Education Business 24.6

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ISSUE 24.6

Business Information for Education Decision Makers BETT 2020 PREVIEW

DESIGN & BUILD

IT & COMPUTING

ENERGY

LOWERING ENERGY BILLS How can schools lower emissions and energy bills while creating a comfortable learning environment?

PLUS: TEACHER WELLBEING | FIRE SAFETY | RECRUITMENT | STEM | CATERING

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www.educationbusinessuk.net

A member of

ISSUE 24.6

Business Information for Education Decision Makers BETT 2020 PREVIEW

DESIGN & BUILD

IT & COMPUTING

ENERGY

LOWERING ENERGY BILLS How can schools lower emissions and energy bills while creating a comfortable learning environment?

PLUS: TEACHER WELLBEING | FIRE SAFETY | RECRUITMENT | STEM | CATERING

A Conservative majority The Conservatives won a majority in the general election, meaning Boris Johnson stays in Downing Street. So what does this mean for education?

In the Party’s manifesto, there was a pledge to increase school funding by £14 billion, with a promise that “those areas historically underfunded will receive the greatest increase”.

The Conservatives said that every school – including schools rated as outstanding – will receive regular checks. And in a policy not included in the Party’s manifesto, Johnson has also said he will trial “no-notice” Ofsted inspections, as well as increase the length of inspections from two days to three.

Tackling disruptive behaviour is another focus and £10 million has been earmarked for national “Behaviour Hubs” to enable schools to learn from one another.

The Conservatives have also pledged to increase new teacher salaries to £30,000 by 2022-23.

Follow and interact with us on Twitter: @EducationBizz

On paper, these pledges look promising, but whether they can be delivered or not remains to be seen. In the words of NAHT’s Paul Whiteman, Johnson needs “to shelve election rhetoric, listen to the profession, and establish the support that is needed and deliver it well.”

Angela Pisanu, editor

P ONLINE P IN PRINT P MOBILE P FACE-TO-FACE If you would like to receive 6 issues of Education Business magazine for £250 a year, please contact Public Sector Information Limited, 226 High Road, Loughton, Essex IG10 1ET. Tel: 020 8532 0055, Fax: 020 8532 0066, or visit the Education Business website at: Business Information for Education Decision Makers

www.educationbusinessuk.net PUBLISHED BY PUBLIC SECTOR INFORMATION LIMITED

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We abide by the Editors’ Code of Practice and are committed to upholding the highest standards of journalism. If you think that we have not met those standards and want to make a complaint please contact Michael Lyons or Angela Pisanu on 0208 532 0055. If we are unable to resolve your complaint, or if you would like more information about IPSO or the Editors’ Code, contact IPSO on 0300 123 2220 or visit www.ipso.co.uk

Issue 24.6 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

3

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Contents

Contents Education Business 24.6 22

07 News

55 STEM

15 Academies

59 Catering

Government spent millions on failed free schools; Children’s activity levels are on the rise, finds Sport England; ‘Green screens’ can halve pollution reaching children Adam Wainwright takes a look at some of the important things to consider when undergoing academy conversion and provides advice for avoiding some of the common problems

17 Wellbeing

Alongside reports from the Department for Education that a third of teachers plan to leave within five years, there are also widespread concerns about the health and wellbeing of those teachers who remain in the profession.

Dr Steph Ainsworth explores what schools can do to support teacher wellbeing

22 Energy

This article explores the advantages and disadvantages of the three main options for procuring energy: using a framework, appointing an energy broker, or running a tendering exercise

33 51

25 Energy

How do schools keep teachers and pupils happy and comfortable, while limiting carbon emissions and keeping bills as low as possible? Alex Green, schools programme manager at Ashden shares some tips

29 Energy

Simply bringing about behaviour change within a school can cut its energy usage by ten per cent quickly and easily, resulting in lower energy bills and less environmental impact

33 Design & Build

Sponsored by

37 Design & Build

Sponsored by

When schools are designed, planners must consider their potential use outside of school hours, as well as how parents and members of the community will interact with them, writes Irena Barker

59

75

The WISE campaign says that the UK needs 30 per cent of women in STEM. Helen Wollaston looks at how we can encourage girls to choose STEM subjects and progress into STEM related careers One in 100 of your pupils could have coeliac disease. What are you doing to support them?

Coeliac UK’s GF Accreditation scheme can help you implement safe kitchen processes to help ensure you deliver safe gluten free food to your pupils

62 Catering

LACA’s National School Meals Week roadshow demonstrated that school food has never been in better shape. But with Stephen Forster now in place as LACA chair, three priorities have been highlighted to improve the school food situation further

63 Allergy Awareness

To inspire schools to take up more sport, as well as improve vital allergy education, the Sadie Bristow Foundation was set up as legacy to Sadie, who tragically died of an extreme allergic reaction. Here’s Sadie’s story

65 Sport

At a time when physical activity levels are declining, loneliness is increasing and generations have never been more segregated, children’s charity Youth Sport Trust has developed a research project which uses physical activity to bring generations together and improve wellbeing

71 Outdoor Play

Outdoor play is vital for improving children’s physical activity levels, social interaction, fitness and physical and mental health.

With the amount of public playgrounds dwindling, school playgrounds offer a vital opportunity for children to play

73 Drama

A number of schools and educational buildings were amongst the 54 winners of the 2019 RIBA National Awards for architecture. We take a look at schools picked out for their architectural excellence

A £5 million government fund has established projects in Croydon, Derby, Medway, Plymouth and Salford that offer children the chance to perform drama and dance, as well as learn skills such as lighting, sound and set design

38 Fire

75 School Trips

In Scotland and Wales, sprinkler systems are legally required in all new schools. But in England, fewer than one in six new schools have been built with systems installed. This has spurred many in the industry to urge the government to make sprinklers compulsory in all schools in the UK

Kim Somerville, CEO of the Council for Learning Outside the Classroom (CLOtC) shares five things you need to know about the Department for Education’s guidance on health and safety for educational visits

43 Bett 2020 Preview

The payment supply workers receive will significantly inform how they feel about working with you and the children they teach, which is why mark up rates for agency staff are so important. Jenny Nugent from Crown Commercial Service explains further

The 36th edition of Bett UK takes place on 22-25 January 2020 at ExCeL London – and with an expanded offer of show features and content, it is an unmissable date in the global EdTech event calendar. Find out more about this year’s edition here

51 IT & Computing

The use of technology in education is constantly evolving, driven as much by edtech’s own development as by schools’ requirements. Steve Moss, chair of Naace, sheds some light on the current landscape for technology in education

Education Business magazine

77 Procurement

79 SEND

A report from the Education Committee has concluded that poor implementation of the SEND reforms is leaving schools struggling. So what needs to happen to improve support and educational provision for children and young people with SEND?

www.educationbusinessuk.net Issue 24.6 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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GA󰈲󰈲󰈲󰈲󰈲󰈲󰈲󰈲󰈲󰈲󰈲󰈲󰈲󰈲󰈲 󰈲󰈲󰈲󰈲󰈲󰈲󰈲󰈲󰈲󰈲󰈲󰈲󰈲󰈲󰈲󰈲󰈲󰈲󰈲 󰈲󰈲󰈲󰈲󰈲󰈲󰈲󰈲󰈲󰈲󰈲󰈲󰈲󰈲󰈲󰈲󰈲󰈲󰈲󰈲󰈲 T󰈤󰈤󰈤󰈤󰈤󰈤󰈤󰈤󰈤󰈤󰈤󰈤󰈤󰈤󰈤󰈤󰈤󰈤󰈤 󰈲󰈲 󰈤󰈤󰈤󰈤󰈤󰈤󰈤󰈤󰈤󰈤󰈤󰈤󰈤󰈤󰈤󰈤󰈤󰈤󰈤 󰈤󰈤󰈤󰈤󰈤󰈤󰈤󰈤󰈤󰈤󰈤󰈤󰈤󰈤󰈤󰈤󰈤 Kura’s powerful suite of products, technology and Apps are helping schools and colleges across the UK to ensure safeguarding and transparency whilst reducing emissions and congestion on their Home2School transport.

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News

FREE SCHOOLS

Government spent millions on failed free schools NEU research has shown that more than £300 million in one-off capital and revenue grants has been spent on failed free schools, University Technical Colleges (UTCs) and studio schools since 2010.

Of this total, £295 million was spent on those schools that either closed completely or were transferred to new trusts while £8 million was spent on 65 approved schools that never even opened.

One in eight (76) of the 624 free schools, UTCs and studio schools that have opened since 2010 has been unsuccessful, either closing, announcing closure or being turned into another academy trust. Sixty per cent

of these unsuccessful schools (45 in total) have closed completely or announced closure, while 31 have been rebrokered.

Of the £295 million, the total spend on the 45 schools that closed completely was £186 million while £108 million was spent on set up costs for the 31 schools that were subsequently rebrokered.

Of the £295 million spent on closed (45) or rebrokered (31) schools, £240 million went on the capital costs with £55 million spent on one-off revenue grants such as project development and post opening grants).

Commenting on the findings, Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the

National Education Union, said: “Free school closures are not just a huge waste of money – they also cause massive upheaval, disruption and distress for the staff, pupils and parents affected. It is usually the local authority that is left to pick up the pieces, such as finding new school places for pupils when a school closes. This puts extra financial and resource burdens on councils when they themselves lack sufficient finances.”

READ MORE tinyurl.com/vub7gf8

QUALIFICATIONS

CHILD POVERTY

More awareness needed over new T Levels

Teachers worried about child poverty this Christmas

The National Foundation for Educational Research has argued that significant work is needed to raise awareness and understanding of T Levels for the programmes to succeed.

Due to begin being taught in classrooms in September 2020, the organisation says that there is concern that young people could miss out on studying T Levels due to a lack of awareness and understanding of what the programmes offer.

Although the government has since launched the NexT Level campaign to raise the profile of the new qualifications, providers and sector representatives still feel that there remained significant work to do to raise the awareness and understanding of T Levels, including uncertainty around progression routes.

With the majority of universities in the elite Russell Group yet to decide whether they will accept students who have the qualification and onto what courses, the NFER also suggests that policy makers need to provide more clarity on the progression from T Levels to university and to Level 4 apprenticeships.

Suzanne Straw, education to employment lead at NFER said: “As well as focusing on raising awareness of the value of T Levels with students, parents/ carers and higher education providers, there needs to be sustained promotion across the full roll out and beyond.”

READ MORE tinyurl.com/uoupyeq

A snapshot poll, conducted by the National Education Union, highlights that the majority of teachers are worried that yet more children in their school will be hungry and cold this Christmas.

Sixty-three per cent per cent of respondents said they were worried that more children than last year will be going hungry over the Christmas period, while 59 per cent felt more children this year compared with last Christmas will be going without warm clothing.

More than one in 10 teachers said their schools will be

taking steps to support families over the Christmas holidays, and, when asked about the ways in which schools will be supporting families over the Christmas period, teachers spoke of opening food banks, collecting for presents, clothes and food hampers.

Overwhelmingly, 90 per cent of teachers said the the next government must prioritise ending child poverty.

READ MORE tinyurl.com/rwx53a9

Issue 24.6 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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News

RECRUITMENT

Primary school teacher numbers in Scotland rise

Primary school teacher numbers in Scotland are at their highest level since 1980 and total teacher numbers have risen by 288, statistics have shown.

The overall number of teachers rose to 52,247, an increase of 1,530 since 2015 and the highest level since 2009.

Performance among S3 pupils has

remained stable, with almost nine out of 10 achieving the expected levels in listening and talking, reading, writing and numeracy.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney said: “These latest statistics demonstrate that our reforms are working and education in Scotland is moving in the right direction.

“I am delighted to see teacher numbers continuing to increase, with levels at their highest in a decade and the number of primary teachers being the highest since 1980.”

READ MORE tinyurl.com/vshsu5b

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

EDUCATION

Children’s activity levels are on the rise, finds Sport England

England rises up the Pisa rankings

According to Sport England’s second annual Active Lives Children and Young People Survey, there has been an increase of 3.6 per cent in the number of children in England doing an average of 60 minutes or more of physical activity a day in the academic year 2018/19.

That means that 46.8 per cent of the nation’s children and young people are meeting the recommended level, with the increase driven by more out of school activity – including increases in active play, team sports and walking The figures show that 57.2 per cent (up 4.6 per cent) of children are doing 30 minutes or more of physical activity outside of school, compared to 40.4 per cent at school.

However, 2.1 million children and young people (29.0 per cent) are doing fewer than 30 minutes of physical activity a day, and while that number is down (by 3.9 per cent over the last year), more needs to be done. In the middle, another 1.7

million (24.2 per cent) children are ‘fairly active’ – taking part in average of 30-59 minutes a day.

The report does suggest that activity levels are affected by how rich or poor families are, with 54 per cent of children from the most affluent families considered active compared to 42 per cent from the least affluent families – while from the age of five up, boys are more active than girls at every age.

The survey also shows that active children are happier, more resilient and more trusting of others and it’s also shown a positive association between being active and higher levels of mental wellbeing, individual development and community development.

Guidelines recommend that children and young people should get 30 minutes of their daily physical activity in the school day and 30 minutes outside of school.

READ MORE tinyurl.com/udpjhc2

England has moved up the Pisa rankings thanks to an improvement in maths and a small rise for reading.

Pisa compares the results from 600,000 15-year-olds taking tests across 79 countries.

England ranked 17th, up from 26th in 2015.

In maths, England achieved an average score of 504, up 11 points from the previous Pisa in 2015.

Reading also rose five points to 505, which puts the country in a joint 13th position – higher than

the 17th position it held in 2015.

Science however has continued to drop – England achieved a score of 516 in 2012, 512 in 2014 and in 2018 the figure fell to 507. Its comparative rank in the subject, however, has gone up one place to joint 13th, perhaps due to the fact that other high-performing countries have also slipped down in their science scores.

READ MORE tinyurl.com/qtvwtr8

SCHOOL BUILDINGS

4,000 school buildings need urgent restoration work A Guardian investigation has found that nearly one in five school buildings in England require urgent repairs.

Almost 4,000 schools across the country have been judged by surveyors to be in need of immediate restoration work.

What’s more, many were found not to have the paperwork required by law, including electrical test certificates, fire risk assessments or asbestos management plans.

Angela Rayner, Labour’s shadow education secretary,

has criticised the Conservative government for cutting funding for education which has lead to a “crisis in school buildings”.

She said: “The Tories have slashed funding for education and now we are seeing the consequences. Across the country schools are in dire need of repair but the funding simply isn’t available to get them into a fit state.”

READ MORE tinyurl.com/udpjhc2

Issue 24.6 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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News

AIR QUALITY

Parent raises money for air pollution filters in school A parent frustrated by the poor air quality outside her children’s school has raised £22,300 to fund the installation of pollution cleaning filters Lauren Juliff received £17,000 from Southwark’s Greener Cleaner Safer grant and raised the rest of the money for the filters at Harris Primary Academy by holding a parent’s quiz night, a fun run on Peckham Rye and a summer fair.

Lauren said: “All the parents and staff have

been really supportive. As a working parent, I’m not at school often and I have been happy to give something back to the community.

“Public awareness around pollution near schools is growing, and the effects of it has as well.

“We know much more about the way it can impact children’s learning and physical and mental health.”

Headteacher Jo Conduit said: “The units are estimated to cut particulate matter

in the air by more than 80 per cent so they are making a real difference to our children’s health and wellbeing.

“The units also filter out dust mites, bacteria and viruses so we hope the children will also suffer from fewer allergies and bugs too.”

READ MORE tinyurl.com/ug9f286

WELLBEING

APPRENTICESHIPS

One in four young people addicted to their phones

Academies missing apprenticeship recruitment targets

A study by researchers at King’s College London has estimated that one in four children and young people use their smartphones in a way that is consistent with a behavioural addiction.

The study showed that 10-30 per cent of children and young people used their smartphones in a dysfunctional way, which means an average of 23 per cent were showing problematic smartphone usage (PSU).

PSU was defined as any behaviour linked to smartphones that has the features of an addiction, such as feeling panicky or upset when the phone is unavailable, finding it difficult to control the amount of time spent on the phone and using the phone to the detriment of other enjoyable activities.

The study is the first to investigate the prevalence of

PSU in children and young people at this scale, summarising findings from 41 studies that have researched a total of 41,871 teenagers and young people. The 41 studies included 30 from Asia, nine from Europe and two America. 55 per cent of the participants were female, and young women in the 17 to 19-year-old age group were most likely to have PSU. The researchers also investigated the links of this type of smartphone usage and mental health and found a consistent association between PSU and poor measures of mental health in terms of depressed mood, anxiety, stress, poor sleep quality and educational attainment.

Only seven per cent of academy trusts and large academies met the recruitment target for apprenticeships in the first year since it came into force, according to DfE data.

The public sector apprenticeship target came into force for schools last March and requires all individual institutions and trusts with more than 250 employees to recruit 2.3 per cent of their workforce as apprentices every year.

Academies managed an average score of 0.9 per cent in the 2018-19 financial year.

Of the 271 schools and

academy trusts included in the data, just 18 hired more than 2.3 per cent of their employees as apprentices during the year.

What’s more, 37 schools or trusts did not have a single employee whose apprenticeship agreement began in that period.

But academies won’t yet be held to account for their performance against the target; the government will judge organisations on their hiring record over the four years to March 31 2021.

READ MORE tinyurl.com/m9tzxp5

READ MORE tinyurl.com/u73o6a6 Issue 24.6 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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News

INSPECTIONS

More small private schools receive ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’

According to Ofsted inspection data of non-association independent schools, the large majority (75 (per cent) were judged either good or outstanding in their overall effectiveness at their most recent standard

inspection. This is an increase of six percentage points since 31 August 2018.

However, there were still 15 per cent of schools judged as requires improvement and 10 per cent judged as inadequate.

A higher proportion of independent special schools were judged good or outstanding at their most recent inspection compared with other independent schools (83 per cent and 67 per cent respectively). Compared with last year, this is a five percentage point and a six percentage point increase respectively.

However, the proportion of independent schools that were judged to have ineffective safeguarding has reduced by two percentage points to eight per cent since 31 August 2018.

Independent special schools are less likely to have ineffective safeguarding than other independent schools (four per cent and ten per cent respectively). All schools with ineffective safeguarding were judged as inadequate overall.

READ MORE tinyurl.com/s7ohozx

MENTAL HEALTH

AIR QUALITY

Counsellors to be in Scottish schools from September

‘Green screens’ can halve pollution reaching children

Counselling services will be available to all secondary school pupils in Scotland by September next year, including during the school holidays to ensure continuity of care.

The Scottish Government and COSLA have agreed on the allocation of £60 million over four years, which will build or expand high quality counselling services for children and young people.

Counselling services currently delivered by qualified and registered counsellors through Pupil Equity or Scottish Attainment funding will continue, enabling local authorities to reallocate those

funds to other priorities to help close the attainment gap.

Mental Health Minister Clare Haughey said: “Children and young people can face many issues growing up and must have the right support available at the right time.

“Providing every secondary school with access to at least one counsellor by next year is a significant step forward in our package of measures to improve the mental health support available for children and young people.”

READ MORE tinyurl.com/t8z3frz

A new University of Surrey study has found that simply planting a hedge in front of a park can halve the amount of traffic pollution that reaches children as they play.

The study gives evidence on the positive impact that planting hedges and other forms of green infrastructure along busy roadsides will have on schools.

Experts from Surrey’s Global Centre for Clean Air Research (GCARE) conducted a fivemonth continuous experiment, measuring traffic pollutants with the use of emerging pollution sensing technology behind and in front of a hedge that shielded a children’s park in Guildford. The aim of the study was to measure any discernible difference in pollution reduction during the vegetation cycle of a Beech hedge – from dormancy to green-up to maturity.

The results showed that a drop in pollution concentration levels behind the hedge was dominated by three factors – the weather, public holidays, and the stage of the hedge’s life cycle. The researchers reported reductions of more than 50 per cent of the particulate

matter after the hedge’s green-up stage in late April.

Experts believe that this could be because the density of the hedge or the stickiness of the leaves had a sizable impact on particle pollutants passing through it. However, the results also revealed smaller reductions for gaseous pollutants including carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide, and that wind direction had little impact on the concentration levels.

Professor Prashant Kumar, founding Director of GCARE at the University of Surrey, said: “This study has not only produced unique evidence and support for our advocacy to install hedges and other forms of green infrastructure (where appropriate) along busy roadsides to protect schools, playgrounds and pedestrians/cyclists from air pollution exposure; it has also provided a clear indication that evergreen species should be favoured for barriers against air pollution to exploit their year-round performance.”

READ MORE tinyurl.com/s9pmf7c

Issue 24.6 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Academies

Navigating academy conversion Adam Wainwright takes a look at some of the important things to consider when undergoing academy conversion and provides advice for avoiding some of the common problems Common pitfalls to avoid If you decide academisation is the right step for your school, here’s our suggestions for how to steer clear of some common problems schools face and how to make sure the process runs as smoothly as possible.

Be clear about why Make sure you have a clear idea of why you are converting. Identify what you want to change and where you see yourself heading when you become an academy. If you’re not in this position you might find it hard to get the application accepted by the Department for Education (DfE).

If you’re joining a MAT, be clear about how this will change your school, and whether there are decisions that will in the future be made by the MAT rather than the school alone. For example, will there be MAT policies you’ll be adopting, and how do these differ from yours at the moment?

Reaching economies of scale?

Leaders whose schools have converted shared some of the reasons they formed or joined multi-academy trusts in DfE non-statutory guidance. It’s worth pointing out that this doesn’t mean every trust experiences all (or any) of these benefits. Nor is it a comprehensive list of the full range of potential benefits.

But in the right context, it demonstrates some of the things that have incentivised conversion (as part of a multi-school group, Research your options rather than converting standalone).

Even if your school is becoming a sponsored Generating economies of scale in particular academy, you can still let the DfE know your is something that gets a lot of focus in preferred outcomes. Research potential sponsors academisation. As academisation has developed, and MATs and suggest your preferred option to most schools join or form a multi-academy your regional schools commissioner. This reduces trust, where economies of scale and other the risk of ending up in a MAT that isn’t a good efficiencies are enabled in a way that doesn’t match. Conducting your own research can give exist in single schools (academy or maintained). you a sense of ownership over the process.

But despite possible financial stability afforded to MATs, it is important not to see Address questions on governance them as some sort of financial panacea. The With MATs, it’s easy to try to please all DfE’s guidance explains that: ‘The transition parties by making sure each school has from a stand-alone academy to a MAT will representation on the board of trustees. In the not automatically bring economies of scale, long run, however, this isn’t a feasible model or efficiencies, because there may also be of governance. As and when the MAT grows, additional central costs. It can, however, unlock the board would have to grow exponentially new opportunities to secure efficiencies ... in so that each new school has representation. the medium to longer term as the trust grows.’

Be honest with each other and acknowledge It says that trusts that are “sufficiently large” that the board will be ultimately responsible – at least 1,200 pupils for primary-only for the schools in the MAT. This MATs and 2,000 pupils for mixed means that local governing or secondary-only MATs – will bodies will have less power be “better able” to absorb than a maintained school’s Even if cost pressures regarding governing body. your sc h the central overheads and o o l is be be financially sustainable sponso coming a in the long term. you can red academy, This speaks to this s element of context we know y till let the DfE mentioned above; the our pr above benefits aren’t outcom eferred es universal, and in particular in this challenging budgetary climate for schools, there are no givens when it comes to financial sustainability. We explore this more in our recent research report into trust growth, which examines how trusts are balancing the need to grow to secure these efficiencies with the risks of expanding too quickly.

Tackle complicated issues early Doing the legwork early in the process will mean that you’re not distracted when the academy opens and can avoid unnecessary complications later down the line.

You should decide early on which, if any, local authority (LA) services you want to buy back after conversion. This lets you make early decisions about which services you’ll need to purchase elsewhere (or manage centrally).

Importantly, work out when your payroll contract will end. When the school becomes an academy, and therefore a different legal entity, the current contract ends which, if not dealt with in advance, could result in staff not being paid.

Delegate to a member of staff, not a governor Governors should have ownership and oversight of the conversion process, but leading on implementing the process itself should not be delegated to a governor. A member of staff, on the payroll, should be the project manager.

Written by Adam Wainwright, lead content editor, The Key

Academisation is still relatively young. And those who have taken this path have had to, with relatively little guidance, formalise collaboration and create a sustainable way to exist outside of the local authority.

Academy conversion is likely to be one of the largest projects you’ll undertake, if you decide it’s the right step for your school. We take a look at some of the important things to consider when undergoing the process and provide advice for avoiding some of the common problems schools can face along the way.

Don’t let the process distract you from running the school The conversion process can be overwhelming for schools and distract from the need to continue to run the school and provide the best education possible to pupils, which in some cases can result in a subsequent dip in performance.

To avoid this, make sure that conversion responsibilities are delegated fairly between the headteacher, SBM and other senior staff.

This means the headteacher can still focus on the education being provided. L

This guidance was taken from The Key’s article ‘How to avoid the common pitfalls of academy conversion’ which was created in partnership with its associate education experts - Graeme Hornsby, Mark Trusson, Tiffany Beck and Keith Clover.

FURTHER INFORMATION www.thekeysupport.com

Issue 24.6 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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There is currently a crisis, both nationally and internationally, in relation to teacher recruitment and retention. Alongside reports from the Department for Education that a third of teachers plan to leave within five years, there are also widespread concerns about the health and wellbeing of those teachers who remain in the profession.

Within this article, Dr Steph Ainsworth from Manchester Metropolitan University explores what schools can do to support teacher wellbeing.

Teacher resilience: context matters In the face of concerns over teachers’ capacity to cope with the increasing demands of the profession, researchers and schools have attempted to identify ways to support teachers in building their resilience. While early work considered resilience to be a trait which

School level factors associated with teacher resilience Within the study mentioned above four school level factors were found to be strongly associated with teacher wellbeing, resides within the individual (in the job satisfaction and risk of sense that some people are more burnout: support from resilient than others), more recent Scho management, workload, work considers resilience to leaders ol school culture and be a social process which c a n have a operates through interaction support from other s ig n ifi impact between the individual colleagues. The on teaccant hers’ and their environment. study showed that ability t o thrive within This shift in emphasis teachers were not the pro away from the individual all equally happy f e by ensu ssion teacher towards their (or miserable!) r their te ing that environment is important within their roles. a ch because previous approaches Levels of wellbeing, suppor ers feel tended to put the responsibility job satisfaction and ted of coping solely at the feet of risk of burnout varied individual teachers. This has led considerably across the 226 to an unhelpful blame culture, which teachers who took part, with the does not take into account the adverse four factors listed above playing an important conditions that require teachers to be resilient role in how well teachers were able to cope in the first place, and can make things with the challenges of the job. These harder rather than easier for teachers. findings suggest that school leaders E

Issue 24.6 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

Written by Dr Steph Ainsworth from Manchester Metropolitan University

Alongside reports from the Department for Education that a third of teachers plan to leave within five years, there are also widespread concerns about the health and wellbeing of those teachers who remain in the profession. Dr Steph Ainsworth explores what schools can do to support teacher wellbeing

Teacher Wellbeing

What can school leaders do to develop resilience?

More recent ‘social-ecological’ approaches to teacher resilience emphasise the importance of tackling the challenges that teachers face across multiple levels. For example we might try to address factors relating to the individual teacher (e.g. by supporting teachers in building their self-confidence), while also looking at how to improve conditions within school (e.g. by taking measures to reduce workload). A recent study conducted at Manchester Metropolitan University (Ainsworth and Oldfield, 2019) found that factors relating to the school environment have just as much impact on teacher wellbeing, job satisfaction and risk of burnout as individual factors. The key message of this study then is that context matters.

17

Advertisement Feature

LifeSkills: embedding employability skills in the curriculum LifeSkills created with Barclays aims to help all people in the UK, whether that’s a young person preparing for their first job or someone wanting to progress in their career.

Since 2013, the LifeSkills programme has been raising the confidence, aspirations and motivations of millions of young people to help them succeed in work Statistics used can be found in the below sources: How employable is the UK?, Barclays LifeSkills, 2018 LifeSkills Impact report, 2018 Why is employability such an important issue?

As a result of societal and technological advances, the pace of change has accelerated in the last two decades, and trends suggest this rapid pace will continue.

With the world of work continuously evolving, more importance needs to be placed on teaching young people the core transferable skills like problem solving, adaptability and resilience to succeed in this changing environment, so they can prepare for jobs that don’t yet exist or jobs that will be done differently in the future.

With nearly six in ten adults lacking all the core employability skills needed for the future world of work, awareness is growing about the skills gap and youth unemployment challenge. That’s why LifeSkills is helping educators ensure that young people leave education with the skills that businesses need for the ever-changing workplace and don’t get left behind. Educators can access over 65 hours of free curriculum linked employability resources, videos, quick fire activities, interactive tools and lesson plans to use in the classroom. In fact, 81 per cent of young people felt they had improved their understanding of the skills needed for the future workplace after being taught LifeSkills content.

Free employability CPD developed with tes LifeSkills have partnered with tes to develop a free online CPD course, to help your colleagues plan tailored lessons and embed employability skills across the curriculum.

Within the course, participants will learn more about the core transferable skills such as CV writing, problem solving, adaptability, creativity, resilience, proactivity, communication and leadership, whilst exploring how they can best support young people for the world of work through their day to day teaching. The CPD course and the LifeSkills core transferable skills lessons are designed to help your students develop and understand why transferable

18

skills are important for their future.

The CPD also includes practical ways of embedding employability skills into lesson planning across your school’s curriculum.

Using a wide range of activities and resources, such as case studies and interviews, this course can help you to learn more about different approaches to employability and reflect on where your school’s strategy is now and where you want it to go next.

Supporting your careers strategy With the deadline for achieving all the Gatsby Benchmarks only a year away, now is a great time to focus on developing a consistent whole school approach to preparing your young people for the future workplace.

LifeSkills can support you to develop a stable and credible careers programme to maximise your students’ employability potential and meet the Gatsby Benchmarks.

For example, LifeSkills supports schools in achieving Benchmark 1, which requires schools to develop a stable careers programme.

A sixth form head from County Durham explained how her school “use [LifeSkills] on a weekly basis, right across the school, where it is the key recommended resource on our Schemes of Work. Our students love that they can use the skills they learn in subjectspecific settings, answering coding style questions in Year 7 ICT or Body language and a Growth mindset in Year 13 Psychology; it really is interdisciplinary.” The sheer breadth of content enables educators to embed LifeSkills

resources across the curriculum and deliver an engaging and impactful careers programme.

A wide range of LifeSkills resources for the whole school Sign up to LifeSkills to access a wealth of inspirational tools to use in class or for your students to explore independently.

This includes the popular Virtual interview practice tool which provides students with an opportunity to practise and improve interview technique. Another practical tool for students is the Wheel of strengths, which helps students map their skill sets with job roles that may suit them. As well as providing a range of aspirational job roles, students can learn how to develop their existing skills and learn new ones.

Join the 81 per cent of UK secondary schools actively using the programme and discover resources to support student wellbeing, CV and interview skills as well as the core transferable skills that students will need throughout their education and in the workplace. L FURTHER INFORMATION For more information, visit Barclayslifeskills.com/educators

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

Teacher Wellbeing

 can have a significant impact on teachers’ ability to thrive within the profession by ensuring that their teachers feel supported, moderating teacher workloads, creating a positive culture and providing opportunities for colleagues to support one another.

What does supportive management look like?

Within our study the aspects of leadership that correlated most strongly with teacher resilience were communication of a clear vision for the school, regular feedback and recognition for the achievement and effort put in by teachers and opportunities for teachers to contribute their own ideas.

Other important characteristics found to be important were visibility and availability of leaders to discuss issues with teachers, fair decision-making and effective use of staff development time. Our research suggests that when these aspects of school leadership are in place, teachers are much more likely to feel satisfied and well.

How can school leaders moderate teachers’ workload?

With the launch of the Workload Challenge for Schools and subsequent School Workload Reduction Toolkit the government has demonstrated a commitment to reduce teacher workload. The new Ofsted inspection framework and Teacher Retention and Recruitment Strategy were also designed with workload reduction in mind. Key strategies recommended by the Department for Education include effective use of technology, review of feedback and marking practices, efficient collaborative planning using and adapting existing (shared) resources as appropriate, review of data collection and management systems and efficient communication practices within school. The importance of bearing workload implications in mind when managing change and developing procedures related to performance and behaviour management is also emphasised.

One of the key principles that cuts across all these strategies is the need for work to be proportionate to the value gained from it.

The suggestions made by the Department for Education to reduce workload seem sensible and are supported by case studies which illustrate how they might work in practice; however, the extent to which the

School leaders can support their teachers by adopting supportive leadership practices which help to reduce unnecessary workload and foster a positive and collegial culture drive to reduce workload has had a positive impact at scale is yet to be established.

Within the last month, two conflicting sets of results have been published. On the one hand, the Department for Education has just released a report which claims that teachers’ workloads have fallen by almost five hours per week since 2016. In contrast, a recent project conducted by University College London, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, found that the average number of hours that teachers spend working each week teachers’ has not changed significantly in the last twenty years. This report suggests that teachers in England continue to work longer hours than teachers in other countries and that any significant reduction in workloads will ‘likely require additional, more radical action on the part of policymakers’ (Allen et al., p.27).

On a more positive note, our research and other work within the literature shows that despite the many challenges faced by schools in terms of top down pressures and high stakes accountability, some school leaders are able to successfully moderate workload practices leading to higher levels of teacher wellbeing. What is needed now is systematic research into which specific strategies to reduce workload are most effective in particular contexts so that school leaders can adopt an evidence-based targeted approach to the workload challenge.

How might leaders establish a positive and collegial culture within school?

As highlighted above, school culture and colleague support have been shown to be important factors in the resilience process.

Positive school cultures are characterised by a sense of family or community among school staff, a sense of belonging, optimism and the freedom to express ideas and opinions.

In our work with teachers they have talked about a range of different ways in which leaders might foster such a culture, e.g.

through team building activities both inside and outside of school (e.g. staff doing weekly Park Run together), a regular programme of wellbeing and social activities, taking care to adopt a positive approach to leadership (praise, recognition, careful use of language, etc.), and establishing both professional and personal trust. It has also been noted by the teachers that we work with as well as within the wider research, however, that the culture of a school is not solely the responsibility of school leaders and that every single person within a school can have a positive impact on generating a positive culture.

The creation of a collegial culture where staff feel they have multiple sources of support within school has very strong support from the literature. An important idea which has been applied to schools in recent years is the notion of relational resilience, which suggests that resilience is not something that comes primarily from within but from a sense of connectedness with others. It is therefore important that school leaders provide ample opportunities for teachers to support one another, for example, through collaborative planning, coaching and mentoring or buddying systems and networks with other schools. Given how central relationships are to wellbeing, it is important for time and resources to be devoted to developing supportive systems and practices within schools which prevent the feelings of isolation often reported by teachers.

Take home message School leaders can support their teachers by adopting supportive leadership practices which help to reduce unnecessary workload and foster a positive and collegial culture. At the heart of these practices should be strong positive relationships, professional trust and a genuine commitment to autonomy. L FURTHER INFORMATION www2.mmu.ac.uk

Issue 24.6 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Four ways efficient school management can improve outcomes for pupils Lorraine Smith, divisional managing director at Civica explores how using cloud software to automate your school’s management processes can have a positive impact in the classroom and on pupils’ health and wellbeing In every school, the back office provides the administrative backbone to the teaching and learning experiences of pupils.

However, lack of efficient processes can mean that more time and money is spent on financial, HR and catering tasks than should be – resources which could benefit pupils in the classroom instead. Although we may traditionally associate classroom technology with improving outcomes, here are four ways in which better school management can also have an impact.

Streamlined financial management processes Having more efficient financial management processes can free up budget and time that can then be spent supporting students. In particular, cloud software can help automate financial administration so that purchasing processes are streamlined, resulting in fewer errors, queries and adjustments, and cost per order is reduced with fewer people involved in the purchasing process. What’s more, future income and expenditure can be more accurately predicted, helping you to allocate budget more effectively, and statutory and legislative reports can be easily completed, saving time that can be diverted elsewhere across the school.

An automated financial management process can also benefit multi-academy trusts.

As centralised purchasing is easier to manage across multiple sites, schools can benefit from bulk-buying discounts, and finance data from multiple sites can be held in a single database which reduces time spent on re-keying data and improving the reporting process.

A more efficient lunchtime service In 2018 the government set a target of halving childhood obesity by 2030. According to NHS data, only 18 per cent of children have the

recommended five or more portions of fruit and vegetables a day, which is something that schools can help to encourage through an effective cloud-based cashless catering system.

Reducing the use of cash helps deliver an efficient lunchtime service. This means that pupils are more likely to get served without having to queue, which can help to increase take-up of school meals and give pupils valuable social time.

It’s also easier for schools to access data on pupils’ dietary requirements and eating habits, robustly safeguarding those children who have allergies. Parents can have more visibility over what their child has eaten, which can encourage healthy eating conversations at home. Schools can even use data from their own canteens to bring the curriculum to life, helping make health education relevant and relatable.

Keep your best teachers Staff retention is an issue faced by all schools.

In 2018 the Department for Education revealed that the five-year retention rate for teachers who qualified in 2013 had dropped to 67.7 per cent, compared to 68.5 per cent in the previous year; the fifth consecutive year that the rate has worsened. In addition, research from the Education Policy Institute has found that 70 per cent of school budgets is spent on staff costs, which reduces the amount that can be spent on pupils.

Implementing effective HR and payroll cloud-based technology in schools can therefore have several benefits; by taking care of training and performance monitoring, schools can recruit the right people, track their CPD to make sure that development objectives are met and therefore increase job satisfaction and retention.

The need for supply teachers can be reduced and existing staff can be upskilled – both of which can improve pupils’ experiences. What’s

more, spotting trends and patterns in staff absences allows for early intervention and can have an impact on both points above.

Reduced burden on admin Integrated online payments can help reduce the administrative time spent chasing parental arrears for meals, trips, and uniforms.

Sophisticated online systems can now accept payments in multiple ways and set automatic top-up limits so that children don’t run out of funds, resulting in fewer delays and avoiding embarrassment at lunchtimes.

Parental communication and engagement can also be improved via the cloud, reducing the amount of visits to the office and allowing staff to focus on the tasks which have more value to pupil outcomes.

While Edtech tends to focus on technology which directly enhances teaching, these points are just a few ways in which technology outside the classroom can help schools and trusts support pupils more effectively. Cloud software makes school management processes better, faster, and more innovative – and taking advantage of the cloud now can make it easier and more cost-effective for schools to adopt the latest technology in the future.

With innovations in cloud, automation and mobile software happening all the time, it’s easy to see how improved school management can have a positive impact on both the workload of admin employees and the health, wellbeing and educational outcomes of pupils.

Automate your school’s management solutions with Civica Civica provides automated school management solutions that can help schools and trusts save time and money, improving outcomes for pupils. To find out how Civica’s cloud software could support your school or trust, contact us, see below. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.civica.com/education

Issue 24.6 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Energy Written by Crescent Purchasing Consortium (CPC)

Buying energy for schools and academies

Despite the competitive nature of brokers, they tend not to provide value services such as benchmarking and they are often unable to make fully informed purchasing decisions.

The risks of using an energy broker could end up being costly such as: restrictive termination notices, penalties for missing termination notices or broker agreements outlasting energy supply contracts.

This article explores the advantages and disadvantages of the three main options for procuring energy: using a framework, appointing an energy broker, or running a tendering exercise This article will help you to determine the best energy purchasing route for your organisation. It explores the advantages and disadvantages of the three main options for procuring energy including: using an OJEU compliant framework (also known as an agreement or deal), appointing an energy broker or running a tendering exercise yourself. It offers an unbiased opinion and has been written by a chartered procurement professional employed by a registered charity operating as a Public Sector Buying Organisation (PSBO) in the education sector.

Option 1: Using an OJEU compliant framework agreement Procuring energy this way provides you with total peace of mind, contract security and freedom of choice. It is fully compliant from a legislative point of view meaning that not only is it professionally managed but it provides users with security and reliability of supply. Agreements also offer due diligence as well as full traceability.

Framework agreements generate savings not otherwise possible if procuring on your own due to economies of scale, speed and efficiency, reduced procurement costs and pre-agreed terms and conditions.

A potential disadvantage for agreements in general is that they are somewhat limited to change. There is the possibility that new innovations and solutions could arise within the market that were not included when the agreement was initially set up.

Once you enter into an agreement with a broker there may be a lack of ongoing value as their infrastructure is not set up to provide continuous technical support or added value services. A typical broker setup would direct all enquiries to a generic call centre that lacks the expertise to properly advise customers who may have complex energy queries.

Some of the risks associated include hidden brokerage fees, third party hidden charges and no like for like full cost benchmarking - all of which can vastly impact the cost of energy.

Option 3: Running a tender exercise yourself Running your own tendering exercise will give you greater freedom to expand your scope of requirements and tailor them to your organisation. Through this method you are better able to accommodate new technical solutions or innovations within the market that would be of benefit.

Due to the level of expenditure for an energy contract, you may need to run a fully compliant OJEU tender exercise (the Public Procurement Regulations apply to any contract with a total estimated value of £181,302 or more, from 1st January 2020 the new threshold will be £189,330) and a high level of specialist knowledge is required particularly when it comes to procurement legislation in the EU. Running a tendering exercise requires a great deal of commitment

A broker may be negotia able to prices f te better o contrac r your energy were tot than if you go to supp directly liers

Option 2: Appointing a broker A broker may be able to negotiate better prices for your energy contract than if you were to go directly to suppliers. A broker may also save time when it comes to researching the best deals on the market as they may have access to exclusive deals.

However, there are some disadvantages and risks to using a broker. They tend to have restrictions such as only offering single supplier options meaning that often best value is not demonstrated as other parties are not given the opportunity to compete.

Many fail to understand the additional burdens placed on public sector buyers and their products don’t always fulfil the customer’s legal obligations, so there is a higher likelihood of non-compliance with the regulations when using a broker.

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

Recommendation for buying energy Due to level of expenditure involved, it is often preferable to use a framework agreement (deal) to procure energy given their legislative compliance, higher likelihood of saving money and range of added value services which all contribute to better outcomes for users.

Finding the right agreement for you “An agreement should not only provide a compliant route to procure energy but also access to specific features that would enhance the customer outcome.”

A number of public sector buying organisations offer agreements for the supply of energy. When selecting an energy agreement ensure you consider the points below:

Framework agreements generate savings not otherwise possible if procuring on your own due to economies of scale, speed and efficiency, reduced procurement costs and pre-agreed terms and conditions 1. Variable or fixed rates An agreement should not only provide a compliant route to procure energy but also access to specific features to enhance the user outcomes. Instead of complex contracts that typically include variable contract rates, agreements should offer fully fixed or all-inclusive contracting options. This approach benefits users by not only providing pricing transparency but also allows them to forecast and budget more accurately without the possibility of variable rates.

3. Supplier options Multiple supplier options increase the overall competitive nature of the agreement and the value-added services which each supplier will use to attempt to differentiate their offer from others. This is a great benefit and helps to foster long term working relationships by not only providing a competitively priced contract but also representing value with additional services such as bill validation, budgetary assistance and consumption monitoring.

2. Contracting method A broad choice of contracting methods is also a crucial component in a good agreement. Users should be provided with a choice to award business by both direct award and further competition methods.

4. Green energy Under the Renewable Obligation and Contracts for Difference schemes, electricity suppliers are incentivised to supply a certain amount of their electricity sales from accredited renewable sources.

The Climate Change Levy also aims to increase energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions. This means that users with sustainability and environmental commitments or targets can benefit from “green” electricity options, backed up by Renewable Energy Guarantee of Origin (REGO) certificates from a number of renewable energy sources such as biomass, hydro, wind and solar – often at no additional premium.

Energy

in terms of an organisation’s resources and it is very time consuming. Another key factor is the need for sector specific knowledge in order to develop the scope of the agreement.

Overall, running your own exercise requires a huge amount of resource and a high level of expertise in procurement law and the relevant market sector. Not all organisations will be able to fulfil all the aspects needed.

5. Contract management Effective contract management is the cornerstone for a successful agreement and for it to work it must be fully transparent with no hidden costs and include contract review meetings that detail contract and spend at a granular level. Look for one that offers account management features such as a dedicated technical and energy specific help desk as these always prove to be invaluable to users.

Crescent Purchasing Consortium (CPC) CPC and Tenet Education Services are not for profit organisations which are owned and run by the education sector. They are part of CPL Group, an education owned charity that gives back to the sector. CPC provides trustworthy deals designed for educational establishments covering a wide variety of products and services. The Department for Education recommends 12 of CPC’s deals. CPC membership is free of charge to all educational establishments.

Tenet Education Services provides procurement consultancy support. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.thecpc.ac.uk

Issue 24.6 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Energy Saving Specialists

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Energy

School heating: a guide to lower bills and emissions How do schools keep teachers and pupils happy and comfortable, while limiting carbon emissions and keeping bills as low as possible? Alex Green, schools programme manager at Ashden shares some tips

How warm should rooms be?

Remember, one size doesn’t fit all. People will be more or less active in different rooms – and the temperature in different rooms should be set to reflect this.

So, in a classroom with 30 active children, generating heat as they move around, a temperature of 18 degrees Celsius is fine. But school offices – where people will be moving around less – should be set to 21 degrees. Sports halls, corridors and toilets can be kept at 16 degrees.

Communicate with staff Everyone has an opinion about how warm rooms should be. But let staff know that there is an agreed policy for school heating, overseen by the building manager, designed to protect budgets and tackle climate change.

Basic thermometers for individual classrooms cost pennies – using them will confirm the system is working correctly, and that rooms are being heated to an agreed level. Remember that changes to buildings will affect how much they retain heat. After repairs, upgrades or additions, check to see if the heating needs to be adjusted too.

classrooms. The handful of staff who arrive extra early might need to rely on cups of tea and jumpers until their colleagues arrive, but heating an entire school for the benefit of a few people is bad news for school finances and the planet.

Make sure the heating’s not going on too early in the autumn, and as temperatures start to climb in spring, check that you don’t have the heating on unnecessarily. If your school currently has the heating on for 16 weeks a year, shaving a week off either end of that period would create a 12.5 per cent saving in emissions and fuel costs.

Other ways to keep warm Cranking up the heating is just one way of Make savings at the keeping warm. Make sure your school is start and end of the day using every trick in the book to stay cosy.

Cutting the time heating is on by just an hour Important steps include insulating walls, – or even 30 minutes – can save thousands ceilings and pipes to retain heat. of pounds over the course of a year.

If you convince students and Classrooms that have been New staff that saving energy is heated all day will retain their a whole-school effort, heat for the last hour, and schools they can help fix the cleaners probably won’t should e m everyday issues around want the heating on full b race passive the school. E blast as they move around de

Written by Alex Green, schools programme manager, Ashden

Schools are starting to fire up their heating for the winter, and as in any shared building with lots of users, heating choices can quickly become a battleground issue. So how do schools keep teachers and pupils happy and comfortable, while limiting carbon emissions and keeping bills as low as possible?

We’re working with the Department for Education to develop new energy use guidance and support for schools – including tips on cutting heating bills. But in the meantime, here are some straightforward tips to help staff find the right balance.

sign, a method t h building at creates s very litt that need l no hea e, if not ting cooling or

Issue 24.6 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Selectaglaze provided quality engineered products for a new engineering department In 2016 Imperial College London acquired the neighbouring disused Royal Mail Post Sorting Office from the Science Museum, sitting on the corner of Exhibition Road and Imperial College Road.

Planning was submitted to change this beautiful Edwardian Baroque style sorting office into the new ‘Dyson School of Design Engineering’, which was made possible by a £12million donation from the James Dyson Foundation.

Architects Pascall+Watson were employed to devise a sensitive yet practical design for the change of use of this four storey building.

As part of the plans, thought had to be given as to how to minimise carbon consumption, as well as reduce energy use and wastage in line with the College’s Environmental Policy.

A significant amount of heat and energy can be lost through poor performing windows and due to the planning restrictions on the new Dyson Building, the numerous beautiful original single glazed windows of all shapes and sizes had to be retained. Therefore, Pascall+Watson specified secondary glazing to improve their performance.

Working with Willmott Dixon and the Imperial Estates Team, discreet

configurations were designed to treat over 180 windows across the building. Over seven different types were installed to match the varying styles; large sweeping curved headed casements were treated with matching sightline Series 41 side hung casements, tall traditional box sash windows were treated with Series 20 and 25 vertical sliding units, along with a tricky installation of high-level stairwell port hole windows at the top of the building. To increase energy performance further, the units were glazed with 6.8 low-E laminate glass.

On the façade overlooking the service area of the Science Museum, obscurity glass was specified, to prevent distractions for the researchers and staff. The windows overlooking the busy thoroughfares of Exhibition Road and Imperial College Road were fitted with a cavity to provide added noise insulation, creating quiet conducive spaces for learning and meetings.

With lots of new and costly equipment in the labs and teaching rooms, it was decided to enhance the security of the ground floor windows with Secured By Design accredited units, the Police Preferred Specification.

The new secondary glazing in this state-of-the-art engineering facility,

The Energy Efficient Schools Trust’s mission is to deliver solutions and projects to reduce the use of energy across schools.

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sits perfectly in this repurposed former sorting office. The rooms are now quiet and warm, retaining the elegance of the original architectural features.

Established in 1966, Royal Warrant Holder Selectaglaze is the leading specialist in the design, manufacture and installation of secondary glazing.

FURTHER INFORMATION 01727 837271 enquiries@selectaglaze.co.uk www.selectaglaze.co.uk

Four UK-based activity centres providing the perfect residential adventure!

If your school is interesting in reducing its energy costs, as well as consumption and carbon emissions then we are here to help. In order to support schools in developing and obtaining the financing to deliver energy efficiency improvements we will offer a free energy audit to schools.

To apply for your free audit, please get in touch.

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

Energy

Cutting the time heating is on by just an hour – or even 30 minutes – can save thousands of pounds over the course of a year. Classrooms that have been heated all day will retain their heat for the last hour, and cleaners probably won’t want the heating on full blast as they move around  Launch a school eco-club – where students get involved in saving energy by turning off lights and computers, and making sure outside doors are closed. It will help tackle the problem and creates great learning opportunities about tackling climate change.

Even simple things that take seconds, such as closing windows to trap heat where it’s needed, make a big difference. And everyone can try and prevent the crazy contradictions that drive up energy use – like air conditioning to cool down rooms, instead of turning down the heating.

Schools of the future How else might our schools cut heating use in the years ahead, as the country aims to reach net zero carbon emissions?

Smart software and artificial intelligence is already helping homes and businesses improve their heating efficiency, by monitoring energy use in precise detail – and even using data from other buildings to predict fixes and improvements. The initial cost of these systems might put cash-strapped schools off, but they can deliver huge savings.

New schools should embrace passive design, a method that creates buildings needing very

little, if not no heating or cooling. It’s not just the preserve of expensive homes and offices – a council housing project in Norwich that uses passive design has just been awarded the Stirling Prize, the UK’s top architecture award.

But given the age of many school buildings, the answer might be adopting retrofit techniques that bring old buildings up to scratch.

Investment can create huge carbon and cash savings. When Home Farm Primary School in Essex enclosed its central courtyard and installed a new building management system, gas use dropped by an astonishing 94 per cent.

But progress is possible without large-scale building work. At South Farnborough Infant School in Hampshire, a new gas boiler and energy saving initiatives cut gas consumption by 24 per cent. The school was part of the LESS CO2 programme, which helps schools identify cheap or free ways to cut emissions and lower bills.

The scheme reveals the simple ways that any school can lower emissions and bills while creating a happy learning environment. L FURTHER INFORMATION

Ashden LESS CO2 programme The LESS CO2 programme is a free energy efficiency scheme that is available to any UK primary or secondary school, regardless if they are council run, an academy or independent.

Ashden established the LESS CO2 programme, supported by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, in 2010 in response to requests from schools for practical, hands-on support to help them make the changes they need to reduce their energy bills and to help build a low-carbon future.

As well as saving energy – and cutting costs and carbon emissions – the LESS CO2 programme is helping teaching staff to inspire students to create solutions and educate future leaders about sustainability.

Ashden’s website – www. lessco2.org.uk – was created for schools to access key information on the programme and to help facilitate the registration process for new schools.

Ashden’s annual Awards Ceremony recognises and rewards the most innovative sustainable energy pioneers in the UK and developing world.

www.ashden.org

Issue 24.6 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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No jargon, just clear energy prices Understand your costs This is clarity.

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The cost of renewable energy has fallen significantly in recent years.

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perfect clarity the independent energy broker t 020 3372 6517 or 0800 977 5462 e contact@perfect-clarity.com w perfect-clarity.com

Children and young people have been at the forefront of the environmental movement in recent months. Inspired by the actions of Greta Thunberg, they joined the School Strike for the Climate in their hundreds of thousands, taking action in more than 125 countries around the world.

But children and young people taking action on the environment is nothing new.

Through the Eco-Schools programme, a global programme run by the Foundation for Environmental Education, school pupils have been working to improve the environment for more than two decades now.

The programme offers young people the chance to make a measurable difference to their environment, to learn through action and start to understand just how we can all impact on our environment for better or worse through the choices we make and the way we behave.

The UK was one of the first countries to introduce the Eco-Schools programme.

The programme is run in England by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy and was launched here 25 years ago. Since then, in England alone, more than 19,700 schools have registered with the programme and more than 1,000 are flying the Eco-Schools Green Flag, the international mark of a sustainable school.

But the Eco-Schools programme is about more than educating children. The actions taken by even the youngest pupils can, ultimately, help a school reduce its carbon footprint, reduce waste and save money.

Eco-Schools provides a simple seven-step framework within which a school can review its environmental performance and, at the same time as supporting the environmental education of its pupils, take action to make a difference.

Saving on energy bills How? Simply bringing about behaviour According to the Carbon Trust, schools could change within a school can cut its energy reduce their energy bills by up to £44 million usage by ten per cent quickly and easily. in the UK, preventing 625,000 tonnes of In fact, on average Eco-Schools save carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere. around £3,350 on their energy bills.

UK schools currently account for over half This is not by doing anything complicated or of local authorities’ carbon emissions and by investing in new technology. It is by getting they therefore play a pivotal role in cutting the school’s staff and pupils to do simple public sector’s costs and slashing carbon things like switching off the lights and not emissions. At a time when budgets are being leaving computers on stand-by. These small squeezed and Parliament has declared a changes, and the journey a school goes on ‘climate emergency’ the need for action, through the Eco-Schools programme, can to save money and reduce lead to bigger and more significant CO2 emissions, has never changes but it always starts Schools been more critical. with the simple things. could re It is time for everyone, duce including every Pupil-lead their en e r gy bills school, to look at programme up to £ by 44 milli how it operates and As the programme is on in th UK, pre how it can cut it’s pupil-led, it is the children e venting tonnes 625,00 carbon footprint and young people who 0 of carb and this is where blaze the trail, decide on o n dio from en the Eco-Schools the changes that need to tering t xide he programme can help. be made and develop the E atm

Written by Lee Wray-Davies, education manager, Eco Schools

Simply bringing about behaviour change within a school can cut its energy usage by ten per cent quickly and easily, resulting in lower energy bills and less environmental impact

Energy

Minimise your school’s environmental footprint

osphere

Issue 24.6 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Energy

 action plan, as well as monitoring the staff and their fellow pupils to make sure that behaviour is changing.

It isn’t rocket science but it can and does make a difference to a school’s environmental footprint.

And it doesn’t stop with energy efficiency.

An Eco-School can cover any of the ten available topics, including water, waste, litter and transport, on their journey to the coveted Green Flag and each topic is good for the children, the school and the planet.

It is not difficult to see how becoming an Eco-School and embarking on the journey to Green Flag can quickly make a difference.

Waste always comes at a cost, whether that is paper that is not being recycled and ends up in the costly residual waste or excessive water use that increase the water bills or even unnecessary food waste at lunchtime.

The issue of waste In fact, research carried out by WRAP some years ago showed that 78 per cent of day-to-day waste - mainly food, paper and card - produced by schools in England could be easily recycled or composted.

Waste produced during the school day by England’s 20,871 primary and secondary schools is estimated at more than 250,000 tonnes each year, which is enough to fill Wembley Stadium.

Of this waste, an estimated 200,000 tonnes could be readily recycled or composted. This could potentially save an estimated 176,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions.

The study - which analysed a week’s-worth of waste from 24 schools in four different local authorities - found that, on average, primary schools generated 45kg of waste per pupil and secondary schools 22kg per pupil over the 40-week academic year.

More than 70 per cent of waste from schools comes from just two categories – food waste, and paper and card. For both these types of waste, Eco-Schools can help reduce them.

Case study Having recently joined the Eco-Schools campaign, St Cuthbert’s discovered (through their Environmental Review) that their school’s energy use and energy bills were increasing. After discussing how to raise awareness of energy use, children on the Eco-Committee decided to go big: they wanted a full school day without electricity.

The whole school and it’s local community were involved. A letter was sent to parents recommending warm clothing and layers be worn as the electric heating would not be in use. The school canteen staff were advised they would not be able to use electrical equipment on the day. Finally, the press were informed with Look North, Tyne Tees News, Made in Tyne & Wear and the Sunderland Echo all covering the story. Even the local mayor asked to attend to find out more.

A whole school assembly kicked off their no electricity day, explaining climate change, technological changes and giving pupils questions to think about: how did children entertain themselves before electricity? How did people see at night without electrical lighting?

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Waste always comes at a cost, whether that is paper that is not being recycled and ends up in the costly residual waste or excessive water use that increase the water bills or even unnecessary food waste How was food stored before fridges? Pupils and staff then moved on to electricity-free lessons and workshops that had been planned for all year groups, including: churning apples to make tasty apple juice and roasting marshmallows over a fire pit. Even the lunch time staff rose to the occasion, providing sandwiches, salads and fruit. Throughout the day, six pupils monitored energy use in the school, calculating that their day of action had saved the school £40.

Since the Big Switch Off, the whole school has been more mindful about wasting energy, turning off electrical devices left on unnecessarily and becoming more reliable global citizens.

Transport Avenue Primary School in Leicester is tackling the issue of emissions from transport and air pollution around schools.

They have launched a variety of actions focused on encouraging walking and cycling to school as well as raising awareness of issues surrounding air pollution.

To encourage everyone to travel sustainably to school, selected pupils have been appointed ‘Walk to School Champions’ and

tasked with the responsibility of monitoring how their classmates travel to school. The Walk to School Champions then provide recognition to those who have walked or cycled to school by awarding badges and class trophies in their monthly assemblies.

In addition, the school hosted Happy Shoes Day, which included a whole school walk (or bike) to school. On the day, 92 per cent of children in school that day had walked, biked, scooted or parked and strode. A count on the day found a huge 193 bikes within the school grounds.

The school also took part in a campaign to improve air quality outside their school.

To achieve their goal, they decided to target drivers who left their engines running, whilst waiting outside the school. Pupils took to the streets wearing hi-vis jackets and monitoring the number of drivers sitting with their engines running. They also put signs up around the school calling for parents to switch off their engines. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.eco-schools.org.uk

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

Operational energy consumption in the built environment, such as heating and cooling, is responsible for around 17 per cent of the UK’s total carbon footprint.

It’s an area of alarming wastage and ‘green washing’ throughout the industry. New buildings, on average, emit four times more CO2 than originally designed and EPCs do not accurately report and indeed penalise unnecessary energy intensity. The Siemens Energy Efficiency Financing (EEF) scheme recently found that the education sector wastes as much as £173m pa on energy.

It went on to highlight a lack of technology adoption as a contributing reason.

This is frequently cited as a cause for many ills in the built environment and is why there is a lot of excitement around the potential impact of PropTech (property technology), especially in areas of environmental or social concern.

The power of data analysis The ability to accurately monitor and quantify energy and carbon wastage is challenging due to the complexity of building systems, and a lack of operational visibility.

Whilst smart meters and check meters will accurately report on energy consumed, visibility of that consumption ends at the meter. This is problematic as energy wastage and its cause are not necessarily obvious.

Full operational visibility and analysis is therefore essential to efficiently and effectively reduce energy wastage.

In many buildings, the day to day operation of Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) is controlled by the Building Management System (BMS). There is a wealth of data locked inside a BMS which is typically

not involved in performance analysis.

This is crucial when HVAC is responsible for around 70 per cent of a buildings total energy consumption. However, Demand Logic has built a system which can unlock this data.

By collecting a huge amount of complex data from the BMS, untapping IoT networks, using machine learning and powerful data analysis Demand Logic are able to identify and quantify energy and carbon savings for its partners. A holistic digital picture of the inner workings of a building then enables teams to make sense of a complex system and action positive changes.

Typically Demand Logic is able to identify enough energy wastage that it amounts to around 10-30 per cent of a building’s total energy spend. To date, Demand Logic has supported its partners identify savings of £10m pa. That is 150m kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity/gas usage and equivalent to 56k tonnes CO2 emissions (approximately 6k households). These savings are from identifying optimisation opportunities in 120 properties, without changing any core element of the building use or occupancy.

d Demancally i p Logic tys energy e identifi amounting e wastag 0 per cent of to 10-3lding’s total a bui y spend energ

It’s not just about saving energy It shouldn’t be overlooked that the loudest voice urging consideration of the social and moral responsibility to reduce energy has sprung from the education sector. Greta Thunberg defied the status quo by protesting during school hours to challenge those who had previously done little to halt the climate crisis. Her actions and the response from admirers has arguably resulted in the climate crisis appearing higher on the country’s collective agenda. Many students now consider it a chief concern and educational institutes would be wise to consider them

as a key stakeholder in a way which may previously have seemed incomprehensible.

If this isn’t enough then it’s also worth considering the impact of air quality on productivity and stress. Many of Demand Logic’s partners are from the commercial office industry because they acknowledge how important these metrics are in an office environment. The same is the case with the educational sector where an increase in productivity is an axiomatic benefit.

Better still, the cherry on the cake is the data that Demand Logic unlock.

Operationally a BMS transforms energy and water into heating, ventilation and air conditioning services. These systems involve and demonstrate many of the fundamentals with which STEM subjects are concerned. With Demand Logic’s help and through its APIs, large academic buildings can provide an immediately relevant dataset that will have a unique capacity to engage students at any stage.

This is the fundamental philosophy of Demand Logic, proactive data-driven maintenance can make buildings both energy efficient and comfortable.

Its platform provides the toolset to revolutionise facilities management now and provide a unique resource to teach the scientists and engineers of the future.

So given that 2020 will begin the 30 year countdown to a 2050 net zero target, perhaps the education sector should adopt innovative technology as part of their New Year’s resolution. L

Written by Geoff Parsons MRICS, strategic partnerships manager, Demand Logic

As we approach the end of 2019, it’s common to spare a moment of reflection on the year gone by, and possibly begin formulating a new year’s resolution for the year to come. For those who work in the built environment, and especially in facilities management, there is one thing that really stuck out in 2019. The need to reduce its carbon footprint and a focus on operational energy consumption

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New year’s resolution: adopt innovative technology to reduce energy wastage and carbon in education

FURTHER INFORMATION www.demandlogic.co.uk

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Designing schools with the community in mind

Design & Build

Sponsored by

When schools are designed, planners must consider their potential use outside of school hours, as well as how parents and members of the community will interact with them, writes Irena Barker When spaces are designed, he says, Community engagement planners must consider their potential Longsight and its “Family Hub” are clearly use outside of school hours, but also meeting the very specific needs of their local how parents and members of the community – and reaping the rewards of community will interact with valuing the talent around them. But them during school hours. it is not an easy thing to achieve, One good example especially in secondary.

Schools of this is the Gardens Government policies are less School in Auckland, that have increased likely to be a New Zealand, which competition between utomat underwent a rebuild schools and removed ically woven in 2016. The new local authority oversight commu into their nities so design creates have meant schools school leaders integrated spaces for are less likely to be now ha pupils and community automatically woven ve to mak and a library open into their communities. e it to the public. The School leaders now a priorit y spaces include homely have to make it a priority. touches such as soft Increased safeguarding seating and objects reflecting concerns too have led to schools life and work in the local area. being, inevitably, less open as fences Principal Susannah Fowler says: are erected and gates locked. The funding “The key aim is to ensure that there is squeeze too means that schools have fewer a friendly, caring and family-orientated resources to invest in community engagement. environment where parents are However, Terry White, chair of the engaged and feel comfortable.”

Association for Learning Environments UK, But physically opening up learning says in his new book Planning Learning spaces to reduce the “fortress” effect Spaces: “A school is not an educating island; is just the start. White says: “Building it is part of the community, so should be community is not just about shared space used by the community. The vision, culture but ensuring that inclusive approaches are and leadership of the school must make in place to be able to respond equally to explicit that the school is open, interactive, all interests, cultures and social groups.” engaging and communicative, rather than closed, remote and inaccessible,” he writes.

Embracing diversity Indeed, at Queen Katherine Academy, a secondary school in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, engagement with its incredibly diverse community has been vital to injecting vitality into the school, improving pupil motivation and boosting student numbers.

“For schools it’s really important that you have to get where the people are and get where the energy is – get where the emotions are,” says chair of governors Bernard Barker.

The academy has used public performances, especially in drama and music – drawing on pupils’ interests and cultures – to attract families into the school. It is also involved in schemes to engage and give opportunities to Roma children and their families. Around 30 per cent of students are from such backgrounds, with many recently arrived from Eastern Europe. “When you are dealing with a delicate, inward-looking community like that, to progressively involve them in activities Plymouth School of Creative Arts, Plymouth, UK that treat them as valued people is terribly Shared community and school reception ©PSCA important,” says Mr Barker. E Issue 24.6 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

Written by Irena Barker

The Longsight neighbourhood of Manchester is home to many immigrant families and often parents are new to English which can make accessing services for their children difficult. Cultural norms also mean the youngest children do not always attend early years education.

So when Longsight Community Primary School was built in 2013, next to an existing children’s centre and nursery, executive headteacher Rukhsana Ahmed wanted it to become part of a “one-stop-shop” for the education and care of children aged 0 to 11.

As many parents spoke Urdu, Bangali and Arabic as a first language, reaching out to the community would be key to getting children into optional yet vital nursery education. An important step was creating a shared reception area which joined the new school with the existing children’s centre and nursery. They also now share a family room, meeting rooms and soft play.

“People can come in to our front entrance and we have receptionists who are very good at signposting each service. People know they can be supported whatever the age of their child,” says Ahmed.

A number of other community initiatives have added value across the school, including a volunteering scheme which has led to the recruitment of bilingual teaching assistants from the local community - boosting Longsight’s focus on communication and language.

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CMS Danskin Acoustics is part of the

www.PerformanceTechnologyGroup.com

 The place to be Even renting out spaces to community groups can have an impact beyond the financial, he says. “Everything that makes the school a place where things happen draws people in, gives them opportunities and increases the inner dynamism. A school which is sat on it’s own private hill taking exams serves no purpose,” he believes.

Primary liaison work has been key as well, and pupils from local primaries come in for workshops and competitions in different subject areas. “You’re building the confidence in the primary schools which are closer to their communities than we are,” he says.

But Barker stresses the school is not just engaging with the community, it is creating it. Many pupils come from all corners of the city, and many are from migrant families. “Here we’ve really got an international community, it just happens to be based in Peterborough. But a good school makes its community.”

A community resource At Oxford Academy, a school in a deprived area of Oxford, community engagement has been at the core of their mission from the start. Headteacher Andy Hardy writes on the school’s website: “The building was designed in partnership with students, parents, carers, local residents and our stakeholders to ensure it can be used as a community resource for the local area for many years to come.”

The school offers an array of facilities for use by local sports clubs, businesses and charities and an education programme created in partnership with members of the community. Maths and English GCSE and ESOL classes are offered free as part of a priority to improve literacy and numeracy in the area. There are also opportunities for local people to volunteer in the school, including staff and students from local universities.

Hailey Dunn, business leadership specialist at the Association of School and College

Design & Build

Sponsored by

The Garden School, Auckland, NZ Connected community spaces ©Terry White

Gardens School in Auckland, New Zealand, has a new design that creates integrated spaces for pupils and community and a library open to the public. The spaces include homely touches such as soft seating and objects reflecting life and work Leaders stressed that a lot of thought and detailed planning must go into any mission to open up a school for community use. She highlights considerations such as vetting, insurance, caretaking, cleaning, parking and accessibility, site security and access, and even PFI arrangements could be affected.

Stuart Gallimore, immediate past president of the Association of Directors of Children’s Service and director of children’s services in East Sussex, is upbeat about schools’ capacity to engage with communities and meet their needs. But it only happen if schools prioritise it, he says. “It’s like most things, where there’s a will there’s a way. You can always point to those schools that are really inclusive of the community and you can point to those schools where that’s less important to them.”

But he stressed it was an “over simplification” to say that local authorityrun community schools are inevitably doing more than academies. Schools of different types, he says, are identifying community needs and endeavouring to meet them.

“Competition between schools and the focus on results and attainment need not be a barrier to community engagement,” he adds, “It doesn’t have to be either/or.” L

Planning Learning Spaces: A Practical Guide for Architects, Designers and School Leaders by Murray Hudson and Terry White is published by Laurence King.

Available at all good bookstores and at laurenceking,com, RRP £24.99.

Discovery Elementary School, Arlington, Virginia, USA - Shared community and school resource ©Alan Karchner

FURTHER INFORMATION www.laurenceking.com

Issue 24.6 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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

Which schools won a RIBA National Award?

A number of schools and educational buildings were amongst the 54 winners of the 2019 RIBA National Awards for architecture. We take a look at schools picked out for their architectural excellence The RIBA National Awards for architecture have been presented since 1966 and recognise the UK’s best new construction projects and their architectural excellence.

As every year, there were a handful of schools and educational buildings that were recognised as shining examples of great architecture.

Sevenoaks School Sevenoaks School scooped a RIBA national award for its new Science and Technology Centre and Global Study Centre which was designed by Tim Ronalds Architects.

The building is sited adjacent to the RIBA Award winning Performing Arts Centre also completed by Tim Ronalds Architects in 2010.

The two buildings form the eastern and northern edges of a new courtyard playground.

Externally, the two wings of the new building are formed in the same beautifully detailed brickwork. One block, however, demonstrates an original notion of science building as factory through its expressed saw tooth roof line.

Internally the building has a more complex and intricate expression. The main block encloses a central atrium space, three storeys in height. This has become the focus of a previously disparate department and is a great cathedral of a space, full of life and light. Classrooms are arranged around the atrium and are separated from the circulation space by glass vitrines - display cases filled with student project work, interpretation material and other display items. Throughout the building finishes are stripped back to reveal the main materials of construction: precast concrete, steel and laminated timber – all beautifully detailed, constructed and finished. The building’s ventilation strategy is seamlessly incorporated into the composition.

The judges said: “This is a serious work of architecture, respectful to adjacent buildings of all ages, urbanistic in its spatial approach and remarkably consistent in the high-quality approach to detailing.”

Eleanor Palmer Primary School Eleanor Palmer Primary School was also a worthy winner of a RIBA National Award for its new Science Lab, designed by AY Architects Eleanor Palmer Science Lab is a learning environment that aims ‘to foster enquiring minds, curiosity and wonder in the world’.

Conceived as a ‘wonder room’, a cabinet

of curiosities and a place for discovery and experimentation, this small wooden structure answers its programmatic and architectural brief with aplomb.

The Lab accommodates classes and after school clubs for up to 31 pupils (aged 3-11 years) and is shared resource for the school, neighbouring community and other schools.

The modest construction budget, partly funded with section 106 money deployed by Camden Council as part of its program for developing science, technology, engineering and maths in primary schools, is used to very good effect.

It a is a carefully crafted, environmentally minded, sensitive addition to the local urban fabric. It responds to complex site and boundary conditions. The columned functional rear facade is built against a Victorian boundary wall and punctured by a single deep-silled window providing both glimpses onto a noisy road and a shop window display opportunity to signal to and engage the neighbourhood.

A pair of triangular exposed spruce frame roof volumes constructed from sawn spruce beams and joists in standard sizes are lifted above the main space. They present only their apexes to the road, visually masking their impact and giving generous daylight, ventilation and additional height for experiments in the plywood lined interior. The legible timber frame construction promises to engage children with its structural and material logic and the architectural intent is for children to be able to unpack and analyse the parts of the building intuitively.

The glazed wall to the playground lined with sinks, work surfaces and shelving and the functional rear wall with display cabinets filled with artefacts gathered by the school and specimens brought in by children, define

an adaptable free space that visually connects to the external environment. The details, internally and externally, are enjoyably child scaled and the use of a linear bench along the full width of the façade serves to unite previously disjointed playground areas.

Design & Build

Sponsored by

ARCHITECTURE

Kingswood School Another educational building awarded a RIBA National Award was Kingswood Preparatory School and Nursery, designed by Stonewood Design.

Set in woodland, the new buildings sit comfortably on their raised gently undulating site, inviting with an understated charm. There is a feeling of ease and space between the buildings, their pitched roofs and low forms intentionally familiar and of a scale young children can relate to.

The walls and roofs are clad in Western Red Cedar shingles on a base of pale brick, making a beautifully textured whole. Window cills and reveals are also carefully detailed in timber and, with the shingles, will be allowed to gradually silver down. The composition in this way works well both from a distance and close-up, and the tactile materials and patterns are clearly enjoyed by staff, parents and children alike.

Great care has been taken to scale the building and elements to relate to the age groups of the children. Starting with the nursery, doorways, windows and play platforms are at low level, linking views through to small outside play areas. This dedication to a (small) human centred design is evident throughout the school. Almost imperceptibly the rooms, openings and fittings grow in scale as the child progresses through the years.

The older prep school years 5 and 6 are arranged around a central common group learning space. The school’s priority of transparency and connectivity is achieved with generous large glazed internal windows through to every teaching space. The spaces feel acoustically calm with woodfibre acoustic boards on soffits, high performance acoustic doors and retractable screens. The plan form is ordered and controlled, yet the spaces feel varied, through a composition of roof shape and height. The arrangement of spine walls conceal services. The main hall is tall and light, flanked by small music practice rooms.

The main internal finish is exposed Cross Laminated Timber which, like the exterior, achieves a freshness in its simplicity. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.architecture.com

Kingswood Preparatory School and Nursery

Issue 24.6 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Fire Safety

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Sprinklers in schools are vital for fire safety

with the southern region the least safe for pupils. Children and communities in the West Midlands, Wales, South East, Greater London and South West are at the highest risk of major fire incidents, which can disrupt not only their education, but also any community and sports activities that school premises may be used for after hours.

Furthermore, it found that two-thirds of schools in England have poor fire protection systems and are not properly prepared for a potential blaze, despite there being more than 1,000 fires in school premises every year, which cost on average £2.8 million for the larger incidents.

In Scotland and Wales, sprinkler systems are legally required in In Scotland, sprinkler systems are all new school buildings. But in England, fewer than one in six legally required in all new and major new schools have been built with systems installed. This has refurbished schools, but in England, fewer than one in six new schools have spurred many in the industry to urge the government to make been built with systems installed. sprinklers compulsory in schools in England too Almost three in 10 (29 per cent) of Scottish schools are rated ‘excellent’ for fixed fire protection systems, in stark contrast to English schools where only one in 20 (five per cent) achieved the same rating. The five biggest fire risks include: lack of fixed fire protection including sprinklers, building combustibility and modern construction methods, fire detection, arson, as well as housekeeping and smoking controls.

Tilden Watson, head of Education at Zurich Municipal, said: “A change in government legislation to make sprinklers in schools mandatory not only protects children while they are in school, it often contains the fire to the room it starts in when it happens out of school hours. Not only does this minimise the level of damage caused, it also negates the aftermath which often leads to months or even years of disruption for children’s education while the school is repaired.

“-Schools are not just attended by children, they are community hubs which are used outside of school hours by a range of societies and organisations. The loss of these spaces can have significant impacts on London Fire Brigade has revealed that “This is not just about saving money; local communities lacking accommodation none of the 57 schools in the capital that when a school is closed it disrupts a for night classes and local events whilst had a fire this year had sprinklers fitted. child’s education, impacts on the local the school also loses the rental income.

The Brigade has long been calling for community and affects parents by closing “Preventative action and the mandatory sprinklers to become a mandatory requirement breakfast and after school clubs.” installation of sprinklers as well as the removal in schools. In particular, it wants sprinklers In all school fires attended by the Brigade of combustible materials could eliminate to be mandatory in all new school builds since 2014, there have only been 13 cases the impact of loss and disruption to the and for all schools to be retrofitted with where sprinklers have been fitted. community, and significantly reduce the cost sprinklers during major refurbishment. to the tax payer for repairs. We urge Sprinklers are especially important during Improving fire protection the Government to regulate and the summer holidays when buildings are Joining the call to make provide improved guidance which empty and fires can smoulder undetected, sprinklers mandatory Twoclearly requires the mandatory causing extensive and expensive damage. in schools, Zurich thirds implementation of sprinklers Charlie Pugsley, deputy assistant Municipal, which of scho in all new build and major Commissioner for Fire Safety, said: “It is insures about half o l England s in refurbished schools.” shocking that we have been campaigning of all schools and have poor fir Andy Dark, Fire for a number of years to make sprinklers universities in e p Brigades Union assistant mandatory in new schools and retrofitted the UK, wants r o t ection systems general secretary, added: during major refurbishments and yet urgent action from a n d are not properl “We’ve made it clear this year, every school fire we have been the government y prepa in the past that newly called to has had no sprinklers fitted. to improve fire f o r a potenti red built schools and other “Sprinklers are the only fire safety system protection in high-risk buildings should that detects a fire, suppresses a fire and school premises. blaze al have sprinkler systems and we can raise the alarm. Sprinklers save lives The company’s analysis fully support Zurich Municipal’s and protect property. Millions of pounds are of 1,000 site surveys across call on the Government to change wasted every year repairing fire damage UK shows that there is a huge the law to make them mandatory. Ideally, in London’s schools when sprinklers could discrepancy between fire risk management sprinklers would be fitted in all schools of have prevented the spread of fire. in schools across England and Scotland,

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

Fire Safety

whatever age and size. Sprinklers can assist in limiting the spread of fire, the damage it will cause and giving occupants additional time to escape, as well as reducing the risks faced by firefighters attending the incident.

“After a decade of austerity, the fire and rescue service is hanging by a thread. With slowing response times and massive cuts to firefighter jobs, a sprinkler system could make the crucial difference, saving a school from destruction in a fire. Building schools on the cheap is counterproductive – and the cost could be the complete disruption of our children’s education. We need to invest in schools as a part of investing in our future.”

Protecting the asset The Business Sprinkler Alliance (BSA) meanwhile has found that of the 673 new schools built and open under the government’s Priority School Building Programme, only 105 were fitted with sprinklers.

The Selsey Academy opened the doors to its rebuilt premises in April after a fire devastated the original building in August 2016. It didn’t have sprinkers then - and neither has the new re-build.

Commenting on the lack of sprinklers in schools, Iain Cox, Chairman of the BSA, said: “This is another case of value engineering, where the cost of installing sprinklers has been cut out without any idea of the potential impact. Surely, it is better to protect the asset, so you won’t have disruption and the lost opportunity?”

The biggest fire risks include: lack of fixed fire protection including sprinklers, building combustibility and modern construction methods, fire detection, arson, as well as housekeeping and smoking controls The Association of British Insurers says the most expensive school fires typically cost around £2.8 million to address, and over the past four years an average 24 of these large-loss fires have occurred every year, totalling £67.2 million.

The BSA is calling for better education on the substantial benefits that fire

sprinklers can deliver to the business community and wider economy. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.business-sprinkler-alliance.org www.london-fire.gov.uk www.zurich.co.uk

Does your school have a comprehensive understanding of how it can mitigate fire risk?

On any given week day, the UK education sector is entrusted with the safe keeping and wellbeing of over 10 million students, their teachers, school administrators, custodians and maintenance staff.

To ensure their protection from the risk of fire, it is imperative that the Responsible Person is conversant with their responsibilities under the Regulatory Reform Fire Safety Order and maintains a comprehensive understanding of how they can mitigate their fire risk.

BBC Fire & Security is committed to its educational role and maintains an ethos to continually train and educate its customers on the importance of fire compliance. BBC Fire & Security provides a comprehensive series of free of charge, CPD seminars, covering all aspects of fire safety including; legislation, building regulations, false alarm management and standards. Independently certified by CIBSE, each seminar aims to provide you with a better understanding of the key considerations surrounding a particular subject area. Seminars can be held at a time and place to suit you and full supporting documentation is provided to ensure that learning is retained.

A key duty of the Responsible Person is to

mitigate the risk and impact of False Alarms. Over the past 10 years, the emergency services in England have responded to an average of 237,418 false alarms each year. 67 per cent of these false alarms were due to ‘apparatus’. False alarms not only divert essential services from true emergencies but can also; significantly impact the running of a school – interrupting lessons, seminars and exams while eroding your confidence in the value and reliability of your fire detection system. Working in partnership with leading manufacturers, BBC have access to technology which, when combined with our extensive design experience, enhances the sensitivity and accuracy of your fire detection solution, resulting in a proven reduction of false alarms by up to 160%.

Established in 1979, BBC has grown to become the most trusted and respected active fire safety service provider in the UK. It provides a turnkey service from design, supply and commissioning through to ongoing maintenance and monitoring of; fire detection and alarm

systems; aspirating fire detection systems; gaseous fire suppression systems; portable extinguishers; voice alarm systems; fire telephone systems; disabled refuge systems; emergency and security lighting and communication and intercom systems.

Operating nationally, BBC successfully manages the fire life safety and security systems of some of the most prestigious education premises in England, Scotland and Wales. You can be assured of BBC’s commitment to compliance.

FURTHER INFORMATION www.bbcfire.co.uk

Issue 24.6 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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?

Too little

time space funding

We have some big ideas to solve your not-so-little challenges.

No matter the challenges with time, space and funding, schools that have succeeded over the years have a commitment to a singular vision–providing students access to the necessary tools and support to get a great education.

As decreased education funding continues to be an on-going challenge, it’s more critical now than ever before that short-term and long-term edtech investments continue to hold true to this vision.

Visit LocknCharge at BETT Stand SQ50 to learn more.

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Find a charging solution that’s right for YOU. Invest in technology that is sustainable, scalable and durable.

Partner with companies that deliver on your vision.

LocknCharge offers charging solutions that combine universal charging, open-concept designs and durability to save you money. Imagine the cost and time you would save if you didn’t need to replace your charging solutions every time you roll out new mobile devices. Plus, with worldclass customer support and a lifetime warranty, you can be confident in your charging technology for years to come.

As you make edtech investments, it’s important to partner with companies that align with your vision so that they can help you make the best decisions for your schools. At LocknCharge, we are laserfocused on designing innovative products for effective mobile device deployments, device safety and device management. Our mission is not to offer the status quo. It’s to listen to the challenges you’re facing and to provide a new way forward.

Calculate the hidden time savings.

How much is your time worth? One cabinet-style cart can gobble up 70+ hours of class time per year, simply in passing out and collecting devices. What could your students and teachers accomplish with two extra weeks of class time per year?

Visit www.lockncharge.com/eu/time-savings-calculator to find out how much time you could save with a LocknCharge Cart.

Select technology that simplifies.

LocknCharge offers a wide variety of charging stations, carts and towers to simplify your workflow through easy-to-implement, easy-to-use charging solutions. Our products boast new-to-market features such as high-quality components, LED lights, ultra mobile device baskets, a back-end management portal, space-saving products and more to make life easier for anyone in your school who interacts with mobile tech.

Carrier 10 or 15™ Putnam 8 or 16™ FUYL Tower 15™ Take back time and space.

Takes up minimal space and includes our unique, time-saving Baskets.

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Advertisement Feature

Why schools investing in new technology must use asset management Over the past few years, schools around the world have grappled with a new and sprawling challenge: How to properly integrate emerging technology into classrooms, while protecting students, teachers, and their investment alike?

The world at-large has radically changed due to the advent of smartphones, tablets, cloud computing, and social media. Schools needed to change along with it. For decades, schools operated mostly the same: Textbooks, pens and paper were the tools of the day. Now, schools are increasingly using things like Chromebook laptops, iPad tablets, and other tech-savvy devices that require attentive care and oversight.

One area in particular that needs to be monitored closely is the management of these assets themselves: Are students going to be responsible and mindful for and of their devices? Will their parents and teachers? How can we create a system that promotes accountability and fairness in regards to these not-inexpensive items?

Even the cheapest of these devices is still a hefty investment. Google owns the educational tech space, according to The New York Times: Today, more than half the nation’s primaryand secondary-school students – more than 30 million children – use Google education apps like Gmail and Docs, the company said. And Chromebooks, Google-powered laptops that initially struggled to find a purpose, are now a powerhouse in America’s schools. Today they account for more than half the mobile devices shipped to schools.

Schools, typically by way of their students, pay Google a $30 maintenance fee for each Chromebook: Chicago Public Schools alone has spent over $33 million

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on tens of thousands of Chromebooks.

Here are some important things administrators should consider when making similar investments in the future of their schools.

1. A digital system of accountability Just like digital tools are taking over for the paper-and-pen solutions of the past in the classroom, the administration side of things should also upgrade their systems to reflect new efficiencies. So, consider instituting a simple check-in/check-out system to deploy devices to each student at the start of the year and get them back at year-end, and for shared devices that are used around the school and returned after each class, project, or day.

A process powered by barcodes, could be the perfect solution here. Have the student or teacher scan a barcode on the device when it’s being handed over to the student for the duration of their use, and from then on they are personally responsible for it.

Things happen, and devices will still get lost or stolen but, when students and families understand that there is a digital record of their accountability, they’ll be more careful with the devices in their care – and it will be easy to track them down in the event that they aren’t.

Handing out the devices without any accountability is of course a non-starter but, even trying to keep track of these devices with spreadsheets and manual counts is a surefire way to create unnecessary errors.

2. Transparency and oversight A barcode-powered system instills a sense of responsibility and accountability in students. It also gives teachers and administrators peace of mind that they can know exactly where each device is with a click of a few buttons.

Quality asset management systems like Wasp AssetCloud, allow users to see their data at any given time from a variety of devices. Whether teachers are at school on their desktops, or administrators are on their way home with their smartphones, they’ll be able to log in and determine the whereabouts of every device in the system.

When a barcode is scanned by a mobile barcode scanner, that information is instantly transmitted to the cloud, and the database will reflect those changes. No more double checking against spreadsheets or uncertainty about who had what device last. It’s all there in black and white – reducing headaches and costs.

3. Understand depreciation A brand new computer simply isn’t the same as an old one. That’s because older machines have depreciated and lost some of their value. This is important for your insurance costs and understanding of when it will be time to replace the device.

Asset management systems can automatically track depreciation using a variety of methods—straight line, double declining balance, sum of years, etc – and alert you when a device is due for maintenance and is due for disposal and replacement. It also tells you how to write the device off on your taxes that year and for years to come.

Technology in the schools is a complicated issue, on all fronts but, keeping that technology safe, accounted for, and properly depreciated should never be an issue. The simple adoption of an asset management system like Wasp AssetCloud that can grow with your investment in new education technology is the solution. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.waspbarcode.co.uk

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

Bett 2020 Preview

What’s new at Bett 2020?

The 36th edition of Bett UK takes place on 22-25 January 2020 at ExCeL London – and with an expanded offer of show features and content, it is an unmissable date in the global EdTech event calendar. Find out more about this year’s edition below A bigger, better Bett event Advancing education is what Bett is all about. The show will once again be providing a platform to push the sectoral conversation further.

Over 34,000 educators and leaders from the UK and overseas will be there, ready to engage with more than 800 EdTech suppliers, SMEs, and start-ups.

What’s more, there will be a line-up of 300 of the most influential figures in teaching and learning today.

An unrivalled guest speaker agenda The educators, leaders, and EdTech pioneers you need to hear from are coming exclusively to Bett UK this year. Bett prides itself on giving its visitors the chance to hear from those changing the way we think about education and technology – and that’s exactly what Bett is offering in 2020.

The first wave of speakers includes globally recognised figures and finest educational minds in Britain. This includes: Linda Liukas - Author of “Hello Ruby” and Tech Evangelist; Professor Daniel Muijs – Head of Research, Ofsted; Arjana Blazic – Teacher Trainer, Croatian Ministry of Education; Dr Sue Black - Professor of Computer Science and Technology Evangelist, Durham University; Jos Finer - Head of Organisational & Staff Development, University of St. Andrews; Carol Allen Education Advisor for ICT and Inclusion, Hartlepool LA; and Bart Verswijvel - Senior Advisor, European Schoolnet Partnership.

Stay tuned for more speaker updates when they become available.

The Education Show at Bett For the first time in Bett’s history, it will be integrating the Education Show fully inside the event in the North Hall.

Hundreds of suppliers will be there, showcasing the products essential for the health and wealth of educational institutions around the world.

The event will also be offering accredited CPD-led sessions, covering a wide range of topics on educators’ needs in the brand-new Education Show Theatre, for a complete picture of modern education today and beyond. E

The n has floorpla plified, m been si it easier to makinge solutions, find th ucts and prod rs you partne o see want t

Issue 24.6 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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CHANGE THE WAY YOUR STUDENTS SEE THE WORLD WITH SCHOOL TRIP & COACH HIRE PACKAGES FROM THE KINGS FERRY GROUP THE PEOPLE’S CHOICE FOR EDUCATIONAL TRAVEL Not only does The Kings Ferry Group provide state of the art school coach hire solutions, but we also have a number of incredible school trip packages!

From gravity defying adventures to underwater explorations, let your students to live and learn outside of the classroom with help from The Kings Ferry Group.

0845 257 9906 | thekingsferry.co.uk/eb

Every great journey starts here

Bett 2020 Preview

 Six new inspirational content themes Bett has introduced six new themes to structure the conference programme, ensuring every learner and educator can benefit from this year’s content. They include: Innovation; Wellbeing; Empowering Teaching & Learning; Inclusion, Social Mobility and SEND; Future Tech and Trends; and Skills.

Bett’s newly appointed Advisory Board, made up of the industry experts, has steered our content in the right direction and to make sure the event’s finger is firmly on the pulse when assessing the latest developments in the education industry.

“Bett provides a hub to connect together like-minded and engaged educators around technology,” says Advisory Board member, Jon Audin of the University of Winchester. “Once a year, everything that you need around the field of EdTech and its use can be found under one roof.

With talks, teachers, students and companies sharing the latest practise and ideas it encourages the searching questions of whether this technology will make a difference to students we teach.”

Expanding Bett’s CPD offer Teacher and leader development is essential to what Bett is all about.

With this in mind, the event’s programme of educator-led sessions has been expanded. In 2020, you’ll find more CPD driven content than ever before. Visitors will benefit from a diverse range of peer-to-peer learnings, insights and expertise. Bett has also invested in fresh CPD-focussed features, including the launch of the Professional Development Theatres, offering free workshops to educators of all levels.

Better navigation for a higher return on time Bett is busy, so getting a strong return on your time is vitally important. It will be easy to navigate around Bett 2020. The floorplan has been simplified, making it simple to find the solutions, products and partners you want to see, have better, productive conversations, and take back better technology and learnings to your schools. The show is now split into six different events zones each with a different focus: The Education Show; Equipment & hardware; Management solutions; Teaching Tech; Learning Tech; and Global Showcase.

Further networking opportunities at Bett Bett 2020 will have more networking opportunities onsite, with a Staff Room for educators to have space to discuss the content sessions they’ve experienced and reflect upon what’s inspired them.

On top of this, Bett has the Connect@Bett networking app, which will enable visitors to set up meetings with relevant exhibitors and fellow educators to help them maximise their time. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.bettshow.com

A barcode solution that yields maximum results For over 25 years, Wasp Barcode Technologies has been the leading provider of complete barcode solutions, specialising in asset tracking technologies and inventory management, serving education organisations of all sizes.

When schools need to improve their administration processes and require a barcode solution that yields maximum results with minimal implementation pain, Wasp has become the chosen out-of-the-box barcode solution provider for over 500,000 customers worldwide.

Wasp’s Asset Tracking solutions (On-Premises and Cloud-based) allow you easily track your school’s assets, including computers, furniture, tools, files, vehicles and more, eliminating wasted time spent looking for missing assets and reducing the unnecessary expense of replacing equipment.

AssetCloud captures each asset’s information, including location, funding details, check-in

and check-out status with duedates, maintenance schedule, and transactional history.

Warranty contracts, user manuals, photos, and other important documentation can be attached to asset’s record for quick reference.

Instantly accessible management reports keep the data you need at your fingertips – from funding details, asset maintenance, and audit history to checkout records and depreciation. Additionally, you can manage your assets anywhere from your existing IOS or Android device with the AssetCloud app.

FURTHER INFORMATION www.waspbarcode.co.uk

Issue 24.6 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Advertisement Feature

What is Driving Schools and Colleges Investment in Telecom Services?

Today communications and telecom services are critical to how a schools and higher education operates. From traditional voice and data Internet and cloud connectivity to mobile and remote always on connectivity for students, teaching and administrative staff.

Voice, video and data services are critical elements in delivering the education curriculum and the day-to-day running of schools.

The Department for Education continue to highlight key areas where technology and communications should play a pivotal role in how schools and colleges operate.

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Choosing a consultative service provider is becoming more important versus choosing ‘off the shelf’ individual packages. Producing tailored comms solutions that proves less expensive, unified and designed to your specific needs. We see on average schools can save over 27% with a unified solution compared to individual traditional services.

What is ‘Unified Comms’? Generically it is the bringing together of multiple telecom services under a single solution, traditionally that means your voice and data needs. In the last few years that has also meant integrating your mobile needs as well as unifying all your communications in to a single ‘business grade’ IP strategy. Surprisingly not difficult at all.

This is becoming even more relevant with the catalyst that is the UK’s plans to switch off the tradition telephone dial up networks in the next few years.

Significant cost savings can frequently be realized not just by using one reliable Wide Area Network (WAN) for all your voice and data but using a specialised service provider that can integrate all these services with a single bill, single support and bespoke design.

Abzorb recently invested in a survey to see what really was driving education sectors’ decision making when it comes to comms.

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

Advertisment Feature

Predictably (in service and costs), reliability and budget/cost savings are the biggest drivers in the education sector when selecting a communications provider. What is encouraging is that trends are already being seen within the sector to support these demands.

Multi-service or unified communication providers are proving to many to be a favoured approach for schools, colleges and universities, allowing them to address rising costs whilst at the same time improving school efficiency, increasing speed and reliability of services and support.

Survey Result: What Benefits have partnering with a Unified Comms provider such as Abzorb made?

Whilst the challenge of moving towards pure IP or IP transit for fixed voice needs to be resolved over the next 2-5 years, there is a viable opportunity to reduce telecoms spend by converging data and voice into a single WAN solution, giving education establishments the option to increase control, features and supplier reliability.

Simple IP cards and SIP trunk connectivity upgrades are now proven to be reliable and cost-effective alternatives to more costly ISDN. Similarly, hosted IP Voice is now mainstream with SLAs that can prove even more cost effective when eliminating the need to implement a new onsite telephony switch or PBX. The good news when it comes to Internet and cloud data connectivity is the increased rollout of fibre broadband, which in turn provides a more competitive market for leased ethernet WAN. G.fast, FTTP and Ethernet WAN is giving the education sector more choice and hence better commercially viable solutions. There are a plethora of options for organisations to increase their bandwidth at limited or no extra cost and consolidating their voice and data on a single network, which eliminates the need for high cost PSTN and ISDN fixed lines.

You can download the full education survey results from our education website https:// www.abzorbcampaigns.co.uk/education/ The complication is finding an agnostic and unbiased comms provider that represents all

60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10%

of these technologies. Partnering on a wholesale basis with one of the major mobile, fixed voice and data infrastructure providers (for example BT, Vodafone, O2 etc) and award-winning innovators such as CityFibre and Xelion means that you can choose the right solution for your specific needs.

The challenge for the education sector appears to be finding service providers who can deliver reliability and cost savings, whilst at the same time delivering a consultative approach and meeting the technological guidelines specified by the Department for Education.

This is where the Crown Commercial Services (CCS) Framework can deliver added value. The CCS Service works to simplify the procurement process for organisations in the public sector.

Using a list of pre-screened suppliers checked against stringent qualification criteria means public sector institutions can instantly source an approved supplier and benefit from the collective buying power of thousands of purchasers resulting in significant time and cost savings.

Abzorb has always followed the goal to provide a consultative and unbiased approach whilst offering a single bill for multiple services from the DofE guidelines for Cloud and Internet connectivity, fixed voice services (onsite or cloud hosted) and mobile. We are proud to be recognized for this approach by being named on 7 separate categories on the CCS framework. Our appointment to this framework assures the education sector that we are providing a competitive cost and reliable service with proven technology and support. L

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FURTHER INFORMATION Tel: 01484 405300 www.abzorbcampaigns.co.uk/education/ marketing@abzorb.co.uk

Issue 24.6 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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What steps can a school take to avoid being taken down by a Distributed Denial of Service attack?

Did you know, DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks are now the most common cause of internet outages?

And if you’re unlucky enough to have experienced a DDoS event, or worse still, your Internet Service Provider (ISP) has, you’ll know the cost of disruption.

Outages can last anything from hours to days at a time, impacting almost every aspect of running your school.

In the first quarter of this year alone, it was reported that DDoS attacks had increased by a whopping 84 per cent. That’s not surprising given the growth of the multi-billion-dollar cybercrime market. But it’s attacks launched closer to home that Schools Broadband are seeing a lot more of says, David Tindall, CEO: “There’s an insatiable appetite among young people for watching films and playing online games about network attacks; consequently, there’s a huge increase in awareness of the large-scale damage that can be inflicted on an organisation’s network. DDoS attack tools are as readily available online as sweets in a sweet shop, with many online DDoS tools free of charge, and very often attacks are launched from within a school itself.”

Attacks and security Good reason for any business manager to understand more about DDoS and how successful attacks can be avoided. In basic terms, a DDoS attack is an attempt to cause severe disruption to a network or server, by overwhelming it with internet traffic.

This creates a ‘traffic jam,’ preventing normal traffic requests from being met and so causes a loss of service for users.

Unlike phishing emails, whereby staff and pupils can be educated in what to do if they receive one, no change in staff or pupil

behaviours will reduce the risks associated with a DDoS attack, (unless it is one of your own students launching the attack). It is worth asking your Internet Service provider (ISP) however, if they have invested in the extra levels of security required to protect their own networks. There have been instances recently where DDoS attacks have penetrated even ISP network defences, wreaking havoc with school operations. Whilst this might sound like scaremongering, be assured it is not. If your defences are weak, or your ISP’s security is not robust enough, the chances of a successful attack are high.

That, says David Tindall of Schools Broadband, “is precisely why we continue to invest so heavily in our security systems, to ensure we provide a service that delivers the robust protection our customer networks require.”

Until now, the industry-leading Fortinet Firewalls, used by Schools Broadband in their core network, have been enough to protect their customers, soaking attacks and leaving schools unaware of the dangers.

The DDoS attacks they were used to seeing, didn’t affect large-scale networks. However, with increased bandwidths, comes the capacity to strike attacks 50 times bigger than most school broadband lines. “It’s that we need to stop dead in its tracks.”

To manage this, Schools Broadband has introduced an extra level of Anti DDoS Protection, investing hundreds of thousands of pounds in protecting their networks and their customers’. DDoS attacks tens of Gbps in size, are now fully contained by their new anti DDoS Protection System; in the past, they say, this would have massively affected customer connectivity, despite their firewalls achieving “Best Security”

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Internet outages in schools

status three times by the Internet Service Providers Association.

Previously, Schools Broadband say detecting a DDoS attack could take anything between five and 40 minutes and was a manual process. Now with their fully automatic anti DDoS Protection system, it typically takes less than a second to detect and scrub malicious traffic, whilst genuine traffic continues to flow.

So, what steps can your school take to avoid being taken down by a DDoS? Firstly, move the risk of a DDoS attack towards the top of your IT agenda as part of your risk assessment. Consider talking to an ISP that can provide you with cloud‑hosted services, including your filtering and firewalls. Cloud-hosted firewalls are by far superior to on-site firewalls. The Schools Broadband hosted service is fully managed, so takes the headache away from you, plus they employ some of the industry’s most knowledgeable security experts, giving you extra peace of mind. And because cloud services don’t require on-site equipment, they require no large upfront equipment costs.

Schools Broadband is a leading provider of network security and web filtering and provides a service that is now one of the most advanced and reliable in the industry. They have been awarded Best Cloud and Best Security three times by the Internet Service Providers Association.

For information on broadband, filtering and security services for schools and MATs of every size, see contact details below. L FURTHER INFORMATION 01133 222 333 info@schoolsbroadband.co.uk www.schoolsbroadband.co.uk

Issue 24.6 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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IT & Computing

The tech to create brighter futures

Written by Steve Moss, chair of Naace

was earmarked as an area for improvement as hundreds of schools throughout the UK struggle with inadequate speeds.

Despite a top-level government initiative to achieve nationwide full-fibre connectivity by 2033, the Department for Education has pledged funding to help hundreds of the most affected schools improve their internet access within the next two years.

The use of technology in education is constantly evolving, School management teams must take a comprehensive approach to edtech strategy, driven as much by edtech’s own development as by schools’ making infrastructural upgrades capable of requirements. Steve Moss, chair of Naace, sheds some light on supporting new equipment and ensuring the current landscape for technology in education all future purchases will be compatible.

Of course, this is not always easy, and many schools lack the resources to Education technology has been developing Education technology is clearly benefitting invest as they would like to. This is where rapidly in recent years, and has had a students and teachers alike, but that’s not independent bodies such as Naace are transformative effect on classrooms up and to say that we have reached an all-inclusive best equipped to provide impartial advice down the country. More than ever, teachers edtech utopia. Research which charters the and guidance for schools looking are among the most impassioned and progress of education technology to improve edtech provisions committed advocates for edtech – and it’s over time enables us to according to their budget. not hard to see why. Research conducted celebrate its successes – S chools In times of political by global education technology provider, and rightly so – but it will alw uncertainty, the exact Promethean, revealed that 83 per cent of also reveals areas that a need to ys future of education teachers said that technology helps them still need attention. take a conside funding remains to do their job better, and the majority unclear, but schools will indicated that they are striving to innovate Improving to edte red approach ch inve always need to take a by using technology as a tool for education. infrastructure stment if they approach Promethean’s State of Technology in When it comes to s toconsidered a edtech investments Education Report, which has been running edtech, it’s not just a the more to make st if they are to make the since 2016, is a useful resource for measuring case of getting as many techno of new most of new technologies. attitudes and opinions to edtech. It has resources as possible l ogies also recorded progress in how teachers are into schools. Even where Confidence using classroom technologies to improve classroom technologies are and capability educational outcomes. In the 2019/20 Report, available, there are factors The quest for effective edtech usage 90 per cent of teachers suggested that which impede edtech uptake. is much like a puzzle – many different pieces technology is a good way to engage students Infrastructural readiness is crucial for edtech must be put in place if the ideal outcome is to in the classroom, up from just 32 per cent in implementation – be it internet connectivity be reached. Even if the infrastructure behind 2017/18. A further 41 per cent believed that or device compatibility, the practicalities of edtech is appropriate and teachers are positive technology helps improve pupils’ behaviour. installation and usage require consideration. about the new resources, there simply won’t In any school, existing infrastructure must be be an immediate impact. Teachers’ edtech supportive of new technologies. Infrastructure capabilities will continually evolve through E was a particular focus of the government’s flagship edtech strategy, published in April 2019 under the Secretary of State for Education, Damian Hinds.

Internet connectivity, especially,

A class of Year 2 students learning about different word types using a Promethean ActivPanel

Issue 24.6 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Nimbus is a specialist technology services SME with experts in cloud migration and transition Nimbus specialises in digital and technological services, that focus on providing innovative solutions to enable our customers to benefit from launching and operating their businesses and IT provisions ‘in the cloud’.

Nimbus supports and provides solutions for both the public and private sector organisations, offering a comprehensive portfolio of services that can assist and support you as an individual or a company, at whatever stage you are with your journey.

Nimbus’ approach is based on the following five key principles: One: to work with you in partnership – Nimbus work as an extension of your in-house teams, winning the trust and buy-in of your staff and working together to achieve agreed goals.

Two: To work with you to embed agile and DevOps cultures – Nimbus works with you to embed the principles and practices of the agile manifesto in-line with a DevOps culture. Nimbus has a firm commitment to the automation of delivery processes wherever possible to increase efficiency and repeatability.

Three: To embrace your methods and structures – Nimbus adheres to your chosen project and programme governance processes, including their underpinning principles, ethos and associated practices. Nimbus maintains all expected SLAs and reviews its progress at regular service review boards.

Four: To apply knowledge to your organisation – Nimbus pass on and impart broader knowledge and experience, gained from many other directly related services and projects.

Five: To transfer knowledge and skills to your organisation – Nimbus fully recognises the need to pass on its skills and expertise to your in-house teams and therefore provides living documentation and undertakes knowledge and skills transfer from the beginning of its engagements.

Nimbus’ mission is to deliver industry

leading digital and technological innovations that empower our customers and our vision is to be your reliable, trusted and valued innovation partner of choice.

If you are considering migrating to the cloud, or improving your cloud offering. Nimbus can help you to transform and modernise your IT services. The company has expertise in leading migration programmes for large government departments, including the Department for Education, where it has successfully migrated 2,190 server workloads to public cloud platforms and migrated and transformed 179 applications to run on public cloud platforms.

Paul Martin, Department for Education Technology Group Delivery Director, said: “Nimbus have a good mix of technical skills and business acumen. They have managed the successful delivery of two physical datacentres’ migrations on to the Microsoft Azure platform for the Department of Education.”

FURTHER INFORMATION www.nimbusdti.co.uk

nimbusdti.co.uk Nimbus lead the way in providing collaborative, agile and adaptive digital and technological innovations that enables our customers to benefit from running their business and IT services in the cloud.

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

IT & Computing

A Year 5 student using a Promethean ActivPanel at Torkington Primary School

 experience and training. Past the practicalities, teachers still need to be given the right support to use their classroom technologies to best enhance teaching and learning.

Teacher willingness is not a major problem – the latest State of Technology in Education Report saw 89 per cent of teachers suggest that technology should be used in the classroom as it is integral to everyday life – up from 52 per cent in 2018/19.

Teachers clearly have an ambition to make the most of classroom technologies, so it’s a case of empowering them to do so. Training has been identified as a key area for improvement in the government’s edtech strategy as well as numerous independent reports.

Teachers must be supported in using the edtech they have on-hand – the crux of this lies in specific training sessions, but ongoing continued professional development strategies will also help build teachers’ confidence and capability.

It’s important to recognise that training sessions are an investment for schools when time is limited and budgets are tight. By making this investment, though, schools can pave the way for edtech excellence through staff proficiency and ultimately improve learning outcomes.

Maximising resource mileage There’s no easy fix to the financial and time pressures faced by schools, but there are resources available which can help without adding additional strain. Of course, even finding these can be tough, with schools’ senior management teams wading through a myriad of options to find the best solution.

Having provided independent advice to

The future for edtech is undoubtedly bright.

Teachers’ attitudes are more positive than ever, the government is streamlining its strategy, and school leaders are committed to the betterment of educational outcomes schools for over 30 years, Naace is keenly aware of the struggles they face and how these have changed in relation to edtech. The Self Review Framework (SRF), published by Naace, is a tool designed to help schools and teachers looking to improve their use of education technology.

As a non-commercial entity, Naace is best placed to provide impartial advice to schools and teachers alike, with a view to supporting positive education outcomes.

The Self Review Framework exists in two forms – in text format, available as a free download for Naace members, and as an online tool available to those with a ‘School’ level Naace membership. It provides advice on six key areas, encouraging improvement throughout school life. This includes leadership and management; teaching and learning with technology; assessment of digital capability; digital safeguarding; professional development; and resources and technology.

The government’s edtech strategy highlights effective procurement practices as a vehicle to success. The Department for Education is exploring the creation of ‘recommended buying deals’, where certain hardware, software and services are available to schools on negotiated rates. Such opportunities may prove invaluable to schools once available.

EdTech in 2020 and beyond So, how might edtech develop through 2020?

According to the latest State of Technology in Education Report, we’re set for significant strides in cloud-based lesson planning and delivery. The government suggests there will be a breakdown of the barriers to edtech implementation and usage. If the commercial sector is anything to go by, it’s ongoing investment into innovative solutions that support teachers, school leaders and IT managers.

One thing is for sure – the future for edtech is undoubtedly bright. Teachers’ attitudes are more positive than ever, the government is streamlining its strategy, and school leaders are committed to the betterment of educational outcomes. Despite ongoing financial pressures and concerns regarding teacher workload, there is an increasingly united front for education technology striving for improvements through 2020 and beyond.

To download a copy of the 2019/20 State of Technology in Education Report, visit tinyurl. com/w9gqf7d. For more information about Naace and the support it provides to schools, visit the association’s website below. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.naace.org.uk

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The good news is that there are now one million women working in STEM in the UK; the priority today is to close the gap in technology, which represents at least a quarter of STEM jobs in the UK and is growing faster than any other occupation group. It is estimated that there are 600,000 digital vacancies at any one time in the UK. We can’t let girls miss the chance to be part of this growth; they can find tech jobs in any and every sector. Our top priority is to get this message across to girls, their families and their teachers.

There is a wealth of evidence which demonstrates that greater gender diversity makes companies more adaptable, more productive and more responsive to what their customers are telling them. It’s clear that to get ahead in STEM, companies should be recruiting, retaining and developing female talent – and that failing to do so will mean being left behind.

Build on momentum This year, for the third year running, girls accounted for 48 per cent of GCSE STEM entries and 1,930 more core STEM* A Levels

were awarded to girls than in 2018. For the first time, we also saw more science A levels awarded to girls than to boys, with girls accounting for 50.3 per cent of the combined total of biology, chemistry and physics A levels awarded. This is all very positive but how do we continue to build on this momentum; what works?

Firstly, I think it’s important to understand Role models that this is a joint responsibility with roles for Providing access to young female role models schools, universities, employers, governments is vitally important in helping bring STEM roles and organsiations such as our own. to life and helping girls see people who are Through our work, we know that just like themselves doing these roles. There there are some simple steps that can are a variety of ways to bring role models be very effective in dispelling myths into schools but I would suggest starting with surrounding STEM and changing minds. our careers quiz; My Skills My Life, Let’s begin with language. We need to which helps students identify change the way we talk about STEM. their personality type, We need to help girls connect the suggests career options studying of STEM with the real We nee to suit and provides world. Why? Our research d to chan access to real-life shows that women are most g e t way we he role model stories interested in having a career STEM. talk about allowing students that makes a real difference to find out firstto society and I’ve heard help gir We need to ls conn hand what is from many students that ect the studyin involved.

E this is important to them g

Written by Helen Wollaston, Chief executive of WISE

The WISE campaign says that the UK needs 30 per cent of women in STEM. Helen Wollaston looks at how we can encourage girls to choose STEM subjects and progress into STEM related careers

STEM

A diverse STEM workforce

too. Recently an A level STEM student told me that she feels her generation is on the cusp of finding new and better ways of creating things in a sustainable way. Another young woman told me that she took up a career in civil engineering because it was an opportunity to be creative in solving problems, help build society and make the world a better place, while yet another said she believes that anyone can work in STEM and through it can change lives for the better; this was her driver to take up a career in technology.

So, our advice when talking to girls about STEM careers is to talk about the bigger purpose of the job and the contribution they might make rather than concentrate on the technical aspects. By consistently re-enforcing a positive message we can show girls and their families that science, technology, engineering and maths open doors to exciting, well-paid jobs that have a real impact on our world.

with thof STEM e re world al

Issue 24.6 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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The future is in good hands

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Today’s children and teens are the engineers of the future...

They are also the architects, politicians and teachers, the next generation of writers and artists, potential movers and shakers that will affect and influence others.

Our responsibility then, should be to make every effort to enable them to achieve their full, unique potential.

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Parental involvement As every teacher knows, parents are the biggest influencer on their child’s study options and future career choices; sharing information about the pay and prospects in STEM can be a real-eye opener for them. We’ve had schools run My Skills My Life resource sessions with students and parents, particularly mothers, allowing them to see that STEM related careers such as engineering, technology, construction, etc, could be a great choice for their daughters.

Parents can also be role models themselves if they work in a STEM. They can answer questions, provide an insight into their careers and potentially be a source of contacts for work experience.

As a school, you can also access numerous career outreach programmes. To help

When talking to girls about STEM careers, talk about the bigger purpose of the job and the contribution they might make rather than concentrating on the technical aspects. By consistently re-enforcing a positive message we can show girls that STEM subjects open doors to exciting jobs teachers understand and gain access to the different schemes, we have created the STEM Accord. The Accord brings together the ERA Foundation, STEM Learning, Design and Technology Association (DATA) and The Smallpeice Trust, working in alignment with the Royal Academy of Engineering, Engineering UK and the IET. Together we can change girls’ attitudes and dispel the myths associated with women in STEM roles, then we will see a future where women call themselves inventors. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.wisecampaign.org.uk

STEM

 Local employers are very happy to provide career-based talks to their local schools; afterall they are potentially talking directly to their future employees. They are usually happy to either visit the school or invite students to their facility. Experience shows that what works best is to ensure that at least one young woman joins the session so that girls can easily relate to them. If you are not sure where to find employers and role models, we are happy to help.

Performance in STEM exams In 2019, for the third year running, girls account for 48 per cent of GCSE STEM entries.

For the second year running, STEM subjects account for 43 per cent of total GCSE entries – 44 per cent boys compared with 40 per cent girls. The percentage of girls achieving A 7/A grade or higher in mathematics rose 0.6 percentage points, to 15.5 per cent, while boys have dropped back slightly with 16.7 per cent getting the highest grades.

59.2 per cent of girls achieved a 4/C grade or above (the same as in 2018), which is the standard expected by government. A good knowledge of mathematics is fundamental to further STEM study and to STEM job roles.

Girls again outperformed boys in computing, with almost one in four (24.9 per cent) achieving an A/7.

There was a 14 per cent increase in the number of girls taking the subject (the same increase as between 2017-8) compared to just six per cent increase for boys; however, the numerical gap between boys and girls has increased yearon-year by more than 1,000.

1 ,930 more core STEM A Levels were awarded to girls in 2019 than in 2018. The number awarded to boys dropped by 1,792.

For the first time, there more science A levels were awarded to girls. Girls accounted for 50.3 per cent of the combined total of biology, chemistry and physics A levels awarded.

The reforms to A Levels led, as anticipated, to a drop in the percentage of students awarded A* and A grades. However, the anticipated decline in female performance did happen. In physics and computing, the percentages of girls who were awarded A* and A grades were higher than the percentages of boys.

Issue 24.6 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Advertisement Feature

Web-based software for allergen, nutrition, recipe and menu management ZestNutriplanner was the result of a collaboration between Ian Hayes, a software engineer with over 45 years’ experience, and David O’Malley, a chef and caterer with over 47 years catering industry experience consumables. The bar module will allow multi-level tariff and multi-bar locations for larger sites with different sales points.

ZestNutriplanner is proud to provide a complete web based solution for recipe and menu management, financial control, planning and dietary analysis, and importantly allergen management.

ZestNutriplanner has developed a unique tool that shows all the allergens in each of the menu items for customers with allergen needs without the need to wade through reams of paper.

The Zest software system has been designed to focus on four primary modules.

The core primary module, “Mise-en-place” is mandatory for each subscriber. However, each subsequent module, (Trakker, Landlord/ Sundries and Finance), can be added as required with an additional subscription.

Part of the successful feature of the core module “Mise-en-place” is that ZestNutriplanner has designed a template for the user’s individual suppliers to complete, which includes product costs and nutritional and allergen information.

In the recipr print function is the ability to print standard avery. Thereby meeting Natasha’s Law requirements. This then allows the subscriber to have real live information to manage their catering service. Updates on prices or changes in allergen information from these suppliers

58

can be automated or updated as product price or ingredient details change, thereby ensuring the information used is accurate.

Once updates are loaded the allergen content, nutritional detail, recipe and menu costs are instantly updated, making easy work out of keeping this vital detail accurate.

The recipe print function has the ability to print standard Avery labels with the ingredients and allergens of any dish contained in your recipe folder, using these labels you can meet Natasha’s Law for packaged food produced on the premises.

The other modules provide a wide spectrum of solutions. Summarised here are just a few of these.

Finance This module provides a full range of control measures, invoicing of goods received, cash control, supplier management, labour scheduling and cost, P& L analysis and performance across flexible periods chosen by you.

Landlord/Sundries This is a simplified version of the core module “Mise-en-Place” which allows the user to have a separate bar service accounting system or use for non-food

Trakker This allows the tracking of individual nutritional needs, allowing for the specific setting of individual nutritional targets across a chosen calendar period. It is very suited to any environment where there is a need to monitor closely nutritional and dietary intake.

All the modules, where the information is relevant, can be linked into the finance module. There is no need for double entry.

This includes such features as consumption and purchases, which, when the menu management feature is used to its full extent, will work out what resources are needed to achieve the expected sales volume, taking into account stock held on site, so you only order what you require thus reducing wastage. The stock feature has the capability of including “use by” dates included and will show up as amber five days before an item is past its date and red when it goes out of date.

One very unique feature that the system offers, particularly relevant in today’s market, is our “Allergen Kiosk”. This enables, via tablet, PC or laptop, the subscriber to enter allergens to be avoided and then run this against their menu offer. In seconds the system will only show menu items that do not contain those allergens. This will result in a much quicker selection options for your customers.

All modules have been designed to be accessed via tablet or IPad. All that is required is internet connection. Included in the features for larger operations with multi-site locations is the ability to have a full hierarchy structure from head office and regional management through to end user.

The system is widely used amongst many branches of the catering industry but has been especially well received in the school and care catering environment.

The system is also capable of populating labels for meeting the new “Natasha’s’ Law” legislation. L FURTHER INFORMATION For more information, contact david@nutriplanner.co.uk or visit www.zest.nutriplanner.co.uk

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

Catering

Catering for a gluten-free diet Coeliac disease is not an allergy or food intolerance, it is an autoimmune disease, which affects one in 100 people. When someone with coeliac disease eats food containing gluten their body’s immune system attacks their own tissues. This causes damage to the lining of the gut which reduces the absorption of nutrients from food, like calcium and iron. Once diagnosed, the only treatment for the condition is a strict gluten free diet for life. Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley and rye and it commonly found in foods made from wheat flour, for example breads, pasta, biscuits, crackers and cakes.

Some people with coeliac disease can also react to oats, as oats contain avenin, which is a similar protein to gluten. Most people with coeliac disease can include oats in their diet however, sometimes oats are produced in the same place as wheat, barley and rye, and then become contaminated with these grains so it is important to only use oats that are marked gluten free as these have been specially grown.

Others follow the gluten free diet to help with the symptoms of conditions like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or they have non-coeliac gluten sensitivity.

What is “gluten free”?

By law, only dishes that contain 20 parts per million (ppm) or less of gluten can be called gluten free. Caterers must also provide allergen information for all dishes or menu options served in school.

This means if a recipe uses any cereals

Why should schools containing gluten (wheat, rye, barley and cater for gluten free diets? oats), or any other of the 13 other major It can be frustrating and upsetting for both allergens, then this information must be the parents and the child if they need to provided to anyone who asks for it. gain constant reassurance that the food It is important that all staff, being provided is safe for them to especially kitchen and eat. It can also be very isolating service staff, can talk When for children if they are unable to pupils about someon to eat the same food as catering to gluten e with co their friends, which in free requirements disease eliac turn may draw unwanted and demonstrate attention to them. Many that kitchen contain eats food i n children are excluded from controls in place g g l t uten, heir bo school activities, trips or to prevent cross d system y’s immune after school club snacks contamination. atta simply because they have Why is it important own tis cks their a chronic health condition. to cater safely for s u es The rules around the the gluten free diet? provision of school meals, For people with coeliac including catering for medical disease, accidentally conditions or specific dietary needs, eating food containing gluten vary depending on where you live in the UK. is described as being “glutened”. If this Free school meals are not available across happens, children are likely to experience the whole of the UK but if they are available, symptoms like stomach pain, cramps, it is important that children with coeliac bloating and vomiting and diarrhoea over a disease can have access to them. Coeliac UK number of hours or days. It does not cause has produced guides for parents and schools, a life threatening reaction or anaphylactic for every part of the UK, on the rules and shock but it can cause the child to feel expectations on schools to help ensure no very ill and have an impact on school child is excluded due to coeliac disease or the attendance and subsequent learning. need for a gluten free diet. For further details, Managing the risk when catering gluten please visit www.coeliac.org.uk/schools. free can be controlled with minimal costs, once you know how. By working How to improve the with Coeliac UK to gain GF accreditation, provision of gluten free food you can ensure you are safely catering It is important to enable pupils with coeliac for the gluten free diet by following disease to eat with their peers but this E Coeliac UK’s gluten free standards.

Issue 24.6 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

Written by Coeliac UK

One in 100 of your pupils could have coeliac disease. What are you doing to support them?

Coeliac UK’s GF Accreditation scheme can help you implement safe kitchen processes to help ensure you deliver safe gluten free food to your pupils

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It can be frustrating and upsetting for both the parents and the child if they need to gain constant reassurance that the food being provided is safe for them to eat

implement. Coeliac UK were very helpful to work with, as we wanted to implement the changes at our pace. Operating the GF accreditation procedures is now part of our daily life and works well for us.”

 requires careful meal planning and clearly labelled menus providing gluten free options or signposting to meals that are suitable for a gluten free diet.

Making sure catering teams know how to produce safe gluten free food is essential when providing meals for pupils on a gluten free diet. It is important to ensure the risk of cross contamination is removed by having the correct controls and procedures in place.

It is not difficult or complicated and there is lots of guidance available to help.

School staff and catering teams should work closely with parents of children on a gluten free diet to make sure their children have varied and nutritious options at meal times and are confident that the food served is safe.

For more information about how to gain GF accreditation for your school, please visit www.coeliac.org.uk/gfaccreditation or email catering@coeliac.org.uk. L

How do schools gain GF Accreditation?

By working with Coeliac UK, you’ll be able to use the trusted GF trademark, a symbol of safety. The symbol assures staff, parents and pupils that pupils on a

gluten free diet can trust your procedures and can eat safely at your cafeterias.

The accreditation does this by carrying out specific gluten free audits to show that you and your staff are following all the correct procedures to deliver safe gluten free food.

Accreditation signposts that you’re a safe gluten free site, showing parents you’ve gone the extra mile in food safety for their children.

It also helps your staff understand coeliac disease so they can understand why all the daily procedures are needed and ensure they feel confident.

The gluten free audits will review all your kitchen processes to ensure they are up to our strict research based gluten free audit standards, assessing: storage, equipment, communication with staff and pupils, supply chain, training, food preparation and hygiene, and menu labelling.

Peter Burt, catering manager at St. Faiths School (Chartwells Independent School) said: “The accreditation guidelines were clear and easy to follow, so it was easy to

FURTHER INFORMATION

Coeliac UK online gluten-free training Coeliac UK is offering a great education sector online training course so everyone can learn how to safely cater for the gluten free diet. Exclusively for Education Business readers, claim your 15 per cent discount off our training until the 31st Jan 2020 by registering at www.glutenfreetraining.org and entering in the discount code EduBiz19 at checkout or contact cateringtraining@coeliac.org.uk

Issue 24.6 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Catering Written by LACA

School food has never been in better shape LACA’s National School Meals Week roadshow demonstrated that school food has never been in better shape. However, new LACA chair Stephen Forster has highlighted three priorities to improve the school food situation further This year’s National School Meals Week celebrated all that is good about school food as LACA embarked on a road trip across England and Wales that took in all ten of LACA’s regions. Our tour invited parents, journalists, and the wider public to ‘taste for themselves’ modern day school food, served by our School Chef of The Year 2019, Stephen Cross.

With the General Election campaign underway we were also joined by six prospective parliamentary candidates, including former Cabinet Secretary James Brokenshire and Labour candidates such as Melanie Onn and Alex Cunningham.

Myth-busting LACA’s nationwide tour promoted some of the less well-known facts about school lunches, tackled outdated perceptions and demonstrated to the widest possible audience just how good today’s school meals really are. Each stop on our journey delivered a different message on issues of importance in the provision of school food.

School caterers are having to adapt to the increase in vegan diets, the move towards the use of certified sustainable palm oil, how the industry supports local farmers and how to safely cater for pupils with food allergies. The regional aspect of our tour demonstrated how school meals help support local economies by sourcing supplies, wherever possible, from local farms and food manufacturers.

Tasty menus Our ‘taste for yourself’ menu aimed to showcase the delicious range of meals that are now available in schools across the country. Meals that were served and enjoyed by our guests included vegetarian sweet and sour with rice, blackened Cajun fish, chicken quesadilla and sausage and bean casserole.

Visitors also tucked into a salad bar which offered carrots, beetroot and tomato pasta salad. For those who had room, apple and toffee mousse and gluten free berry crumble were available as dessert. Where possible, local suppliers were sourced for our roadshow menu, ensuring that fresh and healthy meals were on offer, reflecting the mission of school caterers

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LACA has been spearheading the Allergens Working Group which aims to educate the school food industry about the importance of managing allergens.

Innovation in the food sector We have already seen success, with the In addition to promoting school meals, the Department for Education including allergen National School Meals Week roadshow awareness in the school food standards. saw LACA stop off at important sites LACA’s second priority is making the case across the country that are encouraging for retaining and expanding Universal Infant innovation in the food sector. This included Free School Meals (UIFSM).

Harper Adams University which is tackling We will continue to call the future development of the for the funding for planet’s food production and LACA these meals to be Allergy UK who are promoting has bee raised at least the importance of allergen n spearhe in line with awareness, a mission that inflation and LACA, and everyone involved Allerge ading the n s for UIFSM to in the school food industry, W o rking Group be extended takes incredibly seriously. w to educ hich aims to all Key Stephen Forster, our ate sch Stage 2 pupils National Chair, launched about m oo in England.

LACA’s Million Miles anagingls LACA’s third initiative during National allergen s key priority is School Meals Week at Lumley reducing childhood Junior School in County Durham, obesity. In June 2018 where he is the Chair of Governors. the government said that This school has pledged to be an ‘Active they wanted to halve childhood obesity 30’ school, meaning that their staff by 2030, but this can only be achieved focus on reducing sedentary behaviour if children are provided with a hot, and increasing physical activity in pupils healthy and nutritious meal every day. outside of the timetabled curriculum.

LACA is consulting with the Department Pupils take part in moderate to vigorous for Education on their updated School activity every morning before lessons.

Food Standards which are likely to focus Christine Hodgson, the school’s PE lead, on a reduction in sugar consumption said she was “delighted to support” and an increase in fibre. Following the Stephen in LACA’s initiative, explaining December General Election, LACA will that teachers believe that a daily mile be working with the new government has “a positive impact on pupils’ to ensure that its messages are heard, concentration, with many feeling more and that the government continues settled in lessons and ready to learn”. to make progress on allergens, UIFSM The Million Miles initiative aims to and reducing childhood obesity. promote the link between good food and As our National School Meals Week physical activity by encouraging children roadshow demonstrated, school food has and staff within the school food industry never been in better shape, with wide to walk one mile each day. We aim to variety and choice that caters for specific have a million miles recorded by the time dietary needs and eclectic menu offerings of LACA’s Main Event in July 2020. that are regularly changed and updated.

LACA has been at the forefront of this Three priorities for school food improvement and will continue to work to The end of National School Meals Week improve school meals across the industry. L marked three months since Stephen took over as Chair of LACA, and in that time he has set out three priorities. His FURTHER INFORMATION first priority is raising awareness about www.laca.co.uk allergens. Under Stephen’s leadership, to provide healthy, hot, sustainable and nutritious meals to all pupils.

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

Allergy Awareness

Inspiring greatness in young people August 20th 2018 was a supposed to be a special day for our family (a birthday picnic for my Niece April) but it soon turned into a nightmare. At around 11am Sadie, as usual, ate before everyone else to reduce the risk of food contamination as she had severe allergies to products such as dairy and nuts.

Soon after however she complained that she was having trouble breathing, her tongue was tingling and her face was starting to swell.

We gave her Antihistamine plus her Epipen and took her to the nearest drop in medical centre. Throughout the journey her symptoms grew worse and the medical staff advised us that she needed more specialist treatment so she was flown by air ambulance up to St George’s Hospital in London.

Sadly, Sadie had suffered an extreme allergic reaction (Anaphylaxis) and tragically died. She was 9 years old. To this day we still don’t know exactly what triggered the Anaphylaxis episode, despite all the tests she’d had to determine what she was at risk of, our family’s efforts to minimise her exposure to such things as cow’s milk, and checking and double checking every label on every piece of food we bought.

Devastation is not a descriptive enough word to describe how my sister, brother in law Stewart, Sadie’s sister Charlotte and the rest of our family felt over the coming weeks and months and even to this day.

We decided to build her a legacy.

You see, Sadie was a seriously talented individual, highly determined and unlike any other primary school-aged child I’ve ever come across. She had the power to make people laugh, from giggles to fits of laughter. An infectious joy that she spread wherever she went.

She had bundles of energy and compassion for others. Sadie was also the UK’s #1 ranked U9 Tennis player and on a pathway to Andy Murray level success there is no doubt.

Not that she bragged about it. Despite being hugely ambitious and hardworking, Sadie was also extremely modest.

She adored playing tennis, spending her weekends on the tennis courts or at tournaments, and played as much for the enjoyment of the game as for winning. Sadie was the kind of person who would check that her opponent was as ready to play as she was. She liked tournaments and matches to be as fun and enjoyable as possible.

In total she won over 40 tournaments in 2018, represented the Kent County Cup Team in the summer of 2018, was a keen skier capable of covering over 80kms a day

with her Dad Stewart and had a unique ability to encourage and care for others.

Sadie’s legacy So Clare (Sadie’s mum), Stewart (Sadie’s Dad), myself (Sadie’s Uncle), my Father (Sadie’s Grandfather Ken) and a number of other family members and friends decided to set up The Sadie Bristow Foundation.

The charity has been founded to continue Sadie’s legacy by inspiring children to participate in sports and discover their true talents through our Tennis in Schools Programme.

We currently deliver The Tennis in Schools Programme (currently running in 2 Primary Schools in Kent, Bridge & Patrixbourne Primary and Chartham Primary) who receive a comprehensive tennis and athletics learning module, delivered in school hours as part of the PE curriculum.

We designed sessions that increase children’s athletic abilities along with sport-specific skills for Tennis. The fundamentals of agility, balance and coordination are at the forefront of our unique programme which we deliver as a daily activity that has been shown to improve well-being and concentration levels. These daily sessions fit into schools’ curriculums and enhance learning whilst delivering up to 15hrs a week of free tennis coaching. We enable participants to improve their confidence, and in turn, participation and competitiveness.

We are inspiring others through “Sadie’s Way” – a high athletic ability in Tennis supported by understanding and kindness.

So far the programme has taught over 600 children, over 1,000 if we include our summer camps, tennis marathons and Sadie’s days at Tennis clubs across the country. Our Facebook posts promoting our activities and spreading allergy awareness are getting thousands of impressions and 140 families have so far benefitted from our regular Allergy Support Clinic.

Young ambassadors We’ve also formed a group of young ambassadors, who all knew Sadie well. Young people she played with and local University of Kent students. These Ambassadors support the Foundation’s activity both in terms of tennis coaching delivery, awareness and wider fundraising activities and we are also putting them on LTA courses over the coming years to develop their skills for the future.

The Foundation is also supported by former British Olympic Athlete, Michelle Robinson and former GB Tennis Player Naomi Cavaday who

help us with our athletic programme, plus we are also supported by a growing network of tennis coaches and organisations such as the Lawn Tennis Association and Kent LTA. We also improve access to specialist allergy nurses and of course spread knowledge about allergy awareness by educating the wider community and by providing information to schools, clubs and organisations to support further research into preventing allergies developing into anaphylactic conditions.

It took just one allergic reaction on that day out to take Sadie from all her knew her. We knew about her allergies and sat and fretted by her bedside as she suffered anaphylactic shock episodes from misplaced ice cream scoops, we’d researched, banged on doors and found specialists who could help.

The journey to finding the diagnosis and support for Sadie’s allergies was mentally exhausting and The Sadie Bristow Foundation wants to work to ensure that no other family should go through a similar process.

Written by Simon Matthews, the Sadie Bristow Foundation

To inspire schools to take up more sport, as well as improve vital allergy education, the Sadie Bristow Foundation was set up as legacy to Sadie, who tragically died of an extreme allergic reaction. Here’s Sadie’s story

How can you help?

Fundraising is a vital part of what we do. Without the help and kindness of our family and friends, our trustees, and you, we can’t achieve our aims in getting more kids more active, building their confidence and continuing to raise awareness of the risks of food allergies.

We’re reliant on donations and fundraising to allow us to work towards our goals.

To date we have raised a fantastic sum of money through various activities such as Sadie’s Days and through merchandise & information stands at local school fetes. We aim to increase that amount hugely through our team of runners in the Vitality 10k in London in 2020 and our Ski for Sadie event in France in January which could raise another, but like all other charities we need more so we can continue to make a change in young people’s lives.

You could have a Quiz or Bingo night, or make allergy free/free from cupcakes at your next fireworks night or summer fete. If you have any tennis players in your ranks their clubs could hold ‘Sadie’s Days’ where they inspire and create awareness with a fun day for the whole community.

Plus, anyone that is as inspiring as Sadie also gets the chance to play in our yearly Sadie Bristow Tournament. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.sadiebristowfoundation.org.uk

Issue 24.6 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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THE ONLINE PRIMARY PE RESOURCE Written and designed by teachers for teachers.

Lesson plans and SoW High quality, simple and easy to use across a broad range of activities.

Curriculum Map Use this tool to map out your activities for the year.

Resource Bank Videos, music, independent learning cards, active lunchtimes and a PE leads area.

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Assessment Track your pupils’ attainment and record their progress with the user-friendly assessment tool.

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

The Youth Sport Trust’s project comes at one physical activity can play towards improved of the loneliest times of the year for older wellbeing. It has seen a GP surgery in people. Research conducted by the Jo Cox Weymouth start to prescribe older adults Commission on loneliness suggests over nine at risk of loneliness regular walks with million adults in the UK consider themselves young people and supports recently retired “always” or “often” lonely. Loneliness individuals or those with long-term health particularly affects older people who are conditions to have good overall wellbeing. unable to maintain a wide social calendar due to disability or bereavement – however The issue of lonliness it’s also felt by young people, with research Research by the British Red Cross suggests finding that 10 to 15-year-olds say they feel that over 9 million people in the UK are often lonely either often or some of the time. or always lonely. Specifically, for the older As the festive season approaches, children’s population, Age UK report that there are 1.2 charity the Youth Sport Trust is on a drive to million chronically lonely older people within tackle loneliness and a decline in physical the UK, and a quarter of the population over and emotional wellbeing by enlisting school 50 are lonely often or some of the time. children across the country to support ‘at Circumstances that increase the risk of risk’ older adults to lead healthy and happy loneliness are more common in the older lives through a new project supported by age group. This means that the older age GPs called Active Across Ages. group are at higher risk of loneliness. This The launch comes after includes factors such as living alone, the Youth Sport Trust lack of mobility and lower levels Youth and founder, Sir John of contact with relatives. As the Sport T Beckwith, wanted to ageing population increases r u st is on a highlight the role the number of lonely drive to sport, play and people will also increase. tack

le lo and a dneliness in phys ecline ica emotio l and wellbei nal ng

Loneliness in the older population has received much media attention, however the Community Lives data suggests that currently younger age groups are more likely to feel lonely. Eight percent of people aged 16-24 and 25-34 reported that they feel lonely often or always. Research by the British Red Cross and Co-op found a higher prevalence of loneliness amongst those aged 16-24 years old (32 per cent) compared to the general population (18 per cent).

Written by Youth Sport Trust

At a time when physical activity levels are declining, loneliness is increasing and generations have never been more segregated, children’s charity Youth Sport Trust has developed a research project which uses physical activity to bring generations together and improve wellbeing

Sport

Using physical activity to bring generations together

Active Across Ages Active Across Ages is currently delivered in five areas across the country and builds on the charity’s 25 years of experience in engaging the hardest to reach young people through sporting interventions in schools and communities.

In each of the care homes and schools, different approaches to getting active have been taken with activities like beach ball tennis, skittles and dancing.

In Derbyshire, school children have learnt about playground games of the past including Oranges and Lemons from their E

Issue 24.6 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Outdoor Gyms

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

Sport

 pairings, changing attitudes and developing positive relationships with one another.

In Buckinghamshire, improving communication and confidence to interact between the two age groups through physical activity has been a focus.

Ali Goodall, development manager at the Youth Sport Trust, said: “Active Across Ages is trying to tackle some of the biggest issues of a generation like inactivity and loneliness, and the initial results are hugely promising.

“The project sees school aged ‘activity buddies’ and older people based in care homes, or who might be isolated in their community, paired up to design and enjoy physical activity initiatives together.

“We’ve seen that attitudes and perceptions towards other generations have been improved and young people are telling us through the project they have a better understanding of older people’s needs and have developed how they see themselves and others within society.

“Evidence suggests that physical activity supports better mental wellbeing and so it is vital we continue to innovate new ways to support the hardest to reach.”

Social prescriptions In Weymouth, Bincombe Valley Primary School and The Wey Valley Academy, have paired up with The Acorns Day Centre which hosts older people with and without dementia. 22 young people attend the centre once a week to do musical warm up sessions, walks, target games, and Boccia.

After engaging with Public Health Dorset and the local GP surgery in Weymouth, the

Evidence suggests that physical activity supports better mental wellbeing and so it is vital we continue to innovate new ways to support the hardest to reach charity said social prescriptions will include six park-walk sessions to be run by the school activity buddies at Bincombe Valley.

Rob Belbin, inclusion lead for Dorset, said: “The older people always look forward to the younger people coming in, which is just brilliant. Every time we leave, the centre staff will say that this is brilliant, and it is the best thing they’ve done in a long time. I love the way that I have seen the children completely change as far as their understanding goes about society – which has been the greatest benefit.”

Improved wellbeing Already the project has found that 40 per cent of the young people who took part felt Active Across Ages had helped them to feel less lonely, 69 per cent said it helped them to feel happier, and 61 per cent said it helped them to be more active.

For older people, the biggest observed benefit to date has been an increase in their overall social wellbeing. Active Across Ages is the only opportunity that many of the participants get to spend time with children and young people.

It has seen several selective mutes at Acorns Day Centre engage in conversation with the young people and be more motivated

in the mornings to attend. They have also become more vibrant and physically active.

Currently funded through the charity’s international arm, Youth Sport Trust International and the Sir John Beckwith Charitable Trust, the project has ambitions to boost social mixing in the young and old to promote social wellbeing, enhance physical and mental wellbeing across ages, and encourage social action and social capital.

Sir John Beckwith, YST president, said: “Active Across Ages is a project close to my heart and I am incredibly proud to be supporting it. Children and older adults have never been so lonely and isolated in this digital age. Sport has so much to offer in reversing this trend and uniting different generations, so we must harness its transformative powers. I am excited to see how this project will grow in the future.”

Active Across Ages is currently being delivered in Derbyshire, Dorset, Cheshire, Merseyside, and Buckinghamshire, but the charity has hopes to find a funder to roll the scheme out wider before March 2020. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.youthsporttrust.org

Issue 24.6 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Air hugs technology “Everything you never knew you wanted in a hand dryer�. With ffuuss you will save time on washroom upkeep and reduced janitorial and maintenance cost.

Features ffuuss has a patented air heating sistem, Preheat, which eliminates the burdens of conventional electric heating and allows a reduction in energy consumption.

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Electric hand dryers: a crucial part of hand hygiene There is a misconception about hand hygiene that is often overlooked: it not only involves washing your hands, but also drying them thoroughly. Having installed a number of HD-1 Pearl Grey Hand Dryers, Public Sector Information explains why electrical hand drying plays a crucial part in hand hygiene, as well as how it is environmentally beneficial

An outbreak of an infection in a school can cause significant disruption, with staff and pupil absences, and in some cases, having to close the school for a deep clean.

Hand hygiene is widely considered to be an important practice in reducing the spread of germs which lead to infections.

Your hands naturally have germs on them. Some live naturally on the hands, others are picked up on a daily basis as a result of touching objects or surfaces.

And for children, who may not understand the importance of good hygiene yet, the risk of passing germs on is more likely in a childcare or educational setting.

But there is one misconception about hand hygiene that is often overlooked: it involves not only washing your hands, but also drying them thoroughly. This is because, although washing your hands thoroughly removes the problem germs, if you then walk away with your hands still damp, more germs will attach themselves.

HD-1 Hand Dryers Numerous independent studies prove that electric hand dryers are hygienic.

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Our initial reaction to the newly-installed HD-1 Pearl Grey Hand Dryers from ffuuss confirms the blend between modern technology and environmentally friendly systems. The hand dryers offer a unique user experience for a range of audiences, with the capacitive sensors incorporated to ensure that the dryers operate from both a lateral as well as medial perspective. Located all around the perimeter of the drying cavity, the sensors are designed to allow children and people in wheelchairs to comfortably use the ffuuss hand dryer with ease.

Additionally, using the ffuuss-patented Preheat system, the hand dryers are controlled by environmental sensors to avoid a constant and unnecessary consumption, making the ffuuss hand dryer safer and more efficient. Preheat works without the need for conventional resistors that have a high consumption and entail certain risks.

The authentic ‘air hugs’ have been designed to ensure that the air covers as much of the area of the hands as possible and the combination of their different sizes minimises air noise. In regards to the previously mentioned lateral hand drying option, the ‘air hug’ outlets have been incorporated to produce a ‘curtain effect’, to prevent water from spraying out of the drying area.

Modern electric hand dryers need less energy per use (starting at circa 150 uses/ day). With regard to their whole life cycle, electric hand dryers have a positive energy balance and only high quality materials that meet current scientific standards are used in assembling electric hand dryers.

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rooms can be cleaned less frequently. The costs for electricity are far below costs for towels, cleaning, and waste disposal.

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Any colour from the universal colour charts can be selected (we chose Pearl Grey) and the company promises that a logo, brand name or any other design the customer requires can also be included.

The hand dryer is treated with Biomaster Silver Ions antibacterial additive and is mounted with galvanised steel.

During operation, the HD-1 Hand Dryers have an approximate hand drying time of 12 seconds, with a blocking time of 25 seconds. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.handdryerffuuss.com/en/handryer1

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Motivate, inspire, reward

National Book Tokens are used to incentivise and reward pupils at state and independent schools nationwide, inspiring a lifelong love of reading.

Why choose National Book Tokens?

• Spend everywhere – accepted in bookshops everywhere, online and on eBooks • Let them choose – encourage reading for pleasure, whatever their taste • Flexible – load our fun contemporary gift card designs with any value from £1 to £250 • Socially responsible – supporting reading for all through charity sponsorship and partners • More than just a reward – reading for pleasure is proven to improve outcomes and wellbeing

Create truly unique rewards and prizes Make your rewards stand out with our bespoke service, which allows you to create your own unique designs – perhaps featuring your school’s crest or logo, or even a class photo!

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01_NBT_EduBus_178x125_v03.indd 1

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25/10/2019 10:21

Outdoor Play

Outdoor play is good for the brain

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 Outdoor play is vital for improving children’s physical activity and underrepresented communities, levels, social interaction, fitness and physical and mental health. precisely those who value them the most.

Association of Play Industries Chair, Mark With the amount of public playgrounds dwindling, school Hardy, said: “Now for the first time, Fields in playgrounds offer a vital opportunity for children to play Trust have quantifiable evidence of the value of parks and green spaces. The Wellbeing The Mental Health Foundation states that Due to a lack of budget to maintain, Value associated with the frequent use “being in good physical health, eating a repair or replace equipment, many local of local parks and green spaces is worth balanced diet and getting regular authorities are closing public playgrounds. £34.2 billion per year to the entire UK adult exercise, and having time and The Association of Play Industries (API) population and parks are estimated to freedom to play indoors research showed that between 2014 and 2016, save the NHS around £111 million. and outdoors” can 214 playgrounds had been closed, with a further “There is also further Playgro u n help keep children 234 planned closures between 2016 and 2019. evidence that our parks and d s are inclu and young people This worrying picture is backed up by Fields in green spaces contribute d e d in the He mentally well.

Trust research which showed that 16 per cent of to a preventative health Capital althy Pupil Many children people say that their local park or green space agenda, reduce future do not have has been under threat of being lost or built on.

Exchequer expenditure, goes to Fund, which wards b gardens so a Playgrounds are included in the government’s reduce health inequalities uilding projects trip to their Healthy Pupil Capital Fund, which goes towards and increase social local playground building projects that could help tackle obesity cohesion and equality. These tackle in that help activity represents and inactivity in children and young people. spaces have been taken for children in one of their few Given the amount of public playgrounds granted – an essential part opportunities to closing, school playgrounds are becoming of the fabric of our lives – and enjoy outdoor play. increasingly more vital, and schools are now they are under threat.

Indeed, research from the urged to apply.

“Such is the positive impact of Association for Public Service our parks and green spaces, that to lose Excellence (APSE), showed that 95 per Mental health them will further exacerbate the obesity cent of parks professionals are concerned A study by Nurtureuk has found that crisis and rising mental health problems, that a lack of investment in parks will one in three primary-school pupils have as well as increasing levels of loneliness have health and social impacts. moderate or severe social, emotional across many sectors of the population.” and mental health (SEMH) needs.

Being outdoors The study also found that a largely hidden A call for the political parties Research from Fields in Trust reveals a 26 per cent of all children were found to Play England, the Playwork Foundation and direct link between public parks and have moderate SEMH needs, meaning International Play Association England have green spaces and health and wellbeing. It that mental health issues in young joined forces to publish a Manifesto for Play, demonstrates that parks and green spaces people are not necessarily obvious. ahead of any upcoming General Election. provide people with over £34 billion of Screen time is also negatively affecting The Manifesto calls on Britain’s health and wellbeing benefits. These are children’s activity levels as well as mental political parties to include leadership, a result of people enjoying greater life health. The API report ‘A Movement for legislation and investment in children’s satisfaction including both improved physical Movement’ showed that British children play in their election manifestos to and mental health, directly as a result of are spending the highest ever amount transform the health, happiness and regularly using parks and green spaces. of their discretionary time in front of well-being of children in England.

Compiled using HM Treasury approved screens and have never moved so little.

As the number of community play research methodology, Revaluing Parks To help avert the mental health crisis that spaces declines, playgrounds in schools and Green Spaces demonstrates National is affecting children and young people, play are becoming increasingly important. L Health Service savings of at least £111 and outdoor time is vitally important. million per year. This figure is based solely One study from the American Medical FURTHER INFORMATION on prevented GP visits and doesn’t include Association said: “Children will be smarter, better savings from non-referrals for treatment or able to get along with others, healthier and www.api-play.org prescriptions – meaning the actual savings happier when they have regular opportunities www.fieldsintrust.org to the taxpayer will be significantly higher. for free and unstructured play outdoors.” www.playengland.org.uk

Issue 24.6 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Thought-provoking Thought-provoking theatre theatre touring touring spring spring 2020 2020 Solomon Theatre Company has created Solomon Theatre has created educational dramaCompany productions for 15 educational for 15 years aimed drama at KS 2,productions 3 & 4 students. years aimed at KS 2, 3 & 4 students.

Touring schools across the UK, the shows Touring schools across the UK,theatre, the shows create appropriate, impacting create appropriate, impacting theatre, relevant to current issues which resonate relevant to current issues resonate with young audiences.

Thewhich shows focus with young audiences.

The shows focusas on hard hitting and serious issues such on hard hitting and drugs seriousmisuse, issues knife such as underage drinking, underage drinking, drugs misuse, knife violence and peer pressure.

They provide violence and thought-provoking peer pressure. Theyscenarios provide information, information, thought-provoking scenarios and the opportunity to express, explore and the opportunity express, explore and develop differenttoresponses. and develop Skin Deepdifferent , touringresponses.

Jan 2020, is aimed Deep, touring Janissues 2020,such is aimed atSkin KS4 students covering as at KS4 students covering issues such gangs, drugs, knife crime & personal as gangs, drugs, knife crime & personal grooming.

Students see Denny’s home grooming.

Students see Denny’s life, which is troubled, her single home parent life, is ‘off troubled, her single parent mumwhich who is her head’ most of the mum who is ‘off her head’ most of thefood. time and there’s never any money or time and she there’s any money or food.

So when getsnever groomed into a gang So when sheman getsit’s groomed into ashe’s gang by an older no surprise, by an older it’s no surprise, she’s bowled over.man Audiences see her carrying bowled over.

Audiences herthis carrying a knife for protection andsee how leads atoknife protection and this leads a lifefor changing event forhow all involved. to a lifeonchanging eventthis forhard-hitting all involved.

Based true events, Based on true events, this hard-hitting show immediately connects with students show immediately through compellingconnects dialoguewith and students rap music. through compelling and rap music.

Power of Love,dialogue touring March 2020, Power of Love , touring March 2020, is aimed at KS3 students covering issues is aimed at KS3 students covering such as exploitation, abuse, cyber issues safety such as exploitation, abuse, cyber safety

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and healthy and healthy Relationships.

Relationships.

Lucy’s new Lucy’s newis boyfriend boyfriend fit, but he’sis fit, he’s alsobut becoming also becoming increasingly increasingly controlling; he controlling; he intimidates her intimidates her psychologically and psychologically and then violently. The then violently.

The choice is hers – will choice hers will she be is like her–mum she be like her mum and stay or will she and or will she find stay the strength find the strength to follow her own to follow her own path?

Students path?

Students are impacted by are impacted by seeing the varying seeing the varying forms of abuse and forms of abuse and then discussing the fundamental principles then discussing principles of respect, trust the andfundamental equality which are of respect,oftrust and equality which are hallmarks a healthy relationship. hallmarks of a healthy relationship.

Safe, touring April 2020, is aimed at years Safe April 2020, is aimed at years 4,5 & 6,, touring covers issues such as bullying, 4,5 & 6, covers issues such as bullying, the importance of friendship and the the importance of friendship and year the old dangers of carrying a knife. Nine dangers of carrying a knife.

Nine year old Sam is being bullied by some older boys Sam bullied bypark someafter olderschool. boys who is hebeing has met in the who hasbeen met demanding in the park after school.

They he have money from They have been demanding money from him. Polly, his best friend, tries to give him. Polly, his best friend, tries to give

advice but Sam is so frightened by the advice but Sam is so frightened by the bullies that he brings a knife to school bullies that he brings a knife to school for protection. The strong message of for strong message the protection. play is that The carrying a knife can of the play is that carrying a knife can lead to consequences and is highly lead to consequences is highly dangerous so confidingand in your parents dangerous confiding in your parents or teachersso if you are being bullied is or youtackle are being bullied is theteachers best wayif to the situation. the best way to tackle the situation.

FURTHER INFORMATION FURTHER INFORMATION www.solomontheatre.co.uk www.solomontheatre.co.uk

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

A £5 million government fund has established projects in Croydon, Derby, Medway, Plymouth and Salford that offer children the chance to perform drama and dance, as well as learn skills such as lighting, sound and set design

A £5 million Youth Performance Partnership has been established by the government which aims to to encourage young people into the performing arts.

The partnership between the BRIT School, BBC North and Lowry Trust has established projects in Croydon, Derby, Medway, Plymouth and Salford that will offer children the chance to perform drama and dance and learn skills such as lighting, sound and set design.

The scheme will be focused on engaging young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Participants will be given the opportunity to learn practical skills both on and off stage and work with playwrights to develop new works that students will then perform. They will also get the chance to design sets, learn about lighting and sound and take part in dance and drama.

Overseen by Arts Council England, one partnership was selected in the North, the Midlands, the South West, the South East and London. Proposals from areas where the level of young people engaging in the arts, culture and theatre are low and where there are less opportunities for young people to take part in performance were prioritised.

The Youth Performance Partnerships build upon the existing government investment in cultural education, in particular the Music Education Hubs which have so far helped more than 600,000 children a year access activities such as playing an instrument or joining a choir.

Darren Henley, Arts Council England CEO said: “Taking part in performances, whether on stage or behind the scenes, has huge benefits for children. They can express themselves, boost their mental health and wellbeing through creativity, and learn about career paths they might never have considered before.

We’re very pleased that the government is making these benefits more widely available

Drama

Encouraging young people into performing arts

North – The Lowry – Salford Led by The Lowry who will be working with partners such as the BBC North, the programme works with young people to support them as they move from primary to secondary school and from secondary education to work, focusing on mental health and wellbeing by developing transferable skills.

Twelve schools will take part in the programme in areas with low cultural engagement and high levels of poverty. It is expected that the programme will reach over 2,000 young people where they will work with artists to co-create new work including new performance companies in schools. A key focus of the programme will be on career opportunities so that young people, their families and schools understand the range of careers. The project will launch a Creative and Cultural Careers Fair for the North West to support this arm of the programme.

Partners in the programme also include: University of Salford, Walk The Plank, Salford Community Leisure and Salford City Council.

South East – Medway Council Brook Theatre Building on the successful The ART31 model of youth scheme leadership, Theatre31 will allow young allows young people in Medway to young people from all people and the Isle of backgrounds through Youth f r o m disadva Sheppey to take Performance Partnerships.” backgro ntaged part in activities Details of the five to support projects are below: practicaunds to learn leadership, build l skills b oth confidence and London – Croydon on and off team working, Music and Arts stage and improve literacy Led by Croydon Council, through skills and wellbeing. the Croydon Music and Arts hub, A youth panel will and with a large number of partners provide leadership decisions including The BRIT School, this partnership with experts on hand to support. will work with young South Londoners to The project will also offer young people create new performances that tell the story of the opportunity to visit performances and young people of colour in Croydon. The project experience life backstage. Art 31 is a project includes a talent academy, live performances led by The Gulbenkian Theatre for 13 to 25 and the opportunity to experience working year olds which enables young people to backstage during live performances. Working lead in designing and taking part in creative with 12 primary and eight secondary schools activities. The new Theatre31 model will be and over 2,500 students, the Croydon project designed by young people with supporting focuses on young people from low income expertise from the cultural sector. There families, those with Special Educational Needs will be opportunities for young people to and young people at risk of exclusion. develop performance skills, stagecraft, writing, set design and production.

Midlands – Derby Theatre Derby Theatre (owned by the University of South West – Theatre Royal Derby) has developed a programme that Plymouth will work with partners from across the city In the South West the Theatre Royal will to open up theatre-making to young people lead “With Flying Colours”, an ambitious taking influence from the local community. performance programme that aims to The scheme targets children aged between work over 3,000 young people and their eight and 18 from areas with high levels of communities in Plymouth. The project will poverty to nurture new skills and help young work with young people in areas of high people find routes into creative careers. deprivation and low cultural engagement Each of the hubs in this area will deliver to create pop ups, perform in community weekly workshops and a year-long project libraries and create plays in five schools. L working towards a high quality production of new commissions led by the partnership.

Young producers will be on steering groups FURTHER INFORMATION and opportunities for participants to take www.artscouncil.org.uk part in shadowing industry professionals.

Issue 24.6 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Advertisement Feature

KidZania London – an indoor city run by kids At KidZania London, we believe in letting aspirations and inspiration soar through experiential, hands-on learning. With a wide range of activities and careers to explore across the indoor city, children aged 4 to 14 can work, earn and play in a safe and inclusive environment.

Located in Westfield London, Shepherd’s Bush pupils will step into their own city, blending entertainment and learning as the art of role-play becomes the focus of their visit. Real life brands including Mission Deli, Pokémon and PDSA, offer activities that encourage the earning or spending of kidZos – the city’s currency, all whilst having fun!

Children can engage with a range of cross-curricular activities designed as if they were real-life jobs, all of which are created with the national curriculum in mind. For example, pupils will develop communication skills whilst learning to fly a state-of-the-art British Airways flight simulator or get the latest scoop to be the feature of their article in the Metro Newspaper. If that doesn’t take their fancy, pupils can explore what it takes to save a life in the operating theatre or help maintain the law as a trainee police officer.

These activities, which are created with KS1-3 national curriculum in mind within Science, Maths, English and PSHE, enable students to utilise and develop their future life skills such as communication, problem solving and teamwork. Many activities also inspire critical thinking and independence, as well as fostering creativity – the perfect way to encourage enthusiasm for the world of work.

Learning on the job Careers-based learning is part of KidZania’s ethos regardless of their age or background.

All activities are monitored, allowing the teams to constantly develop how best to encourage children into all areas of the city and enable all children to have their independence whilst learning how best to earn or spend their kidZos. To sit alongside this, KidZania London has introduced three new career workshops to help introduce certain careers to schools that book their educational visits outside of normal operating hours too. Children can choose between exploring a career in the public services and gain an understanding of what careers are available in the city as well as the need for the main quality – caring for others! To complete the workshop, children must perform interviews around the city, asking public service workers what it takes to do their job well. Pupils could also explore a career in Hospitality and Retail by exploring the city and what modern technology has meant for this sector in recent years. Finally, pupils can explore the range of jobs on offer in KidZania that provide entertainment to the public and appear

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through different media such as TV, radio and theatre. Children must then find the hidden words around the city that provide character descriptions, settings and story themes to collectively create their own story to report.

Careers fair Throughout the year, KidZania also holds a series of events that demonstrates how learning can be applied to real-life jobs. January and March 2020 sees the Careers Fair return to the city, offering pupils the opportunity to meet employers, career advice workshops and experience workplace environments throughout the activities. Science Week 2020 encourages the discovery of science in roles throughout the city whilst following a worksheet trail – available only from the 10th to 12th March 2020. Finally, the month of June sees pupils being invited to explore STEM careers throughout dedicated workshops, worksheets and activities including coding, engineering and design.

With the introduction of these workshops, we provide secondary school teachers with the ability to meet the Gatsby Benchmark as enforced by the Careers Strategy 2017.

KidZania covers three benchmarks: 4) Linking curriculum learning to careers through our scripted activities; 5) Encounters with employers and employees with our educational events; 6) Experiences of workplaces as each activity is themed based on real-life work situations.

As well as all of this, teachers can be certain that their educational visit to KidZania London offers not only a unique experience but a safe one. RFID security bracelets are issued to all pupils visiting the city and are linked to adults so that children can’t leave the city without their group. As well as robust risk assessments in co-ordination with Westfield London, all entry and exit points are manned and all staff are DBS checked.

KidZania London is open for school visits during term time Monday – Friday with prices starting from £10 per pupil and includes a 4-hour experience in the city, plus free teacher tickets, resources and planning trips.

To book your next school trip with us or to find out more, visit KidZania.co.uk/education or contact us at schools@kidzania.co.uk. L FURTHER INFORMATION @KidZaniaLondon www.facebook.com/KidZaniaLondon

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

We hear so often about children today being ‘cooped up’ in their homes and classrooms.

Three quartres of young people in the UK spend less time outdoors than prisoners; more than one in nine children have not set foot in the natural environment in the last 12 months; and last year only 57 per cent of children aged 11 to 15 visited a museum (a drop of six per cent on previous year). The reality is the only chance some children will have to explore the world beyond their four walls will come from the educational visits offered at school.

Venues all over the UK are providing inspirational opportunities for children to learn outside the classroom, whether in a museum or gallery or outdoors in a farm or adventurous activity centre. These hands on experiences enable children to see, hear, touch and explore the real world as part of their learning, deepening their understanding and teaching them to appreciate and be inspired by the world around them.

Teachers agree that children learn best through first-hand experience. Ofsted also endorses the power of learning beyond classroom walls, finding that getting out and about in small, frequent doses improves understanding and standards as well as helping social and emotional development.

This year, the Department for Education (DfE) released new straight forward guidance on health and safety for educational visits.

Here are five things you need to know to make your educational visit run smoothly, so that you can enjoy the transformational changes when you get back to the classroom.

Appoint an educational visits coordinator Schools should appoint an educational visits coordinator and make sure they have the training they need. They should be an experienced visits leader and have the status to be able to guide the working practices of other staff and be confident in assessing outside activity providers. The headteacher has this duty if there is no coordinator. Local authorities or academy trust outdoor education advisers can advise on appointing and training coordinators.

Coordinators can get guidance on the Outdoor Education Advisers’ website oeapng.info Know when to get consent For children over nursery age, written consent is not needed for most trips, as they’re part of the curriculum. However, it’s good practice to tell parents about them. Written consent is usually only needed for trips that need a higher level of risk assessment or are outside normal school hours. Schools can ask parents to sign a copy of a consent form when their child enrols. Schools should still tell parents about these trips and give them the opportunity to withdraw their child.

Know what to do in an emergency Schools should have an emergency response plan that covers what to do if there is an incident away from school. Schools should also have a communications plan that covers how routine communications should be handled, including regular check-ins and calls to reassure people and trip leaders should be familiar with these plans. Schools can get advice on these plans from their outdoor activity adviser or the Outdoor Education Advisers’ website oeapng.info

Written by Kim Somerville, CEO of the Council for Learning Outside the Council (CLOtC)

Kim Somerville, CEO of the Council for Learning Outside the Classroom (CLOtC) shares five things you need to know about the Department for Education’s guidance on health and safety for educational visits

School Trips

Educational visits that run smoothly

and liability insurance. The Council for Learning Outside the Classroom (LOtC) awards the Learning Outside the Classroom Quality Badge to organisations who meet nationally recognised standards. The accreditation is awarded to organisations offering good quality learning experiences and managing risk effectively. Choosing accredited providers makes life easier for teachers organising educational visits as they can feel confident that their pupils are receiving good quality and inspiring educational experiences in an environment where any risks are well managed.

Trips abroad can have extra risks and need a higher level of risk assessment. If the trip includes significant risks, such as challenging terrain, going to remote places or extreme climates, follow the guide to the British Standard for adventurous activities outside the United Kingdom as the basis for the planning and risk assessment.

Organisations employed by the school should follow this too. If they have LOtC Quality Badge then they follow this standard.

There are around 1,000 LOtC Quality Badge holders which can be searched at: lotcqualitybadge.org.uk/search

Evaluating educational visits Schools should set up a clear process for The LOtC Quality Badge evaluating all visits once they have Schools using an outside been concluded from the planning organisation to provide Schools through to the visit itself. The an activity must should educational content of this check they have should be evaluated like appropriate an eme have any other lesson would safety standards respons rgency e be. For residential trips p l a n covers there is a free evaluation what to that there is toolkit designed to d o i f an incid help those responsible ent away fr for planning or leading om residentials in schools school evaluate the experience to understand the impact and what could be improved on the Learning Away website.

Schools should keep a record of any incidents, accidents and near misses. This will help the school evaluate whether its planning has worked and learn from any incidents which took place.

It is imperative that you follow the legal requirements of your employer for planning and risk assessing all educational visits. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.lotc.org.uk

Issue 24.6 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Remote lettings service BookingsGuru is helping Sodexo to effectively manage multiple school sites in Exeter Kajima Community first started working with Sodexo in Exeter in 2016 and today, it manages the lettings of five sites and one primary school together – a huge undertaking managed by Lorraine North and Kajima Community account manager, Jill Carrington.

The Kajima Community team provides a remote, administration and marketing service through BookingsGuru. It’s a lettings service that allows its clients to sit back and relax while it takes care of everything from promoting facilities, handling enquiries, confirming and tracking bookings, vetting hirers, invoicing and collecting payments.

For the fast-moving Sodexo team, the BookingsGuru service has been a lifesaver.

Lorraine and the team are always on the move visiting different sites, so the ability to have a hands-on overview at a moment’s notice of what is happening in terms of lettings across the various sites is crucial.

At any time, the team have access to the bookings software used to manage the lettings and can check how many customers have bookings, who they are and where they are booked so that the site team can run like a well-oiled machine. Having a dedicated booking line means the team never miss a new enquiry and Jill’s experience of

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managing lettings and knowledge of the specific school sites means that she is able to efficiently handle all customer queries and then feedback anything to the team.

Lorraine joined the Sodexo team 15 months ago and, working closely with Jill, the lettings services across all the sites has been enhanced considerably, driving efficiencies and finetuning the way lettings work to maximise the service. This evolution of the service has been built on the extensive experience of Kajima Community and Lorraine’s 17 years’ experience working in the school system in Exeter. This has been undertaken in close partnership with the Academy Trust in Exeter, which oversees many of the school sites.

As a result of an increasingly streamlined and professional service, Sodexo has seen bookings at the sites increase steadily, increasing revenues by six per cent across all schools, in just 12 months. It helps to have top-quality facilities across the sites and an excellent reputation across the Exeter community, but the revenue increase is also attributed to the service’s constant marketing activity to attract more and more hirers.

At the moment, the sites boast a host of activities which are available to the local community to take part in, ranging from sports

groups, such as hockey, wheelchair basketball and tots rugby, to regular theatre groups, baby markets and FA coaching courses. It is also proud to host the Exeter City FC youth training team, as well as the year-round special Olympic badminton. The ability to hire these facilities has made the schools a core part of the community. The Sodexo team and Kajima Community are incredibly proud of what they have achieved together, constantly improving a successful service with a relationship built on consistency, strong communication and constant feedback. The team now work together seamlessly, at a fast pace and always working together to solve the inevitable issues that crop up when you are managing the lettings across a number of sites.

FURTHER INFORMATION www.kajima.co.uk

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

Recruitment agencies providing supply teachers That’s because they want to maximise and other temporary workers remain one of their opportunities for work. the essential routes available to schools which find themselves with staff shortages, absence Attracting the best talent or long term sickness. But if your school’s So how might you maximise your strategy is to have a favourite agency chances of attracting and on speed dial, perhaps it’s time keeping the best of them?

It’s goo to ask whether business You may not be able to can be done better? do much about the practice d for If you’re sourcing legislative costs within schools t supply teachers or other your total charge rate, o k that the now temporary staff, you’ll but you can negotiate m a rk-up ra an agen likely have your eye mark-up. te the cy is ch on the challenges of By demanding a a i r s g compe ing staying within budget lower rate from an it affect titive as while ensuring those agency, you can take s in post are capable, control of the savings home ptakeremain satisfied and are you make – perhaps ay committed to your school. passing some on to the But the payment these workers worker via a rate increase, receive will significantly inform and using the remainder to how they feel about working with you reduce the amount you are charged. and the children they teach. It may even That’s great news for you and them. influence whether they stay long-term.

Before CCS launched its Supply That’s why mark up rates for agency staff, Teachers and Temporary Staff agreement, an often overlooked aspect of employing there was no structured approach to temporary workers, are so important. supply recruitment that addressed The mark-up is the fee the agency charges safeguarding, compliance and cost. the employer to find a worker. Agencies In fact, the average agency mark-up schools most commonly use the term ‘margin’ to were being charged was 38 per cent. On a calculate their charges – this appears lower daily charge rate of £200, just over half of as it’s a percentage of the total cost rate. This that would end up in the worker’s pocket. can cause confusion for schools, so a clear However, agency mark-ups of 15 per understanding of what is being quoted is key. cent and below are now achievable on The CCS framework uses mark-up the framework. So even a worker on a because it provides greater transparency lower charge rate to the school of £190 and clearer representation of all the takes home a further £15 extra per day. charges. Mark-up is a percentage added on to worker pay and legislative costs, which makes up the total charge rate.

The legislative costs include pension and National Insurance payments, apprenticeship levy and holiday pay, all of which are calculated as a percentage of the worker’s pay. But the mark-up will be separate and additional to these, and can vary.

Written by Jenny Nugent, commercial agreement lead, Crown Commercial Service

The payment supply workers receive will significantly inform how they feel about working with you and the children they teach, which is why mark up rates for agency staff are so important.

Jenny Nugent from Crown Commercial Service explains further

Recruitment

Mark-up and the impact on worker pay

Supply teachers deal The recruitment environment is challenging and highly competitive, and change is slow, though the introduction of framework solutions such as the DfE sponsored Supply Teachers Deal is helping.

By negotiating the mark-up of your agency down, rather than just accepting their first offer, you can add value to workers’ pay packets and increasing the attractiveness of your offer with less outlay.

At Crown Commercial Service (CCS) we advise customers who use our Supply Teachers framework and digital agency selection tool to negotiate, after all, the mark-ups are not to exceed maximum rate, so suppliers may expect them to be challenged. Shop around. Robust discussion and negotiation are part and parcel of a healthy business to business relationship.

For example, the 62 academies of the Academies Enterprise Trust (AET) spent £4.6 million on supply staff in 2017/18. Its academies were sourcing temporary staff separately from 95 agencies, and the terms of those contracts often favoured the agencies, rather than the academies. AET reviewed its approach prioritising quality candidates, safeguarding of pupils and making savings. It then negotiated with existing and potential suppliers before drafting a preferred list of 40 accredited framework suppliers who offer the trust the best value for money whilst not compromising on quality and service delivery.

AET says the methods it used while sourcing its deal through CCS identified cashable savings of £119,000 in the first year – a 7.7 per cent saving.

So to recap, by negotiating on the mark-up rate you will benefit from savings for your school; enhanced worker pay, which can increase chances of securing and retaining workers; and more satisfied and committed workers which in turn sees benefits in the classroom.

Find out more on the web link below or log on to CCS’s agency selection tool to see what mark-up rates agencies in your area are offering – and don’t forget to negotiate to reduce these rates even further. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.ccsheretohelp.uk/productsservices/people/supply-teachers/

Know the mark-up rate It’s good practice for schools to know that the mark-up rate an agency is charging is competitive, because a high mark-up affects the take home pay of temporary workers. It could be the difference between someone staying with a school, or leaving to work for another agency with lower mark-up.

Yes, workers typically register with several agencies – exclusivity is rare.

Issue 24.6 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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• Spend everywhere – accepted in bookshops everywhere, online and on eBooks • Let them choose – encourage reading for pleasure, whatever their taste • Flexible – load our fun contemporary gift card designs with any value from £1 to £250 • Socially responsible – supporting reading for all through charity sponsorship and partners • More than just a reward – reading for pleasure is proven to improve outcomes and wellbeing

Create truly unique rewards and prizes Make your rewards stand out with our bespoke service, which allows you to create your own unique designs – perhaps featuring your school’s crest or logo, or even a class photo!

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

25/10/2019 10:21

SEND

Are the SEND reforms working?

authorities, social care and health providers too frequently seek to pass the buck rather than take responsibility for providing support.

“Children and parents should not have to struggle in this way – they should be supported. There needs to be a radical change to inspection, support for parents, and clear consequences for failure to ensure the 2014 Act delivers as the Government intended.”

A report from the Education Committee has concluded that poor implementation of the SEND reforms is leaving schools struggling. So what needs to happen to improve support and educational provision for children and young people with SEND?

A report from the Education Committee has concluded that while SEND reforms contained in the Children and Families Act 2014 were the right ones, poor implementation has put local authorities under pressure, left schools struggling to cope and, ultimately, thrown families into crisis.

The Children and Families Act 2014 set out a number of actions and proposals for improving support and educational provision for children and young people with SEND and their families, including introducing a co-ordinated assessment process to assess a child’s educational, health and care needs.

The Act aimed to ensure local commissioners work effectively together to help children and young people with SEND, and improve communication between different services.

It also wanted to make sure that Education Health and Care plans from year 9 onwards included aspects to help them prepare for adulthood, including introducing supported internships to help young people with SEND prepare for the workplace.

Letting young people down While the reforms were thought to be ambitious and transformative, the Committee

What needs to happen?

The report finds that there is a general lack of accountability within the system.

It says: ‘We do not think that the current approach to accountability is sufficient – the absence of a rigorous inspection regime at the beginning set the tone of a hands-off approach. This has been perpetuated by the fact that those required, or enabled, to ‘police’ the system have been limited in part by an apparent unwillingness to grapple with unlawful practice, while others are limited by the narrowness of their remit.’

The report wants to ensure that those responsible for SEND provision are held accountable when things go wrong.

Therefore, the Committee is calling for a more rigorous inspection framework for local authorities, with clear consequences for failure and wants there to be a greater focus on SEND in school inspections.

It recommends a direct line for parents and schools to appeal directly to the Department for Education where local authorities appear not to be complying with the law.

The Committee also wants powers for the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman to investigate complaints about schools; and The the development of more Commit employment and training t e e heard e opportunities for postv 16 young people. that the idence r e Robert Halfon f o rms were le added: “We need heard overwhelming t t in g down young to end this major evidence that people w h social injustice, the reforms were o need additio nal sup one which affects letting down young with th port children and their people who need eir families, particularly additional support educatio those who are not as with their education. n well equipped to navigate It heard from young this bureaucratic maze. people that poor support “Of course, extra funding for SEND can result in them being isolated announced in the spending round is in school, unable to access the curriculum welcome but the truth is that more and find it hard to make friends. cash will fail to make a difference to It also found that as adults, the training children with special education needs and employment opportunities were found to unless there is a radical change of be poor, deriving from a lack of ambition for approach throughout the system. young people with SEND across the country.

“The DfE cannot continue with a Rt Hon Robert Halfon MP, Chair of the piecemeal and reactive approach to Committee, said: “Despite the good intentions supporting children with SEND. Rather of the reforms, many children with special than making do with sticking plasters, educational needs and disabilities are being what is needed is a transformation, a let down day after day. Many parents face a more strategic oversight and fundamental titanic struggle just to try and ensure their change to ensure a generation of child gets access to the right support. children is no longer let down.” L “Families are often forced to wade through a treacle of bureaucracy, in a system which breeds conflict and despair as parents try to FURTHER INFORMATION navigate a postcode lottery of provision. A lack www.parliament.uk of accountability plagues the system as local

Issue 24.6 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Advertisement Feature

Clean hands are critical to winter health Teaching children the art of handwashing is the key to winter wellness, says Chris Wakefield, vice president, European marketing & product development at GOJO Industries-Europe Each winter, infection rates rise as millions of people contract influenza (‘flu’), norovirus, and other common colds and viruses. These illnesses are highly contagious and can spread easily and quickly in school and education environments. After all, germs thrive in places where people come into constant contact with each other, such as children playing and working close together.

Furthermore, they can spread through indirect contact with others, via the hands and surfaces such as desks, pencils and equipment. They have a long lifespan too – did you know for example that Norovirus (often referred to as the ‘winter vomiting bug’) can live on surfaces for up to 12 days?

When you consider that fourteen people can be contaminated by touching the same object one after the other and that children’s immune systems are still developing, it’s clear to see how infections can spread so easily in schools. One study estimated that, in primary schools in England, five days are lost due to sickness per teacher per year, and pupils are absent due to illness for 3.7 per cent of the sessions that they should attend.

However, teaching children simple hygiene can help curb these infections, and in turn reduce absenteeism. Hundreds of studies have proven that the act of handwashing can break the chain of infection and tackle antimicrobial resistance. It is for this reason that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and Public Health England (PHE) both recommend that children and young people are taught the importance of hand washing too.

Another study also demonstrated a 50 per cent reduction in absenteeism within primary schools after a comprehensive hand hygiene programme was implemented.

Effective prevention The fact that hand hygiene is an effective and low cost method of infection prevention means that it should be widely encouraged and practised – especially within educational establishments, where young children often have a poor understanding of healthy hygiene practices.

When it comes to children’s hand hygiene, there are a few barriers that need to be broken down. These include a perceived ‘lack of time’, unsuitable facilities and, quite simply, ‘forgetting’. GOJO have a ‘total solution’ approach to effectively solve these issues to encourage healthy behaviour.

A lack of time – or perhaps more accurately

80

‘having better things to do’ is a common reason why children may not wash their hands properly, or, indeed, at all. Without understanding its importance or finding it a chore, children can leave it at the bottom of their priority list. They may be so keen to go out and play or resume an activity that they forgo washing their hands.

It is, therefore, important to include hand washing as part of a routine. Before lunch, or after doing activities such as painting, for example, ensures that pupils wash their hands at key times during the day.

Reminders and explanations for the importance of hand hygiene can also have a positive impact; prompting hygienic behaviour.

Teachers should dedicate time to discuss the importance of good hand hygiene and to demonstrate the best technique. At www.

GOJO.com, there is a host of free educational materials available to download. Aimed at children aged three to twelve, resources include posters, colouring sheets, activity sheets, crosswords, word-searches, and finger puppets. Hand sanitisers can also be stationed within classrooms, making it even easier to create a healthy learning environment. This is particularly beneficial for teachers who have limited opportunities to

leave the classroom during the school day.

Handwashing facilities must be accessible and dispensers simple to use.

These should be situated at a lower height, to enable children to reach them easily. Touchfree dispensers have become increasingly popular in education settings too. Intuitively sensing the presence of hands, they dispense just the right amount of product every time, and the fact that they are touch-free also increases their hygiene rating.

Soaps can come in gel or foam format, with or without fragrance – but the formulations must be both effective against germs, as well as gentle to children’s delicate skin.

GOJO® foam soaps have a soft feel that kids love – and that also encourages use.

Educating children from a young age about healthy hand hygiene behaviour, and providing them with the right products and equipment to make the activity pleasant rather than a chore, is crucial. By influencing positive and hygienic behaviour, we can lessen the impact of seasonal viruses this germ season. L FURTHER INFORMATION +44(0)1908 588444, email infouk@ GOJO.com or visit www.GOJO.com

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

Get online now to see our latest news and features, as well as our latest issue of Education Business Magazine!

Issue 24.6 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

81

FIRE & SECURITY SYSTEMS

Security and fire systems for all types of premises

Electrical solutions to meet all your commercial needs

Alexatech Integrated Systems Ltd has bespoke expert design knowledge bringing together many years of experience providing its clients all their requirements, from design through to project management for any proposed scheme for fire alarms and security systems. Alexatech also provides preventive maintenance.

Alexatech’s service and maintenance department consist of a dedicated technically highly trained team of engineers who specialise in finding solutions for all our customers’ urgent and ongoing needs.

Alexatech supplies the latest technologies in all its fields of experience, creating state of the art life safety systems through to fully integrated security systems.

Alexatech can offer the supply, installation and commissioning of a wide range of commercial grade systems giving it flexibility to meet each client’s requirements, whether

Keith Gunn Electrical Solutions are commercial electrical contractors that work with a variety of commercial clients throughout Edinburgh, Glasgow and the Central Belt of Scotland.

Be it commercial or industrial clients, Keith Gunn’s services covers all aspects of electrical design, installation, commissioning and certification.

Attention to detail and great client experience are all part of its service. No matter the size or application of its services, Keith Gunn delights in providing consistency and reliability to its clients.

The team of experienced electricians offers a safe, quality job at a great price. Delivering

on a building site for a new build, or within a busy occupied working environment. Alexatech has previous experience of working within the education sector.

Alexatech’s team is fully capable and work within all the health and safety requirements needed to work in a safe manner, looking after themselves and others.

Alextech’s installation works are carried out in accordance to all the relevant regulations and standards required, ensuring all legal requirements are met and fulfilled.

FURTHER INFORMATION www.alexatech.co.uk info@alexatech.co.uk Tel: 0800 228 9007

ENERGY

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ENERGY

a first-class service, their experience and knowledge makes them some of Edinburgh and Glasgow’s finest electricians.

Keith Gunn’s services include; electrical installation; rewiring; distribution board installations; electrical testing; smoke detection; LED lighting upgrades; lighting design and installation; and emergency lighting.

For a full brief of what Keith Gunn can offer, contact the company to discuss your upcoming commercial project.

FURTHER INFORMATION www.kges.co.uk 0131 225 3205 connect@kges.co.uk

ENERGY

Helping you understand energy and save money

Modernised energy systems for reduced bills

Whether you have a large or small school, college, university or leisure centre, Maple Project Solutions Ltd has vast experience in referencing your facility in comparison to published government energy benchmarks and targets whilst also helping you save energy and utility costs.

Maple will undertake a desk top analysis of your energy, water consumption and costs, whilst proposing realistic reduction targets, including practical/ innovative ways to improve efficiency and save money.

Maple will undertake site energy surveys, ESOS assessments and ISO 50001 Energy Management System Compliance; whilst also providing investment grade proposals for full project development and delivery of energy efficiency schemes including: building fabric refurbishments, metering installations, monitoring

Novus Elements is an electrical contractor with that specialises in cleantech. Between the main design engineers, Novus has over 40 years of experience from electronics, automation and electrical engineering.

The company modernises energy systems with benefits of roughly 70 per cent reduced energy bills.

Novus helps its clients produce, store and use clean solar energy as much as possible and each project gets a bespoke solution.

The energy provided is clean and with its proprietary technologies you can clean your rooms with visible light and disinfect the air and the water. Its disinfection technologies are effective on all pathogens, including all the chemical and antibiotic resistant strains and the technologies are perfectly safe and require no chemicals. Healthy buildings saves occupants from sickness and saves money and is gentle to the

and targeting software and training, LED lighting improvements, heating and hot water asset upgrades, BMS/ heating controls resets, CHP, and renewable generation investigations and schemes.

Maple’s qualified experts will also engage with teachers and students to provide lessons, support and learning for wider environmental issues, including understanding sustainability, carbon emissions workshops and behaviour change.

FURTHER INFORMATION 07726654462 admin@mapleprojects.co.uk www.mapleprojects.co.uk

environment. System eliminates moulds and airborne spores, improving the indoor ai quality.

Novus Elements supplies solar energy system design, supply and upgrades, as well as antibacterial lighting systems, and conventional LED upgrades.

Novus Elements also supplies the world’s most efficient water purification system, EICR, PAT testing and generic electrical contracting. The company can also clean your property’s energy, air, surfaces and water, all under one roof, as well as supply Far Infrared Heating systems.

FURTHER INFORMATION www.novuselements.com Tel: 0800 0835879

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

ENERGY

ENERGY

Saving space, money and the environment

Make the change today for tomorrow

Securing new, highly efficient and cost-effective to operate hot water, heating and low carbon systems is not always straightforward for education facilities. Space limitations for new plant and restrictive holiday timeframes for construction work and resultant costs can all limit a project.

One answer is to make use of an external packaged plant room, relocating essential building services to increase the availability of valuable internal areas.

Experts from Adveco recently designed and built a full rooftop plant room for a Berkshire school. This modern, compact and ultra-low emission heating plant provides the new building with a complete central heating and domestic hot water system.

It incorporates a cascade of seven condensing boilers and a TOTEM m-CHP unit. Cogeneration not only cuts the quantity of

Reduce your energy bills and save the planet with renewable technologies solar pv, battery storage car charge points, hot water thermodynamic system controls, eco save electric radiators, electric boilers, and smart metering with online monitoring and long warranties of 10 years.

Eco Greenenergy Solution’s passion is to help its customers reduce CO2 save on all energy bills and get paid with smart export for every kilowatts of energy exported back to the grid. It has good finance in place for its customers with the option of buy now pay later.

Eco Greenenergy Solutions has been trading for 10 years in the renewables sector and is proud of its customer relations.

In this time, it has formed wonderfull partnerships with all its products manufacturers and prides itself in the advanced

natural gas used to meet heating demands, it also produces electricity on-site that can now be sold back to the grid for profit.

This build process delivers meaningful capital savings by substantially improving quality and speed of installation. With high efficiency, low carbon and renewable technologies incorporated into a packaged plant room, Adveco creates practical applications that deliver considerable ongoing operational savings for a swift return on investment as well as helping towards achieving sustainability goals.

FURTHER INFORMATION Tel: 01252 551 540 enquiries@adveco.co www.adveco.co

ENERGY

FURTHER INFORMATION www.egesolutionsltd.co.uk

ENERGY

Global energy retailer supplies renewable energy Bluegreen energy is a global energy retailer that focuses on supplying renewable electricity and natural gas to consumers.

Founded in 2011 in the United States of America, bluegreen energy established itself as a premier provider throughout North America. Since its existence the customer has always been at the heart with exceptional service, meaningful energy and a variety of service plans to meet the needs of varying consumers.

Expanding in 2016 towards Japan, bluegreen energy rapidly became a respected supplier for a large number of households and businesses across the country.

Since establishing itself as a global challenger to existing large energy companies, the United Kingdom was the next logical step in 2019, with a further expansion throughout Europe.

With offices globally, bluegreen energy offers the agility and scalability of a start-up with

input of renewable technology leading partners Hannah Q Cells and Solax international.

Eco Greenenergy Solutions is passionate about saving the environment. Its employees have renewable installations at their homes and electric cars and the company is in the process of upgrading its vans to hybrid.

The company offers free consultations system design and 10 year workmanship warrantees.

the security of an established supplier. Bluegreen energy manages this thanks to an experienced management team and its profound global energy market knowledge.

The company’s Concord (USA), Amsterdam (Europe) and Tokyo (Japan) offices are built with exceptional talent, knowledgeable management and state-of-art systems to make energy easy and accessible for everyone. As a global challenger to existing incumbent companies, bluegreen energy offers an exceptional customer experience and smart-energy solutions from meaningful sources.

FURTHER INFORMATION https://bluegreenenergy. com/k/?partnerCode=ACN &agentId=8870424610

Business energy, made simple!

Fidelity Energy has been changing the way businesses procure energy and empowering its customers since the company was founded in 2014. Using a bespoke portal and working with a wide range of suppliers means Fidelity Energy can gain access to the best market pricing available.

Prices can vary by 28 per cent between the highest and the lowest quote for each customer, so this saves businesses from having to trawl the market looking for the best deal.

Fidelity Energy’s skills and pedigree in energy and technology allows them to also provide many other services you would expect from one of the UK’s leading utilities and energy consultants, including 100 per cent renewable energy tariffs that come with a zeroemissions rating and Electric Vehicle (EV) charging points that can be customised with a

company’s specific branding.

Fidelity Energy removes the stress of dealing with energy contracts by managing the process from start to finish and thousands of businesses from all over the UK, including schools, rely on Fidelity Energy for their energy needs.

Most importantly, Fidelity Energy helps its customers get the best value from their energy contracts.

Dedicated account managers seek to find tailored solutions to help businesses reduce their energy consumption, minimise their carbon footprint and ensure that their bills are always right.

FURTHER INFORMATION Tel: 08000 48 48 00 partners@fidelity-enery.co.uk www.fidelity-energy.co.uk

Issue 24.6 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

83

FURNITURE

Creating environments that encourage learning

Hillbrush knows what clean really means

MPS Furniture is a forwardthinking company – seeing the needs of schools through its customers eyes and producing environments that will encourage students to learn.

Its customers are the first, the last and everything in between.

Keeping customers informed every step of the way, MPS knows a great experience means a long-lasting relationship.

It’s not just creating better spaces but a whole new learning experience for this and future generations of children. Encouraging them to learn in collaborative learning spaces and develop in an inspiring world of furniture.

Dealing with MPS means that you won’t have to deal with multiple contractors, who then have to source your furniture from multiple suppliers. MPS plans, organises and delivers your new furniture in rapid time, with

Cleanliness and hygiene is paramount within the educational sector where young people are involved.

Ensuring that pupils are safe and healthy is the top concern and having a clean and safe learning environment is key for development success. Hygiene and sanitation regulations in schools is key to ensure that your staff are following the correct health-related policy.

With a range of over two‑thousand products and distribution partners in over 90 countries, Hillbrush is the largest UK manufacturer of brushware and hygienic cleaning tools, selling to a global customer base. Setting the benchmark for quality and innovation, the mission for continuous development and outstanding service is as prominent now as it was when the company was founded in 1922.

the greatest of care. It controls everything from start to finish.

MPS also understands your urgent need to save time and money. All whilst offering you the best possible product and service.

The company’s online website provides quick delivery on a wide range of quality products.

It holds large stocks of furniture in its manufacturing warehouse to deliver goods direct to you.

MPS can source any furniture you require through its vast network of suppliers, call our furniture team on 0800 999 6061 to discuss your requirements.

FURTHER INFORMATION www.mpsfurniture.com sales@mpsfurniture.com

SIGNAGE

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HYGIENE

Hillbrush has developed an extensive product line designed for a range of sectors, from hygiene products suitable for food manufacture and production, commercial brushes and ancillary items – perfect for janitorial cleaning applications, to traditional natural fibre products for the agricultural and construction industries.

Hillbrush continues to be the only single-source manufacturer to provide our customers with the diverse range of quality brushware and cleaning solutions for all industries.

FURTHER INFORMATION hillbrush.com/education +44 (0)1747 860494

LED LIGHTING

Creating a safe schools environment for everyone

Helping you make the green shift to LED lighting

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

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

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

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

V-TAC UK Ltd brings high quality, sustainable LED lighting solutions to the UK education sector. The company’s ceaseless innovation and extensive experience in the UK lighting market has shaped its diverse range of next-generation LED lighting technologies, designed to provide energy-efficient, professional lighting solutions that not only save energy, but also significantly support pedagogical concepts and learning.

The positive impact of the right light on the ability to concentrate, well-being and safety has been scientifically verified. V-TAC enables you to make the most of these concepts, offering a full turn key solution to the education sector using our enhanced range of five-year warranty LED lighting solutions with Samsung’s reliable LED components. As a result, V-TAC’s lighting solutions can simulate the natural course of

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

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

daylight, improving motivation, well-being and productivity.

V-TAC protects both the budget and the environment, ensuring low energy consumption and low maintenance costs, reducing your carbon footprint and saving up to 80 per cent on your energy bill.

The energy management team will visit your facility and assess your current lighting situation, providing a free report identifying potential savings. Comprehensive funding packages are also available to help you make the shift to LED lighting with minimal disruption to your business.

FURTHER INFORMATION Tel. +442072991212 www.vtacexports.com

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

PLAY

Exciting play equipment for toddlers to teens Discovery Timber Play Ltd is a privately owned company, situated in the Cotswolds on the outskirts of the town of Stonehouse. It has over 20 years experience in designing, manufacturing & installing exciting outdoor playground equipment for toddlers to teens.

Discovery Timber Play is a trusted supplier to local authorities, schools & nurseries, community groups, leisure organisations and housing developments.

Discovery Timber Play’s passion is for wood, stainless steel and the best possible quality of materials to blend in harmoniously with the projects surroundings. The next inspirational elements are design and innovation, the many ways the products could inspire and help to improve our users lives. This includes social skills, imagination,

creativity, sense of connection, health, fitness, stimulation, education, problem solving, enhancing inclusion, including people with disabilities.

Discovery Timber Play has recently expanded its production facility so it can now manufacture virtually any bespoke, wooden play equipment, both commercial & residential. Its current product range includes; Discovery PlayTowers, PlayBoat, trim trails, swings & zip-wires, bespoke play equipment, safety surfacing, gazebos and outdoor classrooms, shade sails and fencing & seating.

FURTHER INFORMATION discoverytimberplay.co.uk

SECURITY

Be confident in your school’s security Guardforce Security Services was established in 1993 and has successfully been serving clients in all business sectors, from London to Leeds.

Guardforce Security Services are tailored to the needs and requirements of its clients.

Guardforce offers a range of services including dedicated guarding, mobile patrols, premises inspections and lock & unlock services. Guardforce also provides key-holding and first response services, void property inspection, controlled access visits and neighbourhood patrol, in partnership with Bedfordshire Police Partnership Trust.

All Guardforce services are fully supported by its own 24/7 Command and Control Centre.

Guardforce Security Services

has the following accreditations: Approved Contractor under Approved Contractor Scheme (ACS) of the Security Industry Authority (SIA) since 2006; principal member of the British Security Industry Association (BSIA); Accredited with ISO 9001:2015 – Total Quality Management System. The company fully complies with British Standards such as BS7499:2013, BS7984:2014 and BS7875:2012, and is accredited

by Alcumus – Safe-Contractor for Health and Safety standards

FURTHER INFORMATION Email: enquiries@ guardforce-security.com Website: www.guardforcesecurity.com

CLASSROOM RESOURCES

An education for all

EDLounge believes that all children should be given the best chance of an education, therefore there are no limits to the resources it provides to cater for all circumstances that occur on/offsite school.

EDLounge’s services supports schools with curriculum lessons, behavioural repair work and ensuring that those students who are unable to attend mainstream education are given safe and supervised lessons to limit disruption to their learning.

EDLounge has extensive content covering 50 topics that allows schools access to over 12,000 lessons. And by allowing teachers the ability to tailor make learning each

student is learning to their personal ability and style.

Each year EDLounge attends BETT where it encourages schools to come along, meet its friendly team and experience its services for yourself. EDLounge also takes time out to talk about issues or circumstances you are currently facing in school to tailor make a solution for you.

If you don’t want to wait for BETT and would like further information in regards to how EDLounge can benefit your school and importantly your students, please contact us.

FURTHER INFORMATION www.edlounge.com

TRAINING

Here for You: The East London & Essex Education Conference More than ever before, schools need extra support to cope with shrinking budgets, challenges around pupil and staff wellbeing, and complicated procurement processes. These are tough asks for school leaders, including business managers, whose primary responsibility is to provide quality education.

Recognising the needs of schools, HES provides high quality day-to-day support leading to positive outcomes for children and young people. It offers support in the areas of school improvement and curriculum, leadership and governance, finance, attendance & behaviour and procurement through our award-winning Brokerage Service.

On 30 January 2020, HES is hosting its annual East London and Essex Education Conference.

This free-to-attend conference will feature high-profile speakers

who will share their expertise in the areas of pupil and staff wellbeing, school funding, bid applications, and more.

Featuring a large exhibition, you will also get the chance to browse an array of suppliers, network and share best practice with colleagues.

The aim isn’t to sell to you, but to support you, and provide you with the tools you need.

That’s why HES can proudly say it’s dedicated to education.

Book for free using the details below.

FURTHER INFORMATION Visit mondale-events.co.uk/ event/20hes or contact: support@hes.org.uk

Issue 24.6 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE

85

ADVERTISERS INDEX

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

5-A-Day-Fitness 64

Iiyama International

14

Absorb Systems

Inspired Efficiency

26

46,47

Adveco (AWP)

83

ISS Education

IFC

Alexatech Integrated Systems

82

Jacksons Fencing

10

Aqualite Outdoor International

70

Kajima Partnerships

76

Barclays LifeSkills

18

Keith Gunn Electrical

82

Bauder 32 BBC Fire & Security Limited

39

Blue Green Energy

83

Britannica Digital

78

Castle Water

60

Civica UK CMS Danskin Acoustics

20,21 34

Kidzania 12,74 Lockncharge 40,41 Maple Project Solutions Minton House Group

82 OBC

MPS Furniture

84

National Book Tokens

78

Nimbus 52 Novus Elements

82

Nutri Planner

58

Office Depot

16

Perfect Clarity

28

Poole Bay Holdings

70

Ransomes Jacobsen

4

Coachhire.com 6 Demand Logic

31

Eco Greenenergy Solutions

83

Edlounge 85 Enviro Building Solutions

36

Ergochair 56 Evac Chair International FFUUSS UK & Eire

8 68,69

Fidelity Energy

83

Fresh Air Fitness

66

Fujitsu IBC

86

Selectaglaze 26 Signwaves 54 Solomon Theatre

72

Spanish Inspirations

76

Talk Straight & Schools

48,49

The Monarch Group

24

Get Set 4 PE

64

The Studio 4

66

GoJo Industries-Europe

80

Unicol Engineering

50

Guardforce Security Services

85

V-Tac LED Lighting

84

Hes 85

W And M Architects

36

Hillbrush 84

Wasp Barcode Technologies

42

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

Supporting administration and improving the learning experience

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.

Enhance collaboration, productivity and GDPR compliance.

Fujitsu offers a wide range of scanners, including sheetfed, flatbed and overhead models. Different models are suited to different applications, but all perform the same essential function, the conversion of printed and handwritten information into digital images that can be shared, stored and distributed digitally.

Visit http://emea.fujitsu.com/scanners-in-education to find out more

ScanSnap iX100 ■Battery powered scanner for

scanning in the classroom, office or at home ■Wirelessly scan to a cloud account, smart device,notebook or email address ■Scan small documents such as permission slips or notifications simultaneously ■Choice of paper paths for flexible operation

ScanSnap iX1500 ■Scan everyday documents

such as forms & permission slips up to A4 & even A3 ■Scan colour, double sided & mixed batches of documents ■Simple in its operation, connection via USB to PC or Mac ■Intuitive & automated scanning & seamless distribution to a host of destinations such as email ■Bundled with OCR software for creation of searchable & editable files

ScanSnap SV600 ■Overhead contactless scanning

fi-65F ■Designed for easy &

of loose documents up to A3, quick scanning of small bound material & pupil produced documents up to A6 ■Scan items such as a material such as craft items ■Simple one button approach, passport, ID card, driving compatible with both PC & Mac license or small slip ■Continuous scanning ■Scan in colour or black & possible with page turning white, can be optionally detection & timed scanning powered by USB ■Automated image enhancement ■Small footprint for installation ■Bundled with OCR software in any environment for creation of searchable & editable files

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

Fujitsu would like to congratulate all the nominees and winners at today’s Education Business Awards event

Choose staff absence insurance you can depend on...

Only broker to compare 4 policies from 3 insurers

Cover for preexisting illness as standard

Valid claims paid in an average of 5 days

Physical and mental wellbeing services included

Get your quote today Call: 0800 783 3500 Visit: theeducationbroker.co.uk

The Education Broker is a trading name of Towergate Underwriting Group Ltd. Registered in England No. 4043759.

Registered Address: 1 Minster Court, Mincing Lane, London EC3R 7AA. Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.