Contents Dear Reader,
Welcome to the April issue of Education Today. As I write, most schools in England will now be starting the Easter holidays, so if this issue arrives after you break up, let me be the first to welcome you back after the holidays!
Our main feature this month looks at managing cultural diversity in schools – if there are problems, how to tackle them and how to turn negatives into positives. We hear from two schools working hard to overcome the numerous challenges associated with the topic.
In our regular View from the classroom feature, we hear from Mark Avis, head teacher at Ash Grove Primary and Nursery School in Macclesfield, who helped take the school’s Ofsted rating from Satisfactory to Outstanding in February 2013 through careful tracking of pupil progress.
We have the first in a regular series of pieces from Charlotte Beckhurst, teacher and Microsoft Innovative Expert Educator, offering advice on using technology in the classroom. If you have ever wondered how to get the best out of technology in a classroom setting, make sure to read Charlotte’s column – and send in your questions as well, she’d be delighted to help!
Finally, we have another useful financial piece from Helen Elliott at Sayer Vincent, specialist auditors and advisors to the charity and education sectors, this month on managing your school’s VAT. She offers some really useful practical tips on managing this area of your school finances.
There’s quite a bit of housekeeping news this month – we successfully launched our new website this month, and will be introducing a classifieds section in the magazine from May. I’d also encourage you to download our app from the App Store or Google Play – just search for “education today” and you’ll be taken straight to it. As always, you can keep in touch with us via our Facebook page, by phone, email and Twitter @EdTodayMag. Enjoy the issue!
Jonathan Swift – Managing Editor Groupcall Emerge for Parents In this issue... 4-15 NEWS
News, views and comment from the UK education sector
16-17 MANAGING CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN SCHOOLS
Encouraging the positives in culturally diverse schools
18-19 VIEW FROM THE CLASSROOM
With Mark Avis, head teacher at Ash Grove Primary and Nursery School
20-21 MANAGING SCHOOL VAT Tips for managing your school’s VAT
24-25 COMPUTING
Including the results of ICOMM Technology’s survey into school wireless
April 2014 38 ROUND UP Including news of World Book Day
26-28 BUILDINGS, MAINTENANCE, DESIGN & REFURBISHMENT
Including news from Heckmondwike 29
WELLBEING CATERING & NUTRITION
Including an award win for Innovate Services 30
Staying active with tennis coach Judy Murray 31
SAFETY & SECURITY Including news from Identibadge
32-37 RESOURCES
Including news of the Education Resources Awards
Sales Executive: Paul Dunn Publishing Director: Paul Ryder Managing Editor: Jonathan Swift Production Controller: Claire Noe Art Editor: Paul Forster Secretary: Jen York Published by:
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education@datateam.co.uk Circulation:
datateam@capsule-group.com Subscription Prices 2014 Number of editions per year: 11 UK: £45 Overseas: £115
The Publishers cannot accept responsibility for any discrepancies either in copy or between products and/or services listed. Nor can they be responsible for illustrations and/or copy for products which lead to infringement of copyright
www.education-today.co.uk 3
A new automated service designed to improve parental involvement. Student information is automatically extracted from the school's MIS and pushed directly to the parent's mobile phone keeping them updated on a wide range of events in close to real time.
uwww.groupcall.com/emerge
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