With the holiday season done and dusted, our attention for the most part turns to diary planning for the year ahead. For those working in the education sector, particularly those involved with, or interested in educational technology, the Bett Show will perhaps be the highlight of the first month of the year.

At this year’s Education Show (NEC Birmingham, 16th-18th March), attendees will see the launch of Bett Academies (16th-17th March), an event designed to meet the needs of the increasing number of schools with, or that are converting to, academy status. Innovate My School (Stand D8) is partnering with the Bett Academies team here, with the event set to be the national centre of excellence dedicated to providing the very best advice, guidance and inspiration to academies, MATs and schools exploring academisation.

Given that we were so swamped at Stand G80 today - meeting people, filming Innovation Bursts videos - we accosted our good friend and contributer Sarah Bedwell (@FlyMyGeekFlag) to recap Friday’s events. Sarah managed to take in a lot of BETT day three, so here’s her review of the proceedings.

Today saw even bigger crowds flood the ExCeL London. From our stand at G80, we were thrilled to meet so many passionate teachers, school leaders, suppliers, consultants and innovators - UK and international. We also got to film even more videos for our new YouTube series, Innovation Bursts.

Are you ready for mastery? Socratess by InfoMentor is a unique leadership self-assessment tool that helps you implement Mastery Learning in your school. Education legislation, resources, curriculum and assessment arrangements and pupil outcomes all represent tough challenges for school leadership. As countries are seeking to adapt their education systems to the needs of society, expectations for schools and school leaders are changing. School leaders have greater freedom in their decision-making. InfoMentor will be discussing these issues at this year’s Bett Show, and you can find them at Stand B200.

The open-source CREATE Education Project is delighted to be joining Ultimaker on Stand F443 at Bett 2017. Visit us to find out how we can support you in introducing and embedding 3D printing technology across the curriculum, from Primary schools right up to further and higher education. We will be showcasing a variety of innovative school 3D printing projects along with professional development and classroom resources, all available free of charge from our community website at www.createeducation.com.

As a four-day event with around 40,000 visitors from all over the world, approximately 700 exhibitors, and a jam-packed programme of speakers, sessions, continuing professional development (CPD) workshops and more, preparation is key to getting the most out of Bett. To help you do this, we asked a handful of seasoned show-visitors to share their top tips for making Bett a truly worthwhile and enjoyable experience.