Barbara

bodminman, I've sent you a contact name by PM.

In February, European Electronique put a group of their technical support staff through the FITS Practitioner course in the first stage towards becoming a FITS Accredited Service Provider on the DfE ICT Services Framework. The course, which was delivered on-site at European Electronique, was enjoyed by a mixed group of front-line technicians and support desk staff. Feedback from the course was excellent and all attendees passed the examination. The FITS Foundation are delighted to see European Electronique taking the lead in becoming FITS accredited. The DfE are now advising schools to request FITS Practitioner qualified support staff in their mini-tenders in an effort to improve the quality of service delivery into schools. The ability to display the FITS Accredited Service Provider logo on tenders will provide benefits to both schools and suppliers in future.

Trevor Greenfield, Chief Executive of The FITS Foundation, was invited to speak at the recent Suffolk IT Support Network meeting where around 50 technical support staff attended a session outlining FITS and the training and accreditation provided by The FITS Foundation. The sessions were very well received and as a result 20 staff are now scheduled to attend the FITS Practitioner course in March. This is another example of where schools and Local Authorities are seeing the benefits and cost savings that FITS delivers and taking positive steps to implement the FITS methodology in their schools.

This course is a pilot and additional dates are likely to be arranged throughout the year. It is expected that everyone will study at the same pace with support through a forum.

This pilot course will take eight weeks to complete. The course does not include the exam which can be booked separately. For more information, please contact Vital: web: ICT support in education (Practitioner) - wholly online email: [email protected] phone: 07769 234235

Yes, two hours a week for eight weeks.

In case you can't wait for the launch of the online course at BETT, you can contact Vital for further information or book online: web: ICT support in education (Practitioner) - wholly online email: [email protected] phone: 07769 234235

http://www.thefitsfoundation.org/images/bett.gif Visit Us on Stand K56 at BETT 2011 This year we are exhibiting at BETT on stand K56 as a guest of ROAR Educate. We will be showcasing our Practitioner and Advanced accredited courses, our new online Practitioner course which we are providing as a collaborative exercise with VITAL and The Open University and the new ICT Maturity Assessment service. Come and talk to us about: Professionalisation of your ICT workforce Getting a better return on your ICT support investment Boosting staff confidence in your ICT infrastructure Having a positive impact on teaching and learning outcomes

http://www.thefitsfoundation.org/images/bett.gif Visit us on Stand K56 at BETT 2011 This year we are exhibiting at BETT on stand K56 as a guest of ROAR Educate. We will be showcasing our Practitioner and Advanced accredited courses, our new online Practitioner course which we are providing as a collaborative exercise with VITAL and The Open University, and the new ICT Maturity Assessment service. Come and talk to us about: Professionalisation of your ICT workforce Getting a better return on your ICT support investment Boosting staff confidence in your ICT infrastructure Having a positive impact on teaching and learning outcomes

FITS will be at BETT 2011 - visit us on Stand K56 This year we are exhibiting at BETT on stand K56 as a guest of ROAR Educate. We will be showcasing our Practitioner and Advanced accredited courses, our new online Practitioner course which we are providing as a collaborative exercise with VITAL and The Open University, and the new ICT Maturity Assessment service. Come and talk to us about: Professionalisation of your ICT workforce Getting a better return on your ICT support investment Boosting staff confidence in your ICT infrastructure Having a positive impact on teaching and learning outcomes