News
Celebrating wartime generation on film
An innovative new project from education charity Into Film, in partnership with BBC Learning, the British Film Institute (BFI) and the British Council, is encouraging children aged 7-11 to explore and commemorate local history by recording interviews with members of the wartime generation and combining the footage with archive clips to create their own short documentaries. Inspired by upcoming BBC Two series ‘Britain’s Greatest Generation’, made by Testimony Films, which marks the 70th anniversary of World War Two, the project will comprise of a curriculum-linked teaching resource from Into Film (an education charity supported by the BFI with Lottery funding), a filmmaking toolkit to aid production of the final film, and a unique collection of archive clips from the BFI and British Council archives. The diverse selection of clips range from wartime propaganda films and children being evacuated to footage of a Welsh mining village, shipbuilding on the Tyne and historic working cotton mills. Also available on the Into Film website will be an exclusive interview with Steve Humphries, producer and director of BBC 2’s ‘Britain’s Greatest Generation’, who provides his insider top tips on successful interviewing techniques and on how to create an affecting life- story documentary.
The Make Film – Greatest Generation resource is available to download at
www.intofilm.org/greatest-generation with archive clips available from mid- April. It is a key element of Into Film’s Identity season which will run throughout the summer term.
Completed films will be showcased on a dedicated section of the Into Film website and all those submitted by 20 May will be considered for inclusion in a BBC Learning compilation film being made by Steve Humphries; in addition, three of the completed films submitted will be selected to be taken into the BFI National Archive as a lasting legacy. Into Film’s Director of Education Jane Fletcher says: “Film has a great ability to bring past events to life and make them more memorable. This is a hugely exciting collaboration offering a highly engaging learning experience that will encourage intergenerational communication and understanding through exploring local history.”
Testimony Films Executive Producer Steve Humphries says: “This is a fantastic opportunity for children to participate in a nationwide oral history project, collecting and commemorating the experiences of Britain’s greatest generation. Now in their 80s, 90s and 100s; these are the generation who lived through WW2 and went on to be part of building the Welfare State and National Health Service as we know it today.”
Find out about more about ‘Make Film - Greatest Generation’ and start an Into Film Club for free access to thousands of films and education resources at:
www.intofilm.org or call 0207 288 4520.
Into film is running four free CPD sessions to support teachers participating in the ‘Make Film - Greatest Generation’ project in: Birmingham (March 18th), Manchester (March 23), London (March 24 and Omagh (March 31) – for information and to book go to the CPD page at
intofilm.org/greatest- generation
19th Century Bradfield College deploys Meru Education-grade wireless technology
Meru Networks, a leader in intelligent Wi-Fi networking, has announced that public school Bradfield College has completed the first phase of its deployment of Meru Education-grade 802.11ac wireless technology throughout the school’s extensive site in Berkshire. The network will support up to 3,000 staff and student devices.
Bradfield College is part of the Rugby Group, which includes Harrow School, Wellington College and Charterhouse School. A co- educational school for 13 to 18 year olds, Bradfield selected Meru’s Gigabit Wi-Fi when its existing Aruba network failed to deliver seamless coverage across the school’s mix of traditional and modern facilities and was unable to deliver sufficient capacity to meet the demands of more than 1,000 pupils, staff and contractors, which interrupted learning
“Our previous Wi-Fi network caused some frustration with coverage dropping in and out depending on where you were in the school, and was particularly problematic in some of our older buildings, which date back over 150 years and have solid walls,” explains Trevor Benstock, Director of IT Services, Bradfield College. “The number of devices connecting to the network was also causing us headaches, with staff and pupils using up to three devices each, often simultaneously. That’s potentially thousands of devices all logging on at once.”
As one of the UK’s leading public schools, Bradfield College prides itself on offering students world-class educational facilities – including sporting, music, drama and dance – and believes a world- class Wi-Fi network has to be at the core of education today. Benstock adds: “In a fast moving world, just as education cannot stand still, neither can the technology that supports it. Our staff expect it, parents expect it and the students certainly expect fast, reliable Wi-Fi to be part of their life.”
The school’s IT team worked alongside Meru to deploy more than 200 Meru AP832 802.11ac access points, with up to 10 in some buildings, and two main controllers. Phase I of the project has seen the Meru Wi-Fi installed in all of the primary buildings used for teaching and some of the boarding houses.
The network is also being used to support Firefly, the school’s Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), which enables students and teachers to organise their homework and create and access resources from anywhere. Phase II will include external wireless access covering the playing fields and the school’s recently renovated Greek Theatre, which plays host to performances during the summer term.
YPO named one of the UK’s best organisations to work for
Wakefield-based YPO, the UK’s largest publicly owned purchasing organisation, has been named one of the best not-for-profit organisations for employee engagement, according to the Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For 2015. The prestigious list, announced this week at an awards ceremony in London, ranks YPO in 71st place from a shortlist of 100 not-for-profit organisations from around the country. The Sunday Times Best Companies to Work For recognises excellence in workplace engagement, with rankings derived directly from the views of employees. Over 40 per cent* of YPO staff responded to the survey, which asks employees to feedback on their workplace experience. Specifically, staff are asked to provide feedback on areas such as leadership, work-life balance and opportunities for personal growth.
March 2015
Simon Hill, Managing Director at YPO, said: “I am delighted that we have achieved such a fantastic ranking in our first year of entry. This success is a reflection of our ongoing commitment to our staff and our effective employee engagement programme. We pride ourselves on making sure that all staff feel valued, motivated and part of the YPO team.” Each year hundreds of organisations from a wide range of industries measure employee engagement using “Best Companies to Work For” employee surveys. The responses from these surveys are collated and combined to produce an overall engagement score for each organisation. Only the organisations with the highest level of overall employee engagement qualify for the 100 Best “Not-For-Profit Organisations to Work For” list.
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