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Good or outstanding grammar school will be able to expand to create more school places, with help from a £50 million Selective Schools Expansion Fund.

This is one of several measures the government has announced to grow the number of school places to meet rising demand.

Another measure is to make it easier for faith groups to open new voluntary-aided faith schools, although the government has said that the 50 per cent cap on faith admissions for free schools will remain.

These expansion plans are on a condition that selective and faith schools improve their accessibility for disadvantage pupils. Grammar schools, for example, will have to submit a Fair Access and Partnership Plan setting out what actions they will take to be more inclusive.

What’s more, a Memorandum of Understanding with the Grammar School Heads’ Association has been signed outlining the sector’s commitment to widening access and how it will work with local schools to raise standards for all children.

Follow and interact with us on Twitter: @EducationBizz

Read more on the measures to increase the number of school places on page 21.

Meanwhile, page 41 discusses the Healthy Pupil Capital Fund which will allow schools to invest in building projects that will help tackle obesity and inactivity, such as new playgrounds, sports facilities and kitchens.

Angela Pisanu, editor

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Contents

Contents Education Business 23.4 07 News

33 Facilities management

£50m fund to expand existing grammar schools, New Oxbridge colleges could help disadvantaged access university, Scotland aims to half childhood obesity by 2030

Ashley Bateson from the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers, which recently launched its HVAC Systems Group, considers the changing regulations around ventilation in schools and what they will mean for air quality

15 IT & computing 07 19

37 Security

The new Computing GCSE is a step in the right direction at filling the tech skills shortage, but ultimately does not go far enough, believes Russ Shaw, founder of Tech London Advocates and Global Tech Advocates

It is important that schools are taking the necessary steps to ensure proper duty of care for their employees, including assessing how access control measures comply with health and safety. James Kelly, chief executive of the British Security Industry Association (BSIA), explains

19 Assisted technology Students learning with a disability often require adaptive or assistive technology to support their education. Alex Dalton from charity Royal Blind investigates what technologies are available

41 Play

The government’s Healthy Pupil Capital Fund includes money for playgrounds as it is recognised that active play can help tackle obesity and inactivity in children and young people

21 Design & build

45 Trips

Education Business looks at newly announced measures to increase the number of good school places, including a new wave of Free School applications and support and funding to expand good grammar and faith schools

All School Travel Forum members are now required to be ABTA-assured, giving further peace-of-mind to teachers that they are booking their trip with a reputable travel company

49 Outdoor learning

25 Education Estates 25 33

Education Estates, which takes place 16-17 October in Manchester, is the professional gathering for everyone involved in delivering and managing the UK’s education buildings

The 30 Days Wild challenge from the Wildlife Trusts is part of a growing interest in exploring outdoor leaning and the benefits it offers. Liz Carney from the Wildlife Trust explains how it encourages pupils to get outdoors

29 Asbestos

53 Sport

With figures showing that asbestos is still not being managed enough across schools, Paul Beaumont, CEO of the Independent Asbestos Training Providers, shares some advice on what should be done

Premier League Primary Stars, which has recently celebrated its first birthday, is one example of how the Premier League and its clubs use the power of football to inspire young people to be active, learn, and gain vital life skills

45

49

Education Business magazine

53

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News

PUPIL PLACES

£50m fund to expand existing grammar schools Education Secretary Damian Hinds has announced a £50 million fund to expand the number of places at existing good or outstanding selective schools, alongside measures to make them more accessible to disadvantaged pupils.

This fund is part of several measures to increase school places, following the Schools that Work for Everyone consultation, which set out the government’s ambition to ensure there is a good school place for every

child, whatever their background.

Measures include a new wave of free school applications, support to expand good faith schools, and a fresh agreement with the independent schools sector to help improve outcomes for pupils of all backgrounds.

The £50 million Selective Schools Expansion Fund is available for 2018-19 so that existing selective schools can expand their premises to create more places.

To make these schools more inclusive, Schools will have to submit a Fair

Access and Partnership Plan setting out what action they will take to increase admissions of disadvantaged pupils.

A Memorandum of Understanding with the Grammar School Heads’ Association has also been unveiled, outlining its commitment to widen access and work with local schools to raise standards for all children.

READ MORE tinyurl.com/ybzfbfch

SOCIAL INCLUSION

New Oxbridge colleges could help disadvantaged access university A new report from the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) calls for changes to the higher education system to make it more inclusive.

The report is called ‘Reaching the parts of society universities have missed: A manifesto for the new Director of Fair Access and Participation’. It contains the views of 35 academics, MPs, think tanks and the media.

Their proposals include founding new Oxbridge colleges to widen access to further education.

It also suggests experimenting with post-qualification admissions; appointing a commissioner for student mental health; requiring targets for students from care; and delivering mandatory unconscious bias training for staff.

Other suggestions include granting fee waivers to asylum-seekers; guaranteeing

mentoring for every pupil who wants it; curbing the use of unconditional offers; and mandating statistical returns on sexual orientation.

SEND

Measures to improve SEND training for school staff

READ MORE tinyurl.com/yadqvgy2

FAITH SCHOOLS

50 per cent cap on faith admissions to remain The government will retain the 50 per cent cap on faith admissions for free schools, but will make it easier for faith groups to open new voluntary-aided faith schools to meet local demand.

The voluntary-aided route already allows schools to apply to open with up

to 100 per cent faith based admissions.

The DfE will work with local authorities to create these schools where they are needed, subject to a ten per cent contribution from the provider.

These schools will continue to be expected to play an active role in their communities.

This could include twinning with other schools and ensuring diversity on the governing board.

In 2016, the government proposed scrapping the rule that new faith schools can only apply their faith-based over-subscription criteria to the first 50 per cent of places when they are over-subscribed.

The Roman Catholic Church says the cap prevents it from opening new free schools – because it is against its religious rules to turn away Catholics on the basis of their faith.

READ MORE tinyurl.com/ybzfbfch

The government has announced over £25 million worth of contracts to improve training for school staff in dealing with pupils with additional needs, as well as provide additional support and advice for families.

Part of these measures include nasen and University College London (UCL) working together on a SEND school workforce contract. This will bring together schools, voluntary organisations and experts, to help schools deliver high-quality SEND. The contract is worth £3.4 million over two years.

A £20 million contract with the Council for Disabled Children and Contact was also announced, with the aim of providing families and young people with SEND with impartial advice, support and information about the services and support on offer.

Lastly, a £3.8 million contract with Contact, in partnership with KIDS and the Council for Disabled Children, was announced, with the aim of promoting and developing strategic participation by young people and parent carers.

Alongside these new contracts, the DfE has developed new tools in partnership with nasen and Action for Children to create a job description and specification for Level 3 Early Years Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCOs).

READ MORE tinyurl.com/y8gsb2ek

Volume 23.4 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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News

OBESITY

Scotland aims to half childhood obesity by 2030 Scotland will aim to halve childhood obesity by 2030, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has announced.

How the target will be achieved will be revealed in the Scottish Government’s Healthy Weight and Diet plan, due to be published in summer 2018.

Currently, 29 per cent of children in Scotland are at risk of being overweight, including 14 per cent who are at risk of being obese.

The First Minister announced the commitment while meeting campaigner and chef Jamie Oliver to discuss joint action to

tackle child obesity and unhealthy eating.

The First Minister said: “Our guiding ambition is to halve child obesity in Scotland by 2030 and we’ll outline in our forthcoming Healthy Weight plan how we will develop the necessary actions to achieve this, and help everybody make healthy choices about food.

“As part of this, we will tackle junk food promotions and the marketing of unhealthy food, such as multi-buys, that encourage overconsumption. To ensure that the steps we take are proportionate and deliver

beneficial outcomes, we will consult widely with consumers, suppliers and retailers following the release of the new plan.”

Jamie Oliver said: “First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has shown she cares about the health of Scotland’s kids by committing to halving childhood obesity in the next 12 years. We look forward to seeing her strong multi-layered strategy.”

READ MORE tinyurl.com/yaez7w4e

MENTAL HEALTH

EXAMS

School referrals for mental health treatment rise by over a third

Changes to biology A level test-methods result in stronger practical skills

The number of schools making pupil referrals for mental health treatment has risen up by over a third in the last three years.

The NSPCC obtained the information from a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to NHS Trusts in England. It found that 123,713 referrals were made by schools seeking professional mental health help between 2014/15 and 2017/181.

The request also showed that 56 per cent of referrals came from primary schools and on average 183 referrals were

made per school day in 2017/182.

Where information was provided about the outcome of the referral, almost one third were declined specialist Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) treatment.

At the beginning of 2018, the NSPCC launched its Are you there? campaign, calling on the government to invest funding into early support services for children.

READ MORE tinyurl.com/y7la2lgm

PHYSICAL EDUCATION

Seventy-nine per cent of children do not meet recommended fitness levels Activity providers Fit For Sport has revealed that 79 per cent of pupils measured through their Healthy Active Schools System (HASS) are failing to meet the recommended fitness levels for their age.

HASS allows schools to record, monitor and evaluate their pupils’ physical activity levels. The free online portal also ensures that schools can easily track their PE and Sport Premium spend, level 1 and 2 competition and individual pupils’ swimming milestones.

To measure the fitness levels of the 40,000 children registered on the HASS, Fit For Sport conduct a simple physical activity test, otherwise known as the Activity Challenge, which requires a combination of skill and physical fitness, including stamina, agility and coordination.

Dean Horridge, CEO and Founder of Fit For Sport, said: “The fact that only 21 per cent of children are meeting recommended fitness levels comes as no surprise to us given the current inactivity crisis that we find ourselves in. We must change the way in which we are educating children through

physical activity or else we’ll continue to fight a losing battle. There’s too much focus on diet and too little on regular exercise.”

“A couple of hours of outdated PE lessons a week are not enough to get children engaged. The key is, and always will be, daily engagement in fun and varied physical activity. After all, government guidelines state that 30 minutes of daily physical activity must be carried out during school.”

READ MORE tinyurl.com/y7vop66w

A study from the exams regulator Ofqual has shown that students studying reformed biology have stronger practical skills than those who took the pre-reform qualification.

Reformed science A level exams were taken for the first time in summer 2017, after first teaching began in September 2015.

Practical skills for science A levels are now assessed indirectly, by exam, at the end of A level courses where such questions make up at least 15 per cent of the overall mark.

Students must complete at least 12 practical activities during the course and will receive a separate endorsement that they have done so satisfactorily.

Previously, science A levels involved students completing practical tasks under ‘controlled conditions’ and responding to written questions on them.

This approach presented logistical problems as well as concerns about adequately differentiating between students’ abilities.

The 1,750 students who took part in the study also responded to a questionnaire, which encouragingly shows that the post-reform group reported doing practical work more often and feeling more confident than the pre-reform group.

The practical skills of pre and post-reform students studying chemistry and physics remained broadly similar and there had been no deterioration.

Sally Collier, chief regulator, said: “I hope this study will provide some early reassurance that practical skills have not been unintentionally devalued in the reformed A levels. These are, however, early findings and we and will continue this research to include a new cohort of post-reform students later this year.”

READ MORE tinyurl.com/yd7kb2th

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News

COMMENT BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

Schools to get business advice from industry experts Over 40 business advisers are signed up to start offering bespoke business support to schools.

School Systems Minister Lord Agnew announced the initiative, which will help schools save money and run more efficiently.

The advisers will offer tailored advice to help school leaders maximise their resources and budgets. This could include smarter ways to buy essential services like water or electricity, or innovative ways of timetabling classes to free up teachers time.

Evidence shows up to £1 billion of savings could be made on non-staff spend in schools by 2019-2020 which could be reinvested in frontline resources.

This will help raise standards in schools even further, with 1.9 million more children now in good or outstanding schools than in 2010.

School Systems Minister Lord Agnew said: “We know time is precious for school staff and making every penny count is vital. Together with our wider package of support for schools, these advisers will help us to maximise resources, freeing up teachers to focus on delivering a knowledge-rich education and giving every pupil the opportunity to make the most of their lives.”

The advisers are part of a new pilot run by the Department for Education with the Institute of School Business Leadership. Since January, they have been going into schools and trusts with the greatest need. Following the visit, each school is expected to develop a plan which will set out how it intends to improve.

READ MORE tinyurl.com/y9zn6cdz

ROAD SAFETY

CiTV’s Sam Homewood fronts THINK! child road-safety campaign

The new THINK! campaign, fronted by children’s presenter Sam Homewood, is urging children to ‘stop, look, listen, and think’.

New materials for teachers and parents have been released by THINK!, as well as a new Safer Journeys Anthem, featuring the ‘stop, look, listen, think’ message.

Games, films and lesson plans also support the campaign, that has been timed for before the half term and summer school holidays when children are likely to be spending more time outdoors.

Sam Homewood said: “I’m delighted to be a part of this THINK! campaign to help spread the word about road safety among young people.

“Working with children every day, I see the huge impact that simple precautions can have on their lives. I hope this campaign will help keep children safe on our roads and encourage them to look out for each other.”

The resources include mobile games and educational films with photographs and illustrations created by students from Farnborough Sixth Form College. A new THINK! Map can help children to pinpoint risky areas near them and consider the best way to travel safely.

Malcolm Drakes: Our approach to work-life balance Our Learning Federation has been reflecting on how we can support staff in having a better work life balance. We’ve been relentless in examining every system and process so expectations on staff are manageable – particularly in our challenging context.

Last year the school appointed a working party to address workload reduction and staff wellbeing. The success criteria was to ensure that staff felt a work/life balance was achievable, were retained in the profession, and were satisfied that the schools recognised their efforts.

First the working party identified changes in the marking policy.

Consultation with pupils, parents and staff found previous practice was too detailed, completed out of lessons, inconsistent, and lacking in impact.

Expectations were redesigned to follow three principles: Do pupils know what they do well and can they give examples? Do pupils know what they need to improve and can they give examples?

Is there visible impact in their work – can they point to improvements?

The impact was transformational. Staff know that they are expected to mark work at the point of learning – not on the sofa at home, and pupils are better able to articulate their next steps.

Second came the promotion of staff wellbeing. Governors purchased a 24hr counselling service, where staff can discuss any issues and receive advice on how to cope. A Friday afternoon “Chatterbox Club’ has been established. Staff attend for at least 15 minutes, many stay longer. Feedback showed teams didn’t mix during the week. Coming together, sharing funny stories from the week and catching up over a cuppa means staff morale and team spirit has been demonstratively lifted. A free Zumba club is available to staff every Monday. Another Teaching Assistant – a qualified Pilates instructor – offers free sessions every Tuesday. This allows staff who don’t have time to get to the gym – or can’t afford one – to maintain their fitness.

The policy celebrates staff attendance above 96 per cent, awarding them an incentive day – taken in three two hour chunks or as one day. In their sixth year of continuous employment staff are now eligible for a paid two week sabbatical during term time.

Governors were also conscious of the pressures they might add. Reports to meetings now follow one agreed format and a data management calendar was agreed to avoid overloads on staff at key points in the year.

These measures have improved staff retention, increased morale and supported improved outcomes for pupils.

We believe that our Learning Federation should offer a world class education, and that means a world class environment for staff.

FURTHER INFORMATION READ MORE tinyurl.com/ycz4fmo4

www.broadford.havering.sch.uk

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News

CAREERS ADVICE

Better support for Scottish school-leavers The Scottish government has announced proposals to better support Scottish students with career and academic advice after school.

From 2019, Scottish students will have access to an online account with personalised support in choosing courses and planning a career. They will be able to record their skills and qualifications and receive help in planning next

steps into further learning or work.

It is one of seventeen recommendations in a review of the journey through the education system for 15-24 year-olds. Other recommendations include more joined-up advice and guidance on post-school options across the education sector.

What’s more, young people will receive a better balance of work-based and academic skills informed by employer engagement.

There will be improved collaboration between schools, colleges and universities to enable greater flexibility for young people to move from S5 to year one of a degree, from S6 to year 2, and from college into years 2 and 3 of university.

READ MORE tinyurl.com/y8z8d2f3

EXAMS

Teachers invited to give feedback on reformed GCSEs and A-levels Ofqual is inviting teachers to workshops to offer their perspectives on the assessment of this summer’s reformed GCSEs, AS and A levels.

The workshops are Ofqual’s first opportunity to gather evidence about things that have gone well and any areas of concern. Feedback will help assess the effectiveness of the reformed programme.

The workshops will be held in October, November and December in a central Coventry location and are

free to attend. Travel expenses will be reimbursed and lunch will be provided.

Ofqual is looking for participants that have taught the qualification, in its legacy and reformed version, to gain feedback on the changes and challenges of the new qualifications and how they have been addressed.

READ MORE tinyurl.com/y9pv8exc

DATA PROTECTION

Data requests from National Pupil Database put on hold

The government has stopped third parties accessing pupil data while it reviews its approval process.

The DfE’s website says: ‘From 1 May 2018 we are temporarily pausing applications for data extracts and will not process new applications. We are making changes to the approval process and will provide further information in June 2018.’

The DfE told the BBC that the temporary halt was required to be compliant with the GDPR, which comes into effect 25 May. The national pupil database (NPD) contains detailed information about pupils in schools and colleges including test and exam results, prior attainment and progression at different key stages

for pupils. The database also includes information about pupils’ characteristics, such as gender, ethnicity, eligibility for free school meals, and exclusions.

Extracts of this data are available for use, subject to approvals, by third parties conducting research and analysis into the effect of different educational strategies over time.

The BBC also says that there are requests from private companies, which use the data to aid education policy consulting services to local authorities.

READ MORE tinyurl.com/hevzqwt

MATHS

£6 million to improve maths teaching in the North School Standards Minister Nick Gibb has announced £6 million investment to improve maths teaching in the North of England. £1.75 million of funding will be used to create two new ‘Hubs’ in Central Lancashire and Cheshire to help spread best teaching practice and improve local pupils’ knowledge, understanding and enjoyment of mathematics.

The remaining funding will support the expansion of a south Asian ‘mastery’ approach to teaching maths in the region.

Some of the leading performers in maths in the world, including Shanghai, Singapore and Hong Kong use this teaching style.

The ‘Maths Hubs’ in Central Lancashire and Cheshire will initially be led by three schools in each region and will help to ensure more teachers in the area have the knowledge and skills to provide high quality maths teaching.

School recruitment for involvement is now open and the programme aims to start running this Autumn.

READ MORE tinyurl.com/yaxktu46

Volume 23.4 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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The new messaging app from Teachers2Parents

The UK economy will live and die on our digital skills. In 2014, the UK government created the new Computing GCSE in an attempt to instil them in the next generation of tech minds. This new syllabus aims to introduce teenagers to concepts such as coding and programming.

The planned crackdown on immigration following the Brexit vote is set to rip the heart out of Britain’s tech sector, particularly as around a third of all technology jobs are held by those from overseas. Now more than ever, we need to develop our domestic talent. The new Computing GCSE is a step in the right direction, but ultimately does not even scratch the surface of the issue of the skills shortage

in Britain’s tech industry. It is an admirable attempt to equip young people with the skills they need to be tech professionals and computer scientists, but the new qualification faces serious challenges in its current form.

Gender inequality The mere introduction of the new Computing GCSE still fails to address the elephant in the room in tech: gender inequality.

Just 16 per cent of those taking the qualification are girls. Fundamental tech skills must be instilled at school

age, so the government and the industry need to do more to ensure that girls are taking these qualifications in equal measure if we want to iron out gender imbalance in the industry. Encouraging girls to go into STEM fields must happen at a societal level rather than just an individual one.

Greater gender equality in technology is imperative to the sector’s success.

Otherwise, it risks alienating half of the UK workforce, missing out on an untapped pool of talent.

Figures from the US suggest that women hold about 40 per cent of mathematics degrees, but only 18 per cent of engineering and computer science degrees. What this demonstrates is not a natural propensity towards less technical subjects, but a degree of social influence.

Engineering and computer science degrees are more vocational and geared towards their respective industries than maths, which is more open in terms of where it can lead. In other words, it is the misogyny in the tech industry that is putting women off of these courses, rather than a lack of talent or potential.

The government has a duty to increase the number of women in STEM, and this starts with encouraging more women into these qualifications, like Computing, at GCSE level. Women are often apprehensive about entering the sector, due to its reputation for it being male dominated and misogynistic, with a lack of female and non-stereotypical role models available. Making more information available to women and girls is essential in challenging these negative stereotypes about the industry. Teachers need to be instructed to actively encourage female participation in these subjects. Rather than just introducing this qualification, the government must play a pivotal role in ensuring a greater female uptake.

While the issue of gender imbalance in the industry is not necessarily solved at the level of education – in the US, only one in seven women with a STEM degree actually works in that field – ensuring that a more equal number of men and women possess technical skills at GCSE level is certainly a start.

There is a la of teac ck her qualifie d to des liver the C GCSE c omputing o far exce urse, which e an ICT ds that of teach post ing

Written by Russ Shaw, founder of Tech London Advocates and Global Tech Advocates

The new Computing GCSE is a step in the right direction at filling the tech skills shortage, but ultimately does not go far enough, believes Russ Shaw, founder of Tech London Advocates and Global Tech Advocates

IT & Computing

Making tech education fit for purpose

Teaching effectively There is also a lack of teachers actually qualified to deliver this relatively !

Volume 23.4 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

15

IT & Computing " demanding course. The requirements of doing so far exceed that of an ICT teaching post, and teaching it effectively requires at least a degree-level knowledge of computer science. If the information is not being delivered to students effectively and accurately, their digital skills are unlikely to be at the level required to enter the sector.

The issue already seems evident: in 2017, just 41 per cent of students achieved a B or higher in the course, which is below average in comparison with other subjects.

At school, everyone of us had a teacher who inspired a love for a particular subject.

Having knowledgeable and inspiring teachers is clearly essential for increasing uptake.

As a relatively new and challenging qualification, more needs to be done to encourage students to study it – particularly female students. Although the 2017 intake was up nine per cent on that of 2016, this is smaller than the difference between 2015 and 2016. The rate of progress is, quite simply, not good enough. We need teachers that are confident in the course, and that can make learning computing an exciting prospect.

The problem here, however, is that the education sector is competing with tech firms for top computing talent.

As motives for going into tech are often financial, it will be near on impossible for schools to match tech firms’ handsome graduate salaries.

The industry should take inspiration from programmes such as Teach First and Now Teach, which take highly qualified individuals and put them on a two-year teaching contract.

Teach First takes recent graduates from top

16

universities and puts them on a fast-track teacher training course in struggling schools.

Their variety of corporate connections and partnerships, such as Accenture and Goldman Sachs, lure in graduates who view the programme as a stepping stone to another career. Now Teach is similar to Teach First, but works in reverse – it takes people who have had a successful professional career, and retrains them as teachers. There are many skills developed in teaching, such as leadership, social skills and the ability to work under pressure that tech firms could significantly benefit from. As a result, they should reach out to and partner with programmes like Teach First and Now Teach.

This is an essential investment, not only in developing current graduate employees, but also by shaping young tech minds that could go on to drive the sector in the future.

Who can solve the issue and how?

The difficulty in developing top tech talent is an issue for us all; a strong tech sector is becoming increasingly essential for a thriving economy. Particularly, given the hurdle that Brexit poses to recruiting international tech talent, cultivating tech skills in young people is imperative.

In introducing the new Computing qualification, and a curriculum that requires computing skills to be taught to pupils as young as five, the government is heading in the right direction. However, more can and needs to be done – for example, in making sure the qualification is better marketed, particularly to women. Providing teaching resources to schools is another way of

furthering the impact of the new course, to ensure teachers are up to scratch and fully supported in delivering it. The British Computing Society (BCS) has implemented a scheme to update the skills of ICT teachers, but only has enough funding to reach 20 per cent of schools. Increased government funding in this area would be a long-term investment: a well-equipped technology sector would bring astronomical returns.

However, no one body can solve the issue alone, and the industry itself should be doing more to source and cultivate tech skills and talent. One such way of doing so would be to set up and fund digital skills colleges, such as female-led Ada, which are focused on training up future tech workers and software developers. Companies themselves can fund apprenticeships, training young people who have potential in the industry but may not have had access to computing knowledge at school or university.

The industry as a whole should make more of an effort to promote women to higher positions, and to reach out to young women who might be interested in tech, to help cultivate a new pool of specifically female talent and address the gender imbalance in the sector.

The introduction of GCSE Computing was a brave and necessary step by the government, but it needs to be overhauled if it is to deliver its goals and avoid worsening the challenges that already face the industry. # FURTHER INFORMATION www.techlondonadvocates.org.uk

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

Advertisement Feature ADVERTORIAL

Language 800 WORDMagnet EDIT – HEADLINE Britain’s gotHERE MFL talent AS TIGHT AS POSS With the decline in pupil uptake of GCSE and A level foreign language courses, primary schools hold an important key to future linguistic talent to develop independent language learning skills, by using the audio sheets at home, and extend their creativity with the language, by using the variety of differentiated activities.

Parents often report that their child is enjoying MFL and is teaching them, enabling parents to engage with their child’s learning.

A Year 5 teacher commented that a boy in her class with challenging behaviour, who was refusing to engage with lessons, came out from the corner when the class started French, joined in, settled down, and completed all of the written work as well. The boy’s mother also reported at parents’ evening that he only wanted to do French at school. In this regard, MFL is unlike any other subject and, if taught with confidence and enthusiasm, primary school pupils are able to quickly and easily apply their new-found skills to everyday life.

As one MFL Coordinator said: “Very quickly, we saw children enthused for their French lessons because the teachers were enthused too. Year 3 teachers and children greeted others in the corridors in French and this spread up the school. Children often come to me when they see me in the playground or around school and ask me how I am and answer my questions, all in French!”

Teacher talent Teachers using the Language Magnet course have also benefited from the personalised coaching that is available to help build their own confidence with delivering the foreign language and they have been amazed at how much they have developed their skills with both the language and MFL delivery techniques. As one teacher said: “It’s easy, you can’t go wrong with it.” They have also been excited by the extra benefits

foreign language learning has produced by using the grammar colour coding system, which enables teachers to reinforce English grammar and parts of speech. Some Year 6 teachers have found the colour coding in the programme particularly helpful for SATs revision. School leadership has been equally positive at what Language Magnet has brought to the schools. One headteacher commented on the “noticeable difference in the pupils’ enjoyment of MFL”, whilst another described the programme and resources as “a primary school teacher’s dream”.

A former national language adviser and headteacher particularly liked “the strong framework provided, for building on language structures and developing grammar” and another headteacher stated that “Language Magnet really does give you everything that you could need in a primary school to deliver a highly effective programme.”

Recently, an MFL Coordinator wrote: “Our staff highly recommend Language Magnet as a tool for teaching and learning. It has made a positive impact on the school curriculum.

OFSTED loved it when they visited and saw it as one of the school’s strengths.”

Written by

Pupil Potential In the last two issues of Education Business magazine, the questions of how non-specialist primary teachers can teach modern foreign languages effectively and how teachers can assess and show progression in MFL accurately were explored. For both of xoxoxoxo these aspects to be successful, learning a language needs to be fun and functional forFURTHER both the teacher and the learner.

INFORMATION Teachers and pupils thrive when a language xxx is easily accessible, relevant and presented with humour, which is precisely what the Language Magnet programme provides.

The results from the schools following the Language Magnet course have been astounding. Teachers frequently comment on how both pupils that are lower ability across the curriculum and those with special educational needs are able to easily engage with the visual and audio material.

One teacher stated: “One of our lower ability pupils is middle to top in French, particularly in speaking and listening.”

Pupils with English as an additional language also frequently show high ability skills with MFL, as they are able to transfer not only their English language learning skills but many also identify similar language structures from their native language.

A Year 3 teacher recently said that a quiet Polish girl, who is developing well in other subjects, is “shining in MFL” and sees herself more able than the most able pupils in the class. This is doing wonders for her selfesteem. Another Polish child asked for a pack of the QR code audio vocabulary sheets, as she was also using them to learn English.

Higher ability pupils have benefited from the opportunities that the course provides

Primary school power With so much foreign language ability and achievement for both pupils and teachers, who are using the Language Magnet programme, it shows that primary schools really do have the power to change the course of pupils’ GCSE and A level choices and that Britain certainly does have plenty of MFL talent. # FURTHER INFORMATION www.languagemagnet.com

Volume 23.4 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Advertisement Feature

Make administration more efficient with Fujitsu Fujitsu scanning solutions support administration, enable GDPR compliance and improve the learning and teaching experience in schools As schools, colleges and universities attempt the tricky balancing act of cutting costs while improving service levels, more and more are discovering the benefits of deploying Fujitsu scanners in the classroom and administrative offices. They allow schools to experience enhanced collaboration, productivity and more effectively address GDPR compliance concerns such as Subject Access Requests.

Contact us today to understand how a partner solution can help make GDPR Subject Access Requests simpler, more compliant and efficient and save up to £50,000 per annum.

Primary and secondary school teachers are working almost 60 hours a week according to the DofE and a lot of this time is spent carrying out bureaucratic tasks such as form filling and general paperwork.

By implementing digital working practices including the scanning and digitisation of material, a school will very quickly see the benefits bought about from the enhanced collaboration between staff members, pupils and parents as well as supporting SENCO in the use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) which is laid out in their code of practice 2001.

The speedier capture of correspondence such as permission slips, catering requests, HR material, bursaries and paperwork related to special needs as well as the implementation of technology driven teaching methods for a more enriched learning experience and marking will additionally see time being freed up whether for teaching or personal recreation.

By the time children start school many are already familiar with technology, giving teachers a platform of knowledge on which to build. Infant and junior schools that have the technology to enhance learning are setting the benchmark, both in terms of actual achievement and parent or government recognition.

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Enhanced Learning For many customers in the education sector, the ability of Fujitsu scanners to aid learning is as important a benefit as improved administration. It is also a major priority for Fujitsu, who are working with a number of establishments to explore how scanners can be used to improve learning in the classroom.

Capturing evidence of progress An important aspect of this programme is to discover how technology can help early learners develop confidence in their abilities and recognise the progress that they have made. Fujitsu scanners can help in this regard by capturing a pupil’s work throughout the term so that children, teachers and parents can see how their work has evolved and improved as ell as providing a discussion point in school. Providing digital files at the end of term instead, or as a supplement to, the actual artwork is also convenient for parents. Some schools are even charging for this service to recoup the cost of the scanner.

Improved Communications Schools are making use of Fujitsu scanners, both to improve their administrative processes and to enhance collaboration with students and parents. The Student Services department at Ryburn Valley High School is a case in point. It is using a Fujitsu ScanSnap iX500 scanner to digitise and distribute the large number of financial documents handled by the bursaries office and to streamline everyday administrative processes, including the management of absence notes. Pre-planned absence notes handed in by parents used to be photocopied by the department, stored in filing cabinets and handed out to teachers spread across the school grounds – a slow, time consuming and unreliable process. Now, absence notes are digitised on the iX500 and, using the scan-to email function, circulated instantly to the teachers concerned.

The iX500 doesn’t just save paper and time; it has also enabled Ryburn Valley High School to improve the learning experience. When a pupil is absent, missed classwork can now be scanned and emailed to them so that they can catch up on coursework remotely.

The Anglia Ruskin University Since implementing a scanning solution, survey response rates have trebled – rising from 15-20 per cent to 65 per cent – while the total volume of documents scanned has increased 20-30 per cent and is expected to double by next year as the solution is expanded beyond module evaluation surveys.

The scanners have already been drafted in to process surveys from other departments which are heavy paper users, processing surveys on accommodation, catering, the union environment and other student services which are increasingly becoming as important to the student experience as teaching and learning.

The solution is saving time and resources, making data more easily accessible from the automatically archived files, and streamlining reporting of corporate key performance indicators – of which an increasing number are satisfaction based and can be pulled directly from the survey figures.

To comply with legislation, the University of Bristol needed to store passport and visa details for foreign students. They have implemented an easy-to-operate data capture and management solution based on Fujitsu scanners. As a result, it is now able to fulfill its statutory obligations in an efficient manner, processing information quickly and accurately.

For further information on how we can help on your GDPR journey, for case studies, white papers and videos visit the link below. # FURTHER INFORMATION www.emea.fujitsu.com/ scanners-in-education

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

There are approximately 1.5 million people living in the UK with a learning disability, and almost two million people living with a visual impairment. However, of those figures, there are around 25,000 children living with sight loss, and 286,000 children who have a learning disability. With those figures in mind, students learning with a disability often require adaptive or assistive technology to support their education.

Royal Blind, a charity who operate a blind school and care homes for the visually impaired, investigate what technologies can support pupils with complex disabilities, through their education when additional support needs are required.

The use of technology can enhance the learning experience for many children who struggle to get the most of their education because of the barriers they face from their disability. When students with a learning disability have the opportunity to use their strengths to overcome their challenges, it often results in a successful education. Assistive technology is just one approach that allows students to work around their disabilities.

Whether the student is visually impaired, dyslexic or any other disabilities that cause skill deficits, AT can be implemented into the education processes to help. In fact, research has proved that AT can improve certain skill deficits, such as reading and spelling.

Assistive technology does not aim to provide disabled students with an unfair advantage, but instead provide them with the independence to learn in an environment that allows them to use their strengths to overcome their challenges.

Adaptive devices help to increase participation, achievement and independence of the student, by improving their access to the same general curriculum as other pupils without a disability.

Teach with as ing s techno istive can add logy types o ress many difficult f learning ies, the edu and make c experie ation nc better e

Why assistive technology?

Teaching with assistive technology (AT) can address many types of learning difficulties, and make the education experience better for the student and teacher. AT has tools which can be used to assist those with disabilities that struggle with listening, reading, writing, math and organisation.

What technology is available?

Certain assistive technology tools can be used to support different learning disabilities so that students can learn effectively with their peers. Around 20 per cent of young people with a visual impairment, have additional special education needs or disabilities, with a further 30 per cent having complex needs within the education system. Assistive technology offers support.

Generally, the term assistive technology is applied to technology that is used to support children with learning difficulties – most commonly, electronic devices, computer hardware and digital tools that are available on the internet.

For the visually impaired, AT provides students with access to educational assets

in a larger format, both in print and digital.

For many visually impaired students, digital technology is a way for them to learn in mainstream schools – this is because text can be enlarged, and other senses can be used to aid the learning process, such as touch and sound. Around 60 per cent of visually impaired students are educated in mainstream schools, and AT supports their learning needs, and allows students to learn at their own rate. A qualified teacher of the visually impaired is likely to support the pupil further.

Alternative keyboards have overlays which customise the appearance of the keyboard to encourage production. Not only students with visual impairment who might need braille, or larger keys, these customisable keyboard overlays can add graphics and colours to help students who struggle to type.

And it doesn’t stop there – from electronic math work sheets and talking calculators to talking spell checkers, electronic dictionaries and braille technology, AT makes school a comfortable environment for students with a disability to learn in.

Written by Alex Dalton, Royal Blind

Students learning with a disability often require adaptive or assistive technology to support their education. Alex Dalton from charity Royal Blind investigates what technologies are available

Assistive Technology

How can assistive technology support a student’s education?

Meeting student’s needs Unlike students who don’t have a learning disability, every child living with a learning disability or a visual impairment has unique learning needs. Assistive technology allows the student to take control of their learning journey, and gain some independence in their education – but finding which assistive technology is right for the student can be difficult, as one student’s need may be very different to another.

To find the right tool to support their education, establish which tools best address the child’s specific needs and challenges – which tool will help overcome the barriers? The AT tool must be used to the student’s strengths, be easy to use, reliable and preferably portable.

You must also make sure that your student is capable and willing to use the tool – and be aware that a tool that one student can use, doesn’t necessarily mean that another student can use it too. Disabilities are different for each person, and whilst two pupils might both have a visual impairment, their requirements could differ significantly. # FURTHER INFORMATION www.royalblind.org

Volume 23.4 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Education Business looks at newly announced measures to increase the number of good school places, including a new wave of Free School applications and support and funding to expand good grammar and faith schools

Design & Build

Allowing good schools to grow

The government has announced several measures to grow the number of good school places, following the Schools that Work for Everyone consultation, which set out the government’s ambition to ensure there is a good school place for every child, whatever their background.

Measures include £50 million to expand the number of places at existing good or outstanding selective schools, a new wave of free school applications, support to expand good faith schools, and an agreement with the independent schools sector to help improve outcomes for pupils of all backgrounds.

Education Secretary Damian Hinds said: “Standards are rising in our schools and we’ve created hundreds of thousands of new places since 2010 but we want to make sure every family can access a good school.

“By creating new schools where they are needed most and helping all great schools to grow, we can give parents greater choice in looking at schools that are right for their family – and give children of all backgrounds access to a world-class education.”

Grammar schools The £50 million Selective Schools Expansion Fund, available for 2018-19, is an opportunity for existing good or outstanding selective schools to expand their premises to create more places.

To make these schools more inclusive, schools will have to submit a Fair Access and Partnership Plan setting out what action they will take to increase admissions of disadvantaged pupils.

This is to make grammar schools more socially inclusive. Research shows that pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds attain better results in selective schools and around 60 per cent of these schools already prioritise these children in their admissions. For example, King Edward VI in Birmingham actively encourage more pupils from less privileged backgrounds to join their schools, including considering 11+ results for disadvantaged pupils separately to their non-disadvantaged counterparts.

A Memorandum of Understanding with the Grammar School Heads’ Association has also been signed, outlining its commitment to widen access and work with local schools to raise standards for all children.

Grammar School Heads’ Association chief executive Jim Skinner said: “We are very pleased that, like other good and outstanding schools, selective schools now have access to a fund to allow them to expand their premises. This is particularly important at a time when there are increasing numbers of pupils reaching secondary age and such high demand from parents for selective school places.

“We look forward to working with the Department for Education through the memorandum of understanding, to continue and further extend the work that member schools have undertaken in recent years, to increase access for disadvantaged pupils and to support other schools to raise standards for all children.” !

The £50 mi Selectiv llion Expans e Schools is to he ion Fund good o lp existing ro selectiv utstanding e to expa schools nd premisetheir s

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Improve the performance of your interiors by ending costly re-painting and repair for more information call 0113 279 5854 or email sallyann@yeomanshield.com

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Faith Schools The government has said it will retain the 50 per cent cap on faith admissions for free schools, but will make it easier for faith groups to open new voluntary-aided faith schools to meet local demand.

The voluntary-aided route already allows for schools to apply to open with up to 100 per cent faith based admissions. The DfE will work with local authorities to create these schools where they are needed, but the provider must put up a ten per cent contribution.

These schools will continue to be expected to play an active role in their communities. This could include twinning with other schools and

ensuring diversity on the governing board.

In 2016, the government proposed scrapping the rule that new faith schools can only apply their faith-based over-subscription criteria to the first 50 per cent of places when they are over-subscribed.

The Roman Catholic Church says the cap prevents it from opening new free schools – because it is against its religious rules to turn away Catholics on the basis of their faith.

Independent schools and universities The government has established a dedicated unit that works with universities and independent schools to develop and strengthen partnerships with state schools to help raise attainment and aspiration for all pupils. A number of institutions have already come forward to do this including independent and state schools working together to support school improvement.

The Department for Education has published a joint understanding with the Independent Schools Council, setting out how it will work in partnership with state schools and, in particular, help pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The higher education sector is also supporting these objectives and, in February, the Office for Students set out what is expected of universities with regard to participation and access.

Condition Improvement Fund £514 million has been announced to expand or improve the condition of school buildings across the country, in order to

create more good school places. The funding is being allocated as part of the Condition Improvement Fund. It will support 1,556 projects across almost 1,300 academies and sixth-form colleges in England to help improve the condition or expand their facilities.

The announcement includes £38 million for projects supported by the Healthy Pupils Capital Fund, which is drawn from the Soft Drinks Industry Levy. This fund helps to improve children and young people’s physical and mental health by enhancing the quality of, and access to, facilities such as changing rooms, playgrounds, kitchens and sports halls.

Minister for the School System, Lord Agnew, said: “All children deserve the best possible education and state of the art facilities are a big part of that. This funding will transform the condition of school buildings and help our best schools to expand, creating more good school places for families and raising standards for pupils. This will build on the hard work of teachers and our reforms, which have resulted in 1.9 million more children being taught in good or outstanding schools than in 2010.”

The Condition Improvement Fund is an annual funding allocation that academies and sixth-form colleges are invited to bid for. In addition to improving the quality of school facilities, the fund also enables Good or Outstanding schools to expand where there is a need for them to do so. #

Design & Build

" Free Schools Wave 13 of free school applications have opened and will target areas with the lowest educational performance.

Proposals should therefore be in areas that have both low standards and a basic need for additional school places.

This wave is looking to approve around 35 new mainstream primary, secondary, all-through and 16-19 free schools in total.

Parents and Teachers for Excellence Director Mark Lehain said: “The new wave of free schools announced is fantastic news for communities across the country.

Already hundreds of towns and tens of thousands of families have benefitted from the addition of great new schools to our system, and the next wave, targeted at areas that haven’t yet had this, will ensure the benefits are felt wider still.”

FURTHER INFORMATION www.gov.uk

FunctionaL flexible and fun.

For friendly, expert advice contact us on 01509 611021 or info@stagesystems.co.uk

www.stagesystems.co.uk

Volume 23.4 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Advertisement Feature

Lessons in daylighting from VELUX Modular Skylights Scott Leader, commercial director at VELUX Modular Skylights, looks at how daylight and ventilation have been shown to improve student wellbeing and performance Over the last decade, more organisations have incorporated the benefits of natural daylighting into their building design.

From improved productivity and happier occupants, through to energy savings on artificial lighting and HVAC systems, the benefits have been wide ranging.

A growing number of schools and colleges are now taking the initiative and making daylight and ventilation a key part of their classroom design. Professor Peter Barrett in his ‘Clever Classrooms’ study found that daylight and ventilation can increase children’s learning capacity by up to eight per cent. Natural light, unlike artificial lighting, also helps to create a sense of physical and mental comfort.

Critical to optimising daylight in the classroom is the amount of glazing and rooflights are a very effective method of meeting this requirement. The benefits of daylighting – energy efficiency, environment and comfort – have the ability to improve pupil well-being, learning and productivity, not just in the education sector but in all other buildings where people spend an extended amount of time.

Trumpington As the first new secondary school in Cambridge for 50 years, it was vital that Trumpington Community College could demonstrate the benefits that new school design can bring to learning outcomes.

Sustainability drove every aspect of the college design, including a transport target for 90 per cent of students to arrive by foot, bicycle or public transport.

The school, which specialises in science, now provides 750 student places.

High levels of natural daylight, whilst being compact yet airy, are the hallmarks of the new school, featuring VELUX Modular Skylights to create spaces that are highly conducive to learning. The project features around 245 VELUX Modular Skylights. As well as optimising natural daylight, they promote energy efficiency and offer a robust life expectancy, helping the building achieve a BREEAM Excellent rating.

Ventilation is primarily via the central space, where staff can remotely operate the motorised skylights whenever required.

Professional Barrett’s report states that children are particularly vulnerable to all types of pollutants due to their breathing and metabolic rates being high. There is also much less volume of air per child owing to high occupancy density. The skylights addressed this by creating what Clever Classrooms calls ‘top openings that are

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high in the room, but easy to use, allowing the hottest and stalest air to escape more efficiently’ and, by specifying Velux Modular Skylights, in a controlled manner. Light and fresh air now fill the heart of the school because of the prolific use of skylights.

Avanti Architects, the designers on this project, specified VELUX Modular Skylights because of their ability to promote the energy efficiency of the building and offer a robust life expectancy, helping to deliver on an excellent BREEAM rating.

Andrew Hutchinson OBE, executive principal, Parkside Federation Academies, said: “At Trumpington Community College we were looking for a glazing solution that provided a sense of light and space while minimising glare in our open learning areas.

The VELUX Modular Skylights system has helped us create an exceptional working environment. We are delighted with it.”

Aesthetic and offsite benefits Developed in collaboration with renowned architects Foster + Partners, VELUX Modular Skylights feature a minimalist design with super-slim profiles. This is accentuated by the electrically operated opening and closing ventilation mechanism being fully concealed.

The overall effect is one of ultra slim sightlines when viewed from both the inside and outside of the building, with the visual effect being one that maximises the glazing area whilst minimising the visual frame profile.

VELUX Modular Skylights are unique in being completely prefabricated offsite, which makes for a much quicker, easier and safer installation on site – one that can be up to three times faster than a traditional installation. The modules simply click into

place and can be fitted together in minutes, minimising time spent on the roof and ensuring a watertight seal is achieved exceptionally quickly, so rain won’t hold up the installation. This is vital for educational builds, where time and budget constraints can put strain on schedulers and builders alike.

The modules can be fitted together in multiple ways, and there are eight different sizes too, so they are the perfect fit for a huge range of spaces, including narrow corridors, wide atriums, internal gathering spaces and more.

We know that budget constraints don’t end once a school is erected, either, and that is why it is important to choose skylights that are energy-efficient.

Our skylights not only maximise daylight and fresh air, they perform brilliantly, boasting an energy efficiency rating that exceeds current standards.

Schools need to inspire learning with their look and feel, but they also need to stand the test of time. VELUX Modular Skylights are exceptionally durable and are guaranteed for 10 years, while boasting a lifespan of 30+ years.

Whatever the education build project, you can find the ideal daylight and ventilation solution with premium VELUX quality as standard.

VELUX will be exhibiting at Education Buildings Wales – Cardiff University, 18-19 June, Stand 7. # FURTHER INFORMATION Tel: 01592 778 916 vms@velux.co.uk www.velux.co.uk/modularskylights

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

Education Estates, which takes place 16-17 October in Manchester, is the professional gathering for everyone involved in delivering and managing the UK’s education buildings

The education estates sector faces exciting yet challenging times. With pupil numbers increasing and schools struggling to meet demand, the government has recently announced several measures to grow the number of good school places.

Measures include £50 million to expand the number of places at existing good or outstanding selective schools, a new wave of free school applications, support to expand good faith schools, and an agreement with the independent schools sector to help improve outcomes for pupils of all backgrounds.

The UK’s leading exhibition and conference for education buildings, Education Estates, takes place on 16-17 October in Manchester.

The conference will feature industry experts delivering informative content over the issues facing the industry. The conference is spread over four conference streams: Schools; Colleges & Universities; Good Estate Management; and Early Years & Special Educational Needs.

Julian Wood from the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) said: “We have contributed to Education Estates for several years and we are fully supportive of the event again in 2018.

“This key industry event for the education sector provides best practice, sharing of ideas, and a platform for discussion and debate for those involved in all levels of education buildings design, maintenance and management, and the design and creation of learning spaces. The ESFA Efficiency Award recognises efficiency in education buildings operation and management, and will be awarded again at the 2018 event.”

The exhibition will feature six interactive and engaging feature areas where you will be able to view products for your building projects. The

Education Estates

Get inspiration for your building at Education Estates

high density and multi-storey schools, including recent examples from Scott Brownrigg and other practices, and consider the benefits and constraints.

The objective of the presentation is to identify the successes and help education designers learn the key lessons from them in order to deliver new solutions that meet the needs of children and educationalists now and in the future; and to identify the opportunities and challenges for integration into the city that architects and planners are having to address.

Re-purposing buildings Claire Jackson from Galliford Try will discuss re-purposing existing buildings into schools.

The Department for Education has pledged to open 500 Free Schools by 2020 and expects many of these new Free Schools to open in existing buildings which have been refurbished or re-purposed in order for them to operate as schools.

Claire’s presentation will look at the challenges of converting buildings into new schools from the point of view of the architect, main contractor and end user.

The range of issues affecting the conversion of existing buildings include; designing suitable access for pupils and With deliveries; creating the right size spaces such as schools classrooms and halls in areas are: zero carbon struggli n the right locations; and classroom; washrooms; g t o m eet pup ensuring circulation technology; interactive il-place deman of students and early years play; d , measur a series of staff works well. health and well being; es have Claire will also discuss and the value of a n been nounce designing and working good area design. the numd to grow around the inefficiencies encountered when High density school ber of working within an existing schools places structure, as well as resolving Helen Taylor from the specification requirements, Scott Brownrigg will kick such as environmental performance. off the first session in the School’s conference stream. She will Off-site construction look at the topic of high density Schools Geoff Fawkes from the McAvoy Group will and what to do when space is tight. take a session on the changing face of offsite Urbanisation and densification continues construction, looking at the design and worldwide and the space provided for offsite construction of a new state-of-the-art school buildings is increasingly constrained academy in Slough and how it was delivered by a range of factors. As an industry we several months ahead of programme. are making unprecedented decisions Lynch Hill Enterprise Academy is a about the environments our children are £20m education campus and one of the spending their educational lives in and largest ever modular schools to be built there is a need to capture and share the in the UK. It was completed 17 weeks learning on the subject – for architects, early, giving this new free school the educationalists and policy makers. benefit of even earlier occupation.

The presentation will examine the key In recognition of its success, the project issues affecting the different types of has already been shortlisted for five schools – from early years, through the industry awards. This three-storey 8,750m2 primary phase to secondary schools building is an exemplar offsite education and including special schools and other project which has a design inspired by the specialist provision. Using case studies of world-leading Harvard Business School. the range of schools now being developed The presentation will consider pre-construction worldwide, and reference to some historic challenges, design criteria, technical examples, the presentation will explore advancements in offsite construction, and the the educational, architectural, planning, perspective of the head teacher and the client. construction and regulatory context that is driving this new wave of school designs.

Best practice The presentation will illustrate and The afternoon session of the school’s explore the current range of existing and conference stream will look at ! proposed innovative UK and international Volume 23.4 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Ventilation Jeremy Climas from Max Fordham will examine how natural ventilation design worked at Thomas Gainsborough School.

The school was completed in early 2016 and was shortlisted for a RIBA East Award in March 2017. In May 2017 a study was done on how the school was performing in terms of draughts, thermal comfort and air quality.

Jeremy will present the aims and constraints of the design for ventilation strategy and the solution arrived at in terms of window design and cross ventilation.

Joe will then present the evidence of how well it worked in practice and how the reality compared to the modelling.

Derek Lawrence from Arup will conclude this conference stream with a session on digital schools. He will explain how a group of secondary school students took paper plans and turned them into an interactive digital environment.

This talks explores how partnering with industry and implementing the STEM agenda can provide an enriching experience for all involved.

Safer schools Deborah Borg from Salford City Council will lead a session on how to create safer schools.

Schools are coming under increasing pressure to demonstrate reasonable steps to ensure school safety and respond to new and pressing threats.

Introducing measures needed to physically secure the school site, ensuring pupils and staff feel safe, and responding to emergency situations, as well as addressing issues within the student body is a challenge for all.

Salford City Council shares its journey as good practice, and show how safer environments can be created by good planning, working in partnership, and being pro-active by using existing resources wisely.

Mental health Neil Elliott from IBI Group will examine how considerate design can help improve mental health and wellbeing.

There is growing evidence to show the true depths to which environmental factors influence cognitive and mental health, but as designers of schools we see little guidance as to how the decisions we make can influence the wellbeing of the pupils and teachers who occupy those spaces.

This presentation will look at how design can improve the wellbeing of pupils and staff – sometimes at little or no

additional costs. It will include research by IBI THiNK’s R&D programme and experience from working with schools.

Meanwhile Claire Dickson from Atkins will look at how deign affects Social Emotional Mental Health (SEMH).

SEMH is an umbrella term that describes a wide range of difficulties experienced by many children and young people such as depression and poor social skills.

This sets challenges for designers to create safe, nurturing and inspiring environments, that allow each child and young person to thrive.

Working with Leeds City Council and Wellspring Academy Trust, Atkins has developed a standardised design for three new SEMH schools in Leeds, that aspire to change the standard for SEMH learning. The design is driven by a kinaesthetic approach to learning where music, dance, performance, and drama are used to encourage students to express themselves.

This talk will explain how an exemplar SEMH school for Barnsley MBC became a model for Leeds CC through post-occupancy evaluation and deep engagement with committed educationalists.

Lucy Plumbridge from HLM Architects will talk about the architecture of wellbeing.

In England approximately one in three women and one in ten men between 16-24 years olds say they have experienced a mental health condition. This is more likely to occur in undergraduate courses and particularly in the first year of university. Universities are therefore being encouraged by the government to make wellbeing a strategic priority. A fundamental part of this is the impact that the build environment has on the human experience.

Vitruvius defined the elements of a well-designed building as firmness, commodity and delight – linking good design with happiness and wellbeing. Now this has been redefined as connectivity; activity; mindfulness; and learning and giving. The talk will explore these issues in more detail and look at examples of how they can be addressed through the built environment. #

Education Estates

" best practice and lessons learned from school buildings.

Lois Woods from Nottingham Trent University will examine children’s perspectives on primary school environments.

In the UK, during the 2000s, there was significant investment in the Building Schools for the Future programme. However, a change in government in 2010 led to the existing school building programmes at the time being axed and the Priority School Building Programme being introduced in 2011, with baseline design guidelines and the aim to make school construction more cost-effective. Considering the wide range of new school buildings now existing in the UK, this posed the question: what impact do new school buildings have on the users and their experiences in these environments?

This presentation will present findings from PhD research undertaken 2013-2017. The research reviews the current situation by investigating the impact of ‘new’ primary school buildings on children’s experiences and their daily lives at school, conducting a qualitative post-occupancy investigation of four case study schools.

The research also highlights the potential of participatory techniques through use of creative methods, providing an understanding of primary school buildings through the children’s eyes, giving them a voice within the research. The findings identify that, from the children’s perspective, new primary schools are to some extent, providing sufficient spaces in which to learn. However, it remains that there are some environmental issues which are affecting children. The importance of the holistic school environment is raised as well as desirable spaces and places for children at school, with an emphasis on outdoor spaces and the natural environment. By providing insights into their daily experiences, the findings suggest that such spaces ought to be considered higher priority in the design process.

FURTHER INFORMATION www.educationestates.com

VELUX: Creating positive spaces with rooflights

Daylight and ventilation are key components of optimal learning spaces. The influential Clever Classrooms study (2015) found that they account for the same variation in primary school children’s learning rates as the teachers themselves.

VELUX Company Ltd is known worldwide for creating positive spaces with its roof windows – supplying natural light and fresh air to improve and regulate the indoor climate.

Its VELUX Modular Skylights range applies this at scale – providing innovative, modular and sustainable solutions for roof lighting in schools, hospitals

and commercial buildings.

Designed with architects, Foster + Partners, Velux Modular Skylights can be combined in many configurations in a variety of building types. They have strong sustainability credentials, exceptional energy performance, and a long life expectancy. Fully prefabricated, they save time and resource on-site, meaning construction is completed quicker and more cost-effectively. For more information, see below.

FURTHER INFORMATION www.velux.co.uk/ modularskylights

Volume 23.4 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Transformation of a London landmark into the DfE's new head office

CLIENT: WILLMOTT DIXON PROJECT COMPLETION: JUNE 2018 LOCATION: OLD ADMIRALTY BUILDING The Old Admiralty Building is quite unique in structure. Asbestos had been mixed with clinker concrete to form the floors and a percentage of the walls within the building. Because of the abundance that was on the site at the time of construction, the same compound had been used for patch repairs, filling and structural bonding wherever required. This meant that the structure of the building could potentially contain asbestos containing materials literally anywhere, it was impossible to survey where all the asbestos was within the building. eBrit have been appointed by Willmott Dixon Interiors to carry out enabling works throughout the project. The works are undertaken using the following methods to ensure control measures are in place so as not to expose any site worker to asbestos.

Encapsulation Where clinker floors are exposed, eBrit Operatives spray ET150 paint generously in three coats, allowing each coat to dry before applying the next. This ensures that the raised floor contractors can attach their pedestals with resin whilst minimising the risk of exposure to asbestos

Chases All electrical chases are carried out within polythene enclosures placed under negative pressure. The wall chasers are fitted with a H type exhaust and surfactant and water is sprayed within the enclosure. Any exposed asbestos containing clinker is encapsulated with ET150 following completion of the chase. Chases are repaired and the surface is made smooth with Fosroc render in preparation for the setting of new conduit and back boxes Spaces for electrical boxes for new services are also formed within the enclosure using the same method

Fire Hearths Old fire hearths are saturated with a water and surfactant solution. An enclosure is formed around the hearth which is placed under negative pressure. The hearth is broken into four manageable pieces with the enclosure and wrapped in 1000 gauge polythene and sealed with cloth tape. The floor is now encapsulated with ET150 encapsulation paint to seal the exposed clinker where the hearth once sat

Drilling All drilling is carried out on site by eBrit Services using a shadow vacuum or local exhaust ventilation(LEV techniques). eBrit use a Hilti Chem Fix and Rod system which leave a threaded rod hanging from the ceiling so that ceiling fixing can commence without exposure to ACMs

Floor Penetrations eBrits Managing Director developed a new method for core drilling through floors to create holes for services.

Bespoke Perspex domes were made that sat directly under a drilling rig. The domes had one hole for air intake and one for a H type exhaust. The ceiling below the penetration has a polythene shoot attached to it which leads to a wheelie bin placed on a scaffold tower. All dust is taken from the dome via the exhaust and any fragments fall directly into the asbestos bags lining the plastic bin. The result is a totally dustless method that has not seen any elevated fibre levels

01268 685886 www.ebritservices.co.uk

Asbestos

With figures showing that asbestos is still not being managed enough across schools, Paul Beaumont, CEO of the Independent Asbestos Training Providers, shares some advice on what should be done Today there remains a legal requirement to manage asbestos in all non-domestic premises throughout the UK. This requirement, although sometimes overlooked, can be achieved with minimal impact to the ongoing and daily operations to those premises, but it must be done right, and it must be done thoroughly.

Educational buildings, including schools, academies, colleges, and so on, have a need to observe this requirement as, by their nature, they are not domestic premises, although some that work in them, may feel that they do live there from time to time.

The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, Regulation 4, states that the location, extent and amount of asbestos must be recorded and that the information must be made available to all those who may need

it, this includes the emergency services.

This requirement, first introduced in 2002, which became enforceable by 2004, is one that everyone needs to be aware of and most of all, compliant with.

Written by Paul Beaumont, CEO, the Independent Asbestos Training Providers

Getting to grips with asbestos management

be an Asbestos Management Survey. If however, you already know what asbestos you have and where it is, then this may be enough information. An Asbestos Management Survey would however assist you in identifying asbestos that could easily be encounter through the normal use of a building. By having this survey in place, the asbestos identified can be “managed�. It must however be noted that this level of survey and probably your own information is often not suitable for areas where works above that of general maintenance are being carried out. In such cases, a more involved and intrusive survey, aptly named, a Refurbishment Survey, should be carried out.

This level of survey would look deeper into the fabric of a building and encompass any areas where works are planned. By having this survey carried out well in advance of the proposed works, any asbestos located can be correctly dealt with which should remove any delay in the actual works programme commencing and prevent the accidental release of asbestos and help prevent exposure.

When asbestos materials are correctly identified, the management of it becomes much easier. Without clear and thorough records of where asbestos is, materials can go unchecked, or if no records exist it may even mean that materials that are not asbestos are instead being managed as asbestos. !

Asbest that isnos manag ’t become ed can or distu damaged rbe in the p d, resulting o exposu tential r occupa e of nts

Identifying asbestos The best was to manage asbestos is to first identify it.

The best way to do this by commissioning an appropriate asbestos survey; normally this would

Volume 23.4 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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As well as carrying out asbestos removal, we also undertake surveys of buildings to determine the location and quantities of suspect material. This will include the taking of bulk samples for laboratory analysis and a full report giving recommendations for removal and/ or encapsulation.

“…It was very refreshing to work with a company interested in building a longstanding relationship. ICE supplied us with a number of solutions to address our asbestos issue.

We are now looking forward to the commencement of works to our Girls’ School during May half term” Facilities Manager, Private School, West Midlands.

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

Asbestos management can take various routes. It may be that any asbestos found can be left alone, it may be located out of the way in areas not normally accessed or where it would be difficult to interact with.

In some cases, its removal may be required " Asbestos management A failure to manage asbestos is often the cause of great problems. Asbestos that isn’t managed can easily become damaged or disturbed resulting in the potential exposure of the building occupants to fibres that can kill. There is also a potentially high cost involved in clearing up disturbed asbestos, not to mention the possible need to vacate the school while the works are being carried out.

Asbestos management can take various routes, it may be that any asbestos found can be left alone, it may be located out of the way in areas not normally accessed or where it would be difficult to interact with.

Some asbestos may require repair and or

protection from damage or interaction and in some cases, its removal may be required.

The key to whole process is management.

Once it is decided what will be done with the asbestos located, a schedule of review can be implemented. It must be noted, you do not need to re-survey premises providing the information provided is reliable. What you do need to do is set up a schedule for re-inspection and monitoring. This schedule is determined by the activities with in or around the area of the asbestos, the likelihood of disturbance and the risk presented to those who occupy or use the areas where the asbestos is located. If, for example you have asbestos in a little used store room or

Asbestos

cupboard, your management option may be to leave it in place, have it sealed or protected.

A re-inspection of this area may then only be required every couple of years, whereas, a wall in a corridor may require much more frequent inspections and severe actions, such as removal.

Asbestos materials should be routinely monitored, care must be taken to ensure that situations such as water ingress, accidental and malicious damage are monitored. Where materials are seen to have deteriorated or become damaged, actions need to be taken.

Having an asbestos management plan will help decide what should be done and when. Registers of asbestos materials should kept up to date and where required, up dated to reflect any changes. Contractors visiting the premises and maintenance staff who are undertaking works need to be advised of the information contained within a register and made aware of its content.

Guidance The HSE (Health and Safety Executive) has produced a document to assist Duty Holders in asbestos management, which can be accessed by visiting the HSE website and downloading HSG 264, the Survey Guide.

This guide will not only assist in safe management of asbestos, but also provides information on how surveys are carried out, who should do them, what they should cover and what they should contain.

The DfE have also produced guidance for schools along with organisations such as JUAC (the Joint Union Asbestos Committee). All these guides have been produced to assist educational establishment along with other building duty holders to manage their asbestos.

Only through the correct and safe management can we ensure the safety of those who enter and use these premises.

It should also be pointed out that buildings built after the year 2000 should not contain asbestos. In such cases care would still need to be observed where old teaching materials and aids are used such as WWII gas masks, old Bunsen burner pads, older equipment such as kilns and ovens, as these may still be or contain asbestos.

There is also a legal requirement to ensure people are provided with information, instruction and training for those who may encounter any asbestos.

Asbestos exposure can lead to fatal conditions which are often not realised for decades following exposure. The UK is currently seeing around 5,500 deaths every year due to previous exposure to asbestos.

Through correct and successful management, this figure can be reduced, rather than seeing it increase as the current trend suggests.

There is no cure for any of the asbestos related diseases; the best and certainly the most preferred option is to prevent the disease occurring by preventing exposure through good management. # FURTHER INFORMATION www.iatp.org.uk

Volume 23.4 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Case Study

Compliance in your kitchen extract ductwork system is a vital area of property management, writes Gary Nicholls Your menu may be outstandingly healthy and your kitchen scrupulously clean, but there is one area where airborne fat, oil and grease from cooking will still escape and form greasy deposits – inside your kitchen extract ductwork. During term time it isn’t easy to access these areas, so the holidays are ideal to arrange regular cleaning, which is not only essential for hygiene, but also a legal requirement and a vital fire safety precaution.

Inside your kitchen extract ductwork a surprisingly thin layer of grease poses a very real fire risk. A thin film of an average depth of 200 microns is sufficient to form a fire risk and to require cleaning in accordance with TR/19, the leading industry guidance document on ductwork hygiene. This is a lot thinner than you might expect – about half the thickness of the average business card.

You can’t prevent this layer from forming, but fire safety depends on your arranging its complete removal on a regular basis.

Failure to do this can have some very serious consequences. Your fire safety will be compromised. The presence of a grease layer turns the ductwork into a convenient chimney through which fire can travel, the grease itself acting as

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fuel to feed the fire, spreading it through other parts of the building, and causing greater damage and a threat to lives.

If you don’t comply with TR/19 you may be held to be negligent, and there are some potentially severe consequences for that.

Firstly, and most seriously, lives may be at stake. What starts as a simple kitchen fire can spread through uncleaned ductwork at an alarming rate. Cleaning to TR/19 helps to limit or delay that spread, buying vital time to evacuate staff, students and visitors to safety, and allowing firefighters a better chance of bringing the fire under control before extensive damage is done.

Secondly, if TR/19 is not complied with, your buildings insurer is very likely to see this

as compromising your insurance policy and they may well not pay out in the event of fire.

Thirdly, you can be prosecuted for negligence and, in the most serious cases, individuals can be held responsible and custodial sentences imposed.

The results of compliance are much more palatable. Once professionally cleaned, TR/19 compliant ductwork means safety, peace of mind and the knowledge that you have complied with the law, safeguarded your building’s users and protected your insurance policy. We know which we would prefer.

FURTHER INFORMATION www.swiftclean.co.uk

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

New rules on air quality in classrooms are expected to come into force later this year.

The draft of Building Bulletin 101: Guidelines on ventilation, thermal comfort and indoor air quality, makes a number of key changes from the current document (Building Bulletin 101: ventilation for school buildings).

The changes have been introduced to minimise the risk of classrooms overheating and to control carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in classrooms in line with the Education and Skills Funding Agency’s Facilities Output Specification.

As such, the revised document draws inspiration from the last 10 years of school design as well as other guidance, such as the Priority School Building Programme (PSBP), the CIBSE Technical Memorandum (TM52:2013), The limits of thermal comfort: avoiding overheating in European buildings, and Approved Document L2A of the Building Regulations, to deliver a greater emphasis on energy efficiency and indoor comfort.

The revised document is currently on hold, possibly until after a wider review

Ventilation categories Natural ventilation has been used traditionally to provide comfort and supply fresh air to classrooms simply by opening windows and allowing the wind and/or buoyancy forces (whereby warm air rises pulling in cooler air to replace it) to move air through the space.

The downside is that, aside from opening and Thermal comfort closing windows, the system is uncontrollable Perhaps the most significant change proposed and can cause draughts. Similarly, if a school is the introduction of the concept of adaptive is near a busy road, noise and pollution thermal comfort; how the occupants perceive my prevent windows being opened. temperature, based on a number of variable Mechanical ventilation systems were factors, rather than the fixed benchmark introduced to overcome some of these issues. temperature thresholds used in the current Generally, they use a fan to push fresh air edition of BB101, as a way of defining into a classroom and to pull stale air occupants’ thermal comfort. As such, from the room. These systems adoption of the new guideline also filter the air and pass it will provide a more flexible s e l u through a heat exchanger to and accurate assessment r New ality warm it in winter before for the operation and u supplying it to the room. lifetime of the building on air qoms are o The downside is that in terms of occupant r s s a l e m in c o c running a fan means thermal comfort. o t d that these systems The revised document expecte e later this c r consume ! also addresses the o e f th o of Building Regulations which is currently taking place following the Grenfell Tower tragedy. Nevertheless, the revisions are expected to be adopted and they will have both practical and economic implications for the design and refurbishment of schools.

Written by Ashley Bateson, board member and current Vice President of CIBSE.

Ashley Bateson from the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers, which recently launched its HVAC Systems Group, considers the changing regulations around ventilation in schools and what they will mean for air quality and the comfort of pupils

Facilities Management

Temperature, ventilation and air quality in schools

problem that in some classrooms CO2 levels rise above recommended levels in winter because windows remain closed to prevent cold draughts upsetting the occupants. In the revised document, it will be a requirement for building services engineers to assess draught risk by checking the air velocity and temperature.

In reality this requirement means that the option of providing fresh air to a room by opening the windows cannot be the sole method of ventilation. So, in addition to the two current strategies for introducing fresh air into classrooms, natural ventilation and mechanical ventilation, the revised document includes a new ventilation category termed ‘hybrid’ or ‘mixed mode’, which is a combination of the mechanical and natural ventilation.

int inimise ms m o t r yea classroo risk of heating over

Volume 23.4 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Not just decorating classroom spaces, but designing them to improve learning

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Dr Harriet Sturdy Photo credit: chadwickdryerclarke studio

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Maintenance and cleaning So what are the maintenance and cleaning issues of heating and ventilation systems for schools? The advantage with natural ventilation systems is that opening and closing windows has no maintenance cost. However for mechanical and hybrid systems the design should ensure that fans and filters should be easily accessible for maintenance and easy to clean.

Filtration may be needed for two reasons: to prevent dirt accumulating in the ventilation system and/or to filter out pollutants. Filtering out pollutants that have health effects requires more expensive filters whereas less efficient and cheaper filters can be used simply to protect air handling plant.

Similarly, heat exchangers should be able to be inspected to ensure that they

Energy Heating and cooling systems can be some of the largest users of energy in schools, they are also some of the hardest services to decarbonise and manage effectively. As national policy turns to the challenge of low carbon heat, CIBSE has launched a HVAC Systems Group to support and encourage efficient design, installation and operation of heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems.

Launched at the end of last year, the new CIBSE Group will provide a ready means for sharing of new developments and experience in the effective design and operation of low carbon heating, ventilation and cooling systems. The new group aims to broaden knowledge and awareness of the strategic and practical issues, the latest developments and new technologies related to HVAC systems.

The group will also identify knowledge gaps in the design and operation of HVAC systems to promote research in these areas in addition to contributing to the development of new publications and the maintenance of existing guidance. "

are not contaminated. Air ducts and plenum spaces used for ventilation should be accessible and easily cleanable. Air handling units with filters may be fitted with filter alarms to send a fault signal to the maintenance team to indicate that filters are dirty and need to be changed.

School kitchens will be ventilated using an independent ventilation system designed specifically for the kitchen, which will operate only when the kitchen is in use.

School kitchens typically use gas-fired cooking appliances. However, some low energy school kitchens are now starting to use electric induction cooking, which means there are no combustion gases to be removed and waste heat from around the pans is minimised. This enables the total ventilation rate to be reduced significantly.

Kitchen ventilation systems will generally be designed in accordance with a document known as DW/172: Specification for Kitchen Ventilation Systems. This document reflects current legislation and the latest cooking techniques and design of catering equipment.

In terms of cleaning, it is the grease extracted by the ventilation system that should be collected and removed so that it does not accumulate in either the kitchen extract canopy or the ductwork system. Grease filters should be removable and installed so that they are accessible for cleaning and maintenance. CIBSE provides guidance on the hygienic maintenance of ductwork in CIBSE TM26.

Facilities Management

! energy throughout the school day. The new guidelines also prevent designers using mechanical ventilation as the sole means of ventilation, particularly in the summer, when it should be possible to provide fresh air by opening the windows, or vents, to provide sufficient fresh air.

A hybrid – or mixed-mode – system introduces outdoor air into a building by both mechanical and passive means.

These systems employ natural driving forces of the wind and the stack effect, and when natural forces alone do not result in the CO2 requirements being met, they boost air movement using a fan.

Ashley Bateson is head of sustainability at engineering consultant Hoare Lee. He is a board member and current Vice President of CIBSE. FURTHER INFORMATION www.cibse.org

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Volume 23.4 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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In 2015, the Sentencing Court changed its guidelines for sentences in relation to health and safety offences and corporate manslaughter, with fines relating to health and safety increasing significantly; ranging from £50 to £10 million. Fines are based on offence and culpability, and “are concerned with failures to manage risks to health and safety and do not require proof that the offence caused any actual harm. The offence is in creating a risk of harm.”

Assessing the risks Access control systems carry many benefits for a school not just in terms of security, but financially, environmentally and managerially.

From a health and safety point of view, controlled access to areas and equipment based on competency can help a school in complying with workplace laws. For example, they can be integrated with training and competency systems to limit access to areas and equipment to authorised and trained users only, control who has access to areas containing dangerous or hazardous equipment and restrict access to contaminated

areas or areas under construction.

When it comes to a duty of care for employees, the systems can be used to protect personal assets, such as controlling access to locker rooms or staff only areas.

They can also prevent people unrelated to the business from walking into the building, consequently protecting lone or vulnerable staff. Their capabilities also mean that additional information can be recorded against user credentials.

For example, a staff member’s key pass can also contain personal information such as next of kin, emergency contacts, blood type and known health risks, which can be extremely useful in the case of an emergency.

Ris assessmk should ents carried be assessin out how ac g exactly affect hcess could ea safety i lth and n workpl the ace

Recognising the risks A key step in ensuring compliance with health and safety regulations is being able to recognise

Making the grade When choosing an access control system, it is vital to choose a system that is compliant with British and European standards, as, after all, if the system is not fit for purpose then its deployment could be seen as a breach of duty of care for employees. The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) have developed BS EN 60839-11 for alarm and electronic security systems. The standard introduces the concept of grading to the specification of security systems. In the case of access control, control points are graded according to the type of business and risk associated with the premises that needs to be secured. The grade applies to the specific protected area, not the system as a whole, so a site could be secured by mixed grades of access control points.

The BSIA’s ‘Specifier’s Guide to Access Control Systems’ explains the four types of grading in relation to access points.

Grade 1, which is considered as low risk, would include a standalone lock with a code, PIN or token, or off-line system controlled in a public area for low risk situations, such as an internal door where access to the general public is prohibited.

Grade 2 is for areas of low to medium risk, and would be an on-line system which utilises tokens or PINs in order to prevent access to the premises. In these cases, events are received in real-time on the monitoring software. Some typical examples of a grade 2 system would be used in commercial offices and small businesses.

Grade 3 is for areas of medium to high risk, used for secure areas of a business such as its server room. Systems of this grading would include on-line systems that require two factor authentication or a single-factor biometric identification in order to access the area.

Finally, a grade 4 system is for #

Volume 23.4 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

Written by James Kelly, chief executive of the British Security Industry Association (BSIA)

It is extremely important that schools are taking the necessary steps to ensure proper duty of care for their employees, including assessing how access control measures comply with health and safety. James Kelly, chief executive of the British Security Industry Association (BSIA), explains

Security

Securing staff safety with access control measures

the risks faced by the school as a whole and its employees. Risk assessments should be carried out in order to create a comprehensive risk register and corresponding contingency plans, with the plans being regularly reviewed and updated. From an access control perspective, risk assessments should be carried out assessing exactly how access could affect health and safety in the workplace, taking into account questions like: how many people will be entering and exiting the building on a daily basis? Does this need to be logged? Which areas need to have secure access and which don’t? How will the systems work in different states of emergency? It can be helpful in these cases to enlist the assistance of a security consultant, as a professional opinion outside of the business can help in identifying risks that may not have already been flagged up.

They can also assist in choosing the right access control system that best fits the needs of the business, particularly in regards to complying with health and safety.

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Security ! areas of high risk requiring extra levels of security, such as a government building or research lab. Access points to these areas would incorporate an online system that uses two or more factors of authentication, one of which would be biometric or human image verification.

Taking into account the new grading system from a health and safety perspective, it is extremely important for an organisation to identify which areas of a site carry the highest risks and protect those areas and people accordingly.

In order to comply with the standard, the equipment used to provide access control at each door should meet all of the requirements needed to meet the correct grading level. Any parts of a system that are shared by more than one door must have a grade equal to or better than the highest graded door.

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Emergency exits should be considered in the system design in order to adequately enable escape from the site in ways that are appropriate to the amount of building users An emergency In terms of emergency situations, emergency exits should be considered in the system design in order to adequately enable escape from the site in ways that are appropriate to the amount of building users, taking into account how familiar the building users are likely to be with building escape procedures.

In situations of panic, users must be able to easily find and operate hardware located on the exit doors, even if they are not familiar with the escape routes and procedures.

Generally, compliance with health and

safety should always be a top priority for any business. As such, when choosing systems to help ensure this, it is crucial that corners are not cut when sourcing security suppliers. Members of the BSIA’s Access and Asset Protection Section have extensive experience in providing systems to all types of businesses and are inspected to the relevant British and European standards. " FURTHER INFORMATION www.bsia.co.uk

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

Advertisement Feature ADVERTORIAL

Positive professional projection at ISBL conference As professionals, we are responsible for both maintaining and demonstrating the highest levels of professionalism, ensuring that our skills and knowledge are up-to-date, relevant, acknowledged and respected by peers. But how do you go about projecting your professional status, in your own setting, and in local cluster and regional networks?

And how can you ensure your skills and knowledge are properly recognised?

For most professions, gaining recognition for your skills and knowledge can be achieved through nationally recognised qualifications and standards that provide assurance and confidence to employers and other organisation leaders.

This is the mission of ISBL; ensuring that we set the benchmark for school business excellence, develop accessible professional career pathways, and provide assurance and professional recognition.

These aims will feature throughout this year’s national conference, which will be our first national conference event as the Institute of School Business Leadership.

What can delegates expect?

The focus of the conference will be on ‘Projecting Professionalism’ – how this can be achieved, who the stakeholders are that can influence this, and how we, as professionals, can and must control our own professional recognition and acknowledgement.

The school business professional role has always been – and will continue to be – an isolated role within a school setting, principally because you are the only specialist professional or are, at least, outnumbered by the pedagogical team even where you lead a team of school business professionals.

Teaching and learning professionals are driven by self-assessment and termly reviews of pupil progress, so it is easier for them to project and promote the direct impact that they have on the school, its strategic plans and delivery of pupil outcomes.

As school business professionals, it can feel as though there is far less tangible evidence of the impact that you have on the overall

school achievements. However, this is far from the case and the conference aims to show practitioners how they can demonstrate and project the impact that they have as a professional and the specialist influence they have on the success of the school.

We have secured leading educational speakers who will draw on research, policy and other organisational structures to demonstrate the importance of joined-up leadership and the positive impact that school business leaders have on the effective running of schools. The speakers will also consider the professionalisation of the sector and how an evolving sector can have an impact on those practitioners delivering the change, looking at how you can respond positively to change and outwardly project a positive professional approach.

Speakers Speakers include the Real David Cameron (independent thinking associate), who delivered a workshop last year to huge acclaim, with requests for him to be the motivational speaker this year. You asked, we deliver. He is!

Leora Cruddas, CEO of Freedom and Autonomy for Schools (FASNA), which aims to promote and secure autonomy for schools and evidence its success.

Professor Karen Starr, Deakin University, Australia, whose research areas include educational leadership, organisational change and renewal.

Charles E. Peterson, President, ASBO International, USA who is also a Chief Finance Officer in one of the Intermediate Units, whose goal is for Intermediate Units to meet student and community

needs in a cost-effective manner.

Paul Whiteman, General Secretary, NAHT, the largest union for school leaders in the UK. Dr Robin Bevan, ISBL Patron and National Education Union Vice-chair, talking about principal and SBL partnership.

What the conference offers The conference will offer delegates the opportunity to attend four of twenty possible workshops, all of which have been developed specifically for school business professionals following feedback from our members about the key challenges.

Each of the workshops will offer a bitesize training session, delivered by a specialist in that area and supported by an ISBL Fellow with a specialism in that school business discipline. The specialist providers for the workshops already include CIPFA, CIPD, CIPS, the Information Commissioners Office (ICO), DfE and ESFA. Integral to the conference is an exhibition where delegates can meet more than 90 different suppliers of products and services to the education sector and identify new suppliers and areas for greater efficiency.

Where and when?

The event will be held at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole, National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham on Thursday 15 and Friday 16 November 2018. All delegates attending the full conference can be accommodated on site at the venue.

To book your place, see below. " FURTHER INFORMATION www.isbl.org.uk/nationalconference

Volume 23.4 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Play

Active play, healthy brains The government’s Healthy Pupil Capital Fund includes money for playgrounds, as it is recognised that active play can help tackle obesity and inactivity in children and young people Playgrounds, as well as sports facilities and school kitchens, are included in the government’s Healthy Pupil Capital Fund, which goes towards building projects that could help tackle obesity and inactivity in children and young people. This is welcome news, given the amount of public parks closing down or at risk of closing down.

The Association of Play Industries (API) submitted Freedom of Information requests to 326 local authorities to get an insight into local authority playground provision in England and how it is changing. The results showed that between 2014 and 2016, 214 playgrounds had been closed, with a further 234 planned closures between 2016 and 2019.

Local authorities cited lack of budget to maintain, repair or replace equipment as reasons for the closures.

This worrying picture is backed up by Fields in Trust research which showed that nearly one in five people (16 per cent) say that their local park or green space has been under threat of being lost or built on.

Play helps mental health Mental health problems affect about one in 10 children and young people, according

to the Mental Health Foundation.

The link between play and wellbeing is well documented thanks to numerous studies into how play is crucial for children’s emotional, social, cognitive and physical development.

One study from the American Medical Association said: “Children will be smarter, better able to get along with others, healthier and happier when they have regular opportunities for free and unstructured play outdoors.”

The Mental Health Foundation states that “being in good physical health, eating a balanced diet and getting regular exercise, and having time and freedom to play indoors and outdoors” can help keep children and young people mentally well.

Many children do not have gardens so a trip to their local playground represents one of their few opportunities to enjoy outdoor play.

Indeed, research from the Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE), showed

that 95 per cent of parks professionals are concerned that a lack of investment in parks will have health and social impacts.

Health benefits of parks Recent research from Fields in Trust reveals a direct link between public parks and green spaces and health and wellbeing.

It demonstrates that parks and green spaces provide people with over £34 billion of health and wellbeing benefits. These are a result of people enjoying greater life satisfaction including both improved physical and mental health, directly as a result of using regularly using parks and green spaces.

Compiled using HM Treasury approved research methodology, Revaluing Parks and Green Spaces demonstrates National Health Service savings of at least £111 million per year. This figure is based solely on prevented GP visits and doesn’t include #

There numero’s us studies i n t play is c o how children rucial for ’s social, c emotional, o and ph gnitive developysical ment

Volume 23.4 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

41

Play ! savings from non-referrals for treatment or prescriptions – meaning the actual savings to the taxpayer will be significantly higher.

The report also calculates that parks provide a total economic value to each person in the UK of just over £30 per year.

The value of parks and green spaces is higher for individuals from lower socio-economic groups and also from black and minority ethnic backgrounds. This means that any loss of parks and green spaces will disproportionately impact disadvantaged and underrepresented communities, precisely those who value them the most.

Helen Griffiths, chief executive of Fields in Trust, said: “This report clearly demonstrates the economic and wellbeing benefits that parks and green spaces bring to people across the UK. At a time when parks and green spaces are under threat this is valuable evidence that the loss of green space is hugely damaging to people’s welfare.”

Association of Play Industries Chair, Mark Hardy, said: “Now for the first time, Fields in Trust have quantifiable evidence of the value of parks and green spaces. The Wellbeing Value associated with the frequent use of local parks and green spaces is worth £34.2 billion per year to the entire UK adult population and parks are estimated to save the NHS around £111 million.

“There is also further evidence that our parks and green spaces contribute to a preventative health agenda, reduce future Exchequer expenditure, reduce health inequalities and increase social cohesion and

equality. These spaces have been taken for granted – an essential part of the fabric of our lives – and now they are under threat.

“Such is the positive impact of our parks and green spaces, that to lose them will further exacerbate the obesity crisis and rising mental health problems, as well as increasing levels of loneliness across many sectors of the population.”

Play England, meanwhile, is calling on the government to increase funding for play. It states that investment in play has been cut from £235 million prior to 2010 to zero in 2018. Between 2012 and 2017, Sport England received £1 billion from the government

and National Lottery funding and Play England is calling for these levels of national funding to also be made available for play.

As the number of community play spaces declines, playgrounds in schools are becoming increasingly important. As such, funding from the Healthy Pupil Capital Fund, which comes from money raised from the ‘sugar tax’, is welcome news and schools are urged to apply for funding. " FURTHER INFORMATION www.fieldsintrust.org www.api-play.org

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teachers with reference to the National xoxoxoxo to help bring the classroom to Curriculum, life. Whatever they choose, all children will beFURTHER able to enjoy a full learning experience INFORMATION in an interactive and safe environment. xxx Highlighting the importance of STEM and the careers they can lead to, the government has named 2018 as the Year of Engineering. KidZania is working with the campaign to showcase the exciting engineering industry to kids who will shape the future of the world we live in.

Discover Remap National charity, Remap, works with the Year of Engineering campaign to highlight the value of engineering, especially when practical skills are applied to transform the lives of disabled people, helping them to live more independent lives. Remap volunteers work hard to design and make bespoke equipment for those who need it free of charge. In integration with Middlesex Cricket, Remap will run an activity in the KidZania Stadium exploring blind cricket and engineer-able solutions that need to be created in order to play cricket blind – allowing children to think up clever solutions and become engineers themselves.

Remap will be in the Stadium on Wednesday 23 May to Thursday 24 May 2018 (as part of

Explore Usborne Books Usborne is the UK’s number one independent children’s publisher, specialising in creative, innovative, engaging books.

Usborne is delighted to be a landmark partner of the 2018 Year of Engineering, helping children understand more about engineering through our wonderful range of inspiring and accessible STEM books.

Fantastic Usborne authors Alex Frith, Alice James & Jerome Martin will be at KidZania on Wednesday 20 June during our STEM Fair event to host an exciting STEM Quiz throughout the day.

Aviation Skills Partnership Aviation Skills Partnership is an independent umbrella organisation dedicated to transforming the approach to aviation skills and creating career pathways into aviation at all ages and stages. Aviation Skills Partnership will run a short workshop activity at KidZania during our STEM Fair event from Wednesday 20 June to Friday 22 June 2018.

This unique workshop is designed to get young people thinking about what it takes to be a pilot, in particular what effects being a pilot

Aviation Skills Partnership will run a short workshop activity at KidZania during our STEM Fair event from Wednesday 20 June to Friday 22 June 2018

Written by

Based in Westfield London, Shepherd’s Bush, KidZania is a 75,000 square foot child-sized city where kids aged four to fourteen can become firefighters, pilots, radio presenters and lots more. At KidZania, children are encouraged to independently explore a range of exciting real-life activitiesquam and ‘work’, earn facepro and playetinet, the city, whilst also developing Udae nonsend icidisquid elisimincim sed important skills, such as critical thinking, entrepreneurship and team-work quodi blaborum ut molorem aut ationse nos eumque laboribus et quoditiat dolo qui de volecab orerisqui nitibusdae nullacianti rest, sitiatis ut idem quodi consequat facimagnime pernatemquae has on the body both physically and Every activity at KidZania has been our Step Into University event) & Wednesday nimus earibus, tem ipsaest moluptatium net22nd et June 2018. mentally. The workshop will include developed and supported by qualified 20 June toes Friday

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elements of STEM learning, science of the body and maths challenges.

Visit Sea Cadets at KidZania Sea Cadets help teenagers develop into resilient, confident young people who can thrive in today’s complex and sometimes overwhelming world – helping them to go far when they leave school. At KidZania, Sea Cadets will be teaching children all about Marine Engineering, showcasing real engines and teaching children how engines works through hands-on learning experiences.

Sea Cadets will be at KidZania on Monday 20 August to Sunday 2 September.

Meet Abrams & Chronicle Books Abrams & Chronicle Books is the London-based European arm of acclaimed publishing houses ABRAMS (New York) and Chronicle Books (San Francisco). Abrams & Chronicle Books will be celebrating the bestselling, STEM-tastic books by dream-team Andrea Beaty and David Roberts, including Rosie Revere, Engineer, Ada Twist, Scientist and Iggy Peck, Architect (Abrams Books for Young Readers) at KidZania’s STEM Fair on Thursday 21 June. Look out for the pop-up stand and inspire young engineers with activity kits, Rosie Revere bandanas, goodie bags and more! School visits to KidZania are suitable for KS1, KS2 and KS3 pupils that are aged 4-14. " FURTHER INFORMATION Tel: 0330 131 3335 schools@kidzania.co.uk

Volume 23.4 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

43

School Trips

Exercising due diligence in school travel All School Travel Forum members are now required to be ABTA-assured, giving further peace-of-mind to teachers that they are booking their trip with a reputable travel company

Accurate information so you can make an informed choice.

Advice or assistance on passport, visa and health requirements.

Written by the School Travel Forum

ABTA code of conduct for members

An offer of a suitable alternative if there are building works that will seriously impair your trip.

A refund of your holiday cost if there’s a significant flight delay and you don’t want to take your trip.

A response to any complaint you might have within 28 days.

Resolution of your complaint as quickly as possible and, if it can’t be resolved amicably, the guaranteed option of arbitration to find a settlement.

The School Travel Forum is a professional trade body g dedicated to promoting n i k o Bo the best standards in A T AB school travel worldwide. with an r gives The STF’s Assured e b mem ssurance Member scheme has a r e h won widespread t r d u n f ers a are recognition and h c a e t to y support for the way it that theh a s r e d has provided essential a t le i w g reassurance for teachers bookin le travel and leaders looking to b a t u rep organise school trips. y compan The School Travel Forum is also the awarding body for the LOtC Quality Badge for companies operating study, sports and cultural tours.

The LOtC Quality Badge provides a national award combining the essential elements of provision – learning and safety – into one easily recognisable and trusted accreditation scheme. The scheme is managed and developed by the Council for Learning Outside the Classroom, an independent charity existing to champion LOtC and encourage young people to get out and about.

Further assurance All School Travel Forum Assured members are now required to also be a member of ABTA. The strengths of # Volume 23.4 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

45

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Evidence shows that educational visits are rewarding and justify a place in any well-balanced curriculum. The STF want to support schools in achieving that aim and commit to our principles of working with stakeholders to promote best practice in school travel A trusted brand STF chief executive Gill Harvey said: “This is a very positive and important step for the School Travel Forum. “ABTA is a trusted travel brand known for its expertise and guidance and will provide STF members with a wealth of advice and support in addition to what we already provide.

“We also recognise the role ABTA has in providing practical help and expertise on travel regulations – such as the upcoming package travel regulations and GDPR – to inform and keep members up to date on what’s required of them in the coming months.”

These awards and memberships provide schools with an easy and highly effective means of exercising due diligence in school travel and provides reassurance to any stakeholder involved with school travel including, teachers, leaders, senior management and governors. The ABTA logo is highly regarded with consumers and will bring added comfort to parents.

Evidence shows that educational visits are rewarding, hugely beneficial and justify a place in any well-balanced curriculum. The STF want to support schools in achieving that aim and commit to our principles of working with stakeholders to promote best practice in school travel.

Victoria Bacon, Abta brand and business director, said: “We are delighted to join forces with School Travel Forum members to support school trips.

“With 75 per cent of people looking for an ABTA member when they book their own family holiday, knowing that they can do the same for school breaks will give parents and teachers confidence that they are booking with a reputable travel company. "

School Trips

! both organisations have been brought together for the benefit of students, teachers, schools and other stakeholders – combining the STF’s educational travel experience and expertise with ABTA’s broader knowledge and experience of the travel sector.

Booking with an ABTA member gives further assurance to teachers and leaders that they are booking with a reputable travel company. All package and ‘Flight-Plus’ trips that have been sold by ABTA Members are protected financially in the event of a company failure. This means that in the unlikely event your school travel provider goes out of business, there is a quick, clear and simple process for schools to follow, to enable them to continue their school trip as planned or get their money back STF and ABTA members manage fantastic experiences for thousands of school trips every year but sometimes things don’t go to plan. An added benefit of booking with an ABTA member is that, if required, schools will have access to a fast, cost-effective and independent complaints resolution service which could save time and money. The scheme is approved by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute and offers an independent process to help both parties resolve a complaint without the costs of going to court.

Schools will also have the added reassurance that all STF members will have access to ABTA’s guidance which covers a range of issues, from animal welfare to health and safety, package travel regulations and GDPR. Ensuring that their travel provider will be informed of and operating within the guidelines of the most up to date regulations.

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FURTHER INFORMATION www.schooltravelforum.com www.lotcqualitybadge.org.uk

Volume 23.4 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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K + 2 S K For

S3

Junior SCHO O LS

Outdoor Learning

Remove the classroom walls and the sky’s the limit Schools throughout the UK are signing up to go ‘wild’ this June. They’re taking their classes outdoors, and replacing the classroom, with open natural spaces, full of possibilities.

As part of 30 Days Wild, schools are pledging to connect with nature every day during the entire month. No matter how big or small the action, it all counts. And if it seems like a big ask, schools which sign up a receive a free resource pack, including support for outdoor lesson plans.

For many schools, the national nature challenge from The Wildlife Trusts is part of a growing interest in exploring outdoor leaning, and the well documented benefits it offers.

As far back as 2008, Ofsted found that ‘when planned and implemented well, learning outside the classroom contributed significantly to raising standards and improving pupils’ personal, social and emotional development.’

More recently the University of Essex reported that ‘environments rich in wildlife are also associated with improved wellbeing, through emotional, social and psychological benefits.’

Yet despite these benefits, we are losing our natural environment, and our connection to it. 97 per cent of our wildflower meadows

Image credit: Adrian Clarke

have been destroyed, and the demand for other days we take books outside and read, housing has never been higher. Fewer than or lay and watch the clouds floating by.

10 per cent of children today play in natural “Today’s children engage less and less spaces, and in 2015 the roaming range of with nature, so it’s very important that children was just 300 yards. as schools we put the natural world Which is why schools like at the centre of our teaching Not eve Mill Strand Integrated and 30 Days Wild helps us to ry put nature at the heart do this. It’s a different way scho of its teaching. of learning, but it works has am ol across the breadth of the a z ing wild sp Using local curriculum, and engages a c environment students in their work. even in es, but urban Located on the Why teach data Sheffie ld, teac spectacular handling indoors, when hing outside Causeway Coast you can collect your h a in Northern Ireland data outdoors, using s energe primary and nursery your surroundings? It’s ti s u students at Mill Strand still maths, but these lessons pporterc s Integrated are used capture children’s attention.” to learning outdoors.

Deirdre says this hands-on Deidre Doherty, the school’s style of learning suits students of all science & eco co-ordinator says: “We use abilities: “Everyone benefits, I’ve seen how our local beach & environment as an outside learning in nature can have an impact on classroom. We are so passionate about it, we children of all abilities especially have adopted the school end of West Strand those with special educational beach and we work hard to look after and needs. Remove the protect it. During June we use the beach classroom walls, and the and local environment each day for our sky’s the limit.” # Random Acts of Wildness; activities incorporating nature, and wildlife.

“Sometimes we explore marine life along the strandline and the rockpools,

Written by Liz Carney from the Wildlife Trust

For many schools, the 30 Days Wild challenge from the Wildlife Trusts is part of a growing interest in exploring outdoor leaning and the benefits it offers. Liz Carney from the Wildlife Trust explains how it works

Volume 23.4 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Outdoor Learning

Kieron Turney is a passionate ambassador of the Sheffield Teach Wild Network, championed by the Sheffield & Rotherham Wildlife Trust

! Urban spaces Not every school has amazing wild spaces on its doorstep, but even in urban Sheffield, teaching outside the classroom has a network of energetic supporters.

The Sheffield Teach Wild Network, championed by Sheffield & Rotherham Wildlife Trust shares best practice, handy tips, resources and news through emails and termly meetings.

There’s even an outdoor classroom in the local Greno Woods. Kieron Turney, who teaches biology at Handsworth Grange Community Sports College is a passionate ambassador.

This year his nature club at Handsworth Grange will explore every nook and cranny of the school grounds during a June bioblitz to discover the plants and wildlife that live there. Students at this 11-16 comprehensive school, will make and present films, concentrating on a different organism each day to discover what makes them special, and how they fit into the environment.

Kieron says: “It does feel like a challenge, learning outside for 30 days straight – but the pupils get so much more from the prolonged immersion in the outdoors and in the natural world than they do from a once-a-week nature club experience. And it’s amazing how many different topics you can tick off – something that makes it a handy tool for teachers, because you can teach a range of subjects using the outdoors as a classroom.”

“Last year the pupils came up with ideas at a planning session in April – and I timetabled these into the teaching week. We hunted ladybird nymphs to learn about lifecycles, we read our books outside, we went on barefoot walks and did yoga under the trees. It wasn’t all wildlife-themed, learning outside was the most important thing.”

“Not all our pupils get opportunities to explore nature, so I want to provide this for them at school. Children who engage with wildlife and the outdoors become

Many local Wildlife Trusts offer schools knowledge and support to put learning outdoors on the timetable, whether it’s a guided visit to a local nature reserve, improving school grounds for wildlife or providing resources for educators more centred, and grounded. Almost across the board, nature clubs that I’ve run make a profound difference to pupils’ progress, especially those at risk of not meeting their targets or who have additional needs. In one case, a pupil who had experienced problems with bullying and a lack of self-confidence ended up choosing a career as a vet as a result of the nature club. I got a lovely thank you note from her when she left school.”

A positive impact The large-scale Natural Connections study found that both teachers and pupils highly rated learning outside in the natural environment. 97 per cent of schools said it had a positive impact on teaching practice, 72 per cent reported a positive impact on teacher health and wellbeing and 69 per cent a positive impact on job satisfaction.

There were similarly favourable results for pupils; 95 per cent of schools reported there was a positive impact on enjoyment of lessons, 94 per cent on connection to nature, 92 per cent on both engagement with learning and health and wellbeing.

But the study also found a fundamental challenge; some staff lacked confidence to deliver outdoor learning and were uncertain about linking it to the curriculum.

Creating the right support to enable learning in the natural environment is

clearly important if it is to become as routine as teaching in a classroom.

Many local Wildlife Trusts offer schools knowledge and support to put learning outdoors on the timetable, whether it’s a guided visit to a local nature reserve, improving school grounds for wildlife or providing resources for educators. Some also offer training for teachers, from forest school courses, to CPD training, and whole school INSET days, where teachers are trained to recognise habitats within their school grounds and learn techniques to incorporate this into the curriculum.

Wildlife Trusts also run Forest School sessions, and not just in woodlands; environments, include small wild spaces close to urban centres, and even beaches. Building shelters, bushcraft skills, cooking over a campfire and learning about wildlife all fuels creativity and investigation. Children develop confidence and skills, take responsibility and find a freedom not on offer indoors.

There are a host of ways to bring the natural world into teaching, and a host of good reasons to do it.

As teacher Deidre Doherty says: “Remove the classroom walls, and the sky’s the limit.” " FURTHER INFORMATION www.wildlifetrusts.org

Volume 23.4 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Premier League Primary Stars, which has recently celebrated its first birthday, is one example of how the Premier League and its clubs use the power of football to inspire young people to be active, learn, and gain vital life skills The Premier League produces some of the most competitive and compelling football in the world, watched in more than 1 billion homes across 189 countries. The Premier League and its clubs use the power of the competition to inspire fans, communities and partners in the UK and across the world.

Premier League Primary Stars is one example of how the Premier League and its clubs uses the power of football to inspire young people. Launched last year, Premier League Primary Stars is a curriculum-linked education programme designed to inspire children to learn, be active and develop important life skills through free teaching resources and support from 101 Premier League and professional football clubs.

The programme aimed to engage 10,000 primary schools by 2019 but has

Sport

The power of football to inspire

in sport to educate around key values including equality, resilience, teamwork, and fair play and have achieved the PSHE Association Quality Mark. Meanwhile, PE resources focus on multi-sport activities, with additional club support and digital resources giving primary school teachers the tools to improve confidence and skills in teaching multisport PE for girls and boys.

One of the most popular resources has been Maths Attax. Created with programme supporter Topps, the resource uses specially designed Match Attax cards to help pupils to effectively learn about equations and algebra by assessing players’ strengths and weaknesses.

Leila Harris, Senior Leader at Parkfield Primary in Birmingham, praised the Maths Attax resources, saying, “these resources provide lessons ideas that are engaging, appealing, creative and open-ended. The materials place mathematical concepts in a meaningful, real-life context and the football theme is a great way to keep pupils motivated.”

already exceeded that target by reaching 15,000 schools within its first year.

Available to every primary school in England and Wales, teaching materials cover subjects from English and Maths to teamwork and PE, with free to download activity ideas, worksheets, lesson plans, fun assemblies, interactive games and exclusive videos.

Learning is connected to the real world of sport to enthuse pupils when tackling challenging PSHE In topics such as resilience, p a r t n diversity, self-esteem with Niership and fair-play.

Free resources for school The PSHE digital resources are rooted

Premier League Writing Stars As part of its one-year anniversary celebrations, k the Premier League delivere e and recently launched its first Footba d by the l l ever poetry book. Try, F o und the Kit Try Again collated the & Equip ation, winning entries of # m Sc e

nt heme schools offers footbal free l kits

Volume 23.4 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

53

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A D IVIS IO N O F T H E

54

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

Kit and equipment scheme Free football kit and equipment is also made available on an annual basis through the Premier League Primary Stars Kit & Equipment Scheme. Run in partnership with Nike and delivered by the Football Foundation, the Kit & Equipment Scheme offers the opportunity for schools to receive free resources and football kit that can be used for active learning sessions, PE lessons and by school sports teams.

Last year more than 3,700 kit and

equipment packs were donated. Applications are closed for now, but keep your eyes on PLPrimaryStars.com for the next opportunity.

One recipient of the kit has been Manorfield Primary School in Tower Hamlets, London.

Year 6 teacher Adam Eastick explained that the kit has had a positive impact on his pupils: “They walk a bit taller when they wear it. It’s fantastic to see the Premier League provide these kits.”

Assistant headteacher Frank Harrowell added, “A lot of school football kit doesn’t last. If we invest in rubbish materials, you tend to get rubbish outcomes. But this is high quality gear, and we’ve seen high quality outcomes. For these kids, having that high quality kit makes the world of difference.”

Year 6 pupil Tanzil explained that, “it means so much to wear this Nike kit with ‘Premier League’ on it, just like an Arsenal player! It’s an opportunity you don’t get every day and it’s a big thing for our whole class and the football team. It inspires us to do more and be better.”

Manorfield Primary has also been inspired

by Primary Stars to use football as a platform for PSHE, literacy and more. The school has already seen a positive impact, as Frank Harrowell explained: “We made book purchases that were inspired by the ideas behind Primary Stars and you can see the impact in class and in the playground.

We’re now seeing an upward trend in both reading and writing. Happy kids means they’re working hard, they want to be at school and they want to learn.”

As Tanzil puts it: “Football inspires us –

it’s about coming together, meeting new people, enjoying life, having fun. It’s not always about winning, it’s about pride in who you play for and what you do.”

Sport

! the hugely successful Premier League Writing Stars competition, which asked pupils to submit their poems on the theme of resilience.

With support from the National Literacy Trust, the competition received more than 25,000 entries – and it even inspired famous faces such as Rachel Riley, Alan Shearer and Ben Shephard to get their creative juices flowing with their own resilience poems.

Speaking at the book launch, the Premier League’s executive chairman Richard Scudamore said: “The response to the Writing Stars competition is just one example of the effect the programme has to capture the imagination of thousands of children. We were overwhelmed by the volume and standard of entries.”

Writing Stars judge Frank Lampard added: “It’s been a great experience for me to read poems of such a high standard. It’s been a fantastic competition and we have seen a lot of quality.”

What’s next for Primary Stars As the summer holidays approach, Primary Stars has also launched new educational activities for families to complement the free school resources.

Including fun Maths and English activities and the interactive digital game ‘Solve, Shoot, Score’, the resources are specially designed to keep young people’s minds and bodies active during the holidays.

The Premier League and BBC have also teamed up to get the nation’s primary school children moving with Super Movers.

The initiative intends to inspire children to become more active throughout their school day and enhance their learning.

Teacher content includes a range of learning activities, fun follow-along videos and games to get the whole family more active in their living rooms.

Get involved Visit www.plprimarystars.com to find out how your school can be involved with Premier League Primary Stars and for the latest exciting curriculum-linked resources across Maths, English, PE and PSHE. " FURTHER INFORMATION www.plprimarystars.com

Volume 23.4 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

55

Products & Services

Turn maths into a subject pupils want to talk about Numberella™ is a card and dice maths game which makes children better at maths. In a recent trial at Boston Witham Academy, 100 per cent of students who used the game twice a week in intervention sessions improved their grade within three months. The child who started at the lowest level improved the most.

Numberella™ is available in three levels, which support Key Stage 1-3 (UK) and Common Core grades 2-8 (US). It is ‘ability neutral.’ By balancing luck and knowledge, it allows students of different abilities to play together with an equal hope of winning.

This translates into concentration and enthusiasm across a group, for the duration of a game which can last from 15-60 minutes and involve up to five players.

The Numberella™ digital platform allows teachers to create leagues and a house system. This amplifies the social

dimension of the game and helps transform Maths into a subject students are talking about for the best reasons. Game play clips can be uploaded onto a league wall, which parents can view via a free app on their phones and tablets – encouraging a positive perception of Maths, across the wider school community.

Available from September 2018.

FURTHER INFORMATION www.numberella.club

TRAINING

56

SECURITY

TruGuard – anti climb system suitable for schools

Whether deterrent or security, TruGuard anti-climb guards work well with all perimeter security; walls, gates, palisade fencing and even lightweight mesh fencing. With school premises unoccupied for sustained periods of time, they can be susceptible to trespass, vandalism or theft.

A freely rotating anti-climb system, TruGuard offers long last performance and peace of mind when part of your perimeter security solution.

The rotating action of TruGuard prevents intruders gaining a stable handhold or platform and is therefore, classed as non-aggressive. As such, TruGuard is suitable for use in locations where wall spikes,

broken glass, barbed or razor wire are illegal due to the fact they can form mantraps.

Striking the perfect balance between deterrent and security, budget and performance, TruGuard is manufactured in the UK from a work-hardened, aluminium alloy in mill finish or any colour to complement the existing fence or surrounding environment. The benefit is that TruGuard will never rust and so offers maintenance free performance and peace of mind.

Make your premises secure.

FURTHER INFORMATION www.truguard.co.uk 01732 582701

TRAINING

The educational way of teaching first aid

Keep your business healthy with SPA Training

At Lincolnshire Healthcare Training the motto is ‘Fun whilst Learning’, a unique way of learning which includes a wide variety of teaching methods, including games which reinforce the training subject which is found to be more memorable to students.

Offering companies, individuals and voluntary organisations a wide range of regulated first aid courses, safer people handling, fire safety, manual handling as well as mental capacity and deprivations of liberties. Each of the courses are taught by trainers who are experts in their field, are consultants, and have extensive on the job nursing experience gained within NHS and private healthcare settings.

Teaching children the basics in first aid is now considered to be key in their development and again in this way, Lincolnshire

SPA Training (UK) was established in 1995 and has been successfully running training courses since then across the UK. The key to its success has been reliability, flexibility and the quality of delivery plus its 300 trainers strategically placed across the country.

SPA delivers the essential training required such as first aid, health and safety and food safety to all levels at very competitive rates.

Courses are delivered on your premises at times to suit you and SPA Training is happy to include any site specific information if required.

All courses are certificated by recognised awarding bodies such as Highfield Awarding Body for Compliance and Qualsafe Awards. The company’s trainers are all fully qualified in their

Healthcare Training strives to ensure this is done at an appropriate stage for them.

All of the courses offered by the company are tailored to requirements of each group and are costed competitively.

For a no obligation quote for your training requirements please contact the company via the details below.

FURTHER INFORMATION Tel: 01526 342112 www.lincolnshire healthcaretraining.co.uk

respective fields and have a wealth of experience within the commercial sector.

SPA Training provides the best possible training, advice and guidance to enable your staff to improve their personal skills and knowledge and gain the most appropriate qualifications to help them succeed in the workplace.

Contact Jules Hutchings for full details of the courses run or visit the website.

FURTHER INFORMATION Tel: 01579 324116 jules@spatraininguk.com spatraininguk.com

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

FIRE

Thinking of changing your school cleaning services?

Check your fire doors, says the makers of Agrippa

ServiceMaster Clean is a trusted cleaning provider of choice in the Staffordshire and Cheshire area.

With more and more schools becoming academised and forming Multi-Academy Trusts, ServiceMaster Clean’s reputation for providing excellent customer service whilst offering value for money has led to a significant increase in referrals.

What makes ServiceMaster Clean different is its ability to build a relationship with its customers to fully understand their needs and deliver on these consistently, rather than merely just supply a cleaning service.

The company employs a higher number of managers than the industry norm to ensure its customers receive regular visits where cleaning standards are being monitored and the cleaning operatives have all the support and training they require.

ServiceMaster Clean’s area of

Fire doors are designed to prevent the spread of smoke, flames and toxic gases throughout a building in the event of a fire.

Legally, a building’s fire doors must be self-closing to ensure the door closes to act as a barrier that stops the fire from spreading.

It is recognised that it is sometimes necessary to hold fire doors open for practical reasons, such as easing access or increasing ventilation. But wedging open fire doors with a wooden wedge will put the people in the building at risk.

The door will not automatically close if it held open this way. If you want to hold the fire door open, it must have a device installed to release the door, so that it will close upon activation of the fire alarm system.

Fire door retainers such as the Agrippa magnetic fire door holder

expertise is people management, taking away the headache from the school and managing the cleaning service in its entirety.

ServiceMaster Clean is an expert in cleaning these environments, from the routine daily cleaning to the stripping and resealing of hall floors and close down deep cleaning. Where budgets are increasingly being cut for schools and academies, ServiceMaster Clean can offer realistic, achievable cost savings that don’t compromise the quality of the cleaning service.

FURTHER INFORMATION Contact Gemma Quinn Tel: 01270 875855 www.smcleaning contractors.co.uk

SECURITY

are fitted hygienically to the top of the door and use a magnet to hold open heavy fire doors that will release in the event of a fire.

The Agrippa fire door closer is fitted in place of a traditional door closer to hold the fire door open in any position, whilst ensuring the door will close in the event of a fire.

Fire safety is a vital consideration for any business, large or small, which protects your employees and your building assets.

FURTHER INFORMATION www.geofire.co.uk

CATERING

Security providers in Southern England

Catering equipment for the education sector

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

The School Catering Equipment website is a purchase order only website specially designed for the education sector.

This means there is no need for credit cards of up front payment. Simply fill in your school details, set up your own school account and you can start to order from a comprehensive catalogue of catering equipment on the web specially selected for school and college needs.

The company supplies all top brands of catering equipment giving you peace of mind that what you order is of the best quality.

With over 20 years of experience in the school

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

Products & Services

CLEANING

catering sector, be assured that all of the products have been specially chosen to suit your needs, making ordering for your kitchen quick and simple.

From ladles for your baked beans, a new counter fridge for your senior school canteen, a colourful salad trolley to jazz up your dining room or full kitchen installation including extract systems, School Catering Equipment provides it all.

FURTHER INFORMATION Tel: 0845 309 6355 www.schoolcatering equipment.co.uk enquiries@schoolcatering equipment.co.uk

Volume 23.4 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

57

Advertisers Index

NOTICE BOARDS

SPORTS

Recycled & Fire-Rated Sundeala is Europe’s only manufacturer of 100 per cent recycled, 100 per cent recyclable and naturally biodegradable notice boards with a 25-year warranty – including the Class B fire-rated ‘FR Board’ that exceeds the minimum fire performance requirements for schools.

Sundeala specialises in serving the education sector with a superior range of visual communications aids.

Products include notice boards; pin boards; whiteboards/ dry-wipe boards; chalkboards/ blackboards; display boards; bulletin boards; tamperproof security boards; writing walls; combination boards; feature walls and wall linings. In addition to offering ready-made products, Sundeala’s expertise lies in delivering solutions that meet the exacting needs of the client, from low VOC emissions and excellent pin

retention to bespoke designs and the ultimate in lifetime warranted non-combustible porcelain steel writing surfaces.

The Sundeala production facility operates from an historic paper mill located in the market town of Dursley, South Gloucestershire. In 1898, Sundeala pioneered the world’s first commercial development of board material made from re-pulped waste paper. To this day, Sundeala remains the industry benchmark.

FURTHER INFORMATION www.sundeala.co.uk specification@sundeala.co.uk

Use your sports premium funding today Primary PE Planning offers 500 on-demand, practical, fun and engaging PE lesson plans for your school that any primary teacher would love.

Now you can use your Sports Premium Funding to shortcut your way to delivering the most practical, fun and most engaging PE lessons than ever before with the breakthrough online platform, Primary PE Planning.

With over 500 on-demand lesson plans and video tutorials, the platform is believed to offer the widest choice of premium topics and lessons available to any primary school in the UK. From dance, ball skills, multi-skills, imagine PE, and water dodgeball, along with a variety of traditional sports, the platform meets all curriculum requirements.

Use your Sports Premium Funding to open this resource

to your teaching team and gain full PE coverage for Early Years, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.

Empower primary teachers of any ability in your school to have the tools and confidence to deliver a PE lesson like a sports expert. Best of all your teaching staff will love delivering them, and your pupils will love taking part.

Request a free trial today.

FURTHER INFORMATION www.primarypeplanning.com hello@primarypeplanning. com 0800 799 9537

ADVERTISERS INDEX

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

42

Evac Chair

Alton Towers

44

H S Jackson & Son

Ant Education

56

Avocor

58

6

8

Riello UPS

35

36

ServiceMaster

57

ICE Asbestos

30

Smooga

54

ISBL

39

Spa Training (UK)

56

Stage Systems

23

Stephenson Gobin

57

Swiftclean (UK)

32

Talk Straight

10

Technical Surfaces

55

TG Escapes

26

Awesome Apps

IFC

Integra Buildings

54

Awesome Apps

FC

ISS Facility Services

12

Blackburns Metals

56

Language Magnet

17

Charles Lawrence

54

Lincolshire

56

CSSC Sports & Leisure

52

Longshot Kids

43

Delaware North

47

Merlin Group

46

Dennis Publishing

48

NoMow Ltd

42

eBrit Services

28

PFU (EMEA)

18

The Kings Ferry

4

EDU Spot

14

Promote Your School

20

Velux Company

24

Educational Play

40

Ransomes Jacobsen

OBC

WSA Gratnells

34

EM1

30

Raynor Foods

IBC

Yeoman Shield

22

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

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

Heritage • Reliability • Trust • Innovation