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Redsixty showcase at world’s largest school technology event

Redsixty’s revolutionary approach to the way junior school pupils use technology is to showcase at the world’s largest educational technology event.

Visitors to the BETT exhibition at London’s Olympia will be able to find out about SchoolTerm, the first package of its type to be offered in the UK.

With its secure and robust environment, SchoolTerm offers personalised learning spaces for pupils and teachers at school and at home. Its up-to-the-minute desktops, servers and award-winning software mean schools can run the latest educational applications. They also benefit from its responsive support service and ‘green’ approach to technology.

And that’s not all. It’s simple and innovative ‘per-user, per-month’ pricing model means schools only pay for what they use. So they get first-class technology without the hefty price tag. When it comes to learning, SchoolTerm is in a class of its own.

‘We’ve taken a lot of time finding out what schools like about their ICT systems and what they need,’ said Sheldon Witney, a Director at Redsixty Solutions. ‘We know that they want reliable up-to-date technology and applications to help them do their jobs effectively now, and in the future. They want fully-licensed software that meets all the key parts of the National Curriculum is a top priority. Avoiding noisy systems which use a huge amount of power or systems that need a lot of upkeep and support is also important. In other words, an expectation for the same standards most organisations receive. We couldn’t see any reason why schools shouldn’t have a first class ICT service, but it always came down to cost and we know schools don’t have bottomless ICT budgets.’

Never people to turn down a challenge, Sheldon and his business partner, Ian Ball, decided to develop a service to meet those needs – and SchoolTerm is the result. Although similar technology is being used by schools in other parts of Europe, this is the first package of its type to be offered in the UK.

‘It’s the same method as you would use for any utility service – you decide what you want to use and pay accordingly,’ said Ian. ‘Schools can choose what suits them so that they get the best of both worlds – a service that’s really innovative and effective but one that won’t break the bank. We can work within their existing ICT budget but still massively improve their system.’

One school making use of SchoolTerm is Ravenscote Junior School in Surrey. The 600+ pupil school had an old system that suffered from lack of access and ageing PCs that needed an unmanageable level of technical support. Now it has new flat screens, a PC terminal in every classroom, remote monitoring and work that is saved centrally and regularly backed up. This modern ‘desktop’ environment is robust and secure, with rapid and responsive support so there’s no lengthy ‘downtime’.  

"It's really increased pupil and staff access to software across all areas of the National Curriculum and means that ICT helps to support all our pupils in their learning. They are learning skills for life,’ said Jennie Ratcliff, ICT Subject Leader at Ravenscote. ‘Staff can and do log-in at home. I use it all the time. It makes everything more flexible. It supports my planning as I have access to everything at school and at home.’

Note to newsdesks

Redsixty will be at BETT 2008 on Stand V18 on the first floor. BETT is the world's world’s largest educational technology event. Over the past 20 years, the annual show has been dedicated to showcasing the best in UK and international educational technology products, resources and best practice. Taking place between 9 – 12 January at Olympia in London, it attracts 700 educational suppliers and close to 30000 visitors. It brings together the global teaching and learning community for four days of innovations and inspirations.

For further information please contact Hilary Allison at Vivid on 01684 854421 or email her at hilary@thevividconultancy.com or visit www.redsixty.com