiser for the year.

Issue 25.5 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Advertisement Feature

Staying safe in education during Covid-19 As you look to welcome back pupils to your school following an extended and unprecedented break owing to Covid-19, at Randstad we’d like to support you to help both your staff and pupils return back to school safely The government and the Department for Education’s advice for schools is frequently changing and adapting itself to the latest updates on the COVID-19 situation. At Randstad Education, we are staying up-todate with their advice, learning from schools who have opened both internationally and nationally and staying informed on best practice of staying safe at school. Read on for our top advice for staying safe in school Five key ways to stay safe at school Carry out a detailed risk assessment A key way to ensure a safe return to school is to carry out a detailed risk assessment of your school or childcare setting. Some important things to consider in the risk assessment are the timings of the school day – do these need to be adapted?

Consider also the number of pupils in your school – year group returns are being done in phases, but you may need to consider cutting down class sizes depending on your number of pupils and your site size.

Give thought to how your staff and pupils travel to school – public transport vs driving, cycling or walking. Also consider lunchtime – do you have a school canteen? If so, greater hygiene measures will be needed here.

Hand cleaning facilities also need consideration – do you have enough sinks and/or hand sanitizer stations?

This risk assessment will ensure that sensible measures are put in place to control the obvious risks for all parties involved. It will also ensure that your health and safety policies are tailored for your specific school.

Click here to download our returning to school checklist.

Adapt your timetable In other work settings, the government has recommended things like staggering start and finish times, and ensuring that only a small number of people have breaks at the same time.

So, it makes sense to apply this logic to the education sector too. You can stagger school start and end times for different year groups, and stagger parent pick up spots to avoid large gatherings of people. You could also build time in before and after every lesson to wipe down desks, and wash hands.

Consider also staggering break and lunch times for different year groups – encourage staff and students to bring in a packed lunch

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in a sealed plastic container where possible.

All of these points will work together to protect your staff and pupils alike.

Encourage 2m safe distancing where possible Obviously, we can’t guarantee that primary school pupils will be able to maintain 2m social distancing rules at all times. With this in mind, it’s important to minimise contact where possible, to ensure that staff and pupils are kept as safe as possible across all year groups. Ways to do this include arranging classrooms so that desks are far apart, put 2m distance marks in corridors and communal areas, and encourage the use of outdoor space where possible.

In addition to this, it is important to ensure that your premises staff are clued up with the latest health and safety information on keeping your school site well managed.

You can read our full article on facilities management during Covid-19 here.

To keep your school building hygienic, consider raising humidity above 40 per cent, maintain warm temperatures and clean thoroughly – generally, viruses thrive in cold, dry conditions. You could also restrict visitors to essential only, as well as screen them before entry and conduct temperature checks.

Install pop up handwashing stations Whether it’s singing happy birthday in your head twice, or counting out loud while you wash your hands, it’s important to ensure both staff and pupils are regularly washing their hands to maintain good hygiene.

To make sure that everyone can do this safely, it’s a good idea to install pop up hand sanitising stations in classrooms, staff rooms and corridors.

This will ensure that everyone will get the chance to wash their hands between lessons, and will avoid long queues for bathrooms.

It is also recommended that all classroom equipment is wiped down between usage, so it is a good idea to keep a supply of sanitising wipes in every room.

Communicate well and often All staff must be informed of the latest updates about their requirements for coming into school.

Whether they are on furlough, working from home or you are looking for new staff, the guidance decided for your school will need to be relayed to them quickly and efficiently.

This is the same for pupils and parents – they need to be aware of your action plan for returning. This will not only provide reassurance that pupils will be safe, but will also help make the transition back to the classroom a smooth one.

At Randstad Education, we continue to recruit temporary and permanent Covid aware teaching and support staff into schools while continuing to support our clients with a safe transition back to school for their staff and pupils. If you would like further information or advice on anything mentioned above or would like to discuss your current or upcoming recruitment needs, please contact us by clicking here. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.randstad.co.uk

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR DECISION MAKERS IN PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION | www.educationbusinessuk.net

Many schools have financially benefitted in the past by letting their fantastic facilities to the wider community, using the additional revenue created to invest in new educational resources, buildings and site improvements.

So, for schools, the reasons for beginning or reactivating lettings are multiple: conserving client relationships, reigniting revenue streams and, importantly, providing a safe and supportive space for the community and students to come together again.

But lettings are also highly time intensive and, as we return to a ‘new normal’, schools are understandably turning to letting management solutions for support, to introduce new efficiencies and free up time for other priorities including health and safety and/ or marketing. With a fully managed lettings service such as BookingsGuru or a lettings management system like BookingsPlus, our software, services and experienced specialists are on hand to help power an effective and safe reopening for your school.

Returning to reality safely and with confidence As a first step in reopening lettings, government guidance suggests that outdoor activities could be a good place to start.

Identifying which facilities are suitable for use – including lower-risk spaces such as outdoor MUGA’s and pitches, or areas where separate access can be provided for entrance and exit – and completing risk assessments of how the use of specific areas will affect staff, hirers and users is a crucial first step.

A phased reopening beginning with outdoor spaces can help to test the efficacy of your new procedures and protocols, providing a blueprint for rollout across the site or allowing adjustments to be made at a soft opening stage. Kajima Community is well equipped to support with this, providing expert advice and access to resources like our COVID-19 Site Risk Assessment template and sample COVID-19 Terms & Conditions.

Introducing a robust COVID-19 safety plan, with more frequent cleaning, additional products and PPE provision, as well as appropriate training for staff, are both vital steps. However, schools should also be sure to outline expectations for site staff and clients. Compliance with government guidance, asking hirers to supply a risk assessment for their own activities, restricting or prohibiting use of changing facilities and ensuring that both the school and hirers have a process in place to temporarily collect up-to-date contact details for track and trace processes should all be high on the agenda for reopening.

Making sure that your teams are fully briefed with additional training on new COVID-19 protocols, introducing appropriate signage and providing sanitising stations in wellplaced locations and all ways to ensure that lettings can be re-activated safely and in a way that inspires confidence. Yet, there is no denying that this can be an overwhelming and logistically demanding process. With over 40 years combined knowledge of school lettings, Kajima Community are here to help.

Bringing community back together with BookingsPlus Until this year, The Grange School in Hartford, Cheshire was using a basic and arduous system to manually manage bookings, invoicing and reporting before being introduced to lettings platform BookingsPlus by their new Leisure Duty Manager, who had previously used the platform to manage a portfolio of 12 venues.

The system offers a simple way to centralise bookings management, streamlining the booking and payment process for both the school and clients through its accessible online portal. For The Grange School, this has freed up between 15 and 20 hours of the week that can now be dedicated to other important areas of focus, including health and safety planning, marketing and business development.

BookingsPlus has played an important part in supporting the school to prepare for a soft launch and subsequent full reopening of its facilities, with easy tools for contacting and communicating with hirers on new precautions and solutions for managing space safely, such as blocking out time between bookings for safe entry, exit and cleaning.

Automation is key to easing the burden for schools through BookingsPlus, with invoicing, credits, marketing and communication all integrated, automatic functions within the software. An easy-to-use system not only benefits schools, but also those hiring the facilities — who themselves are navigating the impacts of COVID-19. BookingsPlus’s customer support team have been on hand throughout lockdown, helping The Grange School as it navigates the new and unique challenges of COVID-19 for its lettings business.

Written by Chris Smith, head of community, Kajima Partnerships LTD

COVID-19 has shown the true importance of schools for our communities, and as lockdown eases, they will be at the heart of helping people to reconnect – from classmates who have been learning online to local businesses, community groups and sports clubs

Advertisement Feature

Connecting the community: How to (re)activate school lettings with confidence

What does the future hold?

BookingsGuru, BookingsPlus and the new SpaceBooker workplace and desk management software from Kajima Community are all valuable options for schools looking to make the most of their exceptional facilities and reopen safely. The dedication and knowledge of the Kajima Community team makes us perfectly placed to support schools in this endeavour — unlocking important revenue streams and keeping schools at the heart of our communities in the wake of COVID-19 and for years to come. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.kajima.co.uk/community

Issue 25.5 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Advertisement Feature

Bridging the digital divide for students With the digital divide now more apparent than ever, LapSafe® offers a solution in the form of a self-service multi-bay locker system that loans devices such as laptops, Chromebooks or tablets to a borrower without staff interaction

All students should have access to technology!

Times are hard enough for some students, without the added impact of the pandemic.

In this day and age, there are still students who do not have access to their own laptop or tablet, an issue compounded by a sudden move to online learning.

Students are depending upon schools, colleges and universities, to provide new types of learning resource.

What the digital divide looks like during a pandemic Now more than ever it has become apparent that the digital divide is still an issue in todays education system. Students studying from home have relied heavily on the quality of technology and access to the internet, especially as more institutions continue to favour digital based education resources.

This is not just about access to appropriate computing equipment, but also about access to reliable internet connections and appropriate learning environments.

This can have ramifications for students from a diverse range of socio-economic backgrounds. Those in remote locations, those sharing workspaces with busy families or in shared accommodation, and those with outdated computing technology, will all find themselves struggling in the new education model.

When lockdown meant learning with laptops and tablets The education sector reacted quickly to move learning online when Lockdown was looming. Providing access to appropriate technology was paramount and many made huge investments in laptops, tablets and other devices to allow students to work from home. While this will have been a lifeline to some students (and staff), for others this will have only been half the battle.

Getting back to campus from remote learning For many students returning to school will mean much needed access to reliable internet, study resources, and productive working environments. It is vital for schools to enable students to make the best use of the resources they have been missing at home. Providing access to well-equipped study areas is more important than ever. For some students this may be the deciding factor of whether to continue their studies in the next year.

Now schools, colleges and universities will be providing much needed respite from the home environment, not just a place to nurture studies for the next generation of students.

How to bridge the digital divide Here at LapSafe®, we are trying to help the education sector bridge the gap of those who have and those who have not.

Not all schools, colleges or universities can provide one to one access to devices, and few have the space to house large traditional PC suits especially with social distancing in place. The LapSafe® Diplomat™ is a selfservice multi-bay locker system that loans a device to a borrower without staff interaction, making social distancing easier than ever.

The small footprint of the Diplomat™ means many devices such as laptops, Chromebooks, tablets or similar are stored and charged in individual locking bays. Saving valuable space with innovative storage solutions allows for more creative use of the spaces available to students and staff.

Providing a pool of devices allows them to be shared with students as and when they are required, not only during the working day but having self-service allows users the same access outside of office hours. The devices can also be made available in the evenings and weekends, or for extracurricular learning such as adult education classes and workshops.

These challenging times are pushing us all to be more creative with our time and resources, if you would like to know more about how our self-service locker range can help you, then please contact us below. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.lapsafe.com 0800 130 3456

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BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR DECISION MAKERS IN PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION | www.educationbusinessuk.net

While the majority of pupils have returned to learning in school this September, potential local lockdowns or second waves of the virus mean that remote teaching and learning may well form part of the new academic year. In fact, the Department for Education (DfE) expects schools to have a contingency plan in place by the end of September so they can offer immediate remote education for all pupils at home, if they’re asked to close due to a local outbreak. As a result, the DfE is still offering funded support for schools to get set up on one of two free-to-use digital education platforms: G Suite for Education or Office 365 Education. Many schools have already successfully used such platforms, but for those that haven’t already got one set up, it’s worth exploring what the benefits could be and getting to grips with what’s on offer from the DfE. So what is a digital education platform?

In the event of being unable to have pupils physically in school, it’s as close to a real classroom as you can get. It’s a place where your pupils’ learning experience at home can continue as close to normal as possible.

The platforms are purpose-built for remote learning in a way that a school website isn’t.

For instance, teachers can communicate directly with pupils, set individualised tasks, let pupils work together,

and easily give personalised feedback.

There’s no statutory requirement to have a platform or sign up to the DfE scheme, but there are plenty of benefits if you do.

Why get set up now?

Only you can decide on the approach to learning that’s right for your school Safe and secure community. However, having a digital You have full control over the features pupils education platform in place means you can access on a digital platform. For example, can be confident that any potential if you don’t want pupils video-calling each transitions back to remote learning will other unsupervised, you can customise be as smooth and non-disruptive as these tools to keep your pupils safe. If possible. Here are a few of the reasons you’re worried about family why schools have already adopted them: members going rogue in Firstly, you can keep the special the background on connection between your teachers In the e v e a call, you can set and pupils. Many pupils will n t of being house rules, just want to see their teachers and u n a ble to have as you have in have that sense of normality. pupils physica place in school Digital education platforms lly in sch anyway, to set allow pupils to video-call ool, a digita expectations their teachers for remote l e d u cation platform about behaviour, lessons, and have supervised is dress and so group calls to catch a real cla as close to on. You’ll also up and check ssr as you c oom have an audit in with each an trail of chat logs other socially. get. and recordings, It’s easier for just in case there’s teachers to keep ever a problem. that personal touch You’ll still need to adopt sensible when they give pupils safeguarding precautions when using the feedback, too. platform, as you would in school. E Using a digital platform means you don’t need to compromise on pupils’ learning.

Issue 25.5 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

Written by Amy Cook, director of content at The Key

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to evolve, schools need to make sure they still have a plan in place for remote education.

Amy Cook from The Key takes a look at the benefits of getting a digital education platform set up and explains the ins and outs of the DfE funding scheme

IT & Computing

Planning for remote education

Whether you want to drip-feed tasks to pupils, or are keen for pupils to log in for a full day of lessons and submit work, a digital education platform has you covered. Teachers can also easily give pupils personalised feedback. This means that pupils can keep learning new skills and concepts from home, rather than focus only on consolidating knowledge.

Digital education platforms also allow you to stimulate pupils with a wide range of activities. They allow teachers to provide a package of resources for their pupils, ranging from videos to interactive whiteboard drawings, all in one place.

They give pupils a place to submit creative tasks of all levels of complexity, too. This might be a photo of their latest artwork, or a video of a Tudor house they’ve built in Minecraft. Pupils can also use shared documents and interactive whiteboards to work together on group projects. When it comes to classwork, the only limits are your teachers’ and pupils’ imaginations.

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IT & Computing  For more support, take a look at The Key’s free article on how to build safeguarding into your remote learning and the DfE’s guidance.

Digital platforms are also easy to set up and use. With someone with a bit of tech know-how on hand, you can set up either of these platforms to meet your needs in a matter of hours, and get staff and families using them effectively within days.

Having a digital education platform in place means you can be confident that any potential transitions back to remote learning will be as smooth and nondisruptive as possible

What’s on offer from the DfE? Schools and trusts can apply for DfEfunded support to get set up on G Suite for Education or Office 365 Education.

These are the two most-used platforms.

They are free to use, but eligible schools/ trusts can receive funded support from a Google or Microsoft-accredited partner to get set up and trained on their chosen platform. Schools/trusts will be assigned a partner once they register for this support.

Eligible primaries will receive £1,500 and secondaries £2,000. Funding for academies in trusts is capped at £1,000 per school. The DfE releases funds to the school/trust once completion of the work has been confirmed.

The school/trust then pays the partner directly.

Independent schools are not eligible for funding, but can still apply for support if they cover the costs themselves.

The eligibility criteria above also applies to trusts. There are benefits to all schools within a trust being on the same platform under one tenancy, such as instant communication between staff across schools. In this instance, trust leaders should apply directly for schools within their trust. Similarly, academy leaders should speak to their central team about applying on their behalf.

If there’s already a mix of usage between G Suite and Office 365 across a trust, then trust leaders have two options. You can instruct schools that need support to apply individually, or you can apply for support yourself and speak to a partner about the benefits of consolidating your schools across two separate tenancies, one for G Suite and one for Office 365.

It’s worth noting that the platforms will remain free (apart from premium Google Meet, at the time of writing), but the funded support on offer is for the initial set up. After that, the platform is yours to manage and

Who’s eligible?

This funded support is available to statefunded primary, secondary, special schools and pupil referral units in England that don’t currently have a digital education platform; or are already using Office 365 or G Suite, but are not yet set up to assign work and communicate with pupils.

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any additional support you request from accredited partners will need to be paid for by your school/trust. Also, the DfE scheme only covers schools looking to use G Suite for Education or Office 365 Education, so don’t apply if you want to use a different platform.

How do I apply?

You can apply directly via The Key’s digital education platform hub. It links to the forms you’ll need to use, and provides feature comparisons and best-practice case studies to help you choose the right platform for your school/trust. L

Amy Cook is director of content at The Key, a provider of up-to-the-minute sector intelligence and resources that empower education leaders with the knowledge to act. The advice in this article was taken from resources in The Key’s digital education platform hub.

FURTHER INFORMATION www.thekeysupport.com

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR DECISION MAKERS IN PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION | www.educationbusinessuk.net

Advertisement Feature

Why content filtering and monitoring are important With filtering and monitoring being a statutory requirement for schools, it’s hard to exaggerate just how much inappropriate content for children exists online, and the importance of keeping it away from students. Exa has been providing schools with high quality content filtering since 2004 monitored, and for Chromebooks it is a Chrome extension deployed via G Suite.

XT incorporates the highest level of monitoring functionality, including keyboard and application monitoring in real time; online and offline monitoring (Windows only; and keyword highlighting.

Technology is changing the dynamics of education, especially the relationship between teachers and students. Today schools have created a technology-driven environment by implementing the use of computers, tablets and other devices in lessons. This has allowed for more effective learning, collaboration and more. However, while the internet may be helping the development of digital skills in young people, how safe are they really from the dangers of the internet?

It has never been more important for schools to keep their students safe online.

With filtering and monitoring being a statutory requirement for schools, it’s hard to exaggerate just how much inappropriate content for children exists online, and the importance of keeping it away from students.

How do content filtering and monitoring differ?

Content filtering is the practice of blocking access to web content that may be deemed offensive, inappropriate, or even dangerous.

Blocking these websites can help protect students from graphic content (including pornography and violent images), hate speech and radicaclisation etc as well as sites which may just be counter productive whilst in school such as social media sites.

Content filtering helps to mitigate these risks by making such content inaccessible.

Where filtering blocks access to sites which may be inappropriate, monitoring enables schools to identify and intervene when access to inappropriate content has been attempted. For example, monitoring services like Securus will alert your safeguarding team and keep a record of all instances deemed a breach of your safeguarding policy.

are complementary solutions which work together to cover all bases. Ultimately keeping your students truly safe online.

How can SurfProtect Quantum and Securus help your school?

We’ve been providing schools around the country with high-quality content filtering via our SurfProtect service since 2004. SurfProtect Quantum is designed to make filtering content more convenient, improving levels of visibility, clarity and effectiveness for the user, through a cost-effective solution. SurfProtect Quantum also provides schools with full Active Directory integration and HTTPS filtering.

SurfProtect lets you easily create a filtering policy that matches the requirements of your school. Schools can change settings in realtime, using different settings for different user accounts, for example, year groups can be given different access permissions from one another as well as separate access rights for staff accounts.

Securus works perfectly together with SurfProtect to keep children safe from possible online threats.

Securus XT Monitors Chromebooks and all Windows based PCs, laptops & tablets.

For Windows devices the agent is installed on each device that is required to be

Securus NET Monitors all browser activity for all other devices - at a network level.

When used in conjunction with Securus XT in mixed device/OS environment, NET provides complete 360° eSafety coverage for the whole estate of devices.

This network based solution provides multi-platform safeguarding coverage; it covers all devices connected by Wi-Fi, provides support for BYOD, and uniquely generates screenshots (Captures).

Securus AMS If your school does not have the resource to review Captures generated by Securus, this Securus AMS add-on will send the Captures obtained from your school to a team of professionals who will review them on your behalf. If they spot something that requires immediate attention they will contact your Safeguarding Lead (or designated persons) with the relevant information.

If you’re interested to see how SurfProtect Quantum and Securus can benefit your school, get in touch with Exa Networks on 0345 145 1234 or email sales@exa.net.uk L FURTHER INFORMATION Tel: 0345 145 1234 sales@exa.net.uk

Why do you need content filtering and monitoring?

Appropriate filtering and monitoring are required to fulfil the guidelines for KCSiE and The Prevent Duty.

Unfortunately, whilst technology in schools can improve learning, it has also become a platform that facilitates harm. Filtering and monitoring provide different levels of e-safety, meaning they

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In a recent survey, conducted by the British Educational Supplier’s Association (BESA), over a quarter of primary schools and a third of secondary schools say they will be reviewing moving to cloud-based management systems; not just because this forms part of the Government’s EdTech strategy, or that cloud technology allows data to be stored, maintained and managed remotely, (a huge benefit during the pre-summer closure of schools), but because cloud-based systems offer far more EdTech opportunities for students, they’re generally more secure and cheaper to run.

As part of the Education Technology strategy, it is the DfE’s aim for all primary and secondary schools to access a modern broadband infrastructure, to support schools’ much-needed move to the cloud and to help education leaders develop their vision for education technology. Access to faster internet speeds however will be required to support this vision, as cloud services become increasingly important in the effective running of schools.

Schools Broadband has been working closely with the DfE in addressing this issue.

A lack of school budgets, together with limited access to suitable broadband speeds, has until now posed a common barrier to both primary and secondary schools in funding the right connectivity to deliver the DfE’s vision. The cost of a dedicated Leased Line, providing up to 1000Mbps, meant the majority of primary schools had no choice but to opt for Superfast Broadband products such as Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC & EoFTTC) delivering speeds up to just 80Mbps.

But, you will be pleased to hear, all that is on the cusp of change. Schools Broadband is introducing a brand-new suite of technologies known as Ultrafast broadband, designed to provide incredible bandwidth and connection speeds at very affordable prices.

Unlike a traditional FTTC connection, where fibre connections run only as far as the street cabinet, FTTP, or Fibre to the Premises, uses full fibre connecting directly to your school. This provides Ultrafast speeds up to 1,000Mbps (otherwise known as one Gigabit per second (1Gbps) or abbreviated in the industry as a GIG.) So now is exactly the right time for primary schools to “GO BIG ON A GIG!” GFast, another of the new Ultrafast technologies works in a very similar way to FTTC with fibre terminating at the local BT street cabinet and copper running from there to your school. The difference with GFast however, is a

special pod that is fitted to the cabinet alters the speed frequencies of the copper connection.

This increases the speed through the copper cable, resulting in a more reliable broadband with ultrafast speeds up to 330Mbps.

For schools who need to improve their management systems and EdTech, who are considering a migration to cloud services; or simply to reduce spend on a Leased Line, Ultrafast broadband provides affordable connections that can deliver schools the faster speeds required now and unimaginable speeds you might demand in the future.

The roll-out of Ultrafast Broadband is well underway with an already well-established network. The technology is being installed at a rapid pace with availability increasing daily.

If you would like to know if your school can connect to the Ultrafast network, complete a Service Availability Form which can be found on the Schools Broadband website or click here: AVAILABILTY CHECKER. An Ultrafast connection will allow full deployment of oneto-one devices throughout a whole school, whatever its size and provide your school with connectivity to support a full migration of all your services to the cloud. These speeds are so phenomenal, an Ultrafast connection could be the last connection you will ever need!

In support of the DfE’s EdTech vision for secondary schools and MATs, Schools Broadband now offers extremely affordable full fibre Leased Lines, providing guaranteed speeds up to an extraordinary 10Gbps throughout most of the UK. Available in speed increments from 1Gbps to a full 10Gbps, secondary schools can also deliver the full complement of cloud-based EdTech solutions, without the fear of slow down ever again. Wholesale prices are extremely favourable at the moment so now is the time for secondary schools to “GO BIG ON 10GIG!” Schools Broadband has invested in its own dedicated fibre connections to Google, Microsoft and Amazon ensuring their services run at the lowest latency and the fastest speeds possible.

Their award-winning, cloud-based security and content filtering means you don’t need to buy expensive onsite equipment to protect your pupils and staff online. All filtering is Prevent Duty compliant, part of the statutory guidance from the DfE, and provides the same functionality as on site equipment. On average this can save a secondary school circa £20,000 over a three-year contract. L

Written by David Tindall. CEO, Schools Broadband

Schools Broadband is helping deliver the DfE’s aim for all primary and secondary schools to have access to a modern broadband infrastructure, with faster internet speeds, supporting schools’ much needed move to the cloud

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New, Ultrafast broadband enables schools an affordable move to the cloud

FURTHER INFORMATION 01133 222 333 (Option 3) www.schoolsbroadband.co.uk info@schoolsbroadband.co.uk

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Sport

Reopening of schools vital to boost children’s activity levels Lockdown has had an impact on children’s activity levels, so the reopening of schools is an important moment to help increase the amount of sport and activity they’re doing, writes Sport England The hugely important role played by schools in helping children build a healthy relationship with sport and physical activity is being emphasised as they reopen.

Sport England’s chief executive Tim Hollingsworth said: “Large numbers of children tell us that not being at school has negatively impacted on their ability to get active.”

So with schools across England now reopening, this is a crucial time to help children increase the amount of sport and activity they’re doing.

Sport England’s Active Lives Children and Young People Survey shows that when young people play sport and are active, it doesn’t just benefit their physical health.

The survey has given strong evidence that active children are happier, more resilient and more trusting of others, and there’s a strong association between young people being active and better mental health.

On top of this, there’s a wealth of evidence that suggests being active has positive benefits on students’ behaviour, attendance and academic results at school.

Children should be encouraged to develop a healthy relationship with sport and physical activity and build habits that will benefit them throughout their lives.

place, or concerns about the virus.

Activity during school closures More than one in three said their activity Last year, 46.8 per cent (3.3 million) of had changed because their usual clubs, children in England were meeting Chief leisure centres, gyms and classes were Medical Officer guidelines of an average of closed (36 per cent), while 24 per cent said 60 minutes of activity per day across a week. it was because their local playground, But during lockdown, with schools skate park, pitch or court was closed and fewer opportunities closed (24 per cent). to use facilities and play During One in six said that formal sport, these figures lockdow their parents / carers dropped significantly.

Data from a Sport were too worried about with sc n, England survey over coronavirus to let closed hools a n the summer suggests them leave home (16 d f o e wer pportun that activity levels per cent), and one facilitie ities to use fell to less than a in seven were too fifth (19 per cent) of worried about the virus formal s and play spo children meeting the themselves to leave levels d rt, activity recommended guidelines. home (14 per cent). ropped Around 43 per cent Meanwhile a separate of children under the survey of children conducted age of 16 were reported to with Childwise in May found have been doing less than half a third said the absence of school an hour of physical activity a day. during the height of the pandemic had a Most worryingly, around 1 in 14 (seven major impact on their ability to be active. per cent) children aged 7-16 said they Tim said: “We want children to develop a healthy relationship with sport and did nothing to stay active in lockdown. physical activity and build habits that will Amongst those that said their physical benefit them throughout their lives. activity was different to normal, the “We know that both parents and teachers are barriers were reported to be either related under pressure in so many areas right now, E to lack of access to their usual space or Issue 25.5 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Sport

 but our message would be that their role is absolutely vital in supporting our children to be more active and in turn healthier and more resilient. This can be through encouraging children to walk or cycle to school safely, making break times and lessons active or delivering PE sessions that children want and enjoy, it all counts.”

Inequalities The research showed that teenage girls, Black, Asian and poorer children are relying more than others on ‘at school’ provision to be physically active in their everyday lives.

According to their parents, children from less affluent families are more likely to have done nothing during lockdown (13 per cent) compared to those from more affluent backgrounds (six per cent).

Secondary age children (nine per cent) are more likely to say they’re doing nothing to stay active during lockdown than primary age children (five per cent).

Amongst those that said that the sport and exercise they are currently doing is different to normal, over a third (36 per cent) said it was becuase they don’t have as much chance to be physically active as when they are not at school.

Evidence makes it clear the vitally important role that school settings play in supporting children to be active, from informal play right through to formal team sport Of those who said they aren’t doing any sport or exserices in lockdown, the data indicates that around 1/5 of those put it down to not going to school.

One boy in school year 5-6 said: “I usually ride my bike to school but now I have nowhere to ride my bike. I used to play football with my friends in school and now I can’t even see my friends.”

A girl in year 5-6 commented: “I do not have the same equipment they have at school for PE or sports so I cannot do what I usually do at school.”

This makes clear the vitally important role that school settings play in supporting children to be active, from informal play right through to formal team sport.

and the second for those at secondary school (49 per cent), the figures fell to 59 per cent for years 3-6 and just 32 per cent for years 7-11. Although those from more affluent backgrounds are more likely to say they are playing to stay active than those from less affluent backgrounds (43 per cent vs 37 per cent), the findings suggest children from all backgrounds played less than usual in lockdown.

This doesn’t come as a great surprise, given the close of play spaces and the lack of opportunities to play with friends. But it is cause for concern that when we know playing is so central to keeping children active, regardless of affluence, ethnicity, gender or ability.

Active play levels fell Where active play is usually the top activity for primary school children (72 per cent)

Giving children space for activity Commenting in the foreword of the research, Jayne Molyneux, director of children and E Issue 25.5 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Sport

PE and Sport Premium confirmed for next year Education secretary Gavin Williamson has confirmed that £320m funding for the PE and Sport Premium will continue next year.

Gavin Williamson, said: “During these challenging times, it has become clearer to me than ever the importance of keeping active and how it benefits not just our physical health but also our ability to pay attention, our mood and our mental health too.

“Every family will have had a different experience of the pandemic, and I know that many children will have missed time spent outdoors with their friends – that’s why it’s so important that ahead of a full return to school in September, schools get the certainty they need to prepare their PE and sports activities for next year.”

The Department for Education has also confirmed that any PE and Sport Premium funding from the current academic year (201920) that schools were unable to use as a result of the coronavirus pandemic can be brought forward to use in the next academic year, giving school leaders an opportunity to develop or add to their existing provision, or to make improvements that will benefit pupils joining the school in future years.

The PE and Sport Premium is a ring-fenced grant for English primary schools to provide additional and sustainable improvements to the quality of PE, sport and physical activity. Allocations to schools are determined by a formula based on pupil numbers. The average one form entry primary school will receive roughly £18,000 per year.

 young people said: “We need to ensure all young people have the space or a place to be active - whether that be dedicated sports facilities, community spaces or parks and playgrounds.

“Given the increased pressure on schools to make space for social distancing, we hope schools set aside the space for physical activity and dedicate time for children and young people to take part in physical education, school sport, physical activity and play.

“Equally, we need to recognise that some children and young people will be anxious about returning to sport or activity, so we must reassure them by making sessions safe and enjoyable.”

Investing in children’s activity Recognising the important role schools play in supporting children to be more active and healthier, alongside the government, Sport England has been investing directly into children’s activity and sport in school settings in recent years, including through the School Sport and Activity Action Plan and PE and Sport Premium.

Some £13.5 million has gone into a secondary teacher training programme, offering professional development opportunities to staff in over 2,000 schools across England to help put pupil’s needs and enjoyment at the heart of PE and school sport, while £26m has been invested into Satellite Clubs to engage children and young

people in sport outside the school day and over £16m is supporting the School Games.

Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston said: “Schools and teachers are working incredibly hard to reopen safely and we will support them in helping children get fit and healthy as they return.

“Playing sport and being active is vital for young people’s physical and mental health, whilst also improving behaviour and concentration. Sport is a crucial part of school life, and now more so than ever.” L FURTHER INFORMATION Read the Sport England research here

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BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR DECISION MAKERS IN PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION | www.educationbusinessuk.net

Advertisement Feature

Why do the world’s leading dance companies choose Harlequin floors?

The floor is a dancer’s most important work tool; not only is it the canvas for their creativity, it also gives them protection against slips, falls and longer-term stress injuries

Professional dancers can spend hours working in a dance studio, it is their place of work and should offer a safe environment fit for purpose. The floor is a dancer’s most important work tool; not only is it the canvas for their creativity, it also gives them protection against slips, falls and longer-term stress injuries.

Experienced dancers can judge a good floor instinctively as to whether or not it feels right. And if it feels right they can effectively forget about the floor and concentrate on putting all their focus and concentration into the artistic performance. A confidence that comes from a reassurance they are not going to slip and fall, that lifts can be performed safely and on landing from jumps the response of the floor consistently returns the right amount of energy absorption. Quantifying this subjective rating of a floor into a series of repeatable tests is no simple task. Anyone specifying floors for dance should remember that dancers may not be the commissioning clients, but they are the end users. Major dance companies understand this, which is why it is not uncommon to ask their dancers to “test” floors before the final choice is made.

It is a common assumption that a welldesigned sports floor will suit the needs of dancers, but this is not the case.

There are some critical factors that distinguish the requirements of dance from those of sports played on a sports floor. Many sports require a firm floor which allows balls to bounce predictably. By contrast dancers need more absorption from the floor to protect them on landing from jumps. A good dance floor instills confidence in dancers to give full expression to their creativity, safe in the knowledge the dance floor will offer a consistent response.

Unlike sportsmen who wear increasingly hightech air-cushioned shoes to give grip and protect against impact injuries, the modest ballet shoe has barely changed in design since the mid18th century. Made from soft leather, canvas or satin, the ballet shoe is very flexible, has a thin sole and offers little protection for the wearer.

But not all dance floors are the same, only a floor developed specifically for dance will do.

There may be a temptation to specify floors for aesthetic or budget reasons, or to specify sports floors in the mistaken belief they will be suitable for dance but there have been some high-profile examples where floors have had to be replaced by a dance company after the building is complete and dancers have their first experience of dancing on the floors.

Generally, dancers should refuse to perform on unsuitable floors and demand the right to have a touring floor that has the same absorbent characteristics as the floor installed in their rehearsal studio. A dance floor should be neither too supple nor too soft. A hard floor has the effect of causing serious return shock waves and can bring about injuries or premature wear in the cartilage. A soft floor causes the muscles, and therefore the tendons, to work harder. Additionally, a floor that is too soft can be dangerous for dancers because of the effect of surprise.

The flooring manufacturer has a role to play in ensuring dancers have a safe environment in which to rehearse and perform.

Harlequin is widely recognised as the world’s leading authority on dance floors.

As an enlightened manufacturer Harlequin has always worked closely with the dance community to develop floors that dancers want to dance on. Flooring products in the Harlequin portfolio were typically evolved to meet the specific needs of a particular dance style and have been developed in conjunction with dancers themselves.

Aware of the high injury level among dancers, Harlequin is an active supporter

of IADMS (International Association for Dance Medicine and Science) and of NIDMS (National Institute of Dance Medicine and Science). NIDMS through shared expertise and a network of multidisciplinary partners, is working to provide better and more affordable access for all dancers to high quality, evidence-based, dance specific health care and dance science support services.

Leading dance companies from around the world trust Harlequin to keep their dancers safe in their rehearsal dance studios, on stage and, more recently, whilst dancing from home.

But this assurance of quality is not only applicable to elite dancers. It is equally important to provide amateur dancers in performing arts colleges, universities and schools with the same quality flooring. Aspiring dancers need protection too if they are to avoid cutting short their potential dance careers.

There is no doubt, the choice of flooring is critical. For over 40 years Harlequin has been the performance floor of choice for the world’s most prestigious dance and performing arts companies, theatres, venues and schools.

Harlequin’s experience and reputation are founded on the design, manufacture and supply of a range of high quality portable and permanent sprung and vinyl floors chosen by the world’s leading venues - from the Royal Opera House, to the Bolshoi Theatre, the Paris Opera Ballet to Sydney Dance Company.

Harlequin offers free advice to ensure dance companies, schools and venues install dance floors best suited to their particular use. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.harlequinfloors.com education@harlequinfloors.com +44 (0)1892 514 888

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Gerflor evolves its 40 year Taraflex® sport floor hall legacy When Ashington Academy’s sports hall required updating, the school decided to replace its existing Gerflor Taraflex® sport flooring with a ‘like-for-like’ Gerflor flooring as the floor, which was still fit-for-purpose, was a little jaded after four decades of demanding use.

Given Ashington Academy’s prominent sporting agenda, it turned to Gerflor for a reliable, replacement flooring solution for its hall that is solely used for indoor sporting activities like badminton, sprinting, hockey, basketball and five-a-side football.

“I could see the benefits of using the same flooring again instead of changing it,” said Andrew Crosby, (head of estates, Ashington Academy), who is in charge of the maintenance of all the North East Learning Trusts’ buildings. “After all we’d had the floor in use for over 40 years and hadn’t had to replace it and that’s world class!”

Taraflex® Evolution is a high performance P1 category point elastic, 7.5mm thick, cushioned sports flooring, which is fully compliant with EN Standard 14904 and ideal for multi-use halls used by all ages. Point elastic vinyl floorings are designed to provide shock absorbency and impact resistance, which are not related by weight-related performance like some other indoor sports surfaces.

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Due to its advanced construction, Taraflex® Evolution offers optimum levels of durability, safety and comfort: Its D-Max™ fibreglass grid reinforcement gives superior indentation, abrasion and heavy loads’ resistance, while its built-in, Triple Action Protescol® surface treatment provides easy maintenance and a surer foothold with anti-bacterial and fungicidal treatments for maximum hygiene. And last, but not least, its wide range of designs and colours give plenty of aesthetic scope for updating sports facilities.

The durability of Taraflex® Evolution was also of great significance to Ashington Academy, as Andrew Crosby explains: “As the sport and physical activity that takes place in the hall is so varied, correspondingly so is the equipment used. It is therefore of enormous benefit to us that the regular transit of items like crash mats, mobile goals and nets on and off the surface can take place without damage to the floor.” L FURTHER INFORMATION www.gerflor.co.uk

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR DECISION MAKERS IN PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION | www.educationbusinessuk.net

A report by the National Foundation for Educational Research looks at the significant impact the Covid-19 pandemic had on learning, and outlines the challenges schools now face The significant impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the learning of children and young people, and the challenges schools face in reopening to all pupils has been revealed in a new report by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER).

Jointly funded by Nuffield Foundation and NFER, the study is based on a sample of almost 3,000 school leaders and teachers across over 2,200 mainstream primary and secondary schools in England. The report focuses on data collected towards the end of the last academic year (July), showing the changing nature of the pandemic’s impact on pupils, teachers, schools and communities, and schools’ plans, and concerns ahead of reopening to all year groups this month.

move around the classroom to teach, support and interact with their pupils effectively.

Over half of school leaders (51 per cent) reported that they were using teaching assistants (TAs) to lead classes, as a way of managing smaller classes, and 46 per cent of teachers said that they were mainly teaching pupils they did not usually teach. These challenges are expected to remain as schools reopen, as a result of social distancing requirements.

Remote learning During July, when the majority of pupils were expected to learn remotely – there remained low levels of parental and pupil engagement (38 per cent of pupils returned their The rep last piece of set work o r t compared to 42 fou per cent in May). nearly and that Additionally, l l believe teachers school leaders reported that pupils a that their r only 56 per cent e b e h where ind of pupils eligible the

Pupils are behind The report found that nearly all teachers (98 per cent) report that their pupils are behind where they would normally expect them to be in their curriculum learning. Teachers estimate normal y would that their pupils are three ly months behind, on average, them toexpect with 21 per cent reporting that be boys have fallen further behind normal expectations than girls.

In July, teachers had covered, on average, only 66 per cent of the usual curriculum during the 2019/20 academic year.

Based on teacher estimates, the learning gap between between disadvantaged pupils and their peers had increased by 46 per cent. Teachers in the most deprived schools are over three times more likely to report that their pupils are four months or more behind in their learning compared to teachers in the least deprived schools (53 per cent compared to 15 per cent).

Schools Re-opening

Opening schools to all pupils: what are the challenges?

to return attended, with lower attendance among pupils eligible for the Pupil Premium (45 per cent) and those from BAME backgrounds (49 per cent). Almost one third (32 per cent) of school leaders highlighted parental concerns over safety as a common reason for non-attendance.

Leaders in schools with high proportions of pupils from BAME backgrounds were more likely to report parents having safety concerns than schools with no BAME pupils (65, compared to 35 per cent).

Intensive catch-up support Teachers estimate that 44 per cent of their pupils are in need of intensive catch-up support. Teachers’ estimates are 25 percentage points higher in the most deprived schools, compared to the least deprived (57 compared to 32 per cent).

They are also significantly higher (by 18 percentage points) in schools serving the highest proportion of pupils from BAME backgrounds, and this relationship persists after controlling for the effects of deprivation.

In July, almost 90 per cent of school leaders predicted they will find it at least somewhat manageable to open to all pupils safely, although many identify the need for additional staffing and resources, such as for teachers, Teaching Assistants (TAs), support staff, cleaning and protective equipment, and IT. Some of the costs associated with these additional needs will be met by government schemes.

More remote learning plans In case of further outbreaks of Covid-19 and local lockdowns, there needs to be enhanced plans for interactive remote learning and IT equipment for pupils and staff.

Evidence on effective distance learning highlights the importance of interactive learning, consolidating learning and supporting pupils to self-regulate as effective strategies E

Quality of teaching Almost three quarters of teachers (74 per cent) did not feel able to teach to their usual standard under the regulations that were in force. In an open response questions, almost half said that distancing requirements had negatively impacted their teaching practices.

This resulted in them no longer being able to utilise core elements of pedagogy (such as group work), nor did they feel able to

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Schools Re-opening

 (as part of a mixed diet of provision).

However, by July, teachers were no more likely to be offering interactive teaching methods than earlier in lockdown.

Although many schools were supplying IT equipment to their staff, over one third of teachers (35 per cent) were providing their own laptop or computer, and threefifths either supplied their own camera/ video equipment (41 per cent) or had no access to this at all (21 per cent). Additionally, leaders report that 28 per cent of pupils have limited access to IT at home – a similar level to NFER research conducted in May. Recommendations The report outlines a series of recommendations to help schools as they operate in the “new normal”. This includes support for schools in managing non-attendance; additional resources for costs associated with Covid-19; the need for Ofsted to modify expectations for schools in upcoming inspections; and schools needing more government support to prepare for remote learning in a local lockdown.

Dr Angela Donkin, chief social scientist at NFER, said: “Whilst it is crucial that children catch-up, we should not assume that teachers will immediately be able to deliver the same quality of teaching, at the same speed, as before the pandemic.”

“There remains a range of barriers for teachers and schools, which means catch-up should be seen as part of the ongoing process of learning recovery, for most pupils, rather than as a quick-turnaround solution.”

Whilst it is crucial that children catch-up, we should not assume that teachers will immediately be able to deliver the same quality of teaching, at the same speed, as before the pandemic Josh Hillman, director of education at Nuffield Foundation, added: “From September, schools will be trying to close the disadvantage gap while also balancing social distancing measures and delivering the curriculum for all pupils.

“Rather than being a quick-fix, school catch-up schemes will need to be sustained if they are to be effective, and we would welcome additional government guidance and funding for schools as they develop new ways of working.

“This long-term approach is particularly important given the ongoing impact of COVID19 on students’ family circumstances, such as increased levels of job insecurity, poverty and relationship breakdowns, all of which could affect their learning and development and further widen the disadvantage gap.” L FURTHER INFORMATION www.nfer.ac.uk

Headmasters choose AirMasters

Our understanding of the relationship between health and the indoor environment has evolved in the last decade. In the past, studies on the quality of the indoor environment were centred around air quality and comfort factors. More recently, research has taken a holistic approach in considering the complex relationship between building and occupants, and various design features. In understanding these factors, we can evaluate building design to determine what best contributes to a good learning environment to support children’s education.

In the UK, classrooms must comply with Building Bulletin 101 (BB101), government issued guidelines on ventilation, thermal comfort and indoor air quality in schools. BB101 intends to address the major issues we have in our existing classrooms as well as setting a new standard for school design.

Mechanical ventilation is engineered to automatically control air flow, ensuring each

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classroom receives the required amount of ventilation to achieve a safe and invigorating environment. Newly issued guidelines from University of Surrey’s Global Centre for Clean Air Research (GCARE), encourage the “use of adequate mechanical ventilation and air filtration” to attain good classroom air quality.

Mechanical ventilation in the classroom is also supported in a study by Hviid et al 2016, which demonstrated that the addition of mechanical ventilation improved indoor air quality resulting in a significant improvement in pupil’s cognitive ability.

Studies have found that carbon dioxide (CO2) has a damaging effect on cognitive performance. Allen Et Al (2015) tested adults’ cognitive ability by assessing applied activity level, information usage and strategy in well ventilated rooms (Green: 900 ppm, Green+: 500 ppm) compared to conventionally ventilated rooms (1,400 ppm). The results show that in all categories, performance is noticeably inhibited by an increasing room CO2 level. On average, cognitive scores were 61 per cent higher in Green environments and 101 per cent higher in Green+ environments when compared to conventional offices. The effect of CO2 on smaller bodies is greater, so poor indoor air quality would be more

detrimental when considering school-age occupants. Therefore, with proper ventilation, learning environments can be improved.

Earlier this year, the City School in Denmark participated in a study by The Danish Technical University. Results showed that when lighting, acoustics and air quality are combined and controlled correctly, you can achieve an average of 10 per cent improvement in learning and performance abilities of pupils. Morten May, the School Principle, said of the improved classroom environment, “it’s remarkable what it’s like to be there now. We have an employee who said that it’s like stepping into a whole different climate zone...there is just an incredibly comfortable atmosphere.”

Studies such as these provide a strong case for mechanically ventilated schools. With the addition of mechanical ventilation in the classroom, pupils’ learning capabilities and exam results will be improved and their health and wellbeing safeguarded. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.sav-systems.com

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR DECISION MAKERS IN PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION | www.educationbusinessuk.net

The importance of smart procurement, behavioural insights and agile management of waste have only increased thanks to COVID-19. Stuart Hayward-Higham of SUEZ recycling and recovery UK shares the lessons from its latest research

Among the repercussions from the coronavirus pandemic – from the A-level grades confusion and making campuses ‘COVID-secure’ to lost income from overseas students or summer conferences – there’s another uncertainty that must be managed. What will be the impact on resource consumption and the wastes that will ultimately arise?

Our university colleagues and we at SUEZ are braced for changes. But we recognise opportunities too amid the looming challenges.

Building on first-hand experience in the sector, our previous and this recent research and consultation has yielded insights into students’ attitudes and behaviour around waste and recycling, and into the diversity of practice and performance across universities and colleges.

This work has borne further fruit by providing insight into how procurement can be better honed. Our procurement guide to recycling and waste management services is a brief and practical primer for managers seeking to secure the most effective provision for their university or college. Next up, our second attitudinal survey with the National Union of Students (updating pioneering research carried out in 2013) will be published at the end of September and gives brilliant insight to the needs and behaviours of students themselves.

COVID-related complications will affect each stage of the eight-step procurement cycle we map out in the guide1 – from (stage

1) understanding and defining your needs to (stage 8) supplier relationship management but the fundamentals are a sound basis.

While a majority of university colleagues expect waste levels overall to drop as students spend less time on campus, waste per head is seen and set to rise. The waste streams will contain more and new materials such as face masks, paper towels, sanitiser bottles and other disposable items which will need safe but innovative adaption. Initiatives to replace single-use containers, such as coffee cups, may be stalled or reversed until the virus is under control but this means amending targets and not losing them.

More students than ever want to do the right thing by the environment. In our prepandemic survey 85 per cent said they were committed recyclers – a 10-point increase on six years before. The Lifting the Lid Higher2 report, based on our NUS survey, also shows that the small group of nonrecyclers has almost halved to just 6%.

Given how the coronavirus crisis has heightened appreciation of environmental threats and society’s unsustainable habits, we believe there is a will to change that universities can tap.

Communications around waste prevention and recycling can also be improved. A more joined-up information programme can reach the 60 per cent of students who say they can’t remember receiving any recycling advice at their term-time accommodation; on-campus communications were memorable for just 50 per cent. We know habits can support excellent performance.

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Lifting the lid on challenges and opportunities in higher education sector after COVID-19 Students spending more time in halls of residence – and ‘bubbles’ of course-mates and/or housemates – are a more captive audience. This could help in educating freshers (normally deluged by a tide of novelty and new information) in the resource friendly waste management ways and environmental ethos of the institution. Rather than hoping that the new cohort’s recycling behaviour conforms over time, universities can harness this greater environmental awareness, and peer influence, in the cause of waste reduction and value recovery.

Privately managed halls present a particular challenge. Only one in three tenants in our survey makes a particular effort to recycle compared with 61 per cent in university-run halls. Inconvenience is a big factor (only 27 per cent say the recycling set-up is very convenient).

However, both on and off campus, students see inconvenience as a major barrier to recycling.

Understanding human behaviour is essential to drive improvement in performance. It is the key to designing waste services and facilities that fit a building or system and the behaviour of users to maximise participation and good habits.

Such behaviour change requires a system approach. Lifting the Lid Higher shows how this works in practice. Our behaviour change programme at Aston University was designed using the ISM model, which analyses behaviour at three levels – Individual, Social and Material.

This simple tool can capture the insights of all stakeholders – from facility managers to student reps and staff, waste contract teams to cleaners, catering and security personnel.

At Aston, the programme partners focussed on the students’ union building and its facilities, waste streams and associated student behaviour, from shopping to littering. They then mapped their findings onto the model, identifying ‘quick wins’, setting priorities and agreeing the programme of action.

Due to the pandemic, the tests facing university managers over the coming academic year have just got harder. But there’s still scope for lifting environmental and financial management of waste and recycling to a higher level. A green recovery for universities is possible. L

Recycling and waste management services – a brief guide to procurement for universities and colleges. Available on SUEZ UK website 1

Lifting the Lid Higher. Publication date 28 September 2020 available here 2

FURTHER INFORMATION www.suez.co.uk

Issue 25.5 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Procurement Written by CPL Group

Procuring personal protective equipment in a pandemic There is currently a wide range of varying information available from both official and unreliable channels in relation to PPE so it can be difficult to know what the best option is when procuring it.

This article will guide you through what information to look out for and the best routes to market when securing PPE for your institution PPE is equipment that will protect the user against health or safety risks at work.

It typically includes items such as safety helmets, gloves, eye protection, high-visibility clothing, safety footwear and safety harnesses.

However, due to the Coronavirus pandemic the definition of PPE has changed slightly to also include products which wouldn’t have traditionally been considered PPE such as face masks, gloves, gowns, face shields, antibacterial gel and other high demand items.

Knowledge of PPE has grown rapidly as has the importance it now plays not only within a construction or medical setting but also in personal and everyday life.

What PPE do I need?

The PPE equipment required by educational establishments to operate safely can vary significantly. Government guidance is subject to revision, however equipment that may be needed includes masks, disposable gloves, disposable plastic aprons and eye protection.

According to DEandS, the organisation that procures PPE for the NHS, these are among the highest demand items. Most staff in education, childcare and children’s social care settings will not require PPE beyond what they would normally need for their work. PPE is generally only needed in a very small number of cases such as when an individual child, young person or other learner becomes ill with coronavirus symptoms and only then if a distance of two metres cannot be maintained.

The exception to the above is the use of face coverings. The government has advised that secondary schools in England have the discretion There to require pupils and staff h a s be to wear face coverings in a sharp en communal areas whilst the use of face coverings in supp rise is mandatory in regions lie diversif ying intrs where local lockdowns PPE ma o are in place. rket du the or other facilities that Welsh schools will rin the pan are available to the need to undertake a risk demic g general public which assessment and make their are in the government’s own decision if face coverings/ list of settings that require masks are needed in communal PPE and where guidelines state places and on school transport. that a face covering should be worn. It Secondary school students in Scotland and is paramount that all details are checked Northern Ireland will need to wear a face and that all PPE guidance is followed mask in corridors and communal areas. at all times to ensure the wellbeing of Additional PPE will be required if your staff, students and the general public. school or academy offers after school clubs

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Routes to market There are a number of different routes to market available when securing PPE, each dependant on your institution’s procurement regulations. One of the best that has been utilised during the pandemic for educational establishments and the wider public sector is the use of a framework agreement (also known as a deal). A framework is a safe way to purchase PPE as it consists of a set number of fully vetted suppliers

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR DECISION MAKERS IN PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION | www.educationbusinessuk.net

award information that is provided which will vary from framework to framework.

Another option is a Further Competition. This is a longer process than a direct award but it allows you to ensure everything has been considered for your requirement and adds more value to your procurement process.

Again, depending on the framework, the contracting authority may provide users with guidance documentation as well as draft specification and further competition documents. A further competition will allow you to specify exactly what you require from the supplier to ensure that you are not only getting a fair price but also the most economically advantageous bid. The contracting authority may also have a team or a dedicated contract manager who looks after the framework. They will be able to help you get the most out of using the framework for your PPE purchase and will also help with any other queries you may have.

Procurement

There are a number of different routes to market available when securing PPE, each dependant on your institution’s procurement regulations. One of the best that has been utilised during the pandemic for educational establishments and the wider public sector is the use of a framework agreement (or a deal)

Non-established suppliers There has been a sharp rise in suppliers diversifying into the PPE market during the pandemic due to their normal areas of business slowing in demand. This has caused lead times, stock levels and prices for high demand items to vary dramatically. More established suppliers have needed to rethink their supply chains and search for new suppliers themselves in order to keep up with the global demand for PPE. This shift in numbers of suppliers in PPE causes a potential risk to those purchasing as it will not only increase the cost of the products but if a non-established supplier is selected, there is a possibility that they are procuring cheaply made and inferior quality products.

This is as opposed to buying from a trusted supplier with experience in the sector.

A recommendation is to check the previous work experience of suppliers and how long they have worked in the PPE market. This will help you to make sure that the supplier you are selecting is offering a fair price for full quality items and they will be able to add value to your procurement exercise and advise on any potential problems efficiently.

Should you choose to procure via a framework agreement, the suppliers will have been pre-vetted so that you can be assured of the highest quality PPE products at a fair price.

and often features a range of different lots to allow for greater specialisms in selected categories; e.g. there could be a lot for face masks and a lot for gloves.

Frameworks enable you to save significant time in the procurement process as the contracting authority that has set it up has done the majority of the hard work and completed the lengthy process of running the tender and evaluating supplier submissions for you.

This allows you, depending on the functionality and choices available on the framework, to award your procurement to a pre-approved supplier much faster than if you had run the tender by yourself.

One option that may be available to you is to award to a supplier by either Direct Award or Further Competition. A Direct Award is the quickest process and depending on framework functionality, will allow you to award to one of the pre-approved suppliers using the

CPL Group CPC and Tenet Education Services are notfor-profit organisations which are part of CPL Group, an education owned charity that gives back to the sector through funding and support. CPC has a complete range of frameworks which are designed for the education sector, including a comprehensive PPE, Clothing and Uniforms framework which has a lot with 8 fully vetted PPE suppliers. CPC membership is free of charge to all institutions. Tenet provides procurement consultancy support. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.cpl.group www.thecpc.ac.uk www.tenetservices.com

Issue 25.5 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Advertisement Feature

Developing you, your team and releasing potential This year has provided greater turbulence and uncertainty than we have experienced for a generation. Many of us have been at the forefront of managing the pandemic and trying to maintain a level of certainty for our colleagues and the pupils we serve. It has also provided an opportunity for self-reflection and consideration on our own next steps confusing to know what the best next step is to take when looking for a qualification that will enable your career to progress.

As ISBL is the institute responsible for SBPs development and career pathways, we have taken time to reflect on the changes and expansion of the school business professionals roles over the last decade and consider the growing confusion over the new relevant qualifications which have emerged and what the progression routes now look like. This has prompted us to invest in the development of further guidance which will be released in the autumn term 2020.

Greater choice and opportunities For many years, the progression route for an SBP was clear and relatively linear, as there was a specific and clear progression route developed by the National College and funded through a range of bursaries from the DfE. A school business manager would also most likely have been supported by their school to take the CSBM, then DSBM, and then quite a few completed the ADSBM. This took them from a ‘new entrant’ through to an ‘experienced professional’ qualified at level 6 (degree level). These recognised routes produced a generation of school business managers who were part of a newly qualified and emerging profession.

Fast forward two decades and the situation is quite different.

The role of an SBP has developed, grown, and diversified. SBPs can now be found in nearly every school in the country and at many different levels within the various school settings that we now have. Multi Academy trusts (MATS) have brought new opportunities for SBPs to progress in their careers, to specialise in different areas of the ISBL Professional Standards, and to reach executive and specialist roles within vary large organisations.

These changes have led to greater choice and greater opportunities, but it can also be

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Bringing clarity and guidance We hold a termly School Business Professional Training and Development Board meeting (snappy title we know!) to monitor areas such as the demand and uptake of qualifications, the barriers and issues to SBPs taking the qualifications, and the evolving progression routes available.

We bring together training providers, awarding organisations, the DfE, unions and other key stakeholders to collaborate and share best practice. In the past this group has worked on the development of the ISBL Professional Standards and the redevelopment of the core SBP qualifications, awarded by ILM. This year we have been working on bringing clarity and consistent communication on the qualifications, programmes, and progression routes available to SBPs. We have produced a range of resources that are now available at every level.

Choosing a qualification Core qualifications: two years ago, the core SBP qualifications were redeveloped to ensure they were suitable for the evolving workforce covering all areas of the ISBL Professional Standards. We played a key role in the redevelopment and updating of these robust qualifications.

The core SBP qualifications are ILM L4 Diploma for School Business Manager (formerly CSBM); and ILM L5 Diploma for School Business Leaders (formerly DSBM) Apprenticeships Apprenticeships are a great way to access funded professional development.

ISBL was part of the trailblazer group that developed the L4 School Business Professional Apprenticeship. We also put in proposals for SBP apprenticeships at L5 and L6, however the IfA&TE rejected these applications as they wished to streamline the apprenticeship standards available and saw significant overlap to the existing L6 CMDA which could be contextualised.

Subsequently we worked with HEIs to contextualise their CMDA programmes.

The main apprenticeships for SBPs are: L4 School Business Professional Apprenticeship (SBPA); L6 Chartered Degree

Managers Apprenticeship (CMDA); and L7 Senior Leaders Degree Apprenticeship.

Specialist qualifications With the opportunities for SBPs to remain as generalists or develop into specialist roles, a huge variety of specialist qualifications have been developed with other key professional bodies to offer contextualised programmes for SBPs. These are: CIPD L5 Certificate in Human Resources for School Business Professionals; CIPS Award for School Business Professionals; and CIPFA Level 7 Certificate in School Financial and Operational Leadership Plus, there are a range of short and bite size programmes now emerging across all the ISBL professional standards including infrastructure and marketing.

Additionally, many of these new programmes are available via virtual delivery responding to current limitations to access professional learning.

Next steps There has never been more choice and opportunities for SBPs to gain qualifications to help them achieve their career ambitions and be ready for whatever changes the future holds. The important thing is to understand where you are now – complete a self-assessment against the ISBL Professional Standards. Then decide where you want to get to and plan goals. Then research and establish which qualification or programme will help you achieve them.

And most of all, value yourself as a professional and your own professional development. You can be in control of shaping your own career and achievements and having a membership of your professional body (ISBL) demonstrates to employers that you are serious about your professional development. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.isbl.org.uk

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR DECISION MAKERS IN PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION | www.educationbusinessuk.net

Issue 25.5 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

Written by John Nichols, President of the Tutors’ Association

How can schools secure support under the NTP? School leaders will no doubt be considering where to start and how to secure good quality tuition for their own pupils. There will be two strands to the NTP: NTP Partners, John Nichols, President of the Tutors’ Association, shares how which includes the provision of professional, schools can make use of the National Tutoring Programme expert tutors to provide subsidised tuition to schools, and NTP Academic Mentors (also referred to as ‘NTP Coaches’) which will mean The UK has embarked upon a truly ambitious equivalent of giving a student an extra Spring placing recent graduates into schools to act as endeavour to provide state-funded tuition and Summer term’s worth of education. academic mentors, coordinated by TeachFirst. to disadvantaged students across the The EEF’s analysis is itself fairly limited NTP Academic Mentors will be paid for by the country (initially only England, as education at present, despite showing a high level of school - presumably out of the total catch-up is a devolved matter). Whilst the National impact for tuition. Nonetheless, comparatively funding, although exactly which part of the Tutoring Programme (NTP) and the associated few tuition models have been studied, with budget this will come from is not yet clear. £350 million of funding that it comes a focus on tuition delivery by school staff or Under the NTP Partners aspect of the with – around one third of the total £1 volunteers with comparatively little tuition programme, the EEF is looking to fund a billion catch-up funding – caught almost experience. However, effective tuition is a significant number of organisations or everyone slightly off-guard when it was first complex and intense form of consortia to provide tuition services announced, it is not difficult to imagine why education, distinct from directly to schools as ‘approved the government has taken this approach. classroom teaching. As It providers’, working closely President of The Tutors’ is wide with schools to supply the Why a National Association, with known ly t specialist academic support Tutoring Programme? many thousands h a ta good tu required. The tuition Expert tuition is one of the oldest and highestof hours of both t o r have a (expected to be charged at impact forms of educational intervention. It professional tuition transfo can effect o rmative a flat rate of £50 per hour) is widely known that a good tutor can have and classroom n a will be subsidised by up a transformative effect on a student’s teaching experience s t ud educati to 75 per cent by the EEF education in a way that is without parallel to date, I know on in a ent’s wa and schools will be able to a truly personalised learning experience. this very well. that is w ithout y use other catch-up or Pupil The Education Endowment Foundation’s (EEF) It seems likely parallel Premium funding to pay for own analysis suggests that tuition delivered their 25 per cent contribution. that one-to-one by expert professionals, From around October at the tuition can bring such as members of The earliest, state-maintained schools are about around five Tutors’ Association, could have expected to be able to book subsidised tuition additional months’ an even greater impact; some of our tutors through the approved providers - although E of progress - the are among the best in the world and are

Tutoring

Recovering lost education after school closures

held in high regard internationally, yet they have not been included in EEF trials to date. Perhaps more importantly, there is the opportunity for professional tuition to be robustly evaluated, which many tutors and tuition providers will welcome. Professional tutors can now be made available to schools on a massive scale under the NTP.

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Tutoring  the programme is not expected to be scaled up until January 2021. The EEF is currently working through the details of how schools will be able to secure the relevant subsidy and how exactly tuition providers will be paid.

Private schools are not eligible for the subsidy under the NTP. However, some of the approved providers will no doubt be very happy to offer similar high-impact tuition services to private schools at the same kind of reasonable rate.

What will tutors do under the NTP and how can schools get good value?

One of the most important and useful aspects of the NTP is that the service provided for schools will be flexible. There do not currently appear to be any firm stipulations on what NTP-subsidised tuition can or cannot be used for. It can be used to deliver smallgroup tutorials or individual, one-to-one assistance; it will focus on the core subjects but, in general, the NTP is expected to be very flexible. It will be for schools - as clients - to choose what they would like.

Some providers may come to the NTP with very fixed models based on programmes they’ve already run in the past. For charities or organisations with an established model, especially if they are dependent on volunteer or relatively inexperienced tutors, this is perhaps more likely to be the case.

However, experienced professional tuitionproviders are likely to be more flexible and responsive, as they are when they deal with private clients. So schools will have a range of options available to them.

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The Education Endowment Foundation’s own analysis suggests that one-to-one tuition can bring about around five additional months’ of progress - the equivalent of an extra Spring and Summer term’s worth of education Is using external tutors a risk for the school?

There will no doubt be some within the mainstream education sector who will wonder why the funding is being allocated to tuitionproviders and not simply added to school budgets. The tuition sector has previously been viewed with suspicion by some, often due to the fact that ‘anyone can become a tutor’, at least in theory. Occasional articles and social media posts from uninformed commentators sometimes recommend tuition as a way for university students or unemployed graduates to earn a bit of cash, but the reality is that the tuition sector has become increasingly professional in recent years.

The Tutors’ Association (TTA) exemplifies this trend towards professionalism – a hallmark of reputable tuition providers, all signed up to a robust code of practice and following increasingly stringent safeguarding criteria, with a commitment to CPD. Many TTA members are themselves former (or, in some cases, current) teachers. School leaders will be pleasantly surprised to find an army of reputable tutors and tuitionproviders ready and willing to step in and help wherever necessary. In many cases, the

tutors will have a high level of experience in carrying out tuition on a professional basis.

Tutors acting as a part of one of TTA’s endorsed providers will be members of TTA and follow our robust code of practice, specifically adapted for the NTP by our own NTP Taskforce. TTA tutors will also be signed up to the DBS Update Service, as well as following safeguarding best practice. TTA is currently in the early stages of working with the NSPCC to produce safeguarding guidance and/or training specifically for tutors. TTA tutors are leading professionals in their field, with a serious commitment to good practice and safeguarding on a par with schools. As such, the use of TTA members is a key indicator of a safe and reliable tutor or provider, with a commitment to high professional standards.

TTA will continue to work closely with both its members and a variety of key stakeholders, including schools, to ensure that the NTP is as successful as it can be for the ultimate beneficiaries - the very many students who need the help of expert tutors the most. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.thetutorsassociation.org.uk

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR DECISION MAKERS IN PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION | www.educationbusinessuk.net

ENERGY

IT

e-Hot Water System tackles challenges of space, cost and sustainability for schools

Voice and data two-way radio communication products

Education sites can now gain a resilient domestic hot water (DHW) system that helps reduce both a building’s energy consumption and operational costs to meet sustainability goals whilst unlocking valuable space within the building.

Perfect for both new build and refurbishments with high demands for hot water, the Adveco Packaged e-Hot Water System is a prefabricated all-electric water heating system that addresses project limitations by creating a standardised external plant room containing essential building services. The system comprises an Adveco FPi-9 Air Source Heat Pump (ASHP) mounted on the outside of a weatherproof GRP

housing, and inside, an Adveco 200L GLC indirect preheat tank and Adveco 200L GLE direct electric water heater that provides reliable high-temperature water.

Sized to supply up to 500,000 litres of hot water each year with factored peak hour delivery, the FPi-9 ASHP offsets 70 per cent of the DHW load for a 47 per cent reduction in energy demands and CO² emissions when compared with a similar direct electric-only system.

New specification of the electric immersions helps protect the system from scale build-up in harder water areas, and a back-up immersion provides built-in resilience to ensure the consistent provision of hot water.

FURTHER INFORMATION www.adveco.co

Established in 1987, DCRS has become one of the UK’s market leaders in the hire, sales and service of voice and data two-way radio communication products & applications to clients throughout the UK and Europe. With technical excellence, and accreditations for quality assurance, health and safety and product support, DCRS can offer exceptional client service by combining its technical and operational expertise, resources and commitment throughout your product and systems lifetime. In recognition of this, DCRS has been awarded the Queen’s Royal Warrant.

The dedication to its client’s needs and commitment to delivering pioneering technology continues to enhance DCRS’

reputation within its sector and is strengthened by the product manufacturers it supports; Motorola, Hytera, Kirisun and ICOM, who are all known for their outstanding reliability, quality and expertise. Utilising its vast experience within the two-way radio communications industry, DCRS’ dynamic product range provides the best solutions for you and your business. Providing you with an affordable and accessible solution, all your equipment will come from a professional and well-organised company.

For a free, no obligation quote please contact DCRS below.

FURTHER INFORMATION sales@dcrs.co.uk Tel: 0800 043 2688

HEALTHY EATING

DESIGN & BUILD

Plant powered goodness to support your health & well-being

Sunshade Services specialist bespoke outdoor structures

EN ROOT is a South London based Indian Inspired Vegan Food Concept. With a restaurant where Clapham meets Brixton in SW4 serving as the home, EN ROOT provides nutritional joy.

Whilst catering at events, festivals and private functions with a mobile food truck and bringing food education to schools and workplaces, EN ROOT seeks to support people’s transition to a healthier, plant based diet full of international influence and flavour.

Co-founders Nish & Harshil Modasia have plenty of experience in teaching and the avenue of food has given opportunity to develop people’s mindset about our eating habits. EN ROOT has worked

with the likes of New Balance, BBC Countrylife Live, Pearson Education, Boomtown Festival and Sweaty Betty to drive positive change within society. Health is wealth and you needn’t look further for catering services with something for everyone and an allergen friendly menu with Rainbow Salads, Lentil Dhal, Vegan Curry, Wraps, Indian Street Snacks and Uplifting Beverages to suit any food service requirements.

Don’t miss out on their homemade hot sauce range; RAJA BONNET SAUCE. Three ‘Fruity Flavoursome Fire’ varieties encapsulating the cousins’ culinary creations with Kesar Mango, Gujarati Spices and fresh Scotch Bonnet celebrated in the bottles.

FURTHER INFORMATION www.enrootldn.co.uk enrootldn@gmail.com Instagram: @enrootldn Tel: 020 8001 6603

Sunshade Services specialise in the design, manufacture & installation of outdoor structures aimed at the pre-school, nursery, primary & secondary school sectors. There are many things to consider when deciding which type of structure may best suit your needs including appearance, materials, safety, coverage required, planning issues and cost to name but a few.

Having a totally flexible approach allows Sunshade Services to offer what it feels is the best all round solution to suit your individual needs. Every structure designed

by Sunshade Services can be individually tailored to suit your requirements but allows the company to meet any design requirements or site restrictions

that may be placed upon us.

Many of its structures can also be expanded upon in a modular fashion to allow further or extended coverage of large or awkward shaped areas allowing you to limit your capital expenditure as required.

Please either call Sunshade Services on either of the numbers below or email your enquiry to info@sunshadeservices.co.uk and one of the sales team will get back to you as soon as they are free Contact Sunshade Services for your free no obligation quotation and start saving now.

FURTHER INFORMATION 01782 398848 07807 063734 info@sunshadeservices.co.uk Sunshade Services Ltd. Unit 12A, Blythe Park Business Base, Cresswell, Stoke-on-Trent, ST11 9RD

Issue 25.5 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

65

FIRE SAFETY

Compliant fire alarm solutions for education

ADVERTISERS INDEX The publishers accept no responsibility for errors or omissions in this free service 5 A-day-Fitness

BBC Fire Protection Limited is part of the Marlowe Group, one of the four largest providers of fire protection services in the UK. Founded in 1979, the company specialises in the provision and maintenance of active fire safety systems throughout the UK. In addition to fire safety consultancy services, the company’s accomplished in-house engineers are also qualified to design, supply, install, service, maintain and commission: fire alarm systems; aspirating fire detection systems; gaseous fire suppression systems; portable extinguishers; voice alarm systems; fire telephone systems; disabled refuge systems; emergency and security lighting and communication and intercom systems.

BBC Fire Protection provides 24/7 emergency maintenance cover throughout the year.

The company recognises

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Adveco 65

the importance of providing compliant fire alarm system solutions with emphasis on false alarm management reliability, to prevent disruption to the working environment.

BBC Fire Protection holds a Royal Warrant as a fire alarm specialist by Appointment to HM Queen Elizabeth II, derived from its extensive experience of working on secure sites such as royal households along with many government and private education estates.

FURTHER INFORMATION www.bbcfire.co.uk sales@bbcfire.co.uk

Altuity Solutions

30

BBC Fire & Safety

66

Big Dug

18

Civica UK

11

Crown Commercial Services

6,12

DCRS 65 Dunham Bush

18

En Root

65

Ergochair OBC EXA Networks

45

Fordingbridge 24 Gerflor 56 Harlequin Floors Intelligent Facility Solutions

54,55 35

ISS 22 Junkers 20 Kajima Partnerships

41

Lapsafe Self Service Solutions

42

LFS Fire

64

Nviro 34 Office Depot

26,27

Protect Solutions UK

4

Randstad Solutions

40

SAV Systems

58

Smart Space

24

Suez 59 Sunshade Services Talk Straight & Schools

65 46,47

Teqball International

50

Tetrosyl Group

28

TVS Group

52

Voiceboxx Group

14

Yeoman Shield

8

YPO IFC

66

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR DECISION MAKERS IN PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION | www.educationbusinessuk.net