Rena Randall (Head Teacher) is described as an ‘inspirational leader’. Well done Red Barn, this is fantastic news!

Read full article about this here.

We recently spotted this article in the Guardian and we thought it offered some useful insight and advice for schools buying new ICT.

With all the new technology entering the market and schools’ tight budgets deciding on your schools procurement strategy can be a tough job. So here is some helpful advice and recommendations from other schools that may be useful when buying ICT.

Here are some key points taken directly from the article (source: www. guardian.co.uk/education)

• Cheapest is not always best

“Don’t go for the cheapest on the market, but choose something that will take the workload, and you won’t need to replace it in three years,” advises Imre Homoki, ICT network manager at Cams Hill school in Fareham, Hampshire.

• It should be about ‘Total Cost of Ownership’

Price is critical, but make sure you’re looking at the whole picture, which means the total cost of ownership over a product’s lifetime, not just the purchase price.

• Be careful using multiple suppliers

By the same token, taking on a mishmash of suppliers is asking for trouble. “People make a mistake when they jump from technology to technology, supplier to supplier,” says Homoki. “Eventually they look at inventory and they don’t know where things are. It’s best to have just three or four core suppliers, for hardware, software and printers, so if there is a compatibility issue, you know where to go to.”

• Technical support is key

Finding out exactly what technical support is on offer is a crucial part of assessing a supplier’s offering. Willcocks says his school chose a local supplier for the school’s new desktop PCs because it didn’t want to have to wait days while equipment was sent away for repair: “We didn’t pick the cheapest one, but they provided us with a good service. If there are any problems, we can just get them to pick stuff up or we drop stuff in and there’s a fast turnaround.”

• Don’t base your decision on a quote

Similarly, Julian Morgan, assistant headteacher at Chatsmore Catholic high school in Worthing, West Sussex, recently worked on the procurement of a wireless network and a set of netbooks for students. He found that interviewing the shortlisted candidates rather than relying on a quote was a good way of finding out how well suppliers understand the particular needs of schools.

To read the full article please click here

Here we have created a document to help you understand exactly how Microsoft EES works. This is Microsoft EES made simple:

Click on image to view…

This is great news for pupils, teachers and the future of our nation. The pace of advancement in technology is only going to continue to increase so as a nation we need to be at the forefront of this. Agile ICT’s founders have significant expertise in creating large scale mission critical applications for industry. This means we have the experience and expertise to create the ICT infrastructures that are critical to underpin and enable the proper teaching of computing.

Agile ICT has already started work on its innovative new offering to meet this new and exciting vision for the learning of computing – Agile ICT SandBox. SandBox is unique to Agile ICT and represents a holistic solution exclusively for schools. To be sure you are not left behind or stuck with an unsuitable ICT infrastructure supplied by people who don’t understand this radically different requirement, speak to one of our Account Managers.

The UK’s ‘harmful and dull’ school technology curriculum is to be replaced with a new computer science course created by universities and the technology industry, the education secretary has announced.

By Emma Barnett, Digital Media Editor

3:28PM GMT 11 Jan 2012

Speaking at the BETT show for educational technology in London, Michael Gove, described the current programme of information and communications technology (ICT) taught in schools, as ‘harmful and dull’.

It is to be replaced by an ‘open source’ curriculum that will created by both university professors and the technology industry. Gove will open a consultation on what the new curriculum should teach next week.

For a long time the UK has been lacking a technology school course which is fit for purpose. Basic skills which many technology-savvy children already have, such as how to use a spreadsheet, are still on the curriculum. Instead, the new course will need to teach children how to write software for programmes such as smart-phone apps and create websites.

Gove said he wants a new computing GCSE designed and that the current inadequate curriculum would damage the UK’s economic prospects in the long term.

“Imagine the dramatic change which could be possible in just a few years, once we remove the roadblock of the existing ICT curriculum,” he said.

“Instead of children bored out of their minds being taught how to use Word or Excel by bored teachers, we could have 11-year-olds able to write simple 2D computer animations.”

Richard Allan, Facebook’s director of policy for Europe, said of the proposed changes: “Facebook welcomes the Government’s plans to make ICT teaching in schools more interesting and relevant for young people. We need to improve our young people’s skills in this area for the UK to be truly competitive in the digital age.

“Businesses also need to play their part in helping to equip young people with the digital skills they need. Facebook recently worked with partners Apps for Good, A4e and Techlightenment to develop a programme to give young people the chance to learn how to design, code and build social applications.”

By creating space in the curriculum for teaching courses like this that are innovative and relevant for young people, Government will boost the spread of skills that benefit both individuals and employers.”

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/9007467/Dull-technology-school-lessons-to-be-replaced.html

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