Education is one of the core processes of modern society. It contributes to economic growth, cultural development and our ability to continue to improve our lives. The right to education is recognised in international law as a human right.
As well as knowledge, the process of teaching and of learning develops values, skills, beliefs and aspirations in young people, providing the foundations they need for their professional and personal lives. Lifelong learning can also be a big part of education, any many schools support both staff development and provisions for adults that are not seen in other sectors.
The state-funded system has changed a great deal since 2010, with local authority involvement reducing and academies (which are funded directly by the Department for Education) increasing; most secondary schools and over 25% of primary schools are now academies.
Private schools, or independent schools (in some cases called ‘prep schools’ and ‘public schools’) are a large part of the UK education system too and educate around 7% of children. There are about 2,600 independent schools, half of which are inpsected by Ofsted, while the Indpendent Schools Inspectorate or School Inspection Service inspect others.
And for early years, nurseries, childminders and other childcare providers, of which there are over 70,000 in the UK, provide an indispensable service for working parents.
What this means to you
If you’re in education, childcare or work with children and young people, there’s never a dull moment! Remote learning and education and the related strategies and initiatives now have a very different feel and priority compared to things like ‘flipped classroom’, ‘blended learning’ and ‘personalised learning’ that went before. Priorities like the quality of education and academic achievement, management of behaviour, and maintaining safety (including online safety as well as physical) have to interface with inspection processes, tight budgets and parent’s expectations.
Technology plays a huge part. It is actually quite difficult to imagine running a school or a service for children without it!
Why we are good
We provide IT support and technology services to numerous schools and childcare providers and we cover Exeter, Plymouth, Torquay, Paignton and Exmouth, as well as the rest of Devon, Cornwall and Somerset. We also have clients in places like Hampshire, Kent, London, Northamptonshire and even Scotland.
We also have experience of leading technology provision and IT support in large schools, and we have over 15 years’ EdTech knowledge and experience covering strategic and operational matters; commercial and technical areas; and supplier and customer perspectives.
What we can do
You might be interested in deploying and integrating new technologies, like Chromebooks or Android tablets. You might have an older server that’s costing more to manage or experiencing failures. You might feel that your technical support service could be more responsive or support school priorities better.
If any of this sounds a bit like your school, academy, early years or childcare setting, or if you have ideas, questions, or concerns about any aspect of IT or cyber security that you want to explore, we’re here to help.
