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News, views and opinion from RM Education (a bit about this blog)

Whether you're looking for the latest news and views on ICT, seeking money saving advice or looking for ideas on how technology can help your school achieve its strategic objectives, this blog's for you. We'll bring you real world stories from schools making great progress with technology in these areas, and we're looking forward to your comments and opinions too.

The links above take you to to just the relevant posts on the blog (i.e. relevant for that particular audience, by being "tagged" as such). Enjoy

A world of learning @ BETT 2011

BETT is round the corner and, as ever, we're working like crazy to ensure we bring some joy to January. Our new year's resolution is to inspire engaging learning, and across the globe we're planning some fantastic events for you at BETT:

Our solutions showcase

A showcase of the very latest RM products and solutions to help you deliver engaging learning and futureproof your classrooms for the challenges yet to come.

RM Learning Emporium
Immerse yourself in our repurposed conference space away from the hustle and bustle of the main BETT Show. The space will be transformed by practical and affordable building blocks to create an inspiring and thought provoking learning environment; brought to life by teachers and learners.

Find out more

Wantage C of E Primary School secure FIRST LEGO League Champions Award

We want to say a massive congratulations to Wantage C of E Primary School who secured the regional title of the 2010 Oxfordshire FIRST LEGO League champions by demonstrating exceptional innovation in the field of Biomedical Engineering. The team of ten 9-16 year olds designed, built and programmed a LEGO robot to complete specific tasks relating to the Body Forward challenge theme. The team also presented detailed research and provided a solution to a medical problem affecting people across the world.

Wantage C of E Primary School now move on to represent Oxfordshire at the FLL UK and Ireland National Final at Loughborough University on Saturday 22nd January where they compete for the exciting opportunity to represent the UK at the World Festival in St Louis, America at the end of April 2011.

The tournament was held at Didcot Football Club on Monday 7th December and was covered by BBC Oxford News - http://bbc.in/gchGpW

Photograph - Terry Sweeney, CEO of RM, presenting Wantage C of E Primary School with their trophy.

Education is the key to life in Tanzania - how we helped build a school for the future

If you've had enough of sub-zero temperatures and school closures in the UK, read on to find out about an experience of a lifetime in Tanzania last month...

In November 2010, 13 RM staff (past and present) arrived at Uwa Primary School, Tanzania, to change the school for ever. The school’s motto, “Education is the key to life”, is true not just in Tanzania, but everywhere (in Tanzania, a child born on the plantations will have very little opportunity to go on to anything else). The work completed at Uwa School was the first step in breaking that cycle of poverty and giving the kids the best possible chance in life.

It was a world away from life in the office, but the group achieved something amazing for many generations to come. Watch the short video (4 mins).

It's Snow Problem as pupils log on from home amidst school closures

More than a thousand schools were closed across the UK yesterday, with snow causing the most travel chaos in Scotland and the north of England. This morning's new snow fall compounds the problem. But far from freezing, learning lives on (virtually) for the well prepared...

a) Watch ITN News article showing on how Glow keeps Scotland's pupils learning despite the atrocious weather conditions. 

b) During February's big freeze, Maxine Evans, head teacher at Rush Common Primary school, used the school's learning platform remotely to:

• set work for pupils
• inform parents of school opening and closing news
• recruit a JCB to clear the car park (it's snow joke!)
• hold a staff discussion to find out if enough staff could make it in to reopen the school

Listen to the BBC interview with Maxine and read the advice and guidance on how to harness technology to keep your school open.

Design Your Own Avatar!

Students from around the country are being asked to let their imagination run wild and design their own ideal Avatar for the RM Learning Platform/Merlin. The winning student will win an iPod Touch and have their own v-Me design turned into a real option that anyone can use!
The winner and the 5 runners up will be announced at BETT in January 2011.
Find out more.

Don't miss the latest deals, events, news and views

To offer you a more personalised experience and tailored recommendations, you can now set your own email preferences for the type, style and regularity of email updates you receive from RM. No more irrelevant emails, because you tell us what we should tell you. Set up your preferences now.

How to achieve more with less: RM Response to Comprehensive Spending Review

With capital funds declining by 60% over the next 4 years, it's clear that school budgets will come under intense pressure. In response to customer need, we're rapidly developing products and services to help you achieve your ambitions in the age of austerity.

We're developing flexible finance plans, a new range of affordable products, and some surprising services that will guarantee a reduction in your overall cost base. We're absolutely convinced that these solutions will enable you to achieve more with less. Find our more.

National Teaching Awards this weekend... come on Jacqui!

Good luck to all nominees for the National Teaching Awards this weekend. We're all keeping our fingers crossed for Jacqui Johnson of Eureka Primary School in Derbyshire. One reason for Jacqui being a contender is the school's use of the Kaleidos Learning Platform, which is at "the cutting edge of educational technology*" . Find out why Jacqui's special.

*Source: Burton Mail, 29th October 2010

Today's Comprehensive Spending Review means...

... although schools have escaped the worst of the cuts, the picture is still far from clear.

The headline is that there will be a £3.6 billion increase in the schools budget in cash terms by the end of the 2014-15 financial year. But what counts as the 'schools' budget? Well, our Market Insight team are frantically analysing the detail and we'll be in a position to inform you tomorrow. Watch this space...

Learning Platform Success Awards 2010 - and the winning schools are...

• Primary School: Little Aston Primary School, Staffs
• Secondary School: Limehurst High School, Leics
• Student Voice: Shipston on Stour Primary School, Warwicks
• Community Inclusion: Pedmore CE Primary School, Dudley
• Global Links: Chase Terrace Technology College, Staffs
• Fuse Award for Creativity: St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Royston, Herts

Congratulations to the schools above in winning one of our "Learning Platform Success Awards" 2010. The awards were announced at our inaugural "RM Learning Platform User Forums", and for a new event in the calendar, we're absolutely delighted with the feedback from the 100+ delegates who attended.

"Excellent day, I have left with a host of ideas to share back at school"; "Lots of very interesting speakers who gave lots of inspiration to take away - especially Google."

The Bright Spark: RM Slate

Smaller than a sheet of paper, lighter than a pineapple (or was that the other way round?). Today sees the introduction of a rather smart addition to our Mobile ICT range...



What's the buzz? Drop in on the Microsoft Schools Blog, Merlin John Online or, indeed, on our very own RM.com to find out more.

Today is Internet Watch Foundation Day

E-safety's extremely important to us and, of course, to our customers. As a member of the IWF, we're pleased to support and contribute to national awareness day. The virtual world opens up new opportunities for learning and creativity, but it also means thinking ahead of new risks. We've worked hard to develop resources, tools, and services that help schools to ensure that children and young people can use the internet safely and appropriately. Find out more.

Achieving More, With Less

Following the Comprehensive Spending Review, we'll be sharing advice and guidance on achieving your ambitions, in the age of austerity. We're in it together, and are committed to helping you, our customers, achieve more, with less. (Posted from iPhone)

RM and the LEGO Group Joint Venture

Enabling inspiring and effective learning and teaching to take place through first class educational environments is what RM's about. This is why we're excited to announce the formation of LEGO® Education Europe Ltd, which is a joint venture with LEGO Education the educational division of the LEGO Group. The new company will be the exclusive distributor of LEGO Education's products and solutions to educational institutions including nurseries, schools and colleges across Europe and will start trading from 1 January 2011. Read the press release.

BBC 2: The Classroom Experiment - tonight!

The Classroom Experiment, screened on BBC 2 tonight and tomorrow, features a newly equipped classroom from RM ISIS, that Professor Dylan Wiliam descriped as 'a sanctuary'. Prof William tries different methods of teaching to see how they affect attainment, and the new classroom is used to assess the role environment plays in successful teaching and learning. Find out more.

Seek first to understand, and then be understood: School Leader's Priorities

Every year, we conduct comprehensive research with school leaders to understand their priorities for the coming year. Needless to say budgets were seen as a key concern, but specific priorities came through loud and clear, so we've developed an online resource showing how our customers are addressing these priorities.