With the pressures on schools and trusts across the country, it goes without saying how important it is that School IT Managers are able to save time and drive efficiency across their organisation. Based on our years of experience and conversations with IT Managers at EduLife, we’ve put together some top tips on efficient school IT administration and how you can save time in your role. 

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Importance of efficient school IT administration

There are many reasons why efficient school IT administration is the backbone of a well-functioning school or multi-academy trust:

Smooth operations: Efficient school IT administration keeps everything running smoothly, from network connectivity to software applications. It means fewer interruptions and more focus on teaching and learning.

Enhanced productivity: Being able to rely on smooth-running systems, means that students can access resources seamlessly and teachers can focus solely on their role in the classroom, thus boosting productivity for everyone involved.

Optimal resource allocation: Efficient IT administration makes sure that resources are used effectively, preventing wasteful spending and allowing for strategic investments in technology infrastructure.

Seamless communication and collaboration: With efficient IT administration, communication channels work seamlessly. Teachers, administrators, students, and parents can connect, collaborate, and share information effortlessly, creating a supportive learning environment.

Data Security and privacy: Efficient IT administration prioritises data security and privacy by implementing robust security measures, updating systems and educating users to protect sensitive information. This means that trust is maintained and compliance with privacy regulations is upheld.

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Challenges faced by School IT Administrators

Despite the great importance put on the output of IT Administrators, we know it’s not always plain sailing:

Spinning many plates: From managing networks and systems to troubleshooting tech issues, there’s always a lot to manage in schools. 

Keeping up with technological Advancements: Technology moves at lightning speed, and as IT Managers, it can be tough to keep up! New devices, software updates, and emerging trends require continuous learning.

Limited resources and budget: As is often the case in schools, budgets can be tight, meaning teams have to be creative with their investments to make sure they’re as effective as possible. 

Balancing security and accessibility: Striking the right balance between security and accessibility is a challenge IT managers know all too well. You want to protect sensitive data and keep networks secure, but you also need to give seamless access to educational resources for students and staff. 

User support and training: With varying degrees of technological ability in schools, it can be a challenge to address differing tech skill levels and ensure everyone feels supported.

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Time-saving  tips for School IT Managers

With all that in mind, here are some strategies and technology-driven solutions to help you overcome those challenges and boost productivity at your school.

Automated provisioning: Invest in tools that integrate various administrative functions like student records, scheduling, communication and classroom set-up. Tools like EduLife’s data synchronisation feature simplify processes and eliminate the need for manual data entry across multiple systems.

Master digital communication: Use instant messaging, collaboration platforms, and email automation to streamline communication among staff, parents, and students. These tools make information sharing quick, reduce delays, and enhance collaboration.

Go cloud-based: Storing your documents and information in the cloudgives you easy access, real-time collaboration, and seamless file sharing – plus, it’s a step closer to going paperless! 

Give Users the Power: Empower your users with self-service password reset solutions like LastPass or Azure Password Reset. They can reset their passwords independently, freeing you up for more exciting IT projects. 

Let the machines do the heavy lifting: Find those repetitive tasks that zap all your time and automate them. Whether it’s updating software, backing up systems, or managing user accounts, use nifty tools such as EduLife to save yourself some serious time when trying to simplify school management.

Make best use of your MIS: Use data analytics and reporting in Arbor to generate insightful reports and analyse trends in student performance, attendance, or resource allocation. These tools provide quick access to data-driven insights, making decision-making easier and reducing the effort spent on manual data collection.

Keep it organised with a ticketing system: Say goodbye to chaos! Get yourself a cool ticketing system like Zendesk to manage all those support requests. It’ll help you stay on top of things, prioritise tasks, and get stuff done faster. Plus, no more lost sticky notes!

Say goodbye to the mystery of missing equipment: Asset management solutions like Fleet Management are your superhero helpers. They’ll keep track of your Chromebooks. You can easily know what’s where, schedule maintenance tasks, and stay on top of warranties. It’s like having a trusty sidekick that keeps things organised and saves you from endless searching.

Embrace your inner tech wizard: Take advantage of remote management tools like TeamViewer. They’ll give you the power to access and fix devices from afar. No need to teleport to every corner of the school or multi-academy trust for routine tasks or minor issues.

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The round-up

Efficient school administration is the key to optimising resources, boosting productivity, and creating a fantastic learning environment. As an IT manager, you have the power to implement time-saving strategies that empower your team and educators. By embracing technology solutions you can make your school or multi-academy trust more productive and efficient for everyone involved. 

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About EduLife

Edulife is a dynamic synchronisation engine that automates and maintains user management across Google Workspace for Education, Microsoft Active Directory and Apple School Manager by harmonising and provisioning data from your school MIS.

The post Top time-saving tips for School IT Managers appeared first on Arbor.

How do cyber attacks happen?

Ransomware attacks happen most often through emails which contain malicious links or attached files. They can also happen through ‘phishing’ emails where senders pretend to be an organisation or a person you know. In both cases hackers are trying to steal user credentials, or gain entry to IT systems.

Ransomware typically encrypts data files, then demands payment of a ransom in exchange for the decryption key. There is never any guarantee that the key will work and you only find this out after payment has been made.

 How can we prevent cyber attacks?

The best advice is to stay alert. If an email or advert looks suspicious, don’t click on any links or attachments, and always report it to your IT team or Data Protection Officer. Having strong passwords is also important. Remember that the length of passwords is the single most important factor. Any password less than 10 characters long can be hacked by brute force in under a minute!

Tip: You can edit your school’s password rules in Arbor to make sure your users have strong passwords, and set the frequency that staff need to change them.

How do we protect your data at Arbor?

Here at Arbor we’re proud to exceed the MIS industry standard when it comes to keeping your data safe. We are accredited by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) – an independent, non-governmental international organisation that ensures the quality and safety of software like Arbor around the world. We are accredited under ISO27001 – the international benchmark for data security.

We also store data on our central cloud-based system rather than on any individual device or server, which means if there’s a security breach at your school, your data is less likely to be lost or compromised. Your data is also backed up daily so we can quickly and easily restore access should you have a security incident. You can read more about how we protect your data in our blog here.

What should I do if my school has a ransomware attack?

Whilst cyber attacks are very rare, it’s always good to be prepared. Your school or MAT Data Protection Officer should have a wider plan in place for what to do if you get a ransomware attack, but here are some quick and simple steps you can take in Arbor:

1. Change all passwords

The first step we’d recommend is recycling your login information. This will help to make sure that any passwords that have been compromised as part of the ransomware attack no longer work. In Arbor you can either:

• Ask all staff to reset their passwords by following the “forgot your password?” workflow on your school’s login site, or
• Get in touch with our Support Team to force reset all passwords in your Arbor account

2. Disable access

If your Data Protection Officer recommends disabling access to systems until the issue is resolved, there are a couple of options in Arbor:

• To disable a handful of users you can follow these steps
• If you ever need to suspend access for all staff, get in touch with our Support Team and we’ll do this for you

3. Communicate

As part of your continuity plans, make sure you’ve developed an internal and external communication strategy. It’s important that the right information reaches the right people at the right time, so that your team knows what’s happening and what they should do next. For steps on sending communications using Arbor, check out our help materials here.

Whilst we hope you never have to deal with a cyber attack, if you do we’ll be here to support you with anything related to accessing your Arbor data.

The post What to do in Arbor if your school gets a ransomware attack appeared first on Arbor.

At Arbor, we’ve been developing new tools to support leaders and Admin Staff manage the challenges of Covid-19. 

Today, we’re excited to launch brand new integrations with Google Classroom, Microsoft Office 365 and Microsoft Power BI, designed to help you save time and manage your school data in the ways you need to.

Sync data securely between Arbor, Google Classroom and Microsoft Office 365

As schools have been ramping up their use of digital learning platforms for remote or blended learning, we’ve built an integration with Google Classroom and Microsoft Office 365. Arbor automatically syncs your student and staff information into Google Classroom and Microsoft Office 365 so you don’t have to enter any data manually. What’s more, once you’re set-up, data syncs every 24 hours, meaning your information is always up-to-date.

We’ll also partner you with a Google or Microsoft accredited support team who’ll give you tailored support to get your integration set-up. They’ll also be your port of call if you need any help along the way.

What does this mean for you? 

• Save time: Your data syncs automatically to Google Classroom and Microsoft Office 365, saving you hours of manual data entry and updating if your classes change
• Future-proof solution: Once set-up, it’s easy to return to remote teaching and learning whenever you need to 
• In-depth support: If you run into any problems with your integration, our trusted Google support partners are on-hand to support you

Check out The Key for School Leaders for some great guidance on getting the most out of a digital learning platform. 

Visualise data any way you want to with our Microsoft Power BI Connector

Arbor MIS gives staff at all levels a shared view of progress, with accessible, out-of-the-box dashboards and quick custom reports. But we know that you might sometimes want an even more customised approach to reporting. 

That’s why we’re excited to launch our brand new Microsoft Power BI Connector. The Connector pre-loads your key Arbor data into Power BI, allowing you to visualise it in creative new ways.

We’ve also created five ready-to-go template dashboards which will save you hours of manual set-up, and allow you to dig into key factors behind your school or MAT’s performance. Plus, they’re fully customisable, giving you the freedom to present your data how you need to.

What does it mean for you? 

• Instant data: Your Arbor data is ready-to-go in Microsoft Power BI whenever you need, with no manual export
• Save time with our five ready-to-go dashboard templates 
• Customisation and control: Edit and customise your report templates however you want to
• Bring in other data sources: Look at your Arbor data in meaningful contexts e.g. Google Maps, Deprivation index

Find out more about these integrations

Already using Arbor MIS?

Get in touch with your Account Manager to get started with Google Classroom, Microsoft Office 365 or Microsoft Power BI at accountmanagers@arbor-education.com.

New to Arbor? 

We’d love to show you how Arbor could help you work faster, smarter and collaborate more across your school or MAT. Come along to a free webinar to Arbor MIS in action, or book a free personalised demo here.

The post Spring term update: Connect more tools to Arbor appeared first on Arbor.

That’s why we work with a growing network of apps – to make sure our schools can connect the specialist systems they rely on everyday with Arbor MIS, helping them to manage their school data the way they need to.

We partner with specialist providers to give schools choice

We believe that when school technology companies pull together, the impact can be huge. It’s been difficult for technology providers to integrate with server-based MIS systems in the past. However, as more and more schools have been switching to a cloud-based MIS over the last few years, providers have built MIS integrations much more easily. This means schools have the freedom to continue using the tools they love, connected seamlessly to their MIS.

Connect your specialist tools to Arbor easily

At Arbor, we’ve partnered with over 100 organisations across the country who provide specialist systems and support to schools. We believe that instead of a “one stop shop” approach, where schools can only use Arbor for everything, we want to make it easy for schools to use specialist systems for things like safeguarding, timetabling and assessment if they want to, connected seamlessly to Arbor. 

We collaborate with the best in EdTech

Working with specialist organisations across the country gives us the opportunity to collaborate and provide the best possible service to schools.

We want to make it easier than ever for partners of all types to give schools the largest possible choice. We’re doing that in three key ways: 

1. We’ve made it easy to integrate with Arbor

As Arbor’s community of schools grows (now over 1,500!), we want to make it cheaper and easier to plug third party systems into Arbor. This means that our list of integrations is constantly growing too.

We also want to make it easy to share ideas between schools, Arbor and our partners. For example, we have an online Developer Portal, where companies who want to integrate with Arbor can sign up for free and access all our documentation (with support for free too!). We’ve also built an online Community forum where our schools and partners can easily swap tips and best practice for getting the most out of Arbor. 

2. We’re building deeper integrations

We’re also working with key partners on exciting deeper integrations that give schools joined-up insight and seamless workflows. For example, schools using PUMA and PIRA tests from RS Assessment can sync marks straight into Arbor and analyse the results alongside demographic information, attendance and behaviour.

3. We’re supporting schools in new ways

With schools working in totally different ways right now and managing constant change, they’re finding the IT support they need has changed. They need access to information fast – regardless of which system it’s in. Our friendly support team at Arbor provides free support for schools, but we’ve also teamed up with support providers all over the country so schools can choose to get help with Arbor from their local team if they want to.

Our accredited Arbor Support Partners go through in-depth training to help schools get the most value out of Arbor. With skills in business intelligence (BI) and analytics, they can also work with schools and MATs to help them get even greater insight into their data.

Discover Arbor MIS for your school or MAT

To find out how Arbor’s cloud-based MIS could transform the way your school or MAT works, get in touch to book a demo or join a free webinar to see the system in action. 

Looking to integrate or partner with Arbor?

We’re always looking to invest in new partnerships, so that schools can choose the systems that work best for them and benefit from the power of collaboration. If you want to find out more, get in touch at: api@arbor-education.com

The post We now partner with over 100 apps – here’s why appeared first on Arbor.

At Arbor, we think schools should be able to choose the support that works for them. That’s why we’ve built a network of over 50 support partners across the country. In this interview, I spoke to Paula Harris, the School Business Manager at Lacewood Primary School in Barnsley, about how they recently moved to Arbor with the support of our accredited Support Partner AdEPT Education. 

Find out what motivated Lacewood Primary’s move to the cloud, their relationship with AdEPT Education, and how they’re transforming the way they work for the better – from sharing visibility of data to all staff (not just the Business Manager), to engaging parents in more cost-effective ways.

When did you go live with Arbor?

We started looking at Arbor in April and went live in September, so we had a few things to do over the summer holidays to get it set-up but it wasn’t too much work. There are always a few teething issues with new systems but it was quite straightforward really, the staff were surprised how easy it was! 

What motivated your decision to move to Arbor?

We’d been thinking about switching for a while, but it was a bit tricky to get some members of staff to change because they were so used to the old system. Some people were quite apprehensive but I was quite excited about using a more modern system. Our previous MIS was quite old and the look of it hadn’t been updated in a long time. Reporting was quite complicated and our support team had to help us generate any additional reports that we wanted. It wasn’t very user-friendly and it wasn’t easy to interact with parents either, because they didn’t have visibility of their children’s data. The final straw was when we moved to a new support provider, which meant we had to buy our MIS license directly rather than from our LA, and the cost shot up to over £10k. 

I’m part of a local School Business Managers’ forum, so I asked questions there about what other MIS other people were using and there was a lot of interest in Arbor. It gave me confidence that others were already using it and recommending it, so I thought “why not?” 

How has Arbor MIS transformed the way you work so far? What do you hope to get out of Arbor in the long term?

1. User-friendly

Arbor is much more user-friendly. When you go to a student profile, it’s a lot clearer and all the information you need is there, rather than having to scroll through. You can also pin things to the top of the child’s record so you can access it more easily. 

2. Sharing the burden of census

The most recent workforce census was the easiest census I have ever done. The data quality dashboard in Arbor allows you to look at anything that’s been duplicated, so you can deal with things as and when on a day-to-day basis, rather than waiting for the census dry run. On census day it’s always down to the Business Manager to complete everything, but if you’ve got the data quality dashboard, you can involve the admin team too and give them little bits to look at and fix. Obviously that shares out the workload, but it also means the office staff understand what the census is about and why it’s so important that children’s data is correct. Everyone can take responsibility for the data rather than just the Business Manager. 

3. Engaging parents

Parents can log in to the Parent Portal to see their children’s details and request that we amend them, whereas with the previous system they couldn’t do that. It’s much more interactive for them and we’re also using the free in-app messaging system so we save money on texting. 

4. Bringing systems together

We also use the payments functionality in Arbor, so it’s meant we have been able to bring a lot of systems into one – we used to use a separate communication tool and a separate payments provider, but now everything’s come together in Arbor so it’s cost effective and much easier to manage. Payments are really easy to reconcile in Arbor too, much more straightforward than the system we used to use.

Teachers have said it’s easier now because the dinner register is on the same system as the attendance register, so they don’t have to open another screen. We’re looking at the assessment side of things now on Arbor too and we’re going to have a demo in the New Year. 

How did you find the implementation process?

During the implementation, you have a dedicated person at Arbor who you can contact at all times and they ring every week to check how you’re progressing. They send you lots of links to training webinars and resources too, which I used and shared with the admin team, so by the time we migrated over, we were all ready!

How have you found working with AdEPT to support you with Arbor MIS?

The support from AdEPT is really good. It’s been a learning curve for both of us as AdEPT are fairly new to providing support for Arbor’s MIS, but that’s meant we’ve had a really close relationship with them as we’ve been getting to grips with Arbor. We’ve found it really easy working with Mandy and the team.

How has the support of your local partner helped you switch MIS?

It definitely makes a difference working with a team that’s local and that I already have a relationship with. They know what I’m like – I’m not technical! For me to be able to get on with a new system, it had to be well supported and easy for me to understand. 

What advice would you give schools like you who are thinking about moving to a cloud-based MIS?

I’d advise them to come and have a look! Visit a school that’s already up-and-running to see how easy it is to use. One of our office staff had been at the school for 27 years and was quite apprehensive, but even she adapted really quickly and was pleasantly surprised with how easy it was. When she retired recently, we had a new Attendance Officer join the school and she was up-and-running with Arbor within a day. So my advice would be, just come and visit!

Are you considering moving your school to the cloud?

Join a free webinar to see how Arbor’s cloud-based MIS could transform the way you work. From tailored sessions for secondary, primary, special schools and MATs, find out what’s on and sign up today. Alternatively, book a 1:1 demo here. 

Are you an IT support team?

If you want to find out more about partnering with us, we’d love to hear from you. Get in touch here. Find out more about how we work with specialist providers here.

The post Case Study: How to switch MIS with support from a local IT provider appeared first on Arbor.

At Arbor, we work with a wide range of local IT support teams and Local Authorities in all regions of the country. We run an established accreditation programme to certify our Partners to provide schools with training and support with Arbor MIS.

Hertfordshire (Herts for Learning) and The City of Bradford (E-ICT Team) are Local Authorities that we work especially closely with. Both teams are Arbor Accredited Partners and support a growing number of schools in their local areas. We recently spoke to them about their experience of working with us – check out their case studies below.

Whether you’re a Local Authority looking to provide more MIS options to your schools, or you’re a school who’d like to move to a cloud-based MIS with the continued support from your local IT team, these case studies will give you a feel for what a support partnership with Arbor looks like.

Herts for Learning (HfL)

Why did you choose to partner with Arbor?

We have been aware for some time that the MIS market is beginning to fragment, as competition increases and more schools begin to look at moving to the cloud, not only for MIS but teaching and learning too. A few Hertfordshire schools had been using Arbor for some time and Herts for Learning weren’t able to support them at the time they migrated. As more schools started to approach us about providing them with support for a cloud MIS, it made sense to invest our resources into accreditation with Arbor as we had an established customer base and it meant that we could provide schools that want to retain HfL support with more choice. It helped that the Arbor ethos is a good fit with HfL.

How did the accreditation process go?

It was straightforward; we took the decision to start with a small, focused project team, given that we had a limited number of schools to support at the time. Since then, we have rolled out the training to the whole HfL support team, so that customers don’t see any difference in the high level of support for Arbor that they’ve come to expect from us.  

The support from Arbor during the accreditation process was good, I think both sides learned a lot from it. We were able to feed back to the Arbor team about what worked and didn’t work for us, and that was taken on board.

How have you found working with Arbor so far?

The relationship we have developed with Arbor is really positive, we’re all working to the same goal ultimately – to improve outcomes for schools. Collaborative working and effective communication has been really key in getting the support we need, in order to be able to provide a great level of service for our schools.

How have your schools that use Arbor found it so far?

The positive feedback from our Arbor schools has been great. As a local support team, we have been able to provide the added value that Arbor are not able to – we provide some very specific guidance that reflects what the local authority requires from schools in Hertfordshire, which schools and the authority really value, as it saves every school re-inventing the wheel in their MIS.

We have also produced tools in Arbor, so that schools can continue to use HfL’s Easy Tracker assessment, part of our PA Plus subscription service which supports schools and academies analyse pupils’ attainment and progress from Early Years to Key Stage 2.

How do you hope to develop your relationship with Arbor in the future?

Working with partner organisations is a key part of HfL’s success and we sincerely hope to continue working closely and collaboratively for the benefit of the schools we support, both now and in the future.

The City of Bradford (E-ICT Team)

Why did you choose to partner with Arbor?

Schools are now looking at moving to cloud-based systems and Arbor seems to be one of the preferred options with good feedback from schools already using it. From the demonstrations by other cloud-based systems, the majority of schools fed back that Arbor was the one that impressed them the most.

How did the accreditation process go?

It was not rushed and easy to access all the information needed. It was a new way of learning for us as we’re used to a more classroom-based environment but all the information was there. 

How have you found working with Arbor so far?

Very approachable and forward thinking. Arbor makes adjustments that are relevant and on time to make school life easier – they give prior notice with training, and documentation is available early enough to be able to advise schools when needed. We’ve had no problems at all in contacting Arbor for help when needed. 

The fortnightly Product Update meetings are very useful and keep us abreast of any changes coming along. We are very impressed with the speed that changes are made to the system. The Team is helpful, friendly and professional.

It is particularly helpful that we have Dominique who works with Bradford so we have someone to contact directly. When we requested a training session on a particular area of Arbor recently, as we weren’t sure which route to go through with our schools, this was set-up very quickly and Dominique answered all our questions.

If you’re a school who’s thinking about switching MIS but would like to continue to work with your Local Authority for support, we’d love to speak to you. Get in touch with us on tellmemore@arbor-education.com

Similarly, if you work for a Local Authority and would like to find out more about the benefits of supporting your schools with Arbor MIS, get in touch on tellmemore@arbor-education.com

The post Why we’ve partnered with Local Authorities to give schools like you more choice  appeared first on Arbor.

Working with one of Arbor’s 30 accredited Support Partners located across the country means you can start reaping the benefits of a cloud-based MIS right away with expert support, so you’re freed up to focus on what’s most important – running your school and keeping your community safe.

What does a Support Partner do?

Your local Arbor Partner will organise a demonstration at a time that suits you and advise you on which of our three simple packages would suit your school best. Once you decide to switch, they’ll help you check and migrate your data, train your staff and be there to support you as you discover your new MIS. 

All our Partners go through a detailed training and accreditation process to make sure they know Arbor inside out – and many of them can also support other aspects of technology at your school, from audiovisual equipment and laptops, to network and infrastructure. 

Choosing to be supported by one of our Partners means you get the best of both worlds: a future-proof MIS that helps you work better, collaborate more easily and stay connected on the cloud; supported every step of the way by a knowledgeable, local team. 

Our accredited Partners are located all across the country, so you’re never far away from an Arbor expert. We introduced you to our first 10 accredited Partners back in March, and we’ve been busy training up a new cohort, so we wanted to shine a light on the most recent additions to our growing Partner network. 

See which Partner works in your area and get in touch about switching to Arbor today: 

AdEPT Education – Nationwide

Established in 2003, AdEPT are a managed services and telecommunications provider offering award-winning technical solutions for over 12,000 organisations across the UK with a mission of ‘Uniting technology, inspiring people’.

In a world where there is simply too much technology to choose from, AdEPT use their expertise and strategic partnerships to ensure customers get the right solution to their individual requirements. As well as being an accredited Arbor support unit, they specialise in IT, communications and connectivity. 

Agile Technical Solutions – East Anglia

Agile Technical Solutions provide all your hardware and software needs – just like having an in-house IT department, but without all the hassle. They are cost effective as an IT solution, particularly for schools. They always respond whatever the time of day and work hard to resolve problems as soon as possible. Agile understands what matters most to you; creating excellent and safe learning environments. To enable this, school ICT support needs to be secure, responsive and value for money.

Agilisys (Sefton Borough Council) – Sefton

For over 20 years, Agilisys have partnered with healthcare, local government and organisations throughout the public sector to unlock the potential of technology and transform services that improve lives. Through a partnership with Sefton Borough Council, Agilisys are delighted to provide accredited Arbor support to schools in Sefton and surrounds.

Bradford Metropolitan Borough Council E-ICT Team – Bradford

Technology plays an increasing role in education. The Bradford Education ICT team offer friendly and expert support and training so that your school can get the most from your hardware and software, both in the office and in the classroom. The team comprises dedicated ICT qualified trainers (who are members of the Learning Performance Institute) and MIS support officers.

Carbon Cloud – Kent

Carbon Cloud is a team of friendly, real people, all with over 20 years experience in the IT industry. They want to use their experiences and skills to make IT better for your business. They’ll explain new technologies and help you understand the cloud, but most of all, they’ll help make doing business easier. Carbon Cloud understands that IT is not a core function of your business – you just want it to work to allow you to focus on growing your business.

The team’s experience is wide and varied, ranging from Cloud computing platforms, like Azure, AWS and opensource technologies to Office 365 and the management of enterprise scale service desks.

Code Green (Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council)  – Barnsley

Technology has revolutionised the way in which we work and is an integral part of everyday living. Code Green demonstrates ways to apply this technology effectively within education environments to bring a range of features and benefits.

Having supported schools for over 10 years, their specialism in technology for the education sector is second to none. Each and every employee of Code Green is dedicated to providing the most professional and efficient service possible to our customers.

Cygnet IT Services – Sutton

Cygnet has a team of Arbor accredited staff with extensive experience providing professional MIS support to schools and MATs. They have over 25 years’ experience working within the education sector, specifically in the Sutton area and surrounds, and their continued success and strong relationships within this space reflect the high calibre of support they provide. Above all else, the Cygnet team are friendly, understanding and always willing to go the extra mile to meet the needs of their customers.

Education Lincs – Lincolnshire

Established in 1998, Education Lincs prides itself on providing personable and tailored solutions to primary schools and academies around Lincolnshire and the surrounding areas. Having partnerships with trusted brands such as Google, Lenovo, Promethean and Arbor, we look to always offering the best products and services to each of our schools, whilst tailoring costs to meet the school’s budget requirements.

Holker IT (formerly PC Edutech) – North West

In just 10 years, Holker IT has become one of the UK’s leading suppliers of intelligent, flexible IT solutions and services. Solutions that recognise the critical importance of security and integrity of data to the daily operations of a school or MAT. Today Holker looks to the future, with world-class services such as our Holker Cloud solution, which migrates all systems and IT Services into the virtual Cloud environment, securely, to future proof your school and your data.

In July 2020, Holker IT acquired PC Edutech, experts in IT support for schools with over 11 years’ experience in the Education sector and full accreditation on Arbor MIS. 

Integra Schools (South Gloucestershire Council) – Gloucestershire

Integra is a South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) division who trade with schools, local public sector organisations, local businesses and provide services to the council. They have extensive, proven experience of working in the education arena, knowledgeable and committed staff, and a deep shared public sector ethos. The Integra Schools team is committed to making a difference in schools and educational settings; their operational staff are regarded as members of the extended school family and their  professional support staff are passionate about the work they do to support school leaders, teachers, support staff, parents, children and families.

Interm IT – South of England

At Interm IT, their family business values centre on providing schools with qualified, experienced, affordable, onsite IT technician support. Each school has a dedicated technician-consultant, who will visit at an agreed regular time, to proactively help keep your computer systems operational, not only to fix but also maintain, advise and progress. This ensures that you have faith to teach with a supported, reliable computer system.

Itech Support – Hertfordshire

Itech Support is an experienced team of IT Specialists, with a Head Office in Hertfordshire, dedicated to making your IT work for you. Their aim is to simplify technology by providing you with a single point of contact for all your IT requirements. They get to know and understand how your business works so they can best support you. Itech Support’s success has grown from offering unrivalled customer service mixed with exceptional technical expertise.

JC Comtech – East Anglia

Based in East Anglia and with over 15 years’ experience, JC Computer Technologies Ltd specialise in ICT support and consultancy for primary schools and Multi Academy Trusts. They don’t just come in, fix your ICT problems and leave. Their aim is to become part of the school team, working with you to ensure your ICT is working effectively, but also supporting you in using ICT to deliver the curriculum. With many years of specialist experience, a wealth of knowledge in their support team and their willingness to go the extra mile, JC always have your interests in all that they do.

Keystone MIS – Yorkshire

Keystone MIS are a Yorkshire based company who provide professional, impartial, comprehensive and affordable MIS support to Schools and Academies throughout the UK. They take a great deal of pride in the level of support they offer and have a long history of excellent customer relationships with a large number of local schools. They’re a friendly, approachable and knowledgeable team who are experts in handling children’s data and keeping up-to-date with current legislation, with core values built on customer service and high quality support.

Somerset Council Support Services for Education (SSE) – Somerset
The SSE MIS Support team is a fully accredited, well-established and respected team with expertise in both Arbor MIS and related ICT. The team has a wealth of experience working with Schools, Academies, Federations and MATS. Their aim is to reduce the burden on schools, by providing effective, tailored guidance and support to enable you to fulfil your statutory duties. They react swiftly to new DfE initiatives and work closely with educational colleagues to monitor and apply recommendations from current Ofsted thinking. The team will work closely with you to ensure you get the maximum value and benefit from your MIS system that meets your individual school needs.

School Care – Hampshire

If you teach ICT or manage a school network then you will know that building effective and reliable solutions for schools that support 21st Century educational initiatives is a demanding and skilled task. SchoolCare’s team is dedicated to seeking out the leading new ICT solutions for education and new opportunities to improve teaching & learning. From installations to MIS support, from digital signage to wireless systems and from special needs software to equipment disposal, SchoolCare is able to offer schools and colleges a complete service driving innovation in their ICT.

Services 4 Schools – Wolverhampton

Services 4 Schools offer a range of high-quality professional business support solutions, enabling schools to achieve and operate with excellence and efficiency. The S4S team of experts are available to assist school leaders and business managers with specialist advice, reassurance and hands-on operational support across all aspects of data and information management, HR, data protection, school payroll, finance and governance. 

Their competitively priced MIS support is loved by schools. From training and guidance for new users, to specialist consultancy on key processes, S4S can advise your staff on how to get the best out of the systems that keep your schools working. 

The SCAS Team – West Sussex

The SCAS Team provides a personal, friendly service enabling all schools to maximise the benefit of their Management Information System (MIS). Based in West Sussex, their team have extensive experience working in a range of roles within schools and completely understand and appreciate the challenging demands placed upon schools.

Trading with Schools (Bristol City Council) – Bristol

Trading with Schools supports schools in delivering a first class education for all learners. The Trading with Schools unit brings together services across Bristol council into one trading unit, to better support the changing needs and requirements of schools and educational settings.

Trading with Schools provides a vast knowledge base and a wealth of experience in meeting the complex business and training needs required to help schools and educational settings perform well. They can offer set packages as well as bespoke services to meet your individual requirements.

SCAS pride themselves on providing a prompt and reliable service to all school staff, enabling efficient use of your MIS and empowering school teams to enhance all aspects of school performance.

Vitalize IT – Nationwide

Vitalize was formed in 2009 with a simple mission – to help schools and colleges around the UK to transform teaching & learning using the power of digital learning platforms. All Vitalize trainers have worked in schools previously, and experienced first hand the impact that digital learning and cloud-based systems can have. With our expert support for G-suite for Education, Arbor MIS and other complementary tools, we can help you create a Digital Learning Strategy encompassing teachers, learners & parents.

If you’d like to find out more about how Arbor MIS could help your school work faster, smarter and collaborate more, join one of our free webinars to see the system in action. You can also get in touch with our team directly at tellmemore@arbor-education.com or call us on 0208 050 1028.

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The post Make an easy switch to a cloud-based MIS with expert local support  appeared first on Arbor.

At Cloud Design Box, we specialise in Microsoft Teams, SharePoint and Office 365 for Education. As a Microsoft Partner, we aim to make it as easy as possible for people to work, learn and collaborate using Microsoft Teams, offering training, consultancy and intranet packages for schools, academies and Multi-Academy Trusts across the UK. 

Cloud Design Box integrates with Arbor to help their schools enjoy more flexibility to set work, collaborate and share resources for their classes. We use data from Arbor to provide access to Class Teams, Class Notebook and centralised subject Teams through an easy-to-use class dashboard.  

We’re thrilled to be offering three free Teams training sessions across two days next week – from Tuesday 24th to Wednesday 25th November. 

1. Planning Long-Term User Adoption of Microsoft Teams in Schools and MATs 

10am, Tuesday 24th November 

The first session will centre on helping schools with user adoption and planning for the long term. It’s perfect for you if you have already adopted Teams but need a hand getting students and staff on board and using the technology. We’ll discuss ways you can get started, as well as how you can develop a long-term plan to make the most out of the suite of tools.  

We last hosted this session at the Department for Education’s EdTech Festival earlier in 2020 and it went down well with School Leaders and MATs who needed a clear plan of action to succeed with the software.  

2. Blended Learning for Primary Schools with Microsoft Teams 

3pm, Tuesday 24 November

Built specifically for Primary Schools, this webinar will provide you with a solid foundation of using Teams to deliver learning inside and outside the classroom, for example, how to use Class Notebook to host an online lesson and how to make the most of the Conversation features. 

3. Centralising Resources and Reducing Teacher Workload using Microsoft Teams 

1pm on Wednesday 25 November 

We know this year has been tough on Teachers, who have had to quickly increase their workload to provide digital and online resources for their classes.  

 This session has been developed with overworked Teachers in mind, who are struggling with Teams. We’ll show you some time-saving ways that you can centralise and improve your resources with Teams. 

All our webinars are open to anyone working in a school, academy or Multi-Academy Trust. To sign up for any of the sessions, please fill out this form with your details and we’ll send you an email invite to join us.  

If you’d like to find out more about how Arbor MIS could transform the way you work, get in touch on tellmemore@arbor-education.com or arrange a 1-on-1 demo for your school.

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At Arbor we’re proud to work in partnership with more than 30 IT teams across the country, who collectively support thousands of schools. Teaming up with support partners means we can give schools freedom and flexibility so they can get the support that’s right for them. 

Over the past weeks, we caught up with some of our support teams (Agilisys in Sefton, ICT Schools Team in Buckinghamshire, Cantium in Kent, HertsForLearning in Hertfordshire, iCT4 in Cornwall, and Orbis in East Sussex) to get their perspectives on the challenges schools are facing and how they’re helping. 

We thought we’d share this insight into what’s being going on behind the scenes. Look out for links to some useful blogs and webinars to support you with wider school opening.

Working remotely to help schools do the same

Up and down the country, our partners have been working hard to help schools get used to a new way of working, whilst dealing with working remotely themselves. For many it’s been the busiest period they can remember, with teams pulling together despite, as Richard May from Orbis puts it, having “relocated to a variety of spare rooms and kitchen tables”, and as Sheryl Everett from Buckinghamshire Council adds, with the companionship of “pets, offspring and partners.” 

Whether putting their own business continuity plans into action, or reacting quickly to help schools with the latest government guidelines, it’s been a time of constant adaptation for our partners. They’ve moved their usual consultancy services online and redesigned their summer training programmes so they can deliver them digitally. However, it has been important to the majority of teams to provide continuity and business as usual as far as possible. Maintaining familiar working patterns has not only been vital for schools, but it has been helpful for IT teams too, as they adapt to the new climate. 

Helping schools access the information they need

For the first few weeks of lockdown, the biggest challenge for our partners was to make sure schools who didn’t have cloud-based systems (for example, if their MIS was server-based) could access the data they needed and get work done. This often meant many hours of work setting up remote access to locally hosted servers via VPNs. One of the most important focuses has been helping schools work securely without their normal networks.

Find out all about the new government grant that could save you thousands on tech support with your G Suite or Office 365 setup – and our Support Partners who could help you – on our blog. 

Partners were also busy guiding schools through the rapidly changing government advice. The team at Cantium, for example, pulled together a dedicated resources page where schools could find all the information they needed on Covid-19 in one place. 

Find all the support you can get from Arbor during Covid-19 here.

When plans were announced to open schools to more year groups from 1st June, partners began helping schools think about how to design a timetable that keeps students and staff safe. We attended a webinar hosted by The ONTO Group, EdVal Timetables and TimeTabler on how to adapt your timetable for social distancing. Check out our top tips from TimeTabler in our guest blog.

Join us for our next webinar all about timetabling on Tuesday 9th June when we’ll be sharing examples from schools of how to embed your new timetable. Sign up for free here.

Guiding schools on how to manage online learning

More recently, the focus has switched to supporting online learning, helping schools through daily blogs such as those provided by Herts for Learning, or webinars on a range of distance learning topics and getting schools up-and-running with O365 or G-Suite. The team at iCT4 for example, have been running daily Q&A sessions on Microsoft Teams. 

Richard Martin from London Grid for Learning (LGfL) wrote a guest blog for us recently with advice for schools on how to manage teaching and learning remotely, including links to digital training for staff.

Join us for a free webinar all about how to manage online learning on Friday 12th June. Derek Hills, Head of Data and Andy Meighen, IT Director at Harris Federation will be sharing how they rolled out their online learning to over 36,000 pupils during lockdown, and what they’ve learned from looking at the data from remote learning. Sign up for free here.

A blended learning future 

As we look to the future and the gradual extended opening of schools, our partners will continue to have an important role to play in both supporting schools with the technology and the pedagogy for a more blended learning approach. If we’ve learnt one thing from the current crisis, it’s that we can all operate effectively more remotely. Whilst our partners (like all of us) can’t wait to get back to a more normal way of working, elements of online training and service delivery will be here to stay. 

If you’re an IT Support Team, School or MAT and you want to find out more about Arbor MIS get in touch at tellmemore@arbor-education.com, or give us a call on 0208 050 1028. 

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At Arbor, we believe that you should be able to lean on digital tools to pick up the slack when you find yourself pulled in lots of different directions. That’s why we’ve designed our cloud-based MIS (Management Information System) to allow schools to work flexibly – with access to all your data, the ability to follow up with vulnerable students, plan staff rotas and communicate with your school community – wherever you’re working from. 

Arbor MIS integrates with G Suite and Office 365, which means all your students, staff and classes will be automatically set up in your online learning platform – so you can get on with teaching.  

The new government grant will help you get started with G Suite or Office 365 with free technical support and project management. We’ve summarised below everything you need to know about the grant:

• What is the grant?
• Why should I use a digital learning platform at my school?
• How does Arbor work with G Suite or Office 365?
• Use your grant for support from our trusted partners

Here’s the breakdown …

What is the grant?

1. What’s the deal?

Although G-suite and Office 365 are already free for educational settings, you’ll need technical support and project management to get set up. This is where the grant comes in. To migrate all of your teaching and learning resources to the cloud you’d normally have to pay a supplier £1-2,000, but qualifying for this grant means the DfE will effectively pay the supplier on your behalf.

2. How much is the grant? 

Up to £1000 per school for a Multi-Academy Trust (capped at £10k per trust), £1,500 for an individual primary school or £2,000 for an individual secondary school. 

3. Who can access the grant? 

The grant is available to both Local Authority maintained schools and Academies, but not to independent schools. 

4. How do I sign up?

First of all, we’d recommend doing some research into the digital platforms available to make sure you choose the right one for your school or trust. Speak to other schools, your IT provider or your Local Authority, and read advice from The Key in partnership with the DfE.

Next, you’ll need to choose a supplier who will work with you to migrate your data and set up your new platform. Only certain companies are part of the scheme, so it’s worth checking first whether your local IT partner is involved, and if not, whether they could recommend another supplier. See below for a list of Arbor partners who are on the scheme! 

Once you’re ready to go ahead, you can apply using these links: 

• Apply for support with Microsoft Office 365 
• Apply for support with G Suite  

Why should I use a digital learning platform at my school?

Some level of remote working looks set to be part of the “new normal” going forward for schools, so this grant is a great opportunity to review your technology and make sure you have a reliable set-up in place for the future.

In an earlier blog, we wrote about how carrying out a systems audit at your school can help you identify where you could cut down on systems to work more efficiently and save money in the long run. Moving to a cloud-based MIS means you can complete all your daily admin tasks and access all your data from one place, rather than all over the place. 

The same principle is true for how you manage your online teaching and learning. Choosing a cloud-based platform, like G Suite and Office 365, allows you to access your curriculum resources in one central place, wherever you’re working. They also open up exciting possibilities for more efficient, collaborative working. 

Here’s just a few things you can do on G Suite or Office 365: 

• Hold virtual lessons using Google Meet or Microsoft Teams 
• Create classes and groups instantly using data synced from your MIS
• Assign and mark homework online, so you can continue teaching and learning remotely if your teachers or students have to work from home
• Test students’ learning remotely with online quizzes
• Collaborate more closely with students, e.g. via shared online whiteboards or notebooks. Just because you’re separated, doesn’t mean you can’t still have meaningful interactions!
• Communicate more easily with students, staff and parents using Gmail or Outlook and share calendars
• Get answers quickly – create and send simple online forms directly to parents 

What’s more, when both your MIS and your learning platform are cloud-based, this frees you from having to have a server at your school, saving you thousands of pounds in maintenance and replacement costs. Working on the cloud also secures your data making you less at risk of losing your information. You can read more here about how Arbor keeps your data secure.

How does Arbor work with G Suite or Office 365?

Having an MIS and digital learning platform that you can rely on is great, but the next step to working even more efficiently and saving your staff more time is when all your systems can communicate seamlessly with each other.

That’s why Arbor has integrated with G Suite and Office 365. You’ll have all your student data from Arbor at your fingertips when you’re giving your remote lessons. 

Here are some of the benefits of syncing Arbor with G Suite / Office 365:

• Analyse your data however you need to – You can dig down further into your live student data from Arbor using Google Sheets, Excel or other BI platforms like PowerBI. You can also track and authenticate exactly who has access to your data from Arbor
• Set up new users, classes or groups faster – Because your data in Arbor syncs with G Suite / Office 365, your student profiles will be set up automatically and the system will use their timetable and class information to put them into the right groups for you
• Only ever log in once – Arbor’s integration with Google means you’ll only have to log in once to access your MIS and G Suite – no more remembering multiple passwords!

Use your grant on support from our trusted partners

We work with IT support teams up and down the country who support our schools to get set up on Arbor, and any other technical issues they have. Many of our partners are part of the new government G Suite / Office 365 scheme, so they come highly recommended from us to help you manage your move to one of these platforms. 

See below for a list of our trusted partners on the scheme, and the support they offer. Feel free to get in touch to hear more about how you could work together to get your digital learning platform up and running.

Vitalize IT

Can support you with: G Suite and Arbor MIS

“Training teachers is the key to success with digital learning and a big part of what Vitalize deliver to schools throughout the UK. We have found that schools that invest in training and have a clear digital learning strategy achieve the most impact from deploying cloud learning platforms. It is great to see the positive impact in a short space of time that Google for Education can provide schools with. This will not only help schools now, but provide the basis of a digital strategy for the future.”

123ICT 

Can support you with: G Suite 

“123ICT Computing Solutions specialise in working with primary schools to develop their digital education platform and our team of education consultants have trained and supported hundreds of teachers over the past few weeks. With our support and training, many schools have adapted well to the current situation and are now providing a reliable, engaging and easy to use digital education platform enabling daily lessons and activities to be delivered remotely.”

Computeam

Can support you with: G Suite and Office 365

“Computeam were delighted to be part of this new DfE scheme to level-up digital learning in England. While Covid-19 has been the trigger, we believe the benefits of cloud-based teaching and learning will extend well into the future. As both a Google and Microsoft partner, Computeam can offer deep expertise in either platform. We can also extend the initial service by offering enhanced training and MIS integration to drive benefits from these technologies after the crisis has passed.”

Computer Talk 

Can support you with: G Suite 

“As a certified Google Partner with over 30 years’ experience within the education sector, we are delighted to be part of this joint initiative with Google and the DfE. Our EdTech Team are a fountain of knowledge and we pride ourselves on our ability to deliver new ways of improving on-premise or cloud learning which should be seamless, collaborative and engaging.”

Badger Computer Services 

Can support you with: G Suite and Office 365

“Remote learning is not going away and digital platforms are the tools for schools to empower teaching and learning and connect with your students. The DfE funding is available for a finite time and our view is that we should be doing everything we can to ensure schools can continue to support our children’s futures and wellbeing even when away from the physical classroom.”

Turn IT on 

Can support you with: G Suite, Office 365 and Arbor MIS

“Our mission at Turn IT on is to enable schools to get the most from their technology – and the last few weeks have shown that tech is an absolutely critical part of any school environment, whether in lockdown or “normal times”. This DfE initiative is a fantastic opportunity for schools, both in the short and longer term. Turn IT on is delighted to have been chosen to partner by both Google and Microsoft and we are looking forward to helping schools all over the UK take advantage of this great opportunity.”

Herts for Learning 

Can support you with: G Suite

“The Covid emergency has required a re-engineering of the education system overnight and the schools that were able to adapt fastest were those that had already adopted digital classroom offerings. At HfL, we believe that successful implementation is just as much about the process of change management with staff and students as it is about technology and this is at the very heart of our approach when we work with schools.”

JTRS 

Can support you with: G Suite

“During this challenging time, technology is crucial. At JTRS, we’ve been working hard to help schools achieve distance learning – we created a Distance Learning Resource Centre for parents, and we’re excited to be part of this DfE scheme to help schools who do not yet have a digital platform like G-Suite for Education. We can help you check if you’re eligible for the funding and apply for it, as well as implementing G-Suite for your school quickly.”

Joskos

Can support you with: G Suite and Office 365

“Joskos has been working closely with the DfE on the platform provisioning programme, which will support schools as they look to leverage the ever growing world of SaaS based EdTech solutions. The scheme will proactively support schools as they start to bring some students in, whilst others remain working at home. We believe that the programme is a positive step forward in making sure that every young person can continue to access learning.”

Other Arbor partners on the scheme and what they can support you with: 

• Vital York – Google Suite
• XMA – G Suite and Office 365
• Adept Education – G Suite, Office 365 and Arbor MIS
• Partnership Education – G Suite
• Entrust – G Suite 

Once you’ve started your school’s cloud journey with G Suite or Office 365, the next step is to think about your MIS. The Arbor team is here to help with any questions you have about how your school could make an easy move to be fully cloud-based today. Get in touch hello@arbor-education.com or call 0208 050 1028.

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