A mutually beneficial relationship

Thanks to a tailored solution from XMA, Harefield Primary School has been able to implement a cohesive ICT system across its two buildings. The School also agreed to work closely with XMA to develop a relationship that could be of benefit to both organisations.

For many schools, ICT has become a vital element of everyday life. Partly, perhaps, that is because today’s children are growing up in a connected world and expect to enjoy all the advantages computers, e-mail and the Internet have to offer. However, like any organisation, a school also has certain administrative needs and relies increasingly on ICT and data to operate effectively.

That situation was no different for Harefield Primary School according to head teacher Gary Hampton. He explains: “ICT is becoming more and more critical. It has become increasingly important for us to be able to rely on the management systems and pupil data systems that we use to run the school. Then, there’s the fact that, in terms of the children’s work and their motivation, ICT resources are very valuable for educational purposes.”

He had this in mind when he decided to implement interactive whiteboards into every classroom in the school. The school also decided to invest in laptops for the pupils to work on to join the fixed computers that the school already owned and used for administrative purposes.

Harefield Primary had already used XMA as an ICT provider in the past and Hampton chose to continue that relationship. He says: “Before I arrived at the school, previous members of staff had already taken out a contract with XMA and, when I wanted to invest in the whiteboards, I was happy to carry on working with the company. I felt I could trust XMA’s people to do a good job.”

There was another challenge facing the school too. The site had previously housed a junior and an infant school before the Local Authority decided to amalgamate the two into one primary school. A mutually beneficial relationship Thanks to a tailored solution from XMA, Harefield Primary School has been able to implement a cohesive ICT system across its two buildings. The School also agreed to work closely with XMA to develop a relationship that could be of benefit to both organisations.

XMA was therefore called upon to create the networking support that was required to allow the two buildings to use just one ICT solution.

Hampton says: “When we changed over to an all-through primary school we got XMA to solve the networking issues across the buildings. We also took advantage of a maintenance contract with XMA to look after all the server, systems and networking requirements within the school.”

A cohesive solution

The fact that XMA staff could deliver a solution tailored to meet the school’s particular needs was one of the major reasons why Hampton chose to continue using the supplier.

Hampton says: “We especially wanted to have a single server that operated across the whole school so that everyone could have access to every resource. For example, if teachers saved a project onto the system we wanted all the other pupils and teachers who needed to see it to be able to do so.”

“That wasn’t easy because there was a small gap between the two buildings but we still wanted only one solution. I’ve been pleased with the work that XMA has done to deliver what we wanted. We have had a good relationship.”

An advantageous exchange

There was an unusual twist to the partnership between XMA and Harefield Primary, too, as the School also helped find a solution to one of the company’s issues.

Hampton explains: “We had a technician working on site and, as people from XMA began to spend time here, they realised just how good he was. The company were looking for a person to work for them throughout the Southampton area and so, as part of the partnership, we agreed that Dan could go and work for XMA.”

Under the plan, the school’s technician became an XMA employee but is contracted to visit the school for two days a week as part of a support agreement. He is also on call for whenever they may need him at short notice while working at other organisations in the area on a similar part-time or troubleshooting basis.

Hampton says: “Doing that was useful. We knew Dan understood our ways of working and were happy that we could continue to benefit from his knowledge, but it was also a mutually beneficial agreement.”

“It meant we could broker a very good deal. It has worked exceptionally well for us. Essentially, I believe the relationship we have with XMA is one that has held advantages for both of our organisations.”