[witch]

Without going into too many details, I am really in need of some information on any schools that have been BSF'd and the contract was awarded to RM.
Specifically:
What happened to the techies?
What happened to the equipment?
What happened to the support?

Anything useful gratefully received. Please no ranting - I know this is an emotive subject but at the moment I really need FACTS
thanks a lot

[broc]

Sunderland are rolling out an RM managed ICT service right now to a number of schools & academies. I don't have first hand facts (only hearsay) so I will not comment further. If you know someone working in a wave 1 school in Sunderland you may get more information.....

[bossman]

@witch:

Sunderland are indeed rolling out the BSF via RM but according to one of my sources (HP I think hehe!) the second wave has not been signed up to (HT's refuse to sign up) because of the disasterous events happening in the first wave. The academy 360 which was the pride of the Sunderland LA has been slated by the staff and especially the principle for it's IT managed service.



P.S
RM will take you on as part of the TUPE process and you should get favourable terms from them and obviously ramain as part of their team, you may however be asked to deliver services elswhere in the County as part of your contract.

[witch]

Thanks Bossman - I know what is supposed to happen but I REALLY need some info from someone to whom it has actually happened, to get an overall picture as it were.
So - anyone??

[Pottsey]

A few techs that ended up in BSF who talked before got asked not to post anymore once they got into BSF. I don’t think you will find anyone in BSF willing to talk as least not publicly. Your best bet is to ring around some schools or send some PM’s.

[cookie_monster]

A few techs that ended up in BSF who talked before got asked not to post anymore once they got into BSF. I don’t think you will find anyone in BSF willing to talk as least not publicly. Your best bet is to ring around some schools or send some PM’s.

Yes I remember that. You have to wonder why they don't want anyone to talk about what happenes.

[siuko]

Remember the first rule of BSFclub is we dont talk about BSFclub.... well thats how it feels

[Ric_]

Originally Posted by witch

Thanks Bossman - I know what is supposed to happen but I REALLY need some info from someone to whom it has actually happened, to get an overall picture as it were.
So - anyone??

@witch: It is also worth bearing in mind that every BSF contract is different and can have totally different terms in it for the TUPE of staff. It all kind of depends upon who has written the statement of requirements and how that has been interpretted during the tender process.

[witch]

Hmmm - very interesting. thanks for that

[DrCheese]

you may however be asked to deliver services elswhere in the County as part of your contract

Is that even allowed? I didn't think they were allowed to change the terms of your contract in that way

[bossman]

@DrCheese :

Ohh yes as you work for whoever you are TUPEd to and you will receive a new contract although your terms of employment stay the same they will also put in extra clauses. Also you have protected pay for 2 years but they can also invoke a TUPE clause which states that if after 6 weeks you are surplus to requirements they can then give you 90 days notice of redundancy.

[Jiser]

I didn't know up there BSF was happening? I thought it was just the bad schools around Poole and Bournemouth - well for this wave anyway .

[broc]

Originally Posted by Jiser

I didn't know up there BSF was happening? I thought it was just the bad schools around Poole and Bournemouth - well for this wave anyway .

BSF is happening all over the North East;

Newcastle
Gateshead & South Tyneside
Sunderland
County Durham
Teeside

Most of these LAs have schools in waves 1-3 BSF, with other schools in later waves....

Apologies if I missed anyone

[witch]

Originally Posted by Jiser

I didn't know up there BSF was happening? I thought it was just the bad schools around Poole and Bournemouth - well for this wave anyway .

We were originally in wave 6 in Poole and Bournemouth, Jiser - it is a whole authority thing - they hope to help the schools that really need it first, but all secondary schools will be involved. (and by extension, all other schools too, as far as I can see)

What is upsetting us is that it seems to have got as far as it has without any consultation with the IT teams. We aren't necessarily trying to derail it completely, after all, some schools really need the help and will be better for it, but we are trying to draw various issues to the attention of the LA before things go any further. How you can decide what is best for the IT in the school when no one in IT has been asked or told to provide info is beyond me

[broc]

Originally Posted by witch

We were originally in wave 6 in Poole and Bournemouth, Jiser - it is a whole authority thing - they hope to help the schools that really need it first, but all secondary schools will be involved. (and by extension, all other schools too, as far as I can see)

What is upsetting us is that it seems to have got as far as it has without any consultation with the IT teams. We aren't necessarily trying to derail it completely, after all, some schools really need the help and will be better for it, but we are trying to draw various issues to the attention of the LA before things go any further. How you can decide what is best for the IT in the school when no one in IT has been asked or told to provide info is beyond me

Sadly, your experience seems to match that of others who have trod a similar path before you

There is no simple answer, and if you ask too many difficult questions & flag up too many issues you may be sidelined from further debate. The BSF mantra seems to be "You will get the ICT solution the LEP wants to deliver, not what the schools need......"