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Hi, Does anyone know if it is possible to message (using sims messages or email) on a certain behaviour event (say sent to exclusion creation) without us having SiMs InTouch? InTouch is something that we have been looking at getting but this year we simply can't afford it. We do, however, have Edulink One which offers similar functionality but not for behaviours created in SiMs. A new member of staff is convinced that we can do it, but they aren't sure if we need InTouch or not! Thanks!

Communication Works celebrates its third year on Friday 30th April 2010, with thirty exhibitors and a fresh programme of seminars delivered by experts in the field of special needs and technology. The event is free, open to everyone and runs throughout the day for people to drop in (10:00 – 3:30). Cutting edge products on show cover all types of communication aid, software, signing, sensory integration, alternative access, ergonomic design, symbol support, physical programmes and more. There are also the very latest research findings being disseminated such as the BBC and RIX Centre, and practitioner / case studies from schools on eye gaze control and other subjects. Directions and more info on exhibitors and seminar programme on Charlton School website. Venue: Charlton Sch., Charlton Park Rd, Greenwich SE7 8HX What better way to ease yourself into the Bank Holiday weekend

Hi everyone, Uckfield Community Technology College (UCTC) is one of the very first schools to adopt EduLink One since its launch in January 2017. EduLink One is an integrated whole school platform for communication, sharing data and MIS access for all teachers, parents and students. EduLink One is accessible 24/7 via a web browser or app. Darren Jones, the Network Manager at UCTC explains why they have rolled out with EduLink One and what their ambitions are for using the platform across the school. “What immediately caught our attention when initially evaluating EduLink was the user interface, which was very refreshing, eye catching and engaging. More importantly it was simple to use. As the Network Manager, when you need to convince all the stakeholders within the school to use the technology, these aspects are really important. What we also really liked was that within one unified platform we had a single solution that would allow us to communicate, engage and share data with teachers, parents and students. This would help to bring the whole school community together. Deployment was a breeze, with the rollout to 1,500 Chromebooks taking a matter of minutes.” To read the full case study click here.

Hi All, I’m really keen to provide students with a sort of internal social networking site which they can use to create their own pages and share work and thoughts with their peers and teachers with the monitoring and moderating features also. It would be good to host the system internally but could be externally hosted too, it simply has to be a ‘closed’ network to only our students and staff. Does anyone operate a system like this and could give me any pointers to either open source solutions or a commercial product. Thanks in advance!

Just wondering if anyone would mind sharing their experiences of using alternatives to InTouch and SLG. We currently have SLG and I hate it, so difficult to administrate and parents hardly bother with it, and we use Teachers2Parents for sending emails and texts. However this can only send generic letters, and I really want to get something that will enable me to email out Individual Reports, Profiles and Timetables to students/parents. Currently looking at PS Connect, Edulink, SchoolComms or Groupcall. They all seem to have their pros and cons, and all say you can email out reports, but is this actually true or is it that parents can log into the app to see the reports (like SLG which we had a poor take up on)? I'm nervous of signing up for the SIMS Parent App as it is so new in development. Also wondering whether you get a lot of complaints about the apps - looking at the app reviews, they are all very poor, especially Groupcall Xpressions, with lots of people saying they can't login or access the data they should. The idea is to make my job more streamlined and efficient, not add to it with lots or parent complaints! Thanks in advance

Morning! After the recent bad weather forced sudden closure onto us, our head has asked us to evaluate systems for improving and speeding parental communication – seeing as the radio stations were so busy announcing school closures, nobody could get through to notify them of any more.... Does anyone already use any system for automating parental contact via SMS or email? If so, what do you use and what are your impressions of it in terms of cost to run, reliability, management features, how it ties in to your MIS etc.. etc.. Thoughts and comments appreciated. Thanks in advance! Jim

Our school has a partnership with a school in Tanzania. This is in early stages at the moment, but I have a few ideas on how IT can help them and us. It's perfectly feasible for them to get broadband Internet in Tanzania at reasonable prices. They can also get computers donated by charities. With them on the Internet, we could greatly improve the communication between us. I'm thinking of:- IP telephony Video conferencing Remote Support (like Citrix GoToAssist Express). Has anyone else already done something similar? Used the Internet in partnering with an overseas school? Any ideas or suggestions would be most welcome.