Free2Teach and Ergo hardware combine to enhance learning

Two neighbouring Barnet schools are making the most of both Ergo hardware and Free2Teach network management

In a leafy corner of Barnet, just out of earshot of the North Circular Road, Martin Junior and Infants schools share an early 20th century mostly single-storey building. The schools are arranged mirror fashion, with two adjacent front entrances and offi ces that are the same but in reverse, which is a little strange if you visit one immediately after the other!

At first glance both schools are absolutely typical, a gaggle of mothers chatting in the shade outside the gates, the pre-school group squealing happily in the sunshine, a clatter of pans from the kitchen, clusters of small people around paper-strewn tables.

The first sign of anything special is that the schools are remarkably quiet, without that high-pitched background noise that marks many a primary school.

And then there’s the ICT. In Martin Infants it merges almost imperceptibly with the paintings and posters that line the walls of all the classrooms, with a scatter of PCs and a whiteboard in every classroom. In the junior school it is concentrated in a 16- PC computer suite, with more in varying numbers in classrooms, again accompanying whiteboards.

When head teacher Kevin Anscombe arrived at Martin Infants there was no ICT in the school at all.

“The main reason we chose Ergo was the personalised service we received”

“ We spent a lot of time investigating our options and went on SLICT training. At fi rst we decided on an ICT suite, but then decided that that wasn’t the route to go down in an infants school.

We also wanted lots of different software and the involvement of our staff. So in the end we chose a mixed bag — to have PCs in all the classrooms and to provide laptops to all our staff.

“After lengthy negotiations with Account Manager Paul Baguley, we chose Ergo Computing to supply a package of PCs, laptops and Free2Teach management software, together with interactive whiteboards from RM.

“We had to make sure that our budget was spent wisely as the equipment had to last a number of years. The main reason we chose Ergo was the personalised service we received — it really does make a difference.

I’ve lost count how many times Paul came down to the school, and he was patient and helpful even when I changed my mind in the middle of negotiations. I knew what I wanted but didn’t know the jargon, and Paul spoke in a language I could understand.

“ICT is revolutionising the way we work. Staff already use their laptops for planning lessons. In the past they would laboriously handwrite all their lesson plans — now they email them to the deputy head. They have copies of all the school’s software on their laptops and can work in any classroom. The Ergo machines complement the RM software well.”

“We’re very happy with Free2Teach – it’s simple and does what it says it does”

“There are four Ergo PCs in every classroom, and another four high-specifi cation machines for research and multimedia in the library. Because of the age and construction of the school (the walls are thick) we went with a cabled network.

We did consider a wireless network but felt that wireless is still at a rapid development stage and didn’t want the staff to get frustrated by the system not working. But we might still end up with some wireless networking in the future.

“We are very happy with the Ergo infrastructure. Like any big project there have been a couple of teething problems, but the Ergo technical support people have been really helpful.

“I’ve appointed two staff as joint ICT co-ordinators. They mastered the Free2Teach software within 10 minutes and have since been teaching other staff. The staff hadn’t realised how behind they were.
“My job is to build a continuing vision of the way we use ICT. It’s a gradual development process, rather than a single massive change. Introducing ICT to the school involved a sales job from me, but the teachers were very keen, so it was pretty easy really.

“Now we’re in the midst of a massive training exercise, focusing on the use of whiteboards. Next we’ll be building up all the peripheral stuff, like web cams and audio equipment, but of course the budget is mostly spent now! We did however manage to acquire eight digital cameras through the Tesco voucher scheme.

“We are still learning how to use it all, but it has already made an incredible difference and had a huge impact on the school.”

Next door, ICT Co-ordinator John Pickering explains that the junior school already had an elderly ICT system but needed to bring it into the 21st century.

“We began by talking with the LEA and that was when Ergo Computing was brought to our attention.

Now we have a Free2Teach network on PCs in all our eight classrooms, along with interactive whiteboards, plus 16 Ergo mini-PCs in the ICT suite. Our staff all have laptops, though at the moment they
are not linked to the network.

“Free2Teach makes our life much easier. The big advantage of Free2Teach is that a child can have access to their materials from any room, and can share resources over the network. If a lesson ends before they’ve fi nished a particular project, they can save it and access it later from anywhere in the school. It means that we can easily split machines, with half the class on the PCs and half doing other work, changing round during the lesson, without disrupting the learning process. There is less doubling up.

“We fi nd that children benefi t from access to “real” PCs and applications. For example they become familiar with full-blown Microsoft Offi ce, which after all they are going to use throughout their education and into employment.

Another development is the growth of learning beyond the classroom. We are broadening the vision of seamless learning between school and home.
We’ve found that about 80 percent of our pupils have Internet access at home, with the rest able to access it in other ways. This means that we can email tasks home, that pupils can upload homework to their own web space.

We’ve also signifi cantly cut down on paperwork and photocopying. I can for example prepare a text and email it to the students for them to work on either at school or at home.

“We’re very happy with Free2Teach - it’s simple and easy to use and does what it says it does!”