New opportunities, new partners, new resources!

By Karen Burns

I trust everyone has had a good half term and is starting to enjoy the slightly longer days. Spring is just around the corner now!  I hope you’re enjoying getting to know the portal and what it can offer you. It’s great to see the noticeboards and resources being used extensively already.

As you know it’s my job to bring new and exciting partners to you and to create opportunities for you to save money.  We’ve brought several new partners to the Portal this week and I want to take this opportunity to introduce them to you and tell you about their products and services.  We would also like to take this opportunity to thank them for their support of our Portal.

So, who’s new this week?

Firstly, VEO Group. We are very excited to welcome this team onto the Portal; when we were at BETT  they showed us their new system and we instantly saw the value that it can offer schools in the world of observation and feedback.  When we looked at it further we saw that it really is making waves in the world of education, despite it being relatively new.  Their system is a “game changer” in peer and self-assessment for teachers, it has the capacity to boost the confidence of practitioners and have a really positive impact on teaching and learning.

VEO stands for Video Enhanced Observation.  The software helps and encourages teachers to identify good practice and areas for development, creating a teacher-led approach to professional improvement.  They provide an easy-to-use video tagging tool which combines the power of video and data to maximise the learning opportunities and impact of self/peer review and dialogue.  Sharing and developing good practice isn’t easy, but VEO pulls together the power of video and data for effective professional learning.  Have a look look at the videos on the VEO portal page to find out more.

Next, we are delighted to welcome Twig World onto the Portal. After meeting them at BETT, they have been extremely supportive of the Portal and what we are trying to achieve.  TWIG World offer a range of draw dropping short science and geography videos, from early primary right through to KS3.

There are 3 different areas to Twig World:

 TigTag Junior offers 2 minute videos for 4-7 year olds, TigTag World offers short videos for 7-11 year olds and Twig World offers videos for which are tailored to your curriculum for KS3.  These videos are excellent and they have kindly given us a selection to add into our resources area so that they can be utilised by all.  We are also looking forward to welcoming TWIG World to our presentations and webinars in the near future.  All 3 sites offer a trial period so please take a look around and see what they can bring to your classroom.

Next up is GBM Digital Technologies.  GBM are experts in Apple solutions and technology and have been working for over 20 years to create technology solutions to support schools and their objectives.

They can help you understand just what is possible with an iPod and an iPad and as part of our objective to save you money, are on hand to discuss collaborative buying opportunities. They are part of our Quotes system too, so if you are looking to buy something in this area, don’t forget that this service is available.

In addition, GBM offer 3 programmes to help schools:
Flying Start: a programme to get schools back on track with existing iPad deployments.
Curriculum Mentor: a programme to get schools on track with the computing curriculum. Since the launch of the new core subject area in 2014, schools across the country have had to adapt and they aim to help with this.
Personalised Learning: Personalised Learning is a programme to take schools from a few iPads, to one iPad per child (1:1). Evidence and their experience suggests that personalising the learning experience for every student in the classroom is the most engaging approach for them.
At the centre of any iPad scheme needs to be a solid vision and clearly communicated plan that everyone in the school is signed up to. GBM have experience of helping schools achieve this and would love to work with you to make it your reality, and as an Apple Solution Expert for Education there’s nothing about Apple they don’t know.

Getting the Portal to work for you

As always, we want your feedback.  What sort of partners do you want to see on here, what products are of interest to you?  Let us know and we will do our best to reduce your search time and bring you the companies that interest you most.  

E-mail me or contact me through the Portal, my virtual door is always open!

Have a good week and see you soon!