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Teachers work longer hours than police and nurses Teaching was compared to two other public sector professions – nursing and police – in a study by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER). Interestingly, it was revealed that teachers work the longest hours at 50 hours per week during term time, followed by police officers (44) and nurses (39).

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Even after taking account of school holidays, full-time teachers still work the equivalent of 45 hours per week.

The subject of teacher workload has cropped up in the news headlines a few times recently. Education Secretary Damian Hinds has pledged to tackle workload that doesn’t add value in the classroom. He said the DfE will work with Ofsted and others in the industry to help school leaders have a clear understanding of who they are accountable to, and for what.

Hinds also said that there will be no new tests or assessment for primary schools and no changes to the national curriculum, GCSE or A levels for the remainder of this parliament, beyond those already announced.

Follow and interact with us on Twitter: @EducationBizz

Meanwhile in Scotland, strike action may be taken at the end of March in East Dunbartonshire for the council’s failure to tackle management practices, which are having an adverse impact on the workload and working conditions of teachers, according to NASUWT. The union’s general secretary Chris Keates said there are actions that employers can take locally to alleviate some of the pressures on teachers.

Angela Pisanu, editor

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Volume 23.2 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Contents

Contents Education Business 23.2 07 News

07

Teachers work longer hours than police and nurses, research suggests; £26 million funding to boost school breakfast clubs; DfE announces steps to improve education for children with additional needs

17 Apprenticeships

Apprenticeships represent a great career choice for young people and offer an alternative to staying on in sixth form or college. But are students, schools and parents getting the right information? Mark Dawe, chief executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, investigates

17

21 Digital safety

Hannah Broadbent, deputy CEO of Childnet, one of three charities in the UK Safer Internet Centre, shares why it’s important than ever for all schools to make online safety a priority

25 IT & computing: digital technology

The Digital Schools Awards programme for secondary schools in Scotland aims to create the next generation of informed, responsible and resilient digital citizens by providing schools with a roadmap for planning and teaching ‘with’ and ‘about’ digital technology

29

29 IT & computing: computer science

Practical assessments in computer science will no longer go towards pupils’ GCSE grades from this summer or next, following concerns of malpractice.

Education Business looks into the factors that lead to this decision

43

33 STEM

To close the STEM skills gap, there is a significant role for businesses and schools to link activities to give young people an insight into STEM industries.

Julie Feest, CEO of the Engineering Development Trust explores the current state of STEM engagement in schools

37 Design & build 47

New Schools Network (NSN) has launched a delivery programme to help free schools in pre-opening, including a new range of services, from site advice to project management support

Education Business magazine

43 School trips

With benefits ranging from improved self‑confidence to improved academic attainment, outdoor education isn’t just something schools should do, it’s something they should prioritise, believes Phil Avery, director of education at the Bohunt Education Trust

47 Outdoor learning

Schools are under pressure to balance the books, so it has never been more important to justify the educational benefits of trips and demonstrate value for money. Elaine Skates, chief executive of the Council for Learning Outside the Classroom (CLOtC), examines how this can be done

51 Data protection

What does the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) mean to those in education? Education Business caught up with some experts from the GDPR Advisory Board to grill them about the regulation’s impact and what schools need to be doing before May

55 Business management

Are you considering a specialist HR role in the future? Do you want to rely less on external HR advice? If yes, then the new innovative, educationally‑focused CIPD qualification developed with ISBL could be perfect for you

59 Fire safety

Fire extinguishers are a vital part of fire protection, but all too often, they get misused as door stops – or worse left in a corner and forgotten about. But ignored fire extinguishers have a hidden danger and can fail to operate if not properly maintained, writes Robert Thilthorpe, FIA technical manager

63 Facilities management

At the beginning of the year, it was announced that facilities management firm Carillon – which provides services for the education sector – was going into liquidation, raising concerns over the potential strain this could have on schools

www.educationbusinessuk.net Volume 23.2 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

5

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News

WORKLOAD

Teachers work longer hours than police and nurses, research suggests According to a new study by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER), teachers work the longest hours at 50 hours per week during term time, followed by police officers (44) and nurses (39).

The research, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, looks at how the teaching profession compares to nursing and policing – two of the other large and important public sector professions.

Pay caps and job pressures have reportedly fuelled staff shortages across the public sector. Using Understanding Society survey data, NFER examined how full time teachers compare to full time nurses and police officers. Comparing the characteristics of each profession’s workforce, earnings, hours worked and job satisfaction, the research found that working hours is still a matter of concern for teachers.

It shows that the long hours that teachers work during term time exceed the amount of extra holiday time they

may receive. Even after taking account of school holidays, full-time teachers still work the equivalent of 45 hours per week.

The study also found that teachers’ average hourly pay (in real terms, after adjusting for inflation) has decreased by 15 per cent since 2009/10. Over the same period, average hourly pay has fallen by four and 11 per cent for nurses and police officers. However, despite longer working hours and a background of falling real-terms pay, teachers remain satisfied with their jobs and incomes, but not with their amount of leisure time.

According to the analysis 47 per cent of teachers said they were satisfied with their amount of leisure time in 2015-16, the lowest of the three professions, while 43 per cent said they were dissatisfied.

Seventy-eight per cent of full time teachers said they were satisfied with their jobs in 2015-16, which is lower than full time nurses’ job satisfaction rates, but higher than full time police officers.

Seventy-nine per cent of teachers said they were satisfied with their income levels.

Nurses and police officers are less satisfied with their income levels than teachers.

NFER Chief Executive, Carole Willis, said of NFER’s findings: “This is an important piece of research to gain insight into whether the difficulties faced in recruitment and retention are unique to teaching or common to other professions in the public sector.

“Our analysis shows that long working hours is one of the main barriers to improving teacher retention, an issue that is consistent with our previous reports in this series, and that working hours have been increasing over the last five years. Therefore, we recommend that further work to reduce the working hours of teachers should be a priority for school leaders and the Government.”

READ MORE tinyurl.com/y8toodlw

TEACHER DEVELOPMENT

WORKING CONDITIONS

Programme to boost leadership opportunities for teachers announced

Scottish teachers set to strike over management practices

School standards minister Nick Gibb has launched a government-funded programme designed to help future school leaders and develop opportunities for talented teachers. The funding will be targeted in areas of greatest need.

The Teach First’s two-year ‘Leading Together’ programme is funded through the Department for Education’s £75 million Teaching & Leadership Innovation Fund.

The announcement is part of the government’s drive to support teachers’ development and attract the best and brightest recruits into the teaching profession.

Following the launch, the schools minister took part in a roundtable discussion on the benefits of leadership opportunities in schools with local headteachers and Russell Hobby, chief executive of Teach First.

Gibb said: “There are now a record number of teachers in our schools – 15,500 more than in 2010 – but we want to build on this and help schools attract and keep the best and brightest people working in our schools.

“The education secretary has announced a strategy to drive recruitment and boost retention of teachers, working with the unions and professional bodies, and we’ve been consulting on how to improve development

opportunities for teachers, whether they decide to move into a leadership role or want to continue teaching in the classroom.

“This programme from Teach First is one of thousands of new training opportunities that we have created through our £75 million Teaching and Leadership Innovation Fund, supporting schools in the areas of greatest need to help nurture the leaders of tomorrow.

It was a pleasure to hear school leaders speak so enthusiastically about our plans to raise the status of the teaching profession.”

READ MORE tinyurl.com/y8f822lv

NASUWT has issued a notice of strike action to East Dunbartonshire Council following its failure to tackle management practices which the union says “have an adverse impact on the workload and working conditions of teachers”.

Notices of strike action on Tuesday 27 March 2018 have been issued in three schools, Kirkintilloch High School, Lenzie Academy and Bearsden Academy.

This is the Union’s initial response to the Council’s failure to act to support teachers.

If progress is not made then more action in these and other schools could follow.

Notwithstanding its national dispute with the Scottish Government, which is ongoing, the NASUWT is now also embarking on a programme of action in local authorities who fail to address teachers concerns.

Ms Chris Keates, NASUWT general secretary, said: “Whilst the government must take responsibility for the year‑on‑year deterioration in teachers’ pay and conditions, there are actions that employers have the power to take locally to address some of the concerns raised by teachers and alleviate some of the pressures on them.”

READ MORE tinyurl.com/y6vjxydh

Volume 23.2 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

7

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News

CATERING

£26 million funding to boost school breakfast clubs More children across the country will get a healthy and nutritious breakfast to set them up for the school day, thanks to an investment of around £26 million.

The boost to breakfast provision will be funded through the government’s soft drinks industry levy and will benefit over 1,770 schools across the country. This investment will be targeted at the most disadvantaged areas of the country – including the Department for Education’s Opportunity Areas – to help make sure every child gets the best start in life.

Family Action, in partnership with Magic Breakfast, have both been named as the charities that will run the breakfast clubs.

Family Action supports 45,000 of the most vulnerable families each year, while Magic

Breakfast – which ran the department’s previous breakfast club programme – has supported the provision of breakfasts to over 31,500 children across 550 schools.

As part of the funding, experts at Family Action and Magic Breakfast will also look at how they can encourage more children to attend these programmes and improve collaboration and sharing of best practice across schools.

Education secretary Damian Hinds said: “A healthy breakfast can help fuel children’s concentration so they can get the most out of their school day.

“Children only get one chance at an education and they deserve the best, whatever their background. That is why

we are giving more pupils in some of the country’s most disadvantaged areas the chance to go to a breakfast club.

“Paid for by the government’s soft drinks levy, this investment will help raise education standards further and will make sure young people have happy, healthy childhoods.”

The new clubs are due to start this spring.

As well as providing a healthy and nutritious meal, many will also offer children the chance to be more active and develop their knowledge and skills through extra-curricular activities to improve their learning.

READ MORE tinyurl.com/ybuul34k

TECHNOLOGY

BULLYING

Scottish council gives VR headsets to all schools

Faith and race-based child bullying on the rise

East Renfrewshire Council has spent £250,000 on over 900 ClassVR headsets for 30 primary and secondary schools.

As reported by STV News, the new devices will give pupils access to hundreds of virtual and augmented reality activities.

Council education convener Councillor Paul O’Kane said a pilot project showed “a significant increase in engagement and knowledge retention” from pupils using the headsets.

He said: “By investing in this kind of immersive technology, it will provide our children with experiences and sensations that they may never experience in reality and brings learning to life in a way that ignites their imagination.”

READ MORE tinyurl.com/ya2cne3n

SOCIAL MOBILITY

Scotland’s attainment gap is closing thanks to national fund, heads say Three-quarters of school heads believe the attainment gap has started to close and almost all expect progress in the next five years as a result of national attainment funding, new research has shown.

An evaluation has been published on the first two years of the Attainment Scotland Fund, when £52 million was targeted at schools in the most deprived areas.

The research found that 78 per cent of head teachers surveyed saw improvements in tackling the attainment gap in literacy, numeracy and health and wellbeing as a result off the cash.

Nearly all head teachers (97 per cent) said they expect to see improvements over the next five years as a result of the funding.

The research also showed wide support for the aims of the fund, with schools reporting greater collaboration and a focus on improving teaching skills and practice.

There was also praise for the support provided by local authorities and Attainment Advisors in schools.

Deputy First Minister and education

secretary John Swinney said: “The defining mission of this government is to raise school attainment and close the poverty-related gap, backed by £750 million of investment over the lifetime of this Parliament.

“It is heartening to see that progress is beginning to be made. For example Dundee’s attainment gap in reading narrowed between the first and second years of the fund. These are great results which show our course of action is the right one.

“I acknowledge the challenges to progress that exist and have been identified by schools and local authorities. We have already taken action to address these and will continue to listen to feedback.”

READ MORE tinyurl.com/y9wqkxvy

Figures from UK police forces – obtained by a Freedom of Information Act from Childline – show 5,349 hate crimes were recorded against under-18s with a racial, religious or faith-based element, a 14 per cent increase in one year.

Childline has delivered almost 2,700 counselling sessions about race and faith based bullying in the last three years. The charity’s new Understand Me campaign challenges xenophobia and prejudice and empowers young people to speak out and seek help.

Children and young who get in touch with Childline about race and faith based bullying talk about a wide range of issues, such as bullying, cyberbullying, verbal abuse and racist name calling. Some young people said they felt isolated and withdrawn from society.

Others had self-harmed or said they no longer wanted to go to school because they were worried about the abuse they’d face.

Spikes in Childline counselling sessions about racial and faith based bullying have sometimes followed terror attacks, with the number rising by over a third following the Westminster attack in March 20173.

Dame Esther Rantzen, president of Childline said: “Bullying of any kind is vile, but targeting someone because of the colour of their skin, religious beliefs or their accent is simply unacceptable. Children are taking on board prejudices around race and religion in society and trading them as playground insults, with extremely harmful results.

“Young people should be encouraged to be proud of who they are. Racial bullying can be hard to cope with but young people need to know they don’t have to carry this burden alone. Childline is here for all young people and talking to someone might help them find a way to deal with the situation.”

READ MORE tinyurl.com/y79ga4tc

Volume 23.2 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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News

COMMENT ADDITIONAL NEEDS

DfE announces steps to improve education for children with additional needs Steps to transform education for children with additional needs and ambitious plans to improve the experiences of children in alternative provision have been announced.

According to the Department for Education (DfE), evidence shows children educated in alternative provision, school settings for children who face challenges in mainstream school, are less likely to achieve good GCSE grades and are less likely to be in education, employment or training post-16.

Previous analysis also shows that children excluded from school are more likely to end up in the criminal justice system.

The plans aim to tackle those inequalities and ensure Britain is a country that “truly works for everyone” by looking at the experience and outcomes for children who face the most challenges in mainstream school – including those at greatest risk of exclusion – such as those with special educational needs (SEN), children with autism or children in need of

help and protection, including those in care. They include an externally led review of school exclusions, originally announced by the Prime Minister in response to the Race Disparity Audit, which will look at why some children are more likely to be excluded than others.

Plans also include a new £4million fund to develop new ways to help children with additional needs move from alternative provision into mainstream education or special schools and measures to drive up standards in alternative provision education settings.

Education secretary Damian Hinds said: “It’s a mark of a strong society how we treat children who are most in need of our support. Every child, whatever their background and no matter what challenges they face, should have access to a world-class education that prepares them for life in the modern world.”

READ MORE tinyurl.com/yaw5aepn

STEM

Almost half of girls find STEM subjects too hard New research shows that nearly half of UK girls (49 per cent) find STEM subjects too difficult to learn.

According to the research, commissioned by Accenture, this is despite the vast majority of young people (84 per cent) agreeing that jobs in the future will involve some element of science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM).

The research also found gender biases in parents’ and teachers’ attitudes around STEM. Half (50 per cent) of parents and two-thirds (67 per cent) of teachers surveyed admit to stereotypes about girls and boys in relation to STEM, and two-thirds (68 per cent) of teachers said they have

seen girls drop STEM subjects due to parental pressure.

Four in 10 teachers (40 per cent) believe that gender biases around STEM have already been established by the end of primary school.

To coincide with the research, Accenture hosted its annual nationwide ‘Girls in Stem’ events to inspire and educate young people about careers in STEM.

Peter Jones: every young person has the potential to achieve I have never believed that people are born to do a certain job. All young people can forge their own path and I strongly believe that with the right mix of support and opportunity, every young person has the potential to achieve great things.

Therefore, I established the Peter Jones Foundation for Enterprise (FFE), with a simple, yet challenging aim, to equip young people with enterprise skills to fulfil their potential, whatever path they chose. I was determined that young people in this country had the chance to enjoy good, meaningful enterprise education that taught them real-world business and broader invaluable life skills.

We have made huge progress, working with over 450 schools, providing more than £500,000 to enable over 10,000 students to start their first business through our flagship competition, Tycoon.

We have also supported more than 3,500 students to secure an accredited qualification in Enterprise and Entrepreneurship, developed with the awarding body Pearson. We are now offering an A level and a GCSE in Business to our partner school and college providers.

However, a lack of meaningful enterprise education in schools, continues to damage young people’s job prospects and ultimately their futures.

And, at a time when job prospects are widely seen as the weakest since the Second World War, our mission is now more important than ever.

That’s why I have now launched the first school-based Peter Jones Enterprise Academies (PJEA). We already have a network of fantastic FE colleges hosting our Enterprise Academies, and are now broadening this out to schools, giving them the chance to work in partnership with the FFE to become hubs of outstanding enterprise provision.

School-based PJEAs will also receive funding to enable students to start their own business while at school – genuine, practical, real-world experiences that will allow them to learn by doing.

I believe that entrepreneurship should be embedded in the national curriculum and I will continue to lobby government until it happens.

But the government’s focus on social mobility does show it means business on transforming the life chances of young people and I hope this is just the start of good things to come.

This is so encouraging – all young people deserve a brighter future, but they must be given the opportunities and the tools to help themselves. Entrepreneurship is a skill that can be taught, and that learning needs to start in schools.

Peter Jones CBE is founder and chairman of the Peter Jones Foundation

FURTHER INFORMATION READ MORE tinyurl.com/ycnuzqrf

www.peterjonesfoundation.org

Volume 23.2 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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News

ABUSE

Violence against teachers cannot be tolerated, union says Budget cuts, rising class sizes and the cutting of specialist support services are leading to increases in physical and verbal abuse against staff, according to NASUWT .

The Union’s Annual Conference in Belfast debated a motion which highlights the that more than one in ten (13 per cent) NASUWT members have been assaulted at work.

The debate follows recent revelations that the number of suspensions for assaults on school staff trebled between 2014/15 and 2015/16.

In the last academic year NASUWT members in three schools in Northern

Ireland have voted overwhelmingly in a ballot to refuse to teach violent pupils who had attacked teachers.

The motion says the levels of assaults on teachers “can be attributed directly to budget cuts, redundancies, rising class sizes and fewer resources for specialist support.”

It calls on employers to fulfil their statutory obligations to maintain a safe environment for all staff.

Chris Keates, general secretary of the NASUWT, said: “The NASUWT is being inundated with teachers that are reporting assaults happening to

them on a daily basis. No teacher or other worker should go to work with an expectation that they should tolerate violence and abuse.

“Where violence occurs, employers should adopt a zero tolerance approach and send a strong message to parents, pupils and the community that violence against school staff is completely unacceptable.”

READ MORE tinyurl.com/y9tynedu

RECRUITMENT

Programme to help teachers return to the classroom announced Schools from across the West Midlands and the South East are being asked to take part in a government programme designed to help teachers return to the classroom after a career break.

Together with schools in these areas, the Department for Education will test the best approach to supporting teachers who have taken time out of their careers, providing funding to help them after they return to the classroom.

It’s part of the drive to help schools attract and keep the best and brightest people working in their classrooms, and follows the education secretary’s recent announcement of a strategy to drive recruitment and boost retention of teachers.

The pilots, which will start in May, will build on existing evidence and help teachers re-acclimatise to the classroom and support continuous professional development through a range of measures, including funding for National Professional Qualifications.

School standards minister Nick Gibb said: “There are a record number of teachers in our classrooms – 15,500 more than in 2010

– but we want to build on that. Many of us will need to take time out from our careers at some point, and teaching is no different – but it can be hard to return to the classroom.

“We want to support teachers by giving them more options on how to return to the workplace. As well as helping to keep experienced and valued teachers working in our schools, this pilot will help make sure teaching remains attractive to the next generation and regarded as a profession that is flexible to the demands of the modern world.”

Once the lead schools are confirmed the pilot itself will be launched later in the year, with the recruitment of the returning teachers due to take place in the summer term.

The pilot has a budget of £298,000, which will be adjusted depending on the number of returning teachers supported by the lead schools. Up to 10 lead schools are being sought across the two regions to deliver the pilot.

READ MORE tinyurl.com/yb57sfh4

SOCIAL MOBILITY

Schools could be required to mix with children from different backgrounds Schools which have pupils from a single ethnic or religious community could soon be forced to ensure they mix with children from other backgrounds.

The new government proposals aim to encourage social integration. The Integrated Communities Strategies is also calling for schools to teach “British Values” in order to increase English language skills and help women from minority communities get jobs.

The consultation on the plans has been launched by communities secretary

Sajid Javid and is being backed by £50 million of government money.

Five pilot areas – Blackburn, Bradford, Peterborough, Walsall and the London borough of Waltham Forest – will develop local integration plans allowing new strategies to be tested as the programme develops.

READ MORE tinyurl.com/yd52w43s

ACADEMIES

Less schools are applying to be academies, figures show The number of schools applying to become academies has dropped according to figures by the Department for Education.

As reported by Tes, there were 88 applications last month for academy conversion, which is the lowest number for February in any of the four years for which the figures were provided.

The figures also reveal that in January there was 63 application, compared with 102 the previous year in the same period.

In total there were 1,107 applications last year. This is a 10 per cent decline from 2016, where there were 1,232 applications.

However, the 2016 figure represented a sharp increase from the year before, with applications increasing from 509 in 2015.

The figures come from a parliamentary question asked by Lucy Powell, who stepped down as shadow education secretary in June 2016.

READ MORE tinyurl.com/yamw8mbe

Volume 23.2 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Please scan here for a YouTube hosted video featuring teachers talking about using scanners and the benefits of them in the classroom and for admin

Schools are definitely getting much better at informing their students about the benefits of apprenticeships but there are still too many examples of teachers and parents passing on very out-dated notions to young people that apprenticeships are second-rate options for the less academically gifted. Such notions are now a million miles away from the truth.

We know this from surveys of young people and because apprentices say at events that they never heard about apprenticeships at school or they were actively put off them. Instead they found out about available opportunities via the internet or through their peer group and siblings.

Many of these apprentices had both good GCSE and A level grades and the evidence shows that it is now a complete myth that only those with poor grades consider doing an apprenticeship. In fact, some apprenticeship opportunities with major employers are so competitive that good grades are a must.

As long ago as 2010, BT was getting 24,000

applications for just 220 apprenticeship places nationally – that’s more applications than for Oxford and Cambridge combined.

Benefits There is no doubt that worries over student debt from a traditional degree are a contributing factor in the growing popularity of apprenticeships. Where more work needs to be done however is to spread the word on why apprenticeships themselves represent a great career choice for young people.

The benefits of an apprenticeship is that it offers a paid job with training from day one. Starting at an intermediate level or higher, a young person can obtain a degree

via an apprenticeship. What’s more, the training and qualifications, including a degree apprenticeship, are paid for on the apprentice’s behalf. There is no student debt.

In addition, apprentices on level 2 and 3 apprenticeships are paid an average of £6.70 per hour which works out at over £230 per week.

This will normally rise depending on the skill level and technicality of the role.

Over the course of a lifetime, completing a level 3 apprenticeship (equivalent of two A Levels) could give a person benefits of up to £117,000, while doing a higher apprenticeship (equivalent to a diploma or foundation degree) means a person could earn over £150,000 more.

Nearly 90 per cent of apprenticeship completers stay with the same employer for at least six months, so job security is a major attraction. E

Near 90 per ly of appr cent comple enticeship t the samers stay with e for at leemployer as monthst six

Volume 23.2 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

Written by Mark Dawe, chief executive, Association of Employment and Learning Providers

Apprenticeships represent a great career choice for young people and offer an alternative to staying on in sixth form or college. But are students, schools and parents getting the right information? Mark Dawe, chief executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, investigates

Apprenticeships

Finding out more about the alternative path

17

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Apprenticeships

 Also, apprenticeships are available in a wide range of industries, from hospitality to healthcare, engineering to digital, and at many different levels including those for management.

A job with a degree The number of students with good grades passing up the chance to go to university and instead opting for an apprenticeship increases every year. AELP’s message during August’s exam results season last year was ‘apprenticeships aren’t just for other people’s children’ and we are hearing more about parents becoming comfortable with the idea of the work based learning option for their child.

Astute young people and their parents are realising that a job with a degree via an apprenticeship in many circumstances has much greater value than a degree, debt, no grad job and little income.

At the same time, we don’t want to lose sight of the fact that apprenticeships offer an alternative to staying on in sixth form or college after GCSEs. In this sense, they are a real driver of social mobility because they offer a 16 year-old the opportunity to start earning and learning at level 2 or above.

For many young people who don’t feel at ease in the traditional academic environment, an apprenticeship will take them out of the classroom and into a job, which they will keep, with the appropriate training. This could mean learning English and maths in an applied context rather being forced to resit GCSEs. They have the opportunity to pick a career and get on with it.

Apprentices gain access to high quality training. Most employers team up with a government registered apprenticeship training provider to run an apprenticeship programme. Most providers are independent training providers, 82 per cent of which are either good or outstanding, but local further education colleges run programmes too.

A recent government survey found that four in five employers were highly satisfied with the overall quality of the training, giving a score of at least eight out of 10.

their own apprenticeships and AELP’s understanding is that nearly all of the largest organisations have indeed registered with the Apprenticeship Service to do so.

Therefore, young people will find that virtually every big name on the high street, for example a bank or a supermarket, plus all the major names in industry like the car manufacturers, will have an apprenticeship scheme to apply to. Many of these employers are now cutting back their traditional graduate recruitment programmes to take on more apprentices instead.

Also changing in what has historically been a barren area for apprenticeships is the public sector. Not only are the large employers there paying the levy but they are also subject to a statutory target for apprenticeship recruitment.

All employers can offer existing members of staff the chance to go on to an apprenticeship programme to develop their skills at a higher level, including leadership, but the levy means that for the first time organisations such as NHS Trusts, government agencies and local authorities are offering apprenticeship opportunities to school leavers.

Economy We may live in uncertain times with Brexit and the economy, but the good news for young people is that the government is heavily committed to see the apprenticeship programme grow.

In the five‑year period of the coalition government, there were over 2.5 million apprenticeship starts and now the current government is aiming for three million starts by 2020. In terms of budgets, annual funding of the programme is expected to increase from £1.7 billion to £2.5 billion in England.

The reason why apprenticeships have their budget safeguarded and increasing when most areas of public expenditure are under severe pressure is because the government has introduced the apprenticeship levy which effectively taxes large employers to pay for the programme.

Employers can claim their share of the levy back with a 10 per cent top-up from the government to fund

The benefit for schools The levy applies to employers with an annual payroll of over £3 million a year, which means that most multi-academy trusts and some larger standalone academies are subject to it.

Technically all maintained schools pay the levy as well via their local authority as the employer, although this won’t show on a school’s balance sheet. Levy money must be claimed back within two years of it being paid and it can only be used for the training and assessment of apprentices, i.e. it can’t be used to pay salaries.

Headteachers and school business managers should not allow the levy to disappear as a tax, especially when budgets are under huge strain. The money should be claimed back to run apprenticeship programmes within the school. In recent years, we have seen apprenticeships used to train teaching assistants, PE teachers, IT technicians and school business managers. Admin teams and receptionists are also able to do

business administration or customer service apprenticeships. But now the programme can be used for professional development up to level 7 (masters level) and the government has recently announced that apprenticeship standards are being developed to train teachers to QTS level. In other words, teachers will no longer have to be graduates.

One of the core challenges for maintained schools is that local authorities are looking to spend their levy in different ways. Some are intending to treat their levy as a central pot from which they will fund whole apprenticeships on a submitted business case scenario.

Other local authorities are carving up their levy and allocating that back out to individual business units or schools and saying that is all they can spend. For a small school this might not give them enough for a whole apprenticeship, rendering the process pointless unless the school can top it up from the central levy pot.

As levy funding has a 24-month shelf life, we would encourage local authorities where they have apportioned funds down to individual business units and schools to consider the use of a reconciliation model to keep the funding moving around their organisation.

By following this approach, it will ensure that there is enough funding in the system to purchase training and there is no funding lost through it not being spent. Schools can also purchase apprenticeship training via the co-investment model whereby the school contributes 10 per cent of the cost with the government paying for the rest.

The government’s apprenticeship reforms have been through an often tricky five-year period of gestation but we are now seeing numbers increase with accompanying improvements in the quality of the training.

We must ensure that young people and school staff take full advantage of the fantastic progress that has been made. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.aelp.org.uk

Volume 23.2 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Digital Safety

Making the UK the safest place to be online Hannah Broadbent, deputy CEO of Childnet, one of three charities in the UK Safer Internet Centre, shares why it’s important than ever for all schools to make online safety a priority

Technology landscape shift Empowering children to use technology safely and responsibly is essential now, and will become even more important as new issues emerge and technology continues to develop.

At Childnet, our education team speaks to thousands of children and young people every year about their technology use and we see every day how their use changes and new trends emerge, bringing both risks and opportunities. Since the launch of services like YouTube Live and Instagram Live in 2016, the growing popularity of livestreaming has placed additional demands on young people who need to make good decisions in the moment about what live video they should broadcast to their followers. Research we published earlier this year found that Instagram Live is the most popular service among young people, with 11 per cent of eight to 17‑yearolds using this to

‘go live’. In this research young people explained how they live broadcast throughout their daily life, whether it’s while doing their homework or at a sleepover.

From livestreaming their lives to increasing their ‘Snapchat streaks’, technology continues to change friendship dynamics. For young people today, their ‘Streak’ – or the number of consecutive days they have sent a Snap to a friend – signifies how close they are to their friends and can bring new pressures and insecurities.

Young people’s digital interactions also play an important role in young people’s relationships as they flirt, fall in love, explore their identity and sexuality, and strengthen relationships.

However, as E

Empow children ering techno to use and res logy safely becomeponsibly will ev importa en more new issnt as u emergees

Volume 23.2 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

Written by Hannah Broadbent, deputy CEO of Childnet

Recently, the UK government published its Internet Safety Strategy Green Paper which sets out how the government will work to make the UK the safest place to be online, outlining the important role of the internet industry, government, schools, parents, carers, and young people themselves.

A safer and better internet for children and young people can only be achieved collaboratively, and as technology use continues to shift and new risks emerge, schools will continue to play a crucial role in empowering young people to make the most of opportunities offered by technology and to protect them from harm.

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 young people navigate the complexities of love and sex in a digital age they are also facing challenges to recognise and communicate consent, sometimes resulting in young people being victimised or participating in online sexual harassment.

Sexual harassment Sexual harassment is a global discussion and a daily reality for young people online.

Managing the complexities of love, relationships and peer group dynamics has always been a challenge for teens.

But the internet opens new possibilities that make societal discussions about sexual harassment more pertinent than ever. Sexual harassment is not a new phenomenon, but the ‘audience’ and ‘evidence’ provided by digital technology facilitates it and has opened the door for new forms of sexual harassment.

Never before have people been so connected, but this networked community can facilitate the rapid spread of harassment and widens the audience of bystanders, making it possible to victimise someone with a simple ‘like’.

Meanwhile the ‘evidence’ can remain online, as a nude image that has been circulated in a peer group can resurface at a later point, leaving the potential for later re-victimisation.

At Childnet, we are involved in a Europe‑wide project, Project deSHAME (www.deshame.eu), which has published a report into young people’s experiences of online sexual harassment. It reveals the scale of the problem and sets a challenge for us all to empower young people to speak up about online sexual harassment and prevent it from happening.

The report identifies four main types of online sexual harassment taking place between young people, from unwanted sexualisation to sexualised bullying, exploitation and the non-consensual sharing of intimate images. As we develop our understanding of these varied forms of

online sexual harassment it will be essential to listen to young people’s experiences and consider how to ensure sex and relationships education is fit for the digital age.

Addressing online harassment From upcoming changes to sex and relationships education to new guidance for schools about sexual harassment and sexting, now is an important moment for schools to consider how they empower children to develop healthy relationships in a digital age.

We worked alongside others in the Education Group of UKCCIS (the UK Council for Child Internet Safety) to create new guidance for schools about managing sexting incidents. With new ‘Outcome 21’ police provisions to protect children from unnecessary criminalisation, the guide sets out how respond to sexting incidents, including when to involve the police.

Meanwhile, the Department for Education (DfE) is publishing new guidance for schools about preventing and responding to sexual harassment, both offline and online.

From September 2019, it will be compulsory for primary-aged children at school in England to be taught Relationships Education, and for all secondary-school children to be taught Relationships and Sex Education (RSE). In addition, the DfE will be considering whether to also make Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education compulsory in all schools.

As schools look to empower children to use technology safely and responsibly it will be essential to develop a whole school approach to online safeguarding and to ensure that RSE and PSHE education reflect the digital issues that young people face.

Outstanding online safety provision Many schools are doing a fantastic job of empowering children and young

people to have a positive time online.

However, research shows where many schools could look to improve their provision.

Ofsted data from 84 schools inspected about online safety in 2015 and self-review data from 7,000 schools using 360 Degree Safe has found that while schools are on the whole very strong when it comes to online safety policies and filtering, they are weaker on staff and governor training, pupil involvement and evaluating impact of online safety policies and practice.

Digital Safety

Managing the complexities of love, relationships and peer group dynamics has always been a challenge for teens

Pupil powered online safety Pupil involvement is a powerful way of improving your school’s online safety provision, despite being one of the weakest areas for schools.

From developing online safety policies to delivering education sessions and campaigns, young people can be important role models and leaders in your school community.

At the UK Safer Internet Centre we coordinate a peer leadership programme to train young people in primary and secondary schools to be Digital Leaders. Schools on the programme have access to our interactive online learning platform, where children earn badges and points for completing online safety training and delivering a range of impactful online safety activities in school.

Registration is now open for the Childnet Digital Leaders Programme this academic year at www.childnet.com/digital-leaders.

Safer Internet Day Safer Internet Day provides a key moment when children and young people can take the lead in making the internet a better place and when schools can provide a spotlight on the work they do throughout the year and create a real ‘buzz’ in school about these issues.

Celebrated globally and coordinated in the UK by the UK Safer Internet Centre, the campaign reached 42 per cent of UK children in 2017 with thousands of schools and organisations getting involved in the day.

We know the day has real impact too, with children and parents saying they changed their behaviour or felt more confident as a result. Most importantly, a result of the day, one in four young people spoke up about something that had been worrying them online.

Safer Internet Day 2018 took place this year on 6 February with the theme ‘Create, Connect and Share Respect: A better internet starts with you’. This means that everyone has a part to play, whether it’s a teacher championing online safety in school, a child who doesn’t just stand by when they see cyberbullying, or a tech company that takes time to listen to children’s needs.

We all have a responsibility to make the internet a better place, from schools and the wider children’s workforce, to the internet industry, government, charities, policymakers, and parents, carers and children and young people themselves. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.childnet.com

Volume 23.2 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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IT & Computing

Digital skills for learning, life and work The Digital Schools Awards programme for secondary schools in Scotland aims to create the next generation of informed, responsible and resilient digital citizens by providing schools with a roadmap for planning and teaching ‘with’ and ‘about’ digital technology

Preparing for the digital world We must prepare young people for a digital world in which they can make safe, secure and informed choices that capitalise on new

Written by Dr. Victor McNair and Anna Doody, Digital Schools Awards

For some time now, digital skills champions, digital industry advocates and policy initiatives have recognised that it is no longer sustainable for schools to continue with the traditional use of digital technologies.

Digital skills are now essential for accessing products and services and there are increasing demands from employers for education to provide an innovative, technologically advanced flexible workforce.

Schools now can respond by creating environments in which learners can develop a range of general and specialist digital skills that are vital for learning, life and work in an increasingly digitised world. Unlocking the digital potential of all our young people will benefit individuals, the economy and society.

workplace and in society. Employers opportunities and allow them to play a full can share their unique knowledge and part in making Scotland a digital nation. experiences to help teachers enrich their Schools are vital in providing the right learners’ classroom activities and build knowledge and developing the right expertise high-quality, industry-ready skills. to make this happen. Education leaders have a unique role in ensuring that Curriculum Digital Schools for Excellence is supported by a good school Awards programme infrastructure and highly skilled teachers who In September 2017, the Digital Schools can foster innovative practice in the use of Awards programme for secondary schools digital technology for learning and teaching. launched in Scotland. The programme aims A key priority in shaping the Scottish to create the next generation of informed, Government’s Digital Learning and Teaching responsible and resilient digital citizens by Strategy has been to align the needs of providing schools with a roadmap for employers with the curriculum. planning and teaching ‘with’ and Greater employer participation ‘about’ digital technology. in school-based initiatives The A quarter of all Scottish will help young people Digital secondary schools have develop innovative and Schools now signed up to take collaborative attitudes A w a rds program part in the initiative and behaviours that which plans to support will allow them to Scotlan me in d over a third of all E thrive in the modern a i m to s

create genera the next resilienttion of dig citizens ital

Volume 23.2 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Case Study

IT outsourcing – a growing trend in forward-thinking schools A large number of schools currently outsource their catering or cleaning services, because these tasks aren’t an integral part of the skillset of the school staff team.

They call in specialists to take away the hassle of these tasks, and let them worry about the processes, laws and risks.

Today, 15 per cent of schools are enjoying the improved provision, cost savings and teaching and learning benefits that a specialist technology partner can bring.

According to a BESA survey from October 2017, 27 per cent of schools are planning to review their support options this year as they become more forward‑thinking. This will enable them to achieve a high level of ICT delivery and support whilst also keeping costs down.

The highest spend in most schools is on staff salaries, and when pressures are put on budgets, the thought of having to make teaching staff redundant to save money is a choice that no school wants to make.

If you have a skills gap in your IT team you could continue to pay these cost by recruiting a like-for-like technician or work with an

IT partner who can provide this service for you, utilising a range of more cost-efficient on-site and remotek support services.

Keeping your network, school data, teachers and learners safe in a digital age is a complex and never-ending task as the technology landscape and associated risks constantly change.

A specialist IT partner is much better placed to keep abreast of the latest

security risks, and will ensure that your infrastructure, data security and pupil access to appropriate materials are all kept as secure as possible. A school IT technician knows a little bit about everything, but rarely do they have in-depth expertise in all areas of technology.

This means IT issues can take a long time to resolve, and often it’s a symptom that gets fixed, not the root cause. An IT partner can help identify the root cause of the problem, so you see fewer IT issues in the future.

By partnering with an IT support provider your IT costs become predictable, and your technology is cost effective and future‑proofed.

It also helps stop those expensive IT investment mistakes that must be avoided as we try to cope with ever‑increasing budget pressures.

See below for more information about how to get a free IT healthcheck, which is available to schools.

FURTHER INFORMATION www.rm.com/freehealthcheck

IT support is changing in forward-thinking schools Increasingly, senior leaders are choosing to work with an expert IT partner like RM to advise, support and enhance their technology provision, reducing the risks of IT management and ensuring your chosen ICT delivers impact in the classroom.

Try our free IT healthcheck to see how your school vision can be realised with technology support and advice from RM that supports your school goals and delivers value for money and true impact in the classroom.

26

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

IT & Computing

The secondary school programme builds on the successful introduction of the Digital Schools Awards to Scottish primary schools in 2016 which has already seen more than 500 schools register and 54 schools achieve digital school accreditation  secondary schools by the end of this year.

A strength of the programme is its unique collaboration between government, education and the technology industry led by HP, Microsoft and Intel. This collaboration is helping identify industry and economic trends that impact on the role of education to promote the digital society.

The programme’s industry-informed framework is designed to help teachers adopt best-practice models of digital pedagogy and to exploit the power of digital technologies to enhance learning and develop higher levels of digital skills.

Participating schools self-assess their digital technology deployment under five headings, namely, Leadership and Vision, Digital Technology for Learning and Teaching, School Culture, Professional Development and Resources and Infrastructure. The programme supports Scottish schools’ strong culture of self-evaluation by building on the aims and processes of ‘How Good Is Our School?’ (HGIOS4).

Successful schools receive a nationally recognised Digital Schools Award accredited

by Education Scotland, as well as practical support and resources as part of a

growing community of digital schools.

These features are embedded within the self-assessment framework that harnesses emerging technologies in disciplines such as the arts, humanities, programming, design, GIS, data-logging etc. Such infusion of digital technology will enable young people to fulfil the aims of “Curriculum for Excellence” in a 21st Century context.

Creating the digital society Similarly, extending the skills and confidence of teachers and empowering leaders to drive innovation will mean that schools are well placed to play a central role in creating the digital society.

The secondary school programme builds on the successful introduction of the Digital Schools Awards to Scottish primary schools in 2016 which has already seen more than 500 schools register and 54 schools achieve digital school accreditation.

During its development, the Digital Schools Award has had inputs from organisations such as Developing the Young Workforce, PLAN C, Scotland IS, Smarter Grid Solutions, STEM, the Child Protection Team for Educating Scotland and the Skills Investment Plan.

Together, this partnership has garnered the latest thinking in digital technology for education such as, digital innovation and creativity; computational thinking; advances in STEM; the use of digital technology to promote higher order thinking skills; support for gender equity, and equality of access.

The multi-agency approach means that the Digital Schools Award is well placed to support schools in implementing the Digital Learning and Teaching Strategy for Scotland (and indeed, the digital learning and teaching strategies of other jurisdictions).

It is also a key player in helping the Skills Investment Plan achieve its goals and to help busy teachers focus on the most effective ways to invest time and effort in developing expertise in the pedagogy of digital learning.

The programme is aligned with internationally recognised digital technology standards such as the UNESCO ICT Teacher Competency Framework; the Florida Technology Integration Matrix and Microsoft’s 21st Century Skills Framework.

Skills Development Scotland and ScotlandIS have placed a high priority on reviewing future skills and employment demands to help Scotland respond to and embrace the skills challenges that exist in a dynamic and rapidly evolving digital world.

Now, more than ever, it is imperative that stakeholders, education providers, public bodies and employers work together to ensure that skills investment is targeted effectively and provides Scotland’s young people with the maximum potential to flourish. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.digitalschoolsawards.co.uk

Volume 23.2 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Advertisement Feature

Shortage of MFL specialists puts a strain on Key Stage 2 teachers The shortage of specialist MFL (Modern Foreign Language) teachers in Key Stage 2 and the subsequent lack of teacher expertise and confidence in delivering MFL has made the provision of high-quality foreign language quite a challenge for many primary schools Non‑specialist MFL teachers The expectation to show pupils progressing confidently with foreign language structures, pronunciation and grammar knowledge can all too often leave non-specialist MFL teachers feeling disempowered with the subject and unable to “independently” provide the high‑quality lessons that they can deliver for the rest of the curriculum.

One primary school in the West Midlands was in such a dilemma four years ago, when MFL was just becoming compulsory on the KS2 curriculum. The SEN coordinator at that time had the “unfortunate” responsibility of also being the MFL coordinator and was struggling to provide adequate content, support and foreign language skills to advise other members of staff, who equally did not know how to really grasp this issue and turn it into a positive experience for both pupils and teachers alike.

Teacher transformation A chance email and a conversation between the headteacher and the business manager led to the beginning of a transformative shift for this primary school.

It was here that Language Magnet was born as the school embraced, not an external provider to “do the job for them”, but instead, a radical coaching approach that completely

transformed the teaching staff’s ability and confidence to deliver MFL for themselves.

All the necessary resources and coaching were provided by Language Magnet to enable this school to turn their “nightmare” into a platform for phenomenal growth, proving that foreign languages can be taught effectively by non-MFL specialists, if teachers are given access to flexible, personalized and sustained CPD as well as high-quality resources and lesson plans that are designed specifically for them.

Today, this same school sees pupils thriving in French, enjoying their lessons with great enthusiasm and making good progress in a subject that has opened up a whole range of possibilities for the future, not only for each child but also for each teacher. The teachers themselves are competently assessing pupil attainment and are able to support new teachers with confidence and self-belief. For the headteacher, who was willing to trust her intuition and the vision of Language Magnet, it is an MFL dream come true.

Maintaining growth In this new era of digital education, language apps and devices, Language Magnet maintains a clear route to developing strong language structures, sound grammar knowledge and accurate pronunciation in French and

Spanish by providing a progressive scheme of work that incorporates technology.

The presentations include audio files that support the teacher’s pronunciation and the use of audio QR codes bring many of the activity sheets “to life”, allowing pupils to learn independently and enabling them to have fun with their new-found skill outside of school and frequently engaging parents with their language learning.

The programme also allows teachers to develop their own style of MFL teaching, whether that be with more music, craft, games or ICT, whilst Language Magnet provides the language structures, progression and assessment. Detailed lesson plans support the complete beginner and plenty of extension or alternative lesson ideas encourage more confident linguists to explore their talents further.

Surpassing expectations The difference between an ordinary scheme of work and an exceptional one is the ability of non-specialist MFL teachers to apply the programme to their own lessons.

The key is regular CPD language training for teachers that enables them to surpass their own ‘default’ mechanisms and teach beyond their self-expectations. Language Magnet brings a new dimension to the digital world of foreign language education by providing regular online MFL coaching.

This allows for bespoke language support for each member of staff, who all bring different experiences and levels of confidence to their coaching sessions.

Instead of a teacher being out on a full one day MFL course, they need only be out of the classroom for an hour, engaging in their own personal learning and discovering their own abilities with foreign language.

What better way could there be for children to enjoy and emulate a positive approach to language learning than to see their own teacher engaging with and modelling the fun of foreign language learning. L FURTHER INFORMATION Tel: 07963355505 diana@languagemagnet.com www.languagemagnet.com

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

IT & Computing

Changes to computer science assessments Practical assessments in computer science will no longer go towards pupils’ GCSE grades from this summer or next, following concerns of malpractice.

Education Business looks into the factors that lead to this decision The grades received from practical assessments in computer science will not go towards pupils’ GCSE grades from this summer or next, Ofqual announced at the start of the year. This comes following concerns that malpractice was occurring in the subject, including plagiarism.

It was deemed so serious a problem that Ofqual said it would be impossible for exam boards to ensure that grades awarded would fairly reflect ability. In November, Ofqual launched a consultation to get views of alternative assessments, and after receiving over 2,500 responses, came to this decision.

Pupils are supposed to complete a practical computer science project under strictly controlled conditions, which would make up 20 per cent of the GCSE grade. A practical assessment was put in place in addition to the exam to enable pupils to demonstrate their skills in a more ‘real-life’ context.

However, the exams’ watchdog had gained evidence that tasks and solutions were available on online forums and

collaborative programming sites, which is contrary to exam board rules.

Some sites were viewed thousands of times and it is difficult to know how many pupils may have gained an unfair advantage.

More than two thirds of respondents (70 per cent) to Ofqual’s consultation agreed that the qualification’s non‑exam assessment had shortcomings and most (75 per cent) thought changes should be made. However, views on what action to take were mixed, with no consensus either for or against Ofqual’s suggestions.

Ofqual said in its statement that if they did not make the change to the practical assessments and the results this summer were felt to be unfair as a result, they would not be able to address the issue.

Ofqual has stressed that the practical assessment is still an important part of the course and contributes to student learning and progress, so all schools should continue with it.

The But more than half

(54 per cent) of respondents disagreed with doing the assessment if it does not count towards the GCSE grade.

Sally Collier, Ofqual Chief Executive, commented: “A clear majority of respondents agree that there are currently shortcomings with the non-exam assessment that could unfairly advantage some students.

“While the tasks themselves will no longer contribute to students’ grades, we strongly believe that learning about a high-level programming language and having the opportunity to show how it can be used to solve problems is hugely important. We believe these changes will make the qualification as fair as it can be for all students.”

Penalties The investigation into the matter of malpractice in computer science GCSEs was heightened by the fact that the subject received the largest number of exam penalties E

gra from prdes assessmactical ents in comp u t e r scienc will not e g o t owards pupils’ G from th CSE grades is sum or next mer

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IT & Computing  issued to staff and students last year. Overall, the number of penalties for malpractice issued to school and college staff has risen by 149 per cent between 2016 and 2017, according to Ofqual data.

Plagiarism was the second largest category of student malpractice (after unauthorised materials), and accounted for 17 per cent of penalties. The vast majority of these (86 per cent) were in computing. Mathematics and computing combined account for over a third of all student malpractice penalties in 2017.

For staff malpractice, computing was also the subject with the largest number of penalties.

Further problems The subject of GCSE computer science was shrouded by more dark clouds, when recent news emerged that the exam board OCR had been fined £125k by Ofqual after GCSE computer science exam answers were found in textbooks.

It was discovered in April 2016 that some textbooks included partial answers that were similar, or even the same, to some test answers in the exams.

The fine also related to the fact that OCR had not reported suspected malpractice in its tests, and that they gave incorrect guidance about the level of supervision needed during the exams.

The exam board however insisted the errors had no impact on exam results but has apologised.

Going forwards These changes to the exam assessments affect this year and next year’s GCSEs. From 2020 onwards, Ofqual is yet to decide on arrangements, saying they want to “make sure we take the right decision for the future”. L

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

Why did your MAT go cashless?

Hugh Sexey CofE, South Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust and Avocet Trust have already made the decision to remove cash from schools, instead collecting payments online xoxoxoxo for school meals, trips, clubs and much more.

Zoe Stewart, of the Avocet Trust, explains why they made the move to online payments: FURTHER INFORMATION “Security was one of the main factors xxxus, holding cash on the premises and for banking meant our processes were not as secure as we would have liked them to be.

This, along with the opportunity to improve the overall effectiveness of administration time amongst staff helped our decision.

Parents are also happier with this, a quick efficient and transparent payment option.”

School Business Manager at Hugh Sexey CofE Middle school, Jenny Farrell outlines their reason for going cashless: “With 590 pupils on roll, our aim was to reduce the amount of cash received in school, along with the time spent on associated tasks and processes such as counting cash, issuing receipts and reconciling.” Buying as a group can also lead to reduced Total Cost of Ownership of a cashless system and the benefits of shared central reporting features is saving valuable administration time across schools.

How did you select the right solution and partner?

Sam Tse, Head of Finance at the South Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust had a list of key requirements a solution should meet before coming to a decision; including competitive pricing, flexibility and ease of use for both the school and parents.

After researching numerous systems, ParentPay met different requirements at each school within the Trust. For example, one primary school was keen to roll out online menu choices to ensure parents make their selection in advance, whereas others opted to introduce ParentPay first then introduce this later.

When choosing a provider, it is important to explore options says Zoe: “We compared 3 providers and found ParentPay excelled on the options available to our parents. Their system was the only one to offer us a full tablet and mobile responsive option meaning we could deploy the solution quickly across different schools with differing needs. We needed to be totally inclusive and accept cash payments via PayPoint for families unable to access online banking. We had to ensure that all

Written by

Increasingly, schools across the UK are joining Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs) to share the benefits of working closely together towards a collective goal. It is not uncommon for MATs to share processes and use the same systems to gain efficiencies

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“With 590 pupils on roll, our aim was to reduce the amount of cash received in school, along with the time spent on associated tasks and processes such as counting cash, issuing receipts and reconciling” our parents were able to pay in the way they needed and for whatever they wanted to. “ Jenny at Hugh Sexey reiterated this: “Not only did we want to collect payments online for our trips and activities, but we planned to go cashless in the canteen, so the system needed to be flexible enough to be utilised for school dinner payments when we were ready.”

What benefits have been realised across the Trusts?

Zoe outlined how going cashless has helped the Avocet Trust: “The processing of payments via ParentPay and direct settlement to our bank account, combined with the central reconciliation reports available in the system, has made the whole process much more efficient for us.”

Sam from South Dartmoor says since ParentPay was implemented in 2015, the system has helped staff to work more efficiently.

The Trust has saved administrative time and valuable staff time: “The main benefit is time saved in preparing the banking and receiving money at reception. Sam also commented on another key factor – being able to track and report accurately: “The reports within ParentPay have reduced having to manually track payments. Cash

collection services have also been reduced which has saved money across all schools.”

What advice can you offer to other schools?

Sam’s advice to other schools that are considering going cashless is to engage openly with parents so the benefits of collecting payments online are realised. Sam added: “Communicate with parents well in advance regarding reasons behind the change and the benefits to themselves and the school.”

Jenny added: “Presently, take up of the system at Hugh Sexey is in the region of 97 per cent, so the cash volume has dropped significantly.

Our long-term goal is that all three tier schools in our MAT will use ParentPay, meaning parents will only have to activate one account.”

Zoe at Avocet added: “We gave parents a full-terms notice, guided them through the process with detailed instructions in our weekly newsletters, and of course were always happy to offer our assistance via the school office.” L

Get your cashless checklist and white paper from: parentpay.com/cashless-whitepaper FURTHER INFORMATION www.parentpay.com

Volume 23.2 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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The government published its Industrial Strategy for the UK towards the end of 2017. The strategy had much to say about education and its role in ensuring that UK businesses have the talents, skills and labour that they need to thrive.

The White paper states:“In the past we have given insufficient attention to technical education. We do not have enough people skilled in science, technology, engineering and maths.”

In particular, the White paper outlined the policies that impact education.

These include establishing a technical education system that rivals the best in the world and to invest an additional

£406 million in maths, digital and technical education, helping to address the shortage of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) skills.

Closing the STEM skills gap To maximise the value of these initiatives in closing the STEM skills gap there is a significant potential role for business and education linking activity which provides young people with an insight into STEM industries.

Through this activity they will learn how their STEM

The Year of Engin is a gov eering campai ernment celebra gn, which tes and wo the world n engineeder of ring

Written by Julie Feest, CEO, Engineering Development Trust (EDT)

To close the STEM skills gap, there is a significant role for businesses and schools to link activities to give young people an insight into STEM industries. Julie Feest, CEO of the Engineering Development Trust (EDT) explores the current state of STEM engagement in schools

STEM

The link between STEM education and future jobs

studies feed into socially valuable projects in the commercial world and be able to see the tremendous career opportunities that exist within STEM industry.

I believe that there is a role for government in encouraging such linking and the establishment of 2018 as the Year of Engineering, pre-figured in the Industrial Strategy White paper, is a recognition that they understand the need to inspire young people in to STEM careers, not simply to teach them STEM. The Year of Engineering is “a government campaign, which celebrates the world and wonder of engineering”. Recognising the big shortage of young people who see engineering as a job for them, the Year of Engineering aims to “shake-up people’s ideas about engineering, inspiring the next generation of innovators, inventors and problem solvers by showing them what engineers actually do”. It is an important invitation to business and education to focus on this issue for 2018 and build effective links that will hopefully last much longer than a year.

Some argue that this area of school STEM engagement suffers from too many initiatives; indeed, the latest Engineering UK: State of Engineering report says that some 600 UK organisations run STEM engagement initiatives E Industrial Cadets at Airbus

Volume 23.2 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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STEM

An Industrial Cadet get to grips with machine tools at Yamazaki Mazak in Worcester

 directed at schools and questions the quality assessment of activities.

While many of these initiatives won’t involve experience in industry, the report is right in saying that teachers may find it difficult to navigate the complex landscape of STEM engagement. While it is true that The Year of Engineering is another initiative, it is one that I hope will have the weight of government behind it to enable it to penetrate the consciousness of young people and change their thinking on Engineering and perhaps other STEM careers as well.

Industrial Cadets I think it is right that the landscape of employer/education engagement needs some navigational aids and one advance in this area of which I am particularly proud is the recent development and expansion of Industrial Cadets, an accreditation for experiences of industry which ensures that experiences on offer deliver best practice and good information to young people.

The seed for Industrial Cadets was planted

by HRH The Prince of Wales in discussions with steel managers in the North East of England and has now developed into an organisation which accredits hundreds of diverse experiences of industry each year and gives young people an “Industrial Cadet” award at Gold, Silver or Bronze level to put on their CVs so that future employers know the quality and nature of the workplace experience they have had.

Schools and teachers have not been slow to appreciate the benefits of Industrial Cadets in assuring the quality of the programmes that their young people can engage with, but some schools are taking the use of Industrial Cadets into their core curriculum in novel ways. At the Industrial Cadet Awards in early March this year, two schools particularly stood out for the way they were using the Industrial Cadet structures in their delivery of education.

Cambridge Academy of Science and Technology is a 14-19 specialist STEM college which as a University Technical College (UTC) utilises project-based learning for students at

34

least one day per week to give them practical skills alongside academic achievement. These extended projects are designed and delivered in collaboration with local employers.

The college has incorporated Industrial Cadet Awards into both its GCSE and Sixth Form curricula as it believes that the aims of the award reflects those of the college.

Over the past three years the college has extended the certification of projects that carry the Industrial Cadet Award so that this year all Year 10 students will complete Silver level awards and all year 12 will complete Gold Level Awards.

Projects certified for Industrial Cadet awards include computer science, civil engineering, biological sciences, and engineering. Both the Awards are fully integrated into the college curriculum. The college is now working with over 40 businesses and its curriculum is recognised nationally.

City College, Burslem, which opened three years ago, has a unique partnership with the Industrial Cadets, aimed at enhancing its Pre-Apprenticeship Learning Programme and this programme is now in demand across other areas of the country. The success of this programme has seen 100 per cent of students achieve the Industrial Cadets Gold Award.

This achievement has made a significant contribution to 80 per cent of students gaining an apprenticeship year upon year.

The pre-apprenticeship programme includes two days at the City College and three days in a work experience placement following a unique four-week programme which has been designed by business for business and is led by businesses who provide workshops and work-related learning visits to key industrial partners.

This was co-created in partnership between City College and its Business Partnership Group, who have been instrumental in creating the curriculum students follow.

City College is in the process of scaling up its pre-apprenticeship programme due to demand from students from other secondary schools in the area. It also has plans to use the Industrial Cadet Accreditation for an ‘A’ level

enrichment programme which can include elements of volunteering, and in its plan to develop the new ‘T’ Level qualifications that it has been invited to help develop by the government. This will support students of STEM subjects who want either to go to university or to undertake an apprenticeship.

These are two schools that are taking employer/education engagement into the core curriculum in innovative ways by using Industrial Cadets. If the government’s Industrial Strategy is to be successful in closing the STEM skills gap, I believe the current relationships between employers and schools will have to move more towards embedding experience of industry in the core curriculum, and forward-thinking schools will be looking at how this might be achieved.

Future jobs One further observation before I sign off.

Predictions for future jobs in the light of the current fourth Industrial Revolution emphasise the need, not just for technical understanding, but for creative ingenuity and non-cognitive skills.

HRH The Prince of Wales caused a little controversy at the March Industrial Cadets event by commenting that creative arts “were in danger of being forgotten and left out within the school system.” I think he has hit on an important point.

Future jobs will require STEM learning to be blended with high levels of communications and creative thinking skills of the sort that creative arts provide. We should never be dividing our young people into the scientists and the artists, it is a false dichotomy and one which will not help future employability. Our ‘T’ level pathways need to recognise STEAM skills for young people, where creative arts sit comfortably alongside STEM learning.

It is radical change in thinking, but one we need to embrace if we are to properly equip our young people for the future jobs which haven’t even been thought of yet. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.etrust.org.uk

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

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Salford 800 WORD professional EDIT HEADLINE HERE development – fair AS TIGHT and open AS for POSS all Nearly two thirds of secondary schools in xoxoxoxoare now academies but results England are decidedly mixed between those with “converter” status and those which have FURTHER INFORMATION been sponsored to become academies. xxx In 2015, the Education Select Committee concluded that there was no strong evidence to suggest the academy system had improved outcomes in failing areas but noted that the increased competition had driven up standards across the whole state school sector. While the majority of primary schools have yet to become academies, experts have called for a thorough investigation into the efficacy of the academy system before any large scale conversion takes place.

On 28 February, Salford Professional Development hosted the Academies Event 2018, at Old Trafford Football Stadium.

Every year, this free-to-attend event focuses on the many key issues impacting both existing academies and schools considering converting to academy status. As well as a line-up of expert speakers, the event provides access to the leading companies providing vital services in IT, estates management and finance for schools across the country.

Driving up attainment levels In 2018, the focus for school leaders is on strengthening the leadership of academies

and MATs in order to improve the education standards across the board and drive up attainment levels for all children. From governance to financial management, it is the responsibility of everyone to ensure academies are a success and work for all involved. The Association of School and College Leaders discussed the use of accountability and performance measures across academies and trusts and how whole school improvement can come as a result of proper accountability structures.

The statistics As of 2017, there are 5,905 academies across the UK with 61 per cent of secondary schools in fully-fledged academy status. However, as the sustained push for maintained schools to convert has trailed off, many communities are pushing back on the idea and looking for alternative ways to improve schools.

Furthermore there are variations across the board of some trusts shedding schools whilst others are growing at a phenomenal rate, DfE data from 2017 shows that one trust grew by a third. For many schools, sustainable MAT growth and implementing a structure to accommodate rapid expansion is a top priority going forward. Ambition School Leadership, who have worked alongside many schools during this phase, gave delegates the

Written by

Eight years after the Academies Act was introduced, government claims itutismolorem as Udae nonsend icidisquid quam elisimincim facepro etthe et, sed quodi blaborum aut focused as ever on converting all schools to academy status.

In March 2017, Theresa May ationse nos eumque laboribus et quoditiat dolo qui de volecab orerisqui nitibusdae nullacianti renewed herutpromise to create a system that is “fairpernatemquae and open for nimus all” butearibus, questions rest, sitiatis idem quodi consequat facimagnime temhave ipsaest been asked about whether academies are delivering the best results for everyone moluptatium es net et benefit of their expertise and were available throughout the day to discuss how they can assist your trust through its growth.

The remit of senior leadership teams within academy trusts is now far greater than ever before especially when it comes to the financial health of the school. In an environment of stretched budgets and cut funding, good financial management has never been more important to an academies survival.

The government argues that as well as boosting efficiencies, the multi-academy model allows struggling schools to learn from their more successful counterparts.

However, studies have suggested that MATs have had no greater impact on school standards than local authorities and concerns have been raised over the high levels of debt within the sector. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.onecpd.co.uk

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At the time of writing, there are more than 690 free schools open or approved to open across the country, with a record number of applications in the pipeline.

Once full, they will provide over 400,000 new places in schools that are more likely to be rated ‘Outstanding’ by

as successful schools can play a vital role in meeting local demand.

However, too many places are being created in struggling schools – in the past year over 10,000 new places have While been created in schools which are either Inadequate or much Require Improvement. of the s Not only is this bad for c h o o l build p the children who will is presc rocess be attending these ailing schools, but it are oppriptive, there o makes it even harder r t u n ities to p ro f o u to turn them around. ndly

the sch impact Opening environ ool free schools ment Against this backdrop, it is no surprise that the free schools programme has flourished.

While we await specific criteria for the next wave of centrally-funded free schools, the local authority ‘presumption’ programme continues to offer a chance to set up good new schools in areas of pressing need.

Existing providers, with demonstrable records of educational success, can use this process to create much-needed school places and improve educational standards across the country. In addition, opening a free school can be beneficial for Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs): enhancing collaboration, delivering economies of scale and financial stability, and improving the recruitment and retention of high quality staff.

Of course, opening a brand new free school is an undertaking not without its own challenges. Having worked with more than 60 per cent of open and pre-open free schools, the New Schools Network’s Delivery Programme – a comprehensive suite of free resources and paid-for services – can help groups overcome these hurdles.

Ofsted than any other type of school.

Meanwhile, the Department for Education (DfE) forecasts that a further 650,000 school places are needed in England by 2026 to meet rising demand.

One option is to expand existing schools,

Written by Sophie Byrne and Sam Fitzpatrick, New Schools Network

New Schools Network (NSN) has launched a delivery programme to help free schools in pre-opening, including a new range of services, from site advice to project management support

Design & Build

Managing the free school pre-opening process

Site and buildings Finding and securing a site and premises for your new school is widely recognised as the most stressful and time-consuming task of the pre-opening phase. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for groups to have their opening dates delayed by a year or more owing to site-related issues. What’s more, the DfE will delay subsequent instalments of the Project Development Grant – that which covers the non-capital costs associated with pre-opening – until a permanent site has been formally secured. Naturally, this reduces the time and resources available to proceed E Volume 23.2 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

37

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 with other key tasks, such as recruiting a Principal Designate, developing education plans, and engaging prospective students.

Successfully securing a site, as well as designing and constructing buildings that support a specific educational vision, is largely dependent upon a group’s ability to foster effective working relationships with a wide array of local organisations, private contractors and national executive agencies. It is also important to note that whilst free school groups are the ‘end users’ of each build, ultimately, they are not the ‘end client’ – that designation falls to the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA).

Nevertheless, free school groups maintain the best understanding of the school’s vision.

Consequently, while much of the school build process is prescriptive – based on generic building bulletins, legal and capital requirements – there are opportunities to profoundly impact the school environment.

Being informed and engaged throughout this process helps specialists understand a group’s specific needs and is absolutely critical to achieving best outcomes. If a group is to take full advantage of these opportunities, it will need to have sufficient capacity and capability to do so. To this end, NSN offers a flexible Site Advisory Service to help groups navigate this complex process.

undertaking, urging “an unrelenting focus on pupil recruitment”. Failing to recruit sufficient students will undermine almost every other aspect of a free school project.

MATs that have been approved to open a free school are particularly well-placed to take advantage of the pre-opening phase. While most free school groups are

expected to market a school that doesn’t yet exist, MATs are able to showcase their existing schools. In addition, they can emphasise the advantage of a new school, with no problematic legacy issues.

A further advantage for free schools is the freedom to concentrate on recruiting their first cohort without balancing the demands of running a school. This allows them to focus their attention on attracting students, engaging with their local community and creating fresh new links.

It is essential that this process is managed meticulously, as groups have to be able to manage active engagement and data consumption as well as their own messaging.

Through our Essentials Advisory Service, NSN offers engagement with sector‑leading pupil recruitment specialists to advise and quality-assure groups’ work. E

Design & Build

It is crucial for any free school group to demonstrate they will have effective governance from the start of the process, showing that governors and trustees possess the requisite skills and experience to offer sufficient challenge to school leaders

Governance and due diligence Identifying and mitigating strategic and operational risks associated with expansion are still relatively new charges for school leaders. It is crucial for any free school group to demonstrate they will have effective governance from the start of the process, showing that governors and trustees possess the requisite skills and experience to offer sufficient challenge to school leaders.

While MATs might have substantial experience integrating sponsored academies and getting ready for their first Ofsted, establishing a brand new free school from scratch presents an array of distinctive challenges. As such, we strongly recommend that groups invite an external expert to perform due diligence, identify gaps in capacity and capability and offer practical solutions. At NSN, we have a network of associates who have been involved in opening hundreds of free schools, each with a designated specialism or area of expertise, poised to do precisely this.

Engagement and recruitment The fundamental task of the pre-opening period is recruiting your first cohort of pupils. The DfE stress the significance of this

Volume 23.2 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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

Design & Build

 More of the best It takes something special to set up a free school. It is, quite rightly, a tough process; proposer groups must demonstrate that they have the expertise, ability and vision to succeed. What the free schools programme offers is the opportunity for the best educators to open more schools.

No headteacher likes turning away pupils because they are oversubscribed, and we agree with the many headteachers who see it as their responsibility to provide a great education for even more children.

At the same time, we recognise that these same school leaders don’t necessarily have the capacity to build a whole new school without assistance. It is no easy

BIG ON...

task, but there are significant benefits to good schools forming chains: pooling financial resources to develop high-quality central services; allowing schools to develop subject specialisms and fostering greater collaboration; providing proven teachers with varied opportunities for progression and career development.

NSN’s Delivery team is here to support academy trusts in meeting the rising demand for good school places. Our exclusive programme of advice, support and project management has been developed to comply with the DfE and ESFA guidance and focuses on the areas that our experience shows will provide free schools with the most value in pre-opening. Our dynamic and

adaptable team has built a solid reputation for professionalism and expertise; NSN Project managers and associates have worked on over 500 free school projects – ranging from supporting groups in the pre-opening phase to setting up and working in free schools.

If you would like to find out more about the full spectrum of support available through the NSN Delivery Programme – from our free pre-opening resources through to our comprehensive Project Management Partnership – please contact the delivery team at open@newschoolsnetwork.org. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.newschoolsnetwork.org

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I was recently told by an opinionated stranger, who was happy ignoring the etiquette of conversation whilst queuing, that outdoor education should certainly be part of a child’s education, but it was not something that schools should be involved with; the time and effort of educators should be spent on the academic attainment of students, not on getting students up hills. I disagree.

Research In a survey that our Trust recently commissioned, 78 per cent of people surveyed said that outdoor education is important for the self-development of children. Sixty‑seven per cent of them said that providing outdoor education is the job of schools. I also disagree with those people. With 75 per‑cent of children in the UK spending less time outside than prison inmates (survey of 2,000 people commissioned by Persil as part of its ‘Dirt is Good’ campaign) it’s going to take more than just schools to get young people outside enough to reap the benefits; benefits that include not just self-development, but also increased academic attainment – one of the core functions of schools.

Outdoor Education Programme As director of education at Bohunt Education Trust, I oversee the classroom experience across our five schools and our Outdoor Education Programme that includes everything from Bushcraft on school grounds to major expeditions.

My early test bed was Bohunt School in Liphook (an 11-18 comprehensive academy in Hampshire). In 2009 no students spent two or more nights in a tent with the school.

This year, due to the work of a dedicated, skilled team, over 900 will: Year 8 Activity Camp, Year 9 Bushcraft Camp, Bronze, Silver and Gold Duke of Edinburgh, and preparation expeditions for students preparing to go to Greenland, Mongolia, Azerbaijan or a 6000m peak in the Himalayas.

Outdoo educati r can bui on skills an ld soft academ d enhance ic but des attainment, benefit pite these s, can still finances s in the wtand ay

Volume 23.2 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

Written by Phil Avery, director of education, Bohunt Education Trust

With benefits ranging from improved self‑confidence to improved academic attainment, outdoor education isn’t just something schools should do, it’s something they should prioritise, believes Phil Avery, director of education at the Bohunt Education Trust

School Trips

Adventure learning aids academic learning

As other schools have come in to the Trust we have worked with them to develop this strategically important outdoor offering as quickly as possible. Less than two years after starting working with Priory School in inner city Portsmouth, thirteen of their students, were stood, dressed in crampons and armed with ice axes, atop an ice‑capped volcano in Iceland (with me trying to put thoughts of Jokulhlaups – giant volcano induced floods – out of my mind).

Getting a group of their students there had not been easy. Only seven turned up to the information evening. Students could not understand why they should prioritise, in terms of time, effort and finance, an expedition to a remote part of Iceland, a country that even in name didn’t seem very appealing. We had expected that pretty pictures and fundraising ideas would lead to the expeditions being oversubscribed. We were wrong; we had severely underestimated the lack of knowledge of why the outdoors is important, as well as the financial barriers. I now want to address each of those issues in turn.

In the summer of 2017, teams of 14-16 year‑old students went for three weeks from Bohunt to Greenland, Mongolia or Kyrgyzstan. They had challenging aims such as crossing glacier systems, living with remote shepherd communities in gers and completing difficult canoe treks. They faced real dangers: the Greenland team had to complete bear watches throughout the ‘night’ and one of the leaders in Mongolia was seriously injured and evacuated by Nissan Micra across the Mongolian steppe.

The expeditions were closely studied by two university teams.

The University of Kent found that the students came back from the expeditions more culturally competent and valuing E

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Case Study

STEM learning and career aspiration at KidZania London KidZania London is an indoor city built for kids, located in Westfield London, Shepherds Bush. Spanning across 75,000 square feet, at KidZania kids can choose from over 60 amazing real-life activities during their visit.

KidZania believes in ‘Learning by Doing’. By bringing the classroom to life in the city, the company aims to boost children’s curiosity and imagination through curriculum based role-play activities.

Explore a range of unique, fun-filled learning experiences, that are cleverly designed to teach essential life skills including financial literacy, team-work and independence.

All activities at KidZania are compatible with National Curriculum subjects – making it the ideal school visit for KS1-3 pupils.

Aimed at children between the ages of four and 14, KidZania’s activities blend learning with reality – successfully boosting children’s curiosity and imagination by promoting a variety of STEM skills and inspiring knowledge of careers.

By collaborating with professionals, KidZania has cleverly enhanced the activities in its city to support the learning criteria of pupils in Key Stage 1–3 with

curriculum links to core school subjects.

Some of the STEM topics encouraged include animals and humans and forces and materials. Whether pupils are helping patients at its hospital and A&E, or at the bank depositing their hard-earned kidZos (the currency in KidZania!) – whatever they choose, all children will be able to enjoy a focussed learning experience as they work, earn and play.

School Groups visiting KidZania London can use the pre-visit pack which includes,

KS1-3 learning resources and its risk assessment guide. Teachers are also invited to book a free planning trip ahead of their visit by emailing schools@kidzania. co.uk. KidZania London has lots of exciting and educational events coming up for your school.

Key events include the STEM Fair, taking place between 20 and 24 June. The event encourages your pupils to test out their STEM skills and take control of their learning.

Inspire your class with STEM career talks from professionals in the industry and enjoy a range of unique, fun-filled activities and curriculum based role-plays.

Subjects include KS1 – KS3, science, technology, engineering, maths and PSHE. From 21 September is STEAM Week, which will explore lots of careers that develop and build upon art and design skills at KidZania London.

Subjects include KS1 – KS3, technology, PSHE, and art and design.

FURTHER INFORMATION www.KidZania.co.uk schools@kidzania.co.uk

WORK LEARN PLAY KS1-3 Learning through real life activities at KidZania London

TO BOOK CALL OUR TEAM ON 0330 131 3335 OR VISIT WWW.KIDZANIA.CO.UK Located in Westfield London, Shepherd’s Bush

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

School Trips

 diversity more. The University of Lancaster found that students acquired a variety of skills whilst away, as well as learning how to significantly improve their team dynamic. Now at this point my acquaintance in the queue told me that the qualities of team building, resilience, perseverance and soft skill acquisition are fantastic, but not the role of schools, which is about exam success.

Academic attainment However, the Education Endowment Foundation, a key research organisation for education, states that non‑cognitive skills, could well be having an impact on academic attainment. ‘Overall, studies of adventure learning interventions consistently show positive benefits on academic learning. On average, pupils who participate in adventure learning interventions make approximately four additional months’ progress over the course of a year. There is also evidence of an impact on non‑cognitive outcomes such as self-confidence. The evidence suggests that the impact is greater for more vulnerable and older learners (teenagers), longer courses (more than a week), and those in a ‘wilderness’ setting, though other types of intervention still show some positive impacts.’

(See the research at www.educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk).

At Bohunt School in Liphook we looked to see if we could replicate these results. We looked at the correlation of Progress 8 in the summer’s results with participation in the Outdoor Programme.

The results were conclusive and positive with all but our lower ability learners, where the numbers participating in the outdoor programme were too low to make the results significant (an area for us to improve on). The more involvement they had in the Outdoor Programme the greater the progress they made, with the greatest progress reserved for those that went on expedition.

Financial barriers So, participation in outdoor education can build soft skills and enhance academic attainment. Despite these compelling benefits finances can still stand in the way; often for those students who would benefit most; 70 per cent of people in our survey believe that cost is the main factor which stops students going on outdoor/overseas expeditions and trips. This was certainly the case with our Iceland expedition as 40 per cent of the students in Priory School are Pupil Premium.

To overcome the financial barriers we have a range of strategies: we advertise our trips three years in advance along with our suggestions as to the most beneficial (language trips, outdoor education trips and trips linked specifically to their GCSEs) so that parents can prioritise accordingly; we reduce the costs for pupil premium students by using the additional money given to us by the government; we are flexible with payment plans; we allow in-school fundraising for certain trips; and we keep supplemental costs (for example kit and transport) very low by doing our own fundraising for those items.

However, the main tool to overcoming the financial barrier is education.

By tutors and key school leaders working with parents/guardians we are able to highlight the benefits to students. When the students from the first Priory expedition returned and told their tales it changed the attitude of students almost overnight. We now have over 30 students going on a multi-adventure expedition to Norway in the summer, over 100 students doing Duke of Edinburgh (including every one of our most vulnerable students), we’ve won grants to create a Bushcraft Area within the school and the school has started a Combined Cadet Force.

With benefits ranging from improved self‑confidence and improved academic attainment, we believe that outdoor education isn’t just something schools should do, it’s something we should prioritise. In the future we want to continue to expand the range of outdoor opportunities we offer, reduce the cost of some of our events and embed it further within the curriculum.

We intend to build our own Outdoor Centre, run Bushcraft Clubs in all of our schools, equip our Sixth Formers with the skills to run their own private fieldwork expeditions when they are at university, expand the teaching of subjects that happens in specialist outdoor areas on‑site, and continue our university‑level research to understand how we can best improve learning through the outdoors and on major expeditions. L

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FURTHER INFORMATION www.bohunttrust.co.uk

Volume 23.2 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

45

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In 2017, the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) launched a twitter campaign #whatwouldyoucut, aimed at highlighting the choices that schools must make to cut a total of £3 billion from their budgets by 2020. Unfortunately, learning outside the classroom activities were among the top suggestions for what would need to be cut: science experiments, music and performing arts events, technology workshops, sports activities, and of course school trips.

Malcolm Trobe, interim general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, comments:“Smaller budgets mean fewer staff and this impacts on every area of school activity. What would you cut? School concerts?

Educational trips? GCSE courses? Mental health support? Sports events?”

School business leaders are under pressure to balance the books, so it has never been more

important to justify the educational benefits of trips and ensure that the maximum educational benefit is derived from every pound spent. This is a golden opportunity to take a strategic look at your learning outside the classroom programme to improve the quality and evaluation of your offer.

Applying the LOtC programme Sometimes schools fall into the trap of ‘doing what they have always done’ with regard to educational visits and residentials.

It is fascinating that the focus and drive for improvement seen across all other aspects of school life is not always applied to a schools’ LOtC (Learning outside the Classroom) programme.

A first step in ensuring you are maximising your LOtC return on investment is to take a step back and look at what

A first ste p in ensu r i n g you are m your LO aximising investm tC return on en at wha t is to look t yo trying t u are achieveo

Planning your educational visit Often planning for an educational visit focuses on practicalities and risk assessment – but remember that learning should always be the starting point. Our advice is to plan the activities you will undertake with learning outcomes in mind and make sure you work closely with providers and venues to tailor this visit to meet your learning requirements.

You may also consider wider curriculum outcomes – for example around personal development or across different subject areas in order to help you derive the maximum benefit from the visit.

Possible learning outcomes you may want to focus on include subject specific knowledge and skills and improved attitudes to learning.

Personal development, such as resilience, confidence, independence, or teamwork is another positive outcome, as well as E

Written by Elaine Skates, chief executive of the Council for Learning Outside the Classroom

Schools are under pressure to balance the books, so it has never been more important to justify the educational benefits of trips and demonstrate value for money. Elaine Skates, chief executive of the Council for Learning Outside the Classroom (CLOtC), examines how this can be done

Outdoor Learning

Return on investment from educational visits

you are trying to achieve for your pupils and how LOtC opportunities could help support these objectives.

As a starting point ask yourself the following questions: How can learning outside the classroom help deliver the objectives in your school development plan?; What experiences do you want your pupils to have to help them to access the curriculum and expand their horizons? Thinking about SMCS, what experiences do your pupils lack?; What barriers to learning exist in your school and how can learning outside the classroom opportunities help to overcome them? (relationships, mental health, the social environment?); How can learning outside the classroom support the learning of different groups of pupils; And where do your staff lack confidence/experience and how can LOtC support staff CPD? It will also help if you see your learning outside the classroom as being part of a progressive journey of learning that enables you to build on previous experiences and classroom teaching.

47

Outdoor Learning

 improving knowledge and understanding of different faiths, cultures or socio economic groups. Improved physical or mental health and improved relationships are further benefits to aim for.

Remember to consider how the visit links to classroom teaching and consider how you can build on the learning from the visit back at school.

All venues holding the LOtC Quality Badge will be able to tailor the visit to meet your learning objectives and the individual needs of your learners so don’t be afraid to start a dialogue with your provider rather than settling for ‘off the shelf programmes’.

Choosing a venue or provider displaying the LOtC Quality Badge will give you assurance that the provision is off good educational quality and that risk is effectively managed. It will also help you reduce paperwork as most local authorities and many academy employers require fewer checks before signing off the visit if you are using a LOtC Quality Badge holder.

Evaluating your impact Evaluation is an important part of measuring the success of any learning intervention, but many schools do not evaluate the impact of their educational visits or residentials, and this can prevent the effective development of learning outside the classroom programmes.

Learning Away’s 2017 report The State of School Residentials in England showed that there was some ambivalence amongst schools in relation to using a structured approach to evaluation, with only two-thirds agreeing that they had used such an approach for their Summer and Autumn residentials.

Evaluating your educational visits will help you to understand what works, what doesn’t work and make improvements but will also help you justify the costs of future trips.

Reflective learning is a way of allowing participants to step back from their learning experience to help them develop critical thinking skills and improve on future performance by analysing their experience, so building in time for reflection will also help you derive the maximum benefit from your educational visit.

There are some useful evaluation resources case studies on the Learning Away website: www.learningaway.org.uk.

Low and no cost options There are many ways of building low cost or no cost options into your learning outside the classroom programme to supplement your trips and residentials further afield. By making the learning outside the classroom opportunities more frequent, continuous and progressive will increase your impact overall.

Think about the opportunities close to home.

John Golding of Torpoint Community College, who took part in the Natural Connections project, said: “There is no doubt in my mind that outdoor learning is sustainable in the long term at our college. Developing outdoor learning has cost us very little financially. We developed all of the resources and activities ourselves which meant that they grew organically from the work teachers were already doing in the classroom.

“Going outside wasn’t an add-on extra; if outdoor learning would improve the quality of what you were doing with the students and help them understand – go outside. If it won’t do those things, stay in the classroom. To give a comparison, last year we spent almost as much on providing our staff with tea, coffee and milk as we did on outdoor learning.”

So next time a member of staff tells you that the purpose of an educational visit is to ‘have fun’, challenge them to put a bit more thought into the educational value that the visit will have. Fun is the given, but impactful learning usually takes a little bit more planning.

The Council for Learning Outside the Classroom (CLOtC) is the national charity for learning outside the classroom, supporting schools to overcome the barriers & integrate more LOtC into the curriculum. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.lotc.org.uk

Volume 23.2 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Advertisement Feature

Have you heard how much schools are saving with SIP phone services?

Replacement modern-day telephony and broadband technologies are saving schools thousands of pounds a year on their telephone line and call rental costs, but most schools have yet to take advantage of this If you’re responsible for making ends meet with your school budget, you’ll be interested to know that traditional (or ISDN phone lines) are being phased out. Why is this of interest?

Because replacement modern-day telephony and broadband technologies are saving schools thousands of pounds a year on their telephone line and call rental costs, but most schools have yet to take advantage of this.

Most secondary schools and larger primary schools have some form of ISDN telephone lines. They’re expensive to rent, slow to upgrade, calls normally cost more, they’re inflexible and there’s little redundancy if things go wrong.

TRADITIONAL PHONE LINES TO CEASE BT has announced they will no-longer provide new ISDN lines after 2020. BT has also said they will cease support of all current ISDN circuits soon after.

Whilst this might seem like a distant matter for you to action, you will be interested to hear that the technology replacing ISDN lines, SIP, can save you a huge amount of money on your telephone costs and what’s more, it’s available now.

SIP (or Session Initiation Protocol channels) behave as normal phone lines, but in fact are phone channels that run over your existing broadband. You make and receive calls in the same way you would with an ordinary phone system, however they completely replace the need for traditional ISDN phone lines.

Surprisingly this technology has been around for the past 15 years and believe it or not, most calls made in the UK now run over a form of Internet Protocol (IP) telephony. You’re probably familiar with the term VoIP, (Voice over Internet Protocol) essentially, that’s what SIP is – it uses the language of VoIP. SAVING MONEY WITH SIP Savvy school business managers and heads have already switched to SIP and have made significant savings. Because SIP phone lines (or channels) run over your broadband, replacing the need for traditional physical ISDN lines, schools using SIP are making massive savings on their ISDN line rentals and benefiting from significantly reduced call costs, with a choice of fixed cost call bundles available.

Dave Tindall, founding director of Schools

50

Broadband says: “Schools Broadband has been delivering Voice Over IP (SIP) services to schools for over seven years, and on average, secondary schools using SIP have saved approximately £3000 pa. It really does save money at a level that’s going to make a big, big difference to a school’s budget. Not only that, SIP offers a school more flexibility in terms of phone system configurations, meaning you can set your phone network to work exactly how you need it for your school. Telephone features are all‑inclusive and call quality is guaranteed.”

SWITCHING TO SIP Switching to SIP is very straight forward. Your current PBX phone system could already be SIP compatible, in which case your service provider will configure SIP phone services remotely.

If your PBX phone system isn’t compatible, your service provider will send a small VoIP gateway box for you to plug in, which will allow them to configure your system remotely.

David Tindall added: “All these benefits raise the question why any school would not choose to switch. You keep all your existing telephone numbers, so no major communication or print changes; and the virtual nature of SIP means if you require more phone lines, your provider will simply activate more channels, quickly and virtually.

“You can route any number of calls to mobiles or alternative sites, meaning in essence, your phone service will allow you to operate wherever you need it. In addition, IT Managers can control entire estates of VoIP/SIP phones from one web interface, making it easy to manage a large telephone network from one central place.”

GUARANTEED CALL QUALITY In the past VoIP phone services have received some bad press in respect of call quality. However, today’s high-quality audio and increased bandwidth capabilities means providers offering VoIP/SIP services, now guarantee the quality of all calls.

The cynics amongst you might question the battle for bandwidth between voice and data if SIP phone services are to run over your broadband, and ask which service takes priority when competing; the office or the classroom? But as David Tindall explains: “Again SIP has the answer. Dedicated segments of broadband are protected for both voice and data, keeping staff and students happy. Our SIP Trunks are configured in such a way, even when demand for both services is at its peak, students and staff can be assured of uninterrupted internet and phone services.”

FREE SITE-TO-SITE CALLS If that’s not enough to convince you, SIP phone services also enable free site-to-site calls, so if you’re a Multi Academy Trust, all phone calls between sites won’t cost you a penny. And if you’re looking to streamline, SIP Trunks also allow you to centralise your receptionist’s role from one location.

Schools Broadband is one of the country’s leading ISPs and is dedicated entirely to the education sector. Awarded Best Security ISP at the latest ISPA Awards. L FURTHER INFORMATION Contact Schools Broadband on 01133 222 333 or info@schoolsbroadband.co.uk

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

Data Protection

Why schools need to understand the new GDPR What does the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) mean to those in education?

Education Business caught up with some experts from the GDPR Advisory Board to grill them about the regulation’s impact and what schools need to be doing before May The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is the European Union’s new regulation on data and cyber-security. It’s designed to strengthen data protection for everyone, and that includes children and their families. It comes into force on 25 May 2018, which means schools have less than a term to ensure compliance.

Nick Richards, CEO of GDPR training provider Me Learning and member of the GDPR Advisory Board, explains the rationale behind the new law: “GDPR brings European data protection laws up to date with the modern technological age and replaces the 1998 Data Protection Act (DPA). It has a much greater emphasis on consent (ensuring that families agree to schools holding students data) and the documentation data controllers must keep (maintaining good records of data storage).”

Nick explained who should be aware of the changes within the school staffing community and how best to implement it: “All staff – from your caretaker, to the dinner ladies, to the teachers – must be GDPR aware so that any personal data is handled in an appropriate way. Online training is a great way to implement this in a cost effective, but efficient way. There are a number of good courses available. Try www.melearning.co.uk/gdpr

for a selection. The Practitioner course is ideal for the person taking charge of GDPR compliance within the school, whilst the Core (soon to be updated to staff) course is suitable for the wider school staffing community.”

A legal perspective Piers Clayden of Clayden Law, another expert at the GDPR Advisory Board, shares some advice for schools from a legal perspective.

He said: “Let’s cut to the chase. What five things do you think schools should be doing to make sure they are GDPR compliant?

“GDPR is vast but there are some very key elements that schools should be doing, such as demonstrating that they are taking data protection seriously – up-to-date policies, record keeping and staff training are all important elements of this.

“Schools should also be ensuring that the public-facing information notice reflects the reality of how the school actually does use and treat personal data behind the scenes.

In addition schools need to ensure that it has proper organisational and technical measures and

policies in place to keep personal data safe and secure – having a robust information security policy which is actually adhered to throughout the business is part of this.

“Schools should make sure that if they were to suffer a security breach (where personal data was accessed outside of the organisation without authorisation) it would be able report this to the regulator (the Information Commissioner’s Office) within 72 hours of becoming aware of this breach.

Finally, schools need to be making sure that, where personal data is processed on your behalf by an external organisation, contracts are in place that meet the requirements of the GDPR.” Explaining what information the GDPR applies to Piers says: “GDPR will apply to schools in respect of any personal data (that is, any information which relates to an identified or identifiable living person) – so that includes, pupils, alumni, parents, teachers, support and admin staff, governors and trustees.” E

GDP is desig R to stren ned data pro gthen for ever tection yo that inc ne, and childrenludes their fa and milies

Volume 23.2 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Data Protection

How schools can prepare for the new General Data Protection Regulation With databases full of staff and student records, cabinets packed with confidential information and CCTV monitoring the day-to-day operations of the premises, schools today are overflowing with data.

On 25 May 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into force, requiring organisations to strengthen and unify the safety and security of all their data, meaning the way schools manage the information they have will be changed drastically.

As data breaches become more common (66 schools in the UK reported a breach in 2015) complying with this new regulation will not be easy.

To complicate matters, schools will have to meet GDPR’s data security demands while working with stretched budgets and finite resources.

Experts have argued that schools face having to free up a teacher to work three days a week on GDPR-related issues, in addition to working with a designated data protection officer (DPO) and replacing out-of-date IT equipment.

At a time of intense budget cuts and financial pressure, many schools in the UK have begun leasing their venues out for hire

as a means of protecting and generating their revenues. Under GDPR, schools must ensure all data associated with these bookings is protected by working with a GDPR-compliant Data Processor (DP).

Their role will be to process the school’s data on its behalf, keeping it safe and ensuring that it can be deleted or edited as required.

Technology can help schools to manage these new regulatory demands, ensuring that they have the appropriate technical and organisational measures in place for the data they process, and that these measures are automatically reviewed.

For schools leasing their venues, tools Kajima’s lettings software, BookingsPlus, or managed service, BookingsGuru, give them the ability to access an updated, GDPR-ready privacy policy on enquiry forms; an ‘opt in’ for receiving marketing‑related emails (the default is ‘opt out’ otherwise); the ability to delete personal data; and the ability to run a clean-up of their enquiry data for enquiries more than 30 days’ old.

Using a technology-based bookings manager, such as BookingsPlus or a BookingsGuru service, helps streamline these processes while helping schools

WuDo Solutions 0330 221 0549 www.wudo.solutions World class, practical, expert led training, designed around you.

GDPR, Risk Management, and more

avoid extortionate costs and ensuring compliance. BookingsPlus, for example, is developing a range of tools to assist with data cleansing under GDPR; and Kajima’s bookings management software, BookingsGuru, uses only GDPR‑compliant marketing methods, including assessing suppliers’ privacy policies. GDPR need not be a threat to schools – or their revenues.

The right technology can help schools generate the extra revenue they need and drive efficiency in streamlining their internal processes – all while remaining GDPR-compliant.

FURTHER INFORMATION www.bookingsplus.co.uk

Because good governance is critical to organisational success WuDo Solutions has developed world class training in key governance areas for people like you.

Our courses include risk management, conflicts of interests management, whistleblowing, freedom of information, information governance and getting ready for GDPR. They give people practical applicable tools they can really use to embed good governance in their work.

The key benefits of our innovative approach to training include our trainers’ skills and expertise, honed by years of experience working with organisations and individuals.

We listen when people tell us how and what they want to learn, and design our courses accordingly.

All our training uses real life examples; case studies; and Q&A sessions (among other things) to focus learning on the areas and scenarios that are most relevant to you. To help you apply your learning we provide free support including coaching from your trainer for up to six months.

Our approach puts people first, with a focus on learning practicable skills and best practice to enable you to deliver sustainable improvements. Join a community of 100s of people who have benefitted from our unique training offer.

52

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

How will GDPR effect child data?

Talking specifically about how the GDPR will effect child data, Piers commented: “Whilst the GDPR and regulator guidance makes it clear that personal data on children is worthy of special attention since they are potentially “vulnerable”, on one level, the data protection principles that apply to the processing of children’s personal data by schools have not changed particularly from the current regime under the Data Protection Act. “For example, fair and lawful processing, data retention, accuracy and ensuring that information is kept in a secure way are all the same.

However, what has changed is that schools will need to develop much more robust and extensive record keeping processes to show exactly how they are complying with the GDPR (ie being accountable). Staff training is a big part of showing “accountability”.

“Also, schools will need to develop new processes to enable them to deal with the new enhanced rights that children have over their personal data. For example dealing with the so-called “right to be forgotten”.

Finally, schools have to be transparent over how they handle personal data and inform children in a way they can understand.”

How can schools store their data securely?

Professor Alfred Rolington is a highly regarded cyber security expert with the GDPR Advisory Board. He lectures at Oxford University and has written a number of books on the issue. He shares some useful cyber security tips to aid the GDPR compliance process. He said: ”Schools should ensure they have an effective endpoint, network and email protection that filters out spam, malware and dangerous file types.

“It is also very important to continue to train all staff to be wary of emails, especially those that contain attachments, and to report any unusual emails or attachments. Malware hacks will vary from different attackers – and they will become more sophisticated.

On-going training for employees and management is very necessary. Segregate your networks with next-generation

firewalls so that your internal departments are separated. Install endpoint protection software that can identify and block infections in and going to your systems.

Alfred added: “Make sure you implement full disk protection and encrypt sensitive data stored on servers, or removable media. Particularly those used for sharing with school partners.

Make parents aware of your cyber security efforts and the training you give to staff as this will give them more confidence in how you are handling their children’s personal information.

And if you move to the cloud make sure that the ability to encrypt the data, both in the cloud and also when being transferred, is properly dealt with.”

The GDPR Advisory Board also advises that there should be irregular security cyber audits that should identify and help to improve and patch system vulnerabilities and that there should be a record kept of all activity and this should be monitored for suspicious and irregular activity.

GDPR might feel daunting but handled well this is a great opportunity for schools to sense check the personal data they hold and manage it in an efficient way moving forward.

If you have any further questions, please get in contact with the GDPR Advisory Board directly, or for GDPR training co‑written by legal experts at Clayden Law, visit www.melearning.co.uk/gdpr. L

Data Protection

 Data Protection Officer Do schools need to appoint a Data Protection Officer? Piers explains the requirements: “Having a data protection officer (DPO) is a mandatory requirement for public authorities and so where schools are “public authorities” then they will need to have one. Even if not a public authority, given that a DPO is also mandatory for organisations that carry out systematic and regular monitoring of data subjects on a large scale, it is likely that a school would nevertheless fall within this category.

“A DPO can certainly be a shared appointment with other schools. What is important is that the person is independent (free from any conflict of interest with the school) and also close enough to the school to know what is going on there from a data protection point of view.”

FURTHER INFORMATION www.gdpr-board.co.uk

GDPR Compliant Data Destruction When you replace your old IT

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Volume 23.2 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

53

Case Study

Managing school premises: Do you need to be an expert?

The smooth running of any school is a challenge, without the extra concerns that the school premises are a safe environment and the staff working there are aware of risks and - where necessary - how to remain compliant with legislation.

As a leading provider of premises services solutions to schools, academies and multi academy trusts throughout the UK, Strictly Education has been providing support to schools across the UK and helping clients identify risks to remain compliant with health and safety legislation with a range of property support options.

From small schools that benefit from the Property Support Helpdesk for both planned and reactive maintenance, through to a complete Estate Strategy Plan for the largest MAT, Strictly Education provides premises expertise at all levels.

Following a recent health and safety review that brought no outstanding issues, Linda Keane the school business manager of St Leonard’s C of E Primary School in Oxfordshire said: ”Frankly

the school couldn’t have reached this standard without the input from them.

Strictly Education helped implement a vigorous checking system for myself and our site team, and also helped with our understanding of H&S legislation.

“Our health and safety auditor was impressed with our knowledge and the high priority health and safety has in our school, which has led to no outstanding items to carry forward.”

Strictly Education’s team of qualified

and experienced premises managers partner with schools to provide a professional and cost-effective solution to premises management, including premises condition assessments, fire risk assessments, external competent person visits and policy support.

For staff looking to keep up to date with the latest legislation, or as part of their continuous professional development, a range of facilities management training courses are available from Strictly Education.

Courses include site management, fire awareness, asbestos awareness and working at heights. Sessions are held throughout the year in Highams Park London and Milton Keynes.

With no need to bring school property expertise in-house, call on Strictly Education’s experience for all your school premises management needs.

Find out more about the range of premises support options and training courses below.

FURTHER INFORMATION www.strictlyeducation.co.uk/premisesmanagement-mat-academy-school

MATs & Academies

Payroll & Finance

People

Premises

School Effectiveness

SIMS & Technology

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

Are you considering a specialist HR role in the future? Do you want to rely less on external HR advice? If yes, then the new innovative, educationally‑focused CIPD qualification developed with ISBL could be perfect for you The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has worked in partnership with the Institute of School Business Leadership (ISBL) to create the new Level 5 Certificate in Human Resources for School Business Professionals.

This is especially for school business professionals with responsibility for HR, people development and those who aspire to develop a specialist HR role in the future e.g. HR manager in a MAT structure.

Why has ISBL been prompted to develop this new program with CIPD? The emergence of new schools’ structures over the last few years has seen the advent of new roles within these structures, where specialist roles are being developed to drive efficiencies, provide oversight and drive consistency of approach across school structures.

This is particularly evident in the delivery of finance, procurement and HR where new roles are being advertised in these structures for specialist director roles.

As with the growth of the chief operating officer and chief financial officer roles, ISBL believe it is important that the individuals undertaking these roles have an intrinsic understanding of the school context and the uniqueness of the education sector.

What does the new qualification offer?

The qualification includes a range of subjects to give you a comprehensive grounding in HR practice. It provides knowledge and practical skills in: understanding business issues and how they influence HR decision‑making; employment law; researching data; resourcing and talent planning; reward management; and developing yourself and understanding the benefits of effective HR practice in schools.

Th qualifice a include tion module s six over 12 s studied classroo months via m webina training, r workbos and oks

Business Management

Relying less on external HR advice with ISBL Who is it for?

“Having worked as a school business manager for more than 10 years, I was looking to develop my skills and knowledge in areas other than finance,” said Jo Long, business manager at Venture MAT. “Working in a large primary school, which is also establishing a MAT, I have found that I am dealing with more and more HR-related topics.

Having no formal training in HR, this Level 5 course seems an ideal qualification to enable me to further support our organisation as we develop, and to help ensure we maintain the high-quality staffing we need,” Jo continued.

Vicky Rodrigues, school business manager, at Grove Park Primary School, added: “As the school has expanded, the number of staff has increased and the demands on HR has also increased.

Unfortunately, at this time of growth the local authority has completely withdrawn support, so approximately 30 per cent of my time is now spent dealing with HR. “Whilst the school does have support from an external HR advisor, I must ensure that I am asking the right questions, E

Volume 23.2 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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 interpreting the information provided, and applying it correctly to the given situation.

“The head teacher relies on me to ensure that the advice I provide him with is accurate and has sound legal basis. The Level 5 certificate has been contextualised to recognise the uniqueness of the educational environment. It is developed by CIPD and ISBL, which gives me confidence that the course will meet the needs of a school business professional in the current climate.”

It is ideal for people who are recognised as the

HR professional within their school or someone whose responsibilities include managing and advising on people-related matters.

This level 5 qualification will enable you to develop and implement people plans to help your school meet its operational and strategic goals.

What is the financial and time commitment required?

The qualification includes six modules studied over 12 months via classroom

Business Management

training, webinars and workbooks.

The qualification is expected to take 360 hours across this 12-month period, which includes the guided learning hours, webinars and self-study to achieve the assessments.

The fee for the Certificate is £2,999 plus VAT; which includes ISBL student and CIPD student membership, where you are not currently a member of each organisation.

Where will it take place?

The first cohort of this exciting education focused qualification is taking place in London and the first cohort is already full, with the next cohort commencing in October 2018 in London. Therefore, you will need to act fast to confirm your place on his exciting educationally focused programme.

If you are interested in other cohort locations, please email training@isbl.org.uk and you will be added to the expression of interest list.

ISBL will use this data to gauge the interest in the qualification across the country and identify further cohort locations. L FURTHER INFORMATION You can find out more about this new training qualification either on the ISBL website or by calling a member of the ISBL professional development team on 02476 231221.

PS Financials provides a fully integrated back office management solution, helping schools to drive efficiency, savings and streamline processes.

PS Financials @psfinancials

Volume 23.2 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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PR NE O W t S FE a DU ® le A s fo T CT rm U or R e E Protect your students, staff and visitors informS!

Exit Stopper

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Prevents misuse of entry and exit doors • Visual and audible warning • Low battery indicator • Easy installation

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Fire extinguishers play a very important role in first aid fire-fighting. They can mean the difference between a small localised incident that is quickly put out, or the fire and rescue service arriving to find a raging inferno which is putting life, property and environment at risk.

Hopefully there would never be the need to use a fire extinguisher, but if there was, you’d certainly want the extinguisher to work as expected. As such, there is a need for proper maintenance. For example, if the safety pin in the extinguisher has corroded, it will mean that the pin cannot be removed, rendering the fire extinguisher inoperable.

Safety checks Annual checks by a competent fire extinguisher technician, who has the relevant training, qualifications, experience, tools, equipment, and access to refills and components, would identify and rectify this type of issue, cleaning and lubricating, or replacing the pin if necessary.

When a fire extinguisher technician visits, each extinguisher is subject to a

stringent 20-point check before it can be signed off as safe to use. They will be able to identify any extinguisher which has reached end‑of‑life before you end up with an extinguisher that won’t work or, worse, becomes a danger to your or your employees.

When selecting a service provider to inspect and maintain your extinguishers it is essential to ensure the competence of the company and/or individual being employed to carry out inspection and maintenance, as not all service providers will be the level of competency you’d expect and hope for.

This means that you could have extinguishers that may have been ‘serviced’ but may still not operate correctly.

In Article 17 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order (Maintenance section), which is the relevant fire safety legislation for England and Wales, it states “equipment and devices provided in respect

of the premises under this Order or, subject to paragraph 6 (General Fire Precautions) under any other enactment, including any enactment repealed or revoked by this Order (RRO) are subject to a suitable system of maintenance and are maintained in an efficient state, in efficient working order and in good repair”.

In Scotland and Northern Ireland other fire safety legislation applies, but the message is broadly the same: maintenance of fire protection equipment is paramount.

Due to the complex nature of the legislation, the Chief Fire Officers Association produced a guidance document for enforcing authorities. Within this document, section 17 maintenance states that where equipment is “provided and installed to a British Standard; it is it E

Hopefu lly there would the neenever be a fire ex d to use but if thtinguisher, you’d were was, a extingu nt the is to workher

Volume 23.2 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

Written by Robert Thilthorpe, technical manager at the Fire Industry Association (FIA)

Fire extinguishers are a vital part of fire protection, but all too often, they get misused as door stops – or worse left in a corner and forgotten about. But ignored fire extinguishers have a hidden danger and can fail to operate if not properly maintained, writes Robert Thilthorpe, FIA technical manager

Fire Safety

The hidden danger of fire extinguishers

59

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T F INSTALLATIONS LTD is a dedicated specialist company in Fire Detection, fire alarm system design and Security Systems, founded in 2012.

It has quickly become one of the most respected fire system companies in London and the South East following a series of high profile installations and has developed a founding reputation for providing innovative products and superior services that meet and exceed its clients’ expectations.

T F INSTALLATIONS LTD predominantly works directly for end user clients in the commercial sector. We offer a complete range of services to our clients; from sales, fire alarm system design, installation, testing, commissioning through to ongoing maintenance and technical support. This includes identifying client needs, determining options and designing systems at the most competitive cost without compromising quality.

In 2012, T F INSTALLATIONS were appointed an Engineered Systems Distributor (ESD) for Notifier Fire Systems, a subsidiary of Pittway Corporation of America, one of the world’s leading fire systems manufacturers.

Our partnership with Notifier ensures that we are able to offer the best service possible – having become a specialised company with a strong reputation for the quality and reliability of installations with personal service as a local company backed by a multinational company leading the way in fire prevention technology.

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If you’re looking for a cost-effective alternative in a city steeped in history, Edinburgh is the obvious choice Famed for its listed buildings, Michelin star restaurants and as one of the UK’s leading cultural hubs, Edinburgh offers an attractive destination for those organising a conference or event.

The International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) has ranked the city as the most popular conference destination in Scotland and the second‑most visited in the whole of the UK. It continues to have an international influence in science, business and education, and hosts the world’s largest annual arts festival.

As part of the University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh First offers first-class conference options for those travelling to Scotland’s capital. Based in the heart of the city – just 20 minutes away from Edinburgh Airport by train – Edinburgh First can cater to meetings of all sizes, from small meetings to large conferences for 1,000 delegates.

Edinburgh First has 15 venues across the city, providing more than 70 meeting rooms for delegates. They range from historic venues, such as the 19th century McEwan Hall and the neoclassical Playfair Library Hall, to the state-of-the-art John McIntyre Conference Centre. As well as

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conference rooms, each venue offers relaxed breakout areas for delegates to unwind.

Additionally, Edinburgh First also offers conference accommodation in Edinburgh, with 153 en-suite bedrooms available year‑round plus an additional 1,885 bedrooms from June to September. It has private dining rooms, restaurants, bars and cafés too – as well as all of Edinburgh’s attractions right on your doorstep – offering plenty of opportunities for post-conference team-building and networking.

Edinburgh First’s event management service provides a one-stop-shop service to host, deliver and manage events at

any one of its facilities in Edinburgh. The service can help provide advice as guidance, as well as designing and supporting events through website building, event registration and payment handling.

With a choice of historic mansion houses and modern conference facilities, Edinburgh First delivers an efficient and cost-effective solution for any event in Scotland’s historic capital city.

FURTHER INFORMATION Tel: 0131 651 2189 www.edinburghfirst.co.uk

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

British standards Fire extinguishers are manufactured to BSEN3 and installed in accordance with BS 5306 part 8; therefore, fire extinguishers should be serviced to BS5306 part 3.

If all of these codes sound confusing, just know that these are the relevant British Standards (a type of best practice regulation), which the industry uses to deliver fire protection services. Knowledge of these codes is absolutely necessary for fire extinguishing professionals – which is why these individuals should have proper training and you should check their credentials, not just the price.

When selecting a service provider to inspect and maintain your extinguishers it is essential to ensure the competence of the company and/or individual being employed to carry out inspection and maintenance; as it is the responsibility of the ‘responsible person’ to ensure the service provider is competent to carry out the work.

The Health and Safety at Work Regulations require a competent person to carry out the inspection and maintenance of extinguishers. The definition of a “competent person” is detailed in BS5306 part 3. Exerts from this document are below: “A competent person is one who has undergone an initial programme of training which includes “on the job” experience and attendance of a training course, followed by the successful completion of an examination administered by an independent examination body.

“To maintain competency, ongoing professional development is considered essential and is covered by the provision of refresher training at three-year intervals together with an examination.” The document also goes on to give criteria for initial training, details of course content for theory and practical training, too detailed to list here.

The annual attendance of a professionally‑trained and competent fire extinguisher technician to inspect and maintain your equipment, will ensure each extinguisher is in good working order Protection from risks An employee who has been instructed to check the gauge, or gauges on a fire extinguisher annually is not a competent person for the purposes of maintaining life safety equipment.

The annual attendance of a professionally trained and competent fire extinguisher technician to inspect and maintain your equipment, will ensure each extinguisher is in good working order, ensuring you have the appropriate number and types of extinguishers to protect you from the risks present, and should you need the extinguisher it will work and keep you safe.

You also rely quite heavily on the organisation behind the technician. For your own protection, they should be third‑party assessed, carry the right liability insurances, and provide the technician with tools, the correct spares and refills for your extinguishers. They should also be members of a recognised Trade Association (such as The Fire Industry Association) who alert their members to extinguisher‑manufacturer safety notices & recalls.

Third Party Certification means that an independent body has inspected the company and assessed them thoroughly. It is designed to give consumers peace of mind when selecting a fire protection company as those with Third Party Certification are more likely to have the demonstrable skills, knowledge, experience, and competence to do the necessary works in your premises and to provide you with recommendations should any changes be required (for example

Fire Safety

 is reasonable to expect that the standard be met by the responsible person in terms of maintenance and recording systems”.

if you have had any recent building work or an extension to the building – this would likely affect your fire protection).

Third Party Certification is obtained on a company basis, not to individuals – so you can rest assured that once you a have selected a certified company, that the individual that arrives on site should be compliant with the relevant British Standards and legislation.

However, the easiest and simplest way to check if a fire protection company has been certified is just to look for the Fire Industry Association logo on the company website.

The Fire Industry Association The Fire Industry Association (FIA) is the UK’s largest fire protection trade association, with over 750 member companies. Membership to the Association is subject to strict competency rules, and all members carry Third Party Certification – so you can be assured that those carrying the FIA logo on their websites are fire protection companies that have been certified and will be able to offer their professional services to you.

To find a list of competent fire extinguishing service companies, visit the Fire Industry Association website and click ‘Find a Member’. There, you will be able to filter the list of companies by service and by location and be reassured that all of the listed companies have had sufficient training and are certified to do the job correctly. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.fia.uk.com

©iStockphoto.com: John Scott

Volume 23.2 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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We’re ready to go!

If you need temporary staff to support your school, college or campus, our people are on their marks and ready to help.

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Carillion provides facilities maintenance, cleaning and catering services to hundreds of schools. When news emerged that it was to go into liquidation, concerns were raised over how schools will receive these much-needed services.

The government, however, confirmed that public funding would be provided to maintain the public services run by the firm.

The company currently provides facilities management in 875 schools and mechanical, electrical and fabric maintenance services in 683. The firm also holds cleaning contracts for 245 schools.

Other services include catering, health and safety, energy management, grounds and property maintenance.

Alongside its facilities services, Carillion has built around 150 schools, and also set up an academy trust that now runs two schools in the north west.

A question of catering Following the announcement of the collapse of Carillon, it left 200 schools uncertain of how its catering services will be left.

According to the Caterer, the company serves 32,000 meals a day to pupils in schools in Redcar, Cleveland, Leeds, Barnsley, Tameside, Oxfordshire, South Tyneside, and Gateshead.

The government have been providing funding to keep up with the public services run by Carillion, which ran

up debts of about £1.5 billion.

Oxfordshire is one area in particular which had to put in measures in order to make sure that pupils were fed following the company’s collapse.

Fire services were put on standby to deliver school lunches as a precaution in case meals were not delivered.

The Official Receiver has been appointed by the court as liquidator along with partners at PwC, appointed as special managers.

As reported by the Caterer, Cabinet Office Minister David Lidington said: “It is regrettable that Carillion has not been able to find suitable financing options with its lenders but taxpayers cannot be expected to bail out a private sector company.

“Since profit warnings were first issued in July, the government has been closely monitoring the situation and has been in constructive discussion with Carillion while it sought to refinance its business. We remained hopeful that a solution could be found while putting robust contingency plans in place to prepare for every eventuality.

“It is of course disappointing that Carillion has become insolvent, but our primary responsibility has always been to keep our essential public services running safely.”

Employment As it stands, as a result of the company going into liquidation, 8,216 jobs have been saved,

An attempted save Global real estate and facility management services provider BGIS announced that it would be taking on school facility management contracts from Carillion, but has since withdrawn its offer.

Originally, the firm had announced that it had entered an agreement that would see BGIS take over facilities management contracts, including those in schools.

But BGIS said that its agreement to acquire a portfolio of Carillon contracts in the UK will not be proceeding as “certain closing conditions have not been met”.

The deal has essentially put 2,500 jobs at risks, which were thought be safe.

However the government’s Insolvency Service have told FM World that the jobs affected by the collapse of the deal “are safeguarded for now”.

The company did not mention what the closing conditions were, which has led to speculation as to why the pubic sector contracts could not be guaranteed.

Gord Hicks, chief executive officer, BGIS, said: “While we are disappointed at this outcome, we are continuing to pursue opportunities to grow our global business into the UK and welcome continued dialogue with prospective customers as we build out our platform for future growth opportunities.” L

Written by Andrea Pluck

At the beginning of the year, it was announced that facilities management firm Carillion – which provides services for the education sector – was going into liquidation, raising concerns over the potential strain this could have on schools

Facilities Management

The impact of the Carillion collapse

but 1,458 have been made redundant.

This does not include contracts where an intention to purchase has been entered into but has not yet formally occured, according to the Insolvency Service – the government agency that supports companies in financial distress.

Around 7,500 employees are currently retained to enable Carillion to deliver the remaining services it is providing for public and private sector customers until decisions are taken to transfer or cease these contracts.

FURTHER INFORMATION www.gov.uk

63

Products & Services

DESIGN & BUILD

Providing schools with natural ventilation

Dance studio and gym mirror specialists

Passivent is a specialist in delivering natural and hybrid ventilation, recognized for providing innovative solutions for the removal of moisture, cooling and air quality. The company’s latest product is the Hybrid Plus2 Aircool® multi-mode ventilation system, designed to meet the requirements of the forthcoming Building Bulletin 101 and the Facilities Output Specification for Priority Schools Programme Phase 2.

With a contemporary, streamlined design, the Hybrid Plus2 Aircool is suited to where a single-sided ventilation strategy is required in a building. It consists of three main components: the external weather louvre, the through-wall sleeve and the inner mixing unit, making it easy to specify and order, whilst ensuring a complete integrated system is supplied. Simple and fast to install, the system incorporates

Dancestudiomirrors.co.uk and gymmirror.co.uk are owned and operated by Aspect Safety Mirrors Ltd (ASM), a family run business based in Cambridge, undertaking contracts throughout the UK. ASM have been supplying and installing shatter-resistant and unbreakable mirror products for over 10 years.

ASM are the preferred mirror supplier and installer for many of the UK’s schools, colleges and universities. Last year, ASM completed over 300 installations throughout the UK. Head of Installations, Alex Day said: “We had our best ever year in 2017 with studio and gym installations, working for a wide range of customers within the education sector.

Our ‘Pilkington Optimirror’ is a quality product that works brilliantly for functional dance studio and gym

three modes of operation to suit varying internal CO2 and room temperature levels. The system is controlled by the Passivent iC8000 controller allowing for up to four individual zones to be managed or it can be integrated within the building’s management system.

Incorporating a variable speed fan, the unit is energy efficient and quiet but is able to deliver up to 145l/s of ventilation.

Passivent offers a comprehensive technical design service including assistance with product selection and system design.

FURTHER INFORMATION Tel: 01732 850770 www.passivent.com projects@passivent.com

purposes. We have also had great success with our ballet barres incorporated into mirrors and our portable mirrors, which are a fantastic alternative when mirrors cannot be wall mounted.”

Call for a free competitive quotation, advice and information on its products.

FURTHER INFORMATION Tel: 01223 263555 portablemirrors.co.uk gymmirror.co.uk dancestudiomirrors.co.uk info@aspectsafety mirrors.co.uk

SECURITY

SIGNAGE

64

DESIGN & BUILD

Creating a safe schools environment for everyone

Security providers in Southern England

Displaying the appropriate health and safety signage is a key element in creating a safe workplace for teachers, other staff members, pupils and visitors to a school or college.

The Sign Shed, a leading UK manufacturer of British-made signs, provides an extensive range including access, first aid, fire safety, parking and playground, as well as general warning, prohibition and mandatory signage. Providing clearly-visible safety information to highlight dangers helps manage the risks and meet a school’s legal requirements.

Signs can help prevent slips, trips and falls, alert to dangers from hot or harmful substances, or accidents from manual handling for example.

The Sign Shed has a range of materials and sizes to suit all needs and budgets, whether you need off the shelf or custom

Frontline Total Security Ltd is one of the main security providers in Southern England and proud to be a part of the Security Industry Authority (ACS) Approved Contractors Scheme. Frontline Total Security like to feel that it is able to offer all its clients the complete security solution. The company’s main area of operation is the supply of security officers to large organisations and blue chip companies.

Specialising in security services to the adult care and support marketplace, Frontline services also include event staff for festivals and music events along

signs. The firm provides a fast turnaround, even for customised options and next day delivery is available. Its“Pay by Invoice” option gives you up to 30 days credit as standard. The Sign Shed supplies to schools, local authorities, NHS Trusts, individuals and businesses throughout the UK, including the HSE itself. It’s rated Excellent (9.8/10) by Trustpilot and guarantees you great products at decent prices, together with excellent, personal customer service when you need it.

FURTHER INFORMATION Tel: 01977 681127 www.thesignshed.co.uk

with high volume locations within the leisure industry.

Frontline Total Security currently holds SIA Approved Contractors Scheme (ACS) for the provision of Security Guarding, Keyholding A Door Supervision operating from offices in Cornwall & Oxfordshire.

FURTHER INFORMATION Tel: 01726 338287 info@frontlinetotalsecurity.com www.frontlinetotalsecurity.com

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

ICT

Patient communications from a single source

Secure sign in and visitor management solutions

MBA has over 30 years’ experience in the communications industry, providing a wide-variety of services to improve the effectiveness of customer comms, streamline business processes, consolidate costs and deliver greater returns on investment.

MBA’s range of integrated services include: Litho & Digital Print / Envelope Printing / Direct & Transactional Mail / Hybrid Mail / Warehousing and Pick & Pack / Electronic Fulfilment / Postage & Collections Management / Inbound Processing & Returns Management / Customer Communication Management systems / Data Processing & Document Composition / Automated Email & SMS services / Archive & Retrieval

InVentry is the market leader for sign in and visitor management solutions.Designed for education, it allows schools to accurately track and monitor who is in school at any one time. There are now over 4,000 UK schools using InVentry with a staggering 5.7 million sign in and out events taking place (up to 49 every second) every week.

With the new GDPR regulations coming into effect very soon, lots of schools are realising the security challenges that paper-based sign in books can present.

InVentry prevents access to another person’s sign in information, users can give consent for personal data to be shared at the point of signing in and specific data requests (what data a company holds on you) and right to be forgotten (have your data removed from a company record) is easier

solutions / Web Services & Electronic Presentment / Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery Services / Personalised & Interactive Videos / Digital Contact Centre / Creative & Design services.

MBA’s team possess a great understanding of different communication strategies from across a large portfolio of clients. Their professional service will facilitate cross-sector learning and valuable knowledge-share for your organisation.

FURTHER INFORMATION Tel: 020 8376 4300 www.mba-group.com

ICT

to manage via an electronic sign in system than trying to go through old books.

InVentry speeds up the signing in process, keeps identity information secure, and leaves you feeling confident that your students are safe.

InVentry is available from Pure Audio Visual, leading specialists in the supply, installation and maintenance of audiovisual solutions for education.

FURTHER INFORMATION Tel: 0845 6022 861 www.bit.ly/PureAV-SignIn sales@pureav.co.uk

SERVICE MANAGEMENT ICT

Supporting pupils with the right resources

The Framework for ICT technical support

TeeJay Publishers now supply TeeJay Core Maths Textbooks and support materials to over 95 per cent of all Scottish schools. The company have recently used their expertise to produce a similar set of resources to meet the requirements of the National Curriculum in England. The bright colourful core textbooks, one for each year group, are very pupil friendly, contain lots of graded exercises, and are capable of being used in both a group work arrangement, and as a whole class teaching resource, thus allowing for mastery teaching to take place.

As well as core textbooks, the scheme is supported by dedicated homework packs, covering exercise by exercise, the curricular content of the day’s teaching, thus providing extra support and allowing parents to monitor the work

ICT is playing an increasingly important role in today’s education and, with user expectation growing, technical support departments are now expected to oversee facilities like commercial businesses.

FITS is a management tool specially designed for schools, which helps manage ICT implementation, its day-to-day performance, and provides technical support. It also allows users to take as much or as little from its broad range of ICT management solutions, tailoring to your specific requirements.

FITS encourages long-term structuring of your ICT systems big or small so you can make the most of this vital resource.

FITS helps you, your teachers and your students concentrate on what’s important – teaching and learning. FITS gives schools the confidence to engage ICT in meeting objectives

of the class. Each yearbook also has an assessment pack, with individual tests, longer class assessments and an end-of-year full diagnostic assessment. The textbooks also have free online course planners, and Books 1 and 2 have sets of free worksheets.

TeeJay is a highly respected producer of maths resources in Scotland and both parents and teachers associate the name Teejay with quality and value.

Children also respond positively to the bright colourfully presented Textbooks.

FURTHER INFORMATION Tel: 01207 582344 www.teejaymaths.com

Products & Services

COMMUNICATION SERVICES

and realising even the most challenging aspirations. The FITS Framework helps you save money, improve reliability and teacher confidence, reduce disruption caused by technical breakdowns, and focus on teaching and learning. One head teacher said: “If you want a consistent approach to your ICT technical support, then FITS is the way to go. It’s protected our investment, it’s ensuring that teachers know exactly where to go for their technical support.”

FURTHER INFORMATION Tel: 01562 740695 www.thefitsfoundation.org

Volume 23.2 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

65

Advertisers Index

SPORTS SURFACES

CATERING

Providing safe and functional sports floors

Designing the right kitchen for schools

Sports Surfaces (UK) Ltd supply and install quality, safe, functional sports floors to meet the specific needs of its clients.

It is a family company which has established a strong product portfolio over the last 25 years. The company has a sound, well-respected standing within the indoor sports surfacing industry.

Sports Surfaces (UK) Ltd act as distributor-installers for all its products, meaning there is one point of contact throughout the entire project, facilitating communication and delivering a timely project.

The company installs a wide variety of durable, resilient, multi-functional indoor sports floors at international sports venues as well as educational and recreational establishments across the UK & Ireland.

Sports Surfaces (UK) Ltd is routinely involved in design and

In operation for over 30 years, CCE Group started when managing director, Ray Costelloe, rented a workshop to ply his trade as a sheet metal worker. The company now employs more than 60 people and has two fabrication workshops, office, two design suites and a demonstration kitchen at the company head office near Basildon in Essex.

CCE Group Ltd specialise in the design, fabrication and installation of bespoke commercial kitchens for schools, hotels and restaurants.

The company offers a complete, start to finish service from concept to completion and also offers to manage the entire project for you including multiple contractors.The company can supply and fit everything needed in a commercial kitchen, right down to the floors and walls.

specification, speaking with designers and architects and working with main contractors.

The company works on new build installations, but often work on refurbishments direct for the client. It has a wealth of experience working on a multitude of different types of refurbishment projects and offers advice and support whether it be to the bursar, business manager, PE staff, sports centre manager, facilities manager or head teacher.

The firm recognises that each project is different and tailors to meet each customer’s needs.

FURTHER INFORMATION www.sportssurfacesuk.com

Its status as a premier dealerwith major catering equipment brands means the firm can offer you the latest energy saving equipment that can save you time and money. CCE Group’s helpful, consultative approach means clients arrive at the right design and specification to suit their operational business needs.

From initial design meeting, equipment selection to best meet your menu requirements, through site visits, installation and after sales service, the company works alongside its clients every step of the way.

FURTHER INFORMATION Tel: 01268 412121 www.ccegroupltd.co.uk sales@ccegroupltd.co.uk

ADVERTISERS INDEX

The publishers accept no responsibility for errors or omissions in this free service

Aspect Safety 64 Avocor 24 Awesome Apps 32 Big Dug 41 BPD Building 64 C22 62 CCE Group 66 Chapter Education 18 Concord Lighting 38 Delaware North 45 Edinburgh First 60 Efteling Inside Front Cover Evac Chair 6 Frontline Total 64 Fujitsu 16 ICEX 53 Institute of School Business 55

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ISS Mediclean 8 Kajima Partnerships 52 Kidzania 44 Language Magnet 28 Lego Land Windsor Park 42 MBA Group 65 Merlin Group 46 NEC Group Solutions 10 Norse Commercial Services 4 ParentPay 31 Plum Innovations 30 PS Financials 57 Pure Audio Visuals 65 Ransomes Jacobsen Back Cover RM Flex Campaign 26 Safety Technology 58 Siemens PLC 14, 15 Sports Surfaces 66

SQuidCard 12 Stage Systems 41 Strictly Education 54 SysAid Technologies 22 Talk Straight& Schools 50 Trend Control Systems 40 Teejay Publishers England 65 TF Installations 60 TG Escapes Inside Back Cover The Fits Foundation 65 The Sign Shed 64 The Studio 4

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

Complete service from planning to handover for cost certainty • Specialist team Bespoke architect designs • ‘A’ Rated buildings from £1200 per square metre Modular build for minimal disruption and educational continuity • Over 50 year lifespan with lowtime costs

RANSOMES MP SERIES

WELCOME TO THE FUTURE OF MOWING. The versatility of the MP platform has resulted in a series of wide area mowers with the option of rotary decks or cutting cylinders. Engineered from the ground up for minimal, simple servicing and significant weight savings using high strength steel. The designed efficiencies translate directly to keep your fuel usage down and operational costs low.

Two engines are available; a 49 hp Kubota diesel and a 65 hp turbocharged unit, providing best-in-class power-to-weight ratio. The advanced controller on the 65 hp engine facilitates ‘drive-by-wire’ and cruise control as well as PIN protected maximum mow and transport speeds.

Operator comfort is first-class with an ISO-mounted platform reducing noise and vibration together with a suspension seat ensuring long days of productive mowing. Output from the MP Family is prodigious, but don’t take our word for it.

Get yourself a demonstration by contacting your local dealer (www.ransomesjacobsen.com/dealer-locator/) or call 01473 270000

RANSOMES - FOR LEGENDARY PERFORMANCE www.ransomesjacobsen.com

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