Education Show 2017: How IT support is changing in forward-thinking schools

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To meet the ICT needs of their teachers and learners, UTC (University Technical College) Oxfordshire enlisted the services of RM Flex, who deliver an ICT support service which offers cost savings, service benefits and best practice that partnership working provides. In May 2015, UTC Oxfordshire selected RM Education to provide their IT support and to help shape their ICT strategy.

Based in brand new, state of the art facilities in the heart of Oxfordshire, the UTC are committed to helping their students gain the qualifications and experience that their future employers will demand by combining core academic subjects with the opportunity to study and gain practical experience in specialist areas. Over the next two years the school will increase their intake to 600 pupils at capacity.

Here's what the principal Owain Johns has to say about his journey with ICT since then:

"When we had the blueprint for the UTC two and a half years ago, there would have been a temptation to have said 'Let’s do things that we've always done in schools', so we looked differently at it with RM and said ‘Do we need a network manager on site?’

"Do we have to have five days a week cover, or actually can we have remote access, remote support and then intermediate support as and when it's needed, and that has worked? There's been the occasional pinch points and occasional challenges, but we know that we've got a team of people. I know a colleague, for example, up in Scotland by name. I speak to him all the time, but I've never actually met him. And that's that remote support, so you don't need that person 9 to 5 walking the corridors waiting for things to be sorted as long as you've got a proactive approach.

"A number of schools I've worked in, where it hasn't 'just worked', quite often IT is one of the biggest frustrations for school leaders for school teachers and for students. I think that the partnership route, working with a technological partner, or working with other schools is incredibly important, because if you can do that you can share good practice. That’s a classic example of 'added value' for us.”

Watch the full video featuring Owain Johns talking about the benefits of partnering with RM for IT support, and hear and Martin Pipe, head of Service Scope and Design at RM Education discuss how IT in schools is changing.

If you would like to talk to RM Education about a partnership for ICT support with your school, please visit www.rm.com/flex for more information, or email [email protected] and we'll get in touch. RM will be appearing at this year’s Education Show, where attendees can find them in the Bett Academies area at Stand D17.