Much-needed Youth Contract funding for NEETS most welcome, says Perspective

Perspective, an industry leader in individual learning plan software applauds a Government initiative announced last week (Friday 20 July) which is worth £126 million and anticipated to help 55,000 NEETS (young people not in education, employment or training) into employment.

Part of Nick Clegg’s Youth Contract, unveiled back in February, this new scheme has enlisted the help of private companies, including 24 further education colleges, in an attempt to train and teach unemployed 16 and 17 year olds spanning the nation.

For every young person they help, the Government will pay charities and businesses up to £2,200 provided they meet the criteria for keeping the person in employment or education for a minimum of six months.

Paul Davis, managing director of Perspective, a respected company which has developed a student management system says: “This financial support from the Government comes at a welcome time as the UK continues to struggle with an uncertain and unstable economy, yet the skills’ gap in the nation continues to widen.

“Although, from what I can see in the education industry and within the private sector, there is real willing to help young people get the training and education they need and deserve, there is limited resource and budget to help dedicate both time and salary – until now.

“Initiatives such of these are of paramount importance to help rebuild our fragile economy. They also give young people the incentive and confidence they need to build successful future careers.”

Perspective is a leading provider of student and learning management software. Its Sunesis system is currently being implemented by a number of local authorities and businesses across the UK. For more information, please visit www.perspective-uk.com or call 0121 506 9540.

TradeSkills4U MOD1 & MOD2 courses approved for accreditation by C&G

ity & Guilds have just approved TradeSkills4U’s MOD1 and MOD2 courses to be processed for accreditation.

TradeSkills4U are already recognised as an industry leader when it comes to electrical training. They are one of the first companies to introduce packages of courses making it easier for students to identify the courses they need and train to achieve their specific goals.

Many years ago TradeSkills4U introduced their MOD1 course. This practical workshop is a foundation electrical installation course which shows students how to install in a domestic setting. At the time there wasn’t really anything else like it in the market place and TradeSkills4U were able to create a course that specifically met the demand for new entrants to the industry to learn how to carry out domestic installations.

TradeSkills4U recognised that this course although created in house should be represented by some kind of certification. As a result they applied to City & Guilds to see if the course could be accredited and have just heard it has been approved for accreditation. They are now going through the process of getting the full accreditation for the MOD1 and should finalise the details shortly meaning it will be accompanied by a City & Guilds certificate in the near future. This not only gives customers even more confidence in the quality of the training they will receive from Trade Skills 4U it also means their initial training will be recognised by City & Guilds.

Managing director Carl Bennett said: “We have worked very hard to ensure our training is first class. We are very proud of our MOD1 course and are extremely happy it is going to receive the recognition it deserves. This further concretes our status as Britain’s premiere electrical training provider and shows our commitment to go the extra mile for our students.”

“We have already been given the go ahead from City & Guilds that these courses will be accredited, we are just waiting for the details to be finalised before we start handing out certificates.”

Trade Skills 4U have also heard that their MOD2 course covering the Principles of Electro Technology will also be accredited. This means that every course in their Bronze and Silver course packages will now be accredited by City & Guilds.

Trade Skills 4U were established in 2005 as a training company covering a range of trades. However since then they have made the shift to focus purely on electrical and renewable energy skills. This has led them to developing state of the art facilities and industry leading courses.

Their commitment to first class training is evident in the training they deliver and the feedback they receive from their students as a result. In 2011 more people passed Trade Skills 4U’s range of City & Guilds electrical courses than any other electrical training provider and even during these hard times the company continues to go from strength to strength.

Trade Skills 4U is reputedly the UK’s premiere electrical training company. They have been established since 2005 and provide the widest range of electrical courses and renewable training courses from one facility in the UK.

All the training takes place from their state of the art facilities based just next to Gatwick Airport in Crawley.

Innovate Services announces partnership with Mary’s Meals charity

Innovate Services Ltd, the innovative catering facilities operator to the education sector, has announced it is supporting Mary’s Meals as its designated charity. Mary’s Meals is a global movement that sets up school feeding projects in some of the world’s poorest communities, where poverty and hunger prevent children from gaining an education.

The idea behind Mary’s Meals is a simple one that works. The charity provides one daily meal in a place of learning in order to attract chronically hungry children into a classroom, where they receive an education that can, in the future, be their ladder out of poverty.

Mary’s Meals began by feeding just 200 children in Malawi in 2002. Today, the charity is providing daily meals to over 650,000 hungry children every day in 16 different countries across the world, including Kenya, Haiti, Uganda, Liberia and India. It costs Mary’s Meals just £10.70 to feed a child for a whole school year.

As part of its commitment to the charity, Innovate will be donating 4p for every bottle of water sold at its 65+ sites across the UK, which is enough to feed one child at school for a day.

Representatives from Mary’s Meals will be visiting a number of Innovate’s school sites over the coming school terms to provide students with an insight into the work the charity carries out and to educate them about how donations are used to provide vital food aid to vulnerable children across the world.

Abeer Macintyre, Head of Supporter Care at Mary’s Meals, said, “We are delighted and excited by this initiative by Innovate. By simply purchasing a bottle of water, you can buy a meal for one of the world’s poorest children. That meal will be life-changing for them. This is a perfect example of global citizenship and we are extremely grateful to Innovate for playing its part in creating a more equal world where those of us who have so much are able to share with those who lack even the most basic things.”

Nick Freeman, Student & Client Liaison, Innovate Services said, “Mary’s Meals is such a worthy cause, providing food to hungry children in their local schools in areas where poverty and hunger is a major issue. The work the charity undertakes offers a double benefit as not only is the child receiving a vital meal but gaining an education, which may help towards improved future prospects. Here at Innovate, we are so pleased to be working with Mary’s Meals to raise awareness of famine in the Third World, by presenting the campaign to students here in the UK.”

For further information regarding Innovate Services, visit http://innovate-services.com/marys.htm. For more details regarding Mary’s Meals or to make a donation visit http://www.marysmeals.org.uk/.

New NetSupport School 11 instruction & management software set to meet challenge of 21st century classroom

Includes new tablet version for teachers

Education software specialist NetSupport is pleased to announce the immediate availability of NetSupport School version 11 – the latest evolution of its market-leading classroom management solution.

Version 11 adds to the product’s unrivalled range of PC monitoring, instant assessment and collaboration tools with over 200 new and updated features - all wrapped in a totally refreshed interface that ensures teachers have instant access to all key features.

NEW IN VERSION 11
Highlights in version 11 include a new and unique student and peer assessment module, a wealth of new features for technicians, a new tablet version for teachers, added platform support for Windows 8 and Google Chrome OS and improved file transfer and video performance.

Built around current teaching practices for the continual assessment of learning, the new Question and Answer module is an exciting addition to NetSupport School’s range of assessment and collaboration tools. With existing features such as the custom Test Designer and instant Student Surveys already giving teachers the ability to electronically assess student attainment, the new module is further proof that NetSupport has taken note of current classroom challenges.

The module allows teachers to verbally ask questions to the whole class, gauge student answers and understanding, introduce new questioning styles to the lesson (such as basketball questioning) and develop peer assessment opportunities, as well as track rewards against both the individual and, where appropriate, teams.

SUPPORTING NEW TECHNOLOGIES
Schools are increasingly embracing new PC technologies and in recent years NetSupport has introduced support for environments including thin/zero client computing, terminal server, virtual desktops and shared resource computing.

The Google Chromebook is the latest cost-effective, easy-to-manage computing solution set to put technology into the hands of more students and, from version 11, NetSupport School provides support for the Chrome OS.

NetSupport also hasn’t ignored the impact that hand-held technology is currently having in the modern learning environment.

When paired with an existing NetSupport School Windows desktop Tutor, NetSupport’s new Tutor Assistant app (compatible with both Apple iOS and Android tablets as well as, uniquely, iOS and Android smartphones and available as a free download from the Apple iTunes store and Google Play) increases a teacher’s mobility around the classroom, enabling them to retain key control and monitoring of all student workstations. It also allows teaching assistants to better support the role of the teacher in monitoring student progress.

ENHANCED AND IMPROVED
School technicians and network managers can look forward to a major refresh of NetSupport School’s Tech Console – delivering a number of additional system and policy management tools including the ability to apply a new set of school-wide internet, application, printer and USB restrictions that are operational 24 hours a day, a new security monitoring feature highlighting any computers that have potential vulnerabilities based on pre-defined criteria, as well as additional technician tools such as remote registry editing, a remote command prompt and extended inventory capabilities.

The already-unique Digital Student Journal option has been further enhanced to aid in lesson recording and improve the provision of content for students outside of the classroom. Teachers and students can now continue adding content to an existing ‘master’ journal in subsequent lessons. Teachers can add chapters to the journal, create bookmarks and even synchronise missing content in their journal with a student who has missed a lesson.

The Record and Replay feature is another area of existing functionality to undergo a makeover. The feature provides the perfect tool for building a library of recorded demonstrations, either captured in class or pre-recorded for future lesson use. Version 11 introduces a Video Editor; allowing Replay Files to be trimmed and edited before being exported to common video formats.

The unique Student Toolbar in NetSupport School has also been enhanced, providing instant access to lesson objectives and expected outcomes, additional options for silently requesting assistance from a Teacher or Assistant, quick access to USB resources as well as progress tracking of any electronically delivered coursework.

And if you’re looking for a solution that optimises the delivery of files between machines, you’ll definitely be pleased with the performance improvements that have been introduced into version 11. File and video transfer performance is now 10x faster and uses up to 50% less network bandwidth than any comparable solution available.

Commenting on the new version, NetSupport’s Managing Director, Al Kingsley, said: “The IT landscape of the modern school continues to change and classroom management software vendors need to ensure their solutions remain relevant. New computing platforms not only provide inspiring learning environments for students but, more than ever, teachers have the opportunity to enhance teaching practices through the use of technology.

“{{NetSupport School 11 is an exciting step forward on the road to ensuring our solution continues to meet current classroom challenges.}} The product has undergone a complete visual refresh, many existing features have been enhanced and the new and unique added functionality is sure to appeal to the education community.

“The Question and Answer module adds to our set of collaborative tools and further aids a teacher’s ability to instantly assess student understanding. And with mobile technology high on the agenda, our Tutor Assistant app for tablets and mobile phones is set to transform the way teachers interact with students within the ICT suite.

“We’ve also been quick to acknowledge the impact Google Chrome is likely to have across education along with the pending release of Windows 8 and this, combined with the product’s extensive feature set, ensures NetSupport School 11 is definitely fit for purpose in the 21st century classroom.”

While NetSupport School continues to raise the bar for Windows-based classroom management, NetSupport has also recognised the emergence of the multi-platform classroom. NetSupport Assist, launched in Spring 2011 and recently named Network Computing Magazine’s 2012 New Product of the Year, delivers a focused set of classroom management tools for Macâ and Linux environments. The addition of Assist to the company’s education portfolio saw NetSupport become the first classroom management software vendor to offer compatible solutions across Windows, Mac® and Linux environments, providing complete flexibility for mixed platform classrooms.

Visit www.netsupportschool.com for an in-depth overview of the new features and to download a free 40-PC trial copy.

Capita SIMS Independent backs Independent School Awards 2012 to wave flag for educational excellence

Capita SIMS Independent has announced it has signed a two-year deal as headline sponsors of the prestigious Independent School Awards.

Now in their third year, these are the only awards solely dedicated to the independent education sector. The awards recognise excellence in the strategic and financial management of fee-paying schools delivering British education across the UK and abroad. Entries for 2012 have more than doubled since their launch in 2010.

Julie Booth, head of SIMS Independent, said: “British fee-paying schools are considered among the best in the world and the Independent School Awards provide a wonderful opportunity for them to celebrate their achievements.

“The level of commitment in our schools to delivering the highest standards of teaching and learning should be championed and we are delighted to be a part of what has become such an important fixture on the independent education sector’s calendar. I wish all this year’s entrants the very best of luck.”

Entries to this year’s awards will be judged in 12 categories and a list of finalists will be revealed in September 2012. The winners will be announced at a black tie event to be held on 14 November 2012 at the National Motorcycle Museum, Birmingham.

Andrew Maiden, editor of Funding for Independent Schools magazine and organiser of the Independent School Awards, said: “The quality of British education being delivered in our schools is the envy of the world and the awards are designed to help raise the profile of some of our best institutions. Capita SIMS Independent is committed to developing the technology and services independent schools need to run efficient and effective businesses and we are thrilled that they have come on board to support the event.”

Twitter cue: #CapitaSIMS backs Independent School Awards 2012 to wave the flag for British educational excellence http://bit.ly/Sza0M3

Training 2000 uses Intuitive Dashboards to Drive Enhanced Performance

Training 2000, one of the North-West’s largest and most successful Group Training Associations (GTA), has deployed Intuitive Dashboards, the advanced dashboard solution from Intuitive Business Intelligence, to provide them with a vastly more accurate, consolidated dashboard view of their business and organisational performance.

Intuitive Dashboards empowers Training 2000’s senior managers with timely, accurate insight into their team and company performance, monitoring a vast array of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) across operational areas including contract performance, people measures and customer service. In addition, Intuitive Dashboards will provide enhanced visual reporting on the training company’s financial management, integrating directly with their Sage 200 financial software. Future deployments will provide full integration with Training 2000’s Sage CRM implementation.

Steve Gray, Chief Executive Officer of Training 2000, comments, “Before we implemented Intuitive Dashboards, we had different systems which gave us sight of the performance of the company; this was a time-consuming manual activity, collating data from all our databases and it usually lagged behind the real-time position of the company performance too. As a result, we could not be 100% certain that we were seeing a true accurate reflection of what was really going on in our business. Each department would have to go through a difficult process to access and verify key management information. Without a standard method for producing our management information, the resulting reports often showed discrepancies and fell short of our vision to have real-time accurate data presented visually. Intuitive Dashboards has revolutionised how we manage our information assets. It consolidates all the relevant information into a single, accurate and consistent dashboard view that is easy-to-use and easy to access. Now, we can instantly pinpoint business areas that require our immediate attention. As a result, it has dramatically enhanced our decision-making.”

Gray continues, “Intuitive Dashboards enables us to eliminate many days of staff time spent collating, checking and creating management reports. Managing our key performance information is now simple, effective and visible. I’d recommend other training organisations consider using Intuitive Dashboards to dramatically enhance their business and operational performance.”

Steve Clarke, ICT and Corporate Strategy Manager at Training 2000, concludes, “We chose Intuitive Dashboards because it provides us with a definitive viewpoint of our management data. The transparency, visibility and quality of our dashboards allow us to present a single version of the truth in a highly-professional manner, which we rely upon to drive excellence in every part of our business.”

Tony Bray, Managing Director at Intuitive Business Intelligence, comments, “I’m delighted to welcome Training 2000 to our rapidly-expanding list of training and work-based learning clients. Intuitive Dashboards will enable them to instantly access an accurate, highly-visual perspective of their performance, allowing managers to focus on improving operational efficiencies. Ultimately, Intuitive Dashboards will help Training 2000 to make faster, more accurate management decisions to enhance business performance and the delivery of quality training services to their clients.”

Intuitive Business Intelligence Limited (www.intuitivebusinessintelligence.com) is the author of Intuitive Dashboards which brings together critical information from multiple sources, allowing business users to create and customise their own graphical, interactive dashboards. This empowers users with invaluable insight into their organisational performance, enabling them to make faster, more accurate decisions. Completely Web-based, so it can be used on-premise or in the Cloud, Intuitive Dashboards is easy to use, highly-visual and ultra-fast to implement, delivering a rapid return on investment. Intuitive Business Intelligence is headquartered in Manchester, UK with offices throughout the UK and the US.

Training 2000 (www.training2000.co.uk) won six outstanding grades at its latest Ofsted inspection. In 2011, Training 2000 was awarded with Beacon status and was also listed as of the best places to work for in the public/third sector in The Sunday Times 100 Best Places to Work. Training 2000 is a certified Training Quality Standard (TQS) provider, with excellence in Automotive, Engineering and Healthcare.

Training 2000’s Apprenticeships are renowned for their relevance to industry requirements and the completion rates exceed the national average. Sectors where courses are available are: Automotive, Business, Construction, Dental, Engineering and Manufacturing, Environmental, Health and Social Care, Health & Safety, Leadership & Management, Mechanical Handling and Scaffolding.