Inclusive Education

2and7 Limited have recently announced they are to beginning to ship pre-customised virtual machines offering anti virus/anti spam protection, web filtering and Windows updating functionality.  They will shortly be releasing a range of virtual machines based around VMWare and Microsoft Windows Server 2008 functionality aimed at schools, colleges and small/medium enterprises.

The virtual machines can be pre-configured to match the settings of a particular organisation and shipped ready to go along with instructions on how they can be installed.  Installation is simple, requiring a spare machine and a copy of a suitable Microsoft Windows Server operating system along with VMWare Server.  Then simply mount the pre-configured machine, attach it to your domain and follow the instructions provided.

2and7 can also offer consultancy servies to guide you through the process or simply visit your site and do all the hard work for you.

A survey of 200 ICT decision makers in the education sector by Computing magazine shows that nearly 85% of them feel that budgetary constrains through public sector spending cuts will make them review the way in which IT services are provided within their school or educational establishment.

Current figures are that desktop and server management is managed in-house by the vast majority of schools, though the focus is shifting as more and more schools come under the Private Finance Initiative scheme and see their IT services being taken over by the likes of Dell and other large manufacturing and service providers.

Whilst it is widely recognised that the quality of teaching and learning within a school is the prime factor in raising standards, the provision of high quality equipment along with a suitable maintenance schedule and rapid response is essential in ensuring smooth delivery of services.

If you’re currently considering IT outsourcing as an option, then please get in touch by commenting on this post.

With all the bad weather currently affecting the country, parents are glued to local radio stations listening for the name of their child’s school before heading out on a potential long and perilous journey.  Information about school closures is a potentially patchy affair, with each school contacting a variety of information providers in a bid to inform parents of school closures.

We have therefore decided to construct a central web site at schoolclosures.info to hold national school closure information to provide a single point of reference for parents wanting to know about school INSET/training days, closures due to bad weather or to check holidays – in effect any time a school is closed to pupils.

This also supports schools in delivery of their business continuity procedures by providing another communication medium through which to communicate with parents.

The service is free and there and no plans to introduce any charges for this service.  The site will be fully searchable on the name of the school as well as having the usual facility to browse an entire authority.

If you would like more information, please get in touch at enquiries@schoolclosures.info

We have created a petition on the Number 10 web site calling on the Government and the Opposition to safeguard funding for Higher Education and Further Education after the next General Election.

Our petition can be found at: http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/higher-ed/

Through our links with iSubscribe, we can offer a subscription to the Encyclopaedia Britannica Online Student Edition Magazine for £49.95.