Last month a simple four question research programme within schools revealed a way through which most schools can make considerable savings on their postage bills.

There was nothing particularly dramatic about the find – it simply involved abandoning the use of franking machines and stamps with the schools instead opening accounts with Royal Mail and paying a postage bill at the end of the month.

Not only does the system avoid all the costs of franking machines (including the hidden costs inherent in most of the contracts), but it also attracts a significantly lower cost of postage than using stamps. Royal Mail makes no charge for the service.

Of course, moving across from postage stamps or franking machines to a Royal Mail account isn’t going to save tens of thousands of pounds – but in a sense that is the point of school efficiency programmes.

Yes, on occasion some schools will find really big savings by rearranging timetables, changing the supplier of school meals, etc. But much of the time the huge savings that can be made come from a collection of smaller, simple changes.

This is not to suggest that schools are inefficient per se but rather shows that the focus on smaller individual issues will always reveal opportunities for the more effective use of time and lower costs. As such the move to RM invoicing is a perfect example.

Which is where the School of Educational Administration and Management comes in. Founded in 2005 with support from the government and the University of Northampton, the SEAM has worked with thousands of schools to establish which processes work in saving schools money. The postage account system is just one of many.

Now many of our findings are reported in one volume: “The Efficient School.”

This book reveals not only many of the projects that schools have introduced in recent years in order to achieve efficiencies but also the vital processes which these schools use to ensure that objections to change are overcome and that changes, once implemented, are maintained and developed.

As such the report explores not only areas in which savings can be made but also the way in which the whole issue of changing well-established processes and habits can be handled in a school.

The Efficient School is available in copiable form (as a printed volume or on CD) so that it can be distributed to all interested members of staff.

ISBN: 978 1 86083 811 8 Order code: T1803emn – please quote with order.

Sample pages can be viewed at http://www.pdf.firstandbest.co.uk/education/T1803.pdf

• Photocopiable book, £24.95 plus £3.95 delivery
• CD with school-wide rights: £24.95 plus £3.95 delivery
• Both the book and the CD: £31.94 plus £3.95 delivery
• Prices include VAT.

You can purchase the report…

• By post to First and Best, Hamilton House, Earlstrees Ct., Earlstrees Way, Corby, NN17 4HH
• On the phone with a school order number at 01536 399 011
• By fax to 01536 399 012
• On line with a credit card at http://shop.firstandbest.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=784

Can I ask you which features you expect from an online backup?

Would they be 100% durability of data, sensible pricing and agents to back up every system you maintain?

We have been providing online backups for over 10 years and the software we use currently protects more than 10,000 servers worldwide.

Every one of your devices will receive a 20GB quota and charges thereafter are only 5p per GB.

Features

• Every client has a complimentary 20GB storage allocation. 5p per GB thereafter.
• We use UK ISO27001 data centres.
• SEED bulk data in and out same day to our DCs.
• Built-in agents for Exchange mailboxes and mailstore, SQL, Hyper V, VMware, SharePoint, bare metal, MAC and more.
• 100% durable backup system.
• Managed remote installs.
• White label for £10 per month.

Contact us for a remote demo of the platform or download the fully featured clients from http://www.businessonlybackups.co.uk/resell-online-backups.php

Regards
Carlos Mantini | New Business Manager
T: 0800 907 8238

So fundamental is the notion of Enterprise to our society that it is rather sad to think that many young people leave school – and indeed many leave university – without much of an idea as to what enterprise is all about.

One way or another they earn money, and generally speaking they spend it. But the whole basis of the system, and their part within it, can often remain a mystery.

It was because of the utterly fundamental nature of enterprise within our society, and the fact that so many young people don’t seem to grasp what it is all about, that we commissioned “Enterprise Education: The Course Book”.

Written by a teacher who went on to set up his own successful business this copiable volume starts from a detailed review of what Enterprise Education is, and then helps the students come to terms with what the world of business is all about.

The volume explores the notion of Enterprise and how it can be applied throughout the school, as well as examining the career implications of enterprise.

The volume then covers the setting up of a work-related programme before going into examples of enterprise opportunities including simulations, school generated projects and engagement with business.

At the end of the book there is a set of forms that can be used in terms of an agreement with companies over work experience, report forms, placement letters, etc etc.

Enterprise Education: The Complete Coursebook includes everything that is required for the successful implementation of the Key Stage 4 Enterprise Education programme, from classroom teaching materials to an in-service training programme, from work-based learning modules to simulations and live enterprise projects.

Enterprise Education: The Complete Coursebook is available as a book or on CD and includes:

• INSET activities – as a result of which staff will feel confident in their knowledge and understanding of the enterprise culture within industry and how it will impact on pupils who are exposed to it.
• Champions of Enterprise: Pupils can evaluate local business enterprises and draw their own conclusions as to which firms are truly involved in enterprise culture.
• Simulations: Mini-enterprises in which pupils can engage in an enterprise activity in a controlled environment.
• School generated projects: Pupils organise an actual event or act in the local environment in a planned and organised way.
• Real life situations: The Coursebook sets out programmes which ensure that the organisation, the school and the pupil all work together to generate a true understanding of enterprise.

The copyright licence allows the copying from either the book or the CD, so that all students can have pages relevant to their study at any time. It is also possible to place the CD on the school’s learning platform, so that students may access it at any time.

ISBN: 978 1 86083 8606

Price:

• £25.95 for the book or CD, plus £3.95 postage.
• £32.94 for the book plus CD, plus £3.95 postage.

You can order in four different ways. In each case please quote our reference T1790emn. Sample pages and a contents list can be viewed prior to ordering on http://www.pdf.firstandbest.co.uk/business/T1790.pdf

• By post to First and Best, Hamilton House Mailings plc, Earlstrees Ct., Earlstrees Rd., Corby, Northants NN17 4HH
• By fax on 01536 399 012
• By phone with a credit card or with an official school order number on 01536 399 011
• On line with a credit card at http://shop.firstandbest.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=51&products_id=552