Daro delivers long lasting hand washing skills
Since the onset of the Coronavirus, Suffolk-based manufacturer Daro UV Systems (part of the Daro Group), has seen a sharp increase in demand for its hand inspection cabinet. In the wake of the current pandemic good hand hygiene practices have never been more important. The hand inspection unit provides a striking visual and educational aid for users by using safe UV light, and light responsive Glitterbug lotion – to highlight areas where handwashing must be improved. After washing, when hands are placed in the inspection cabinet any remaining lotion will fluoresce under the ultraviolet lamp, thus demonstrating flaws in the hand washing technique of the user. By helping pupils, teachers and support staff identify where they need to improve handwashing technique, more effective infection control can be achieved. NHS approved supplier Daro UV has been working with the NHS and schools to help teach really effective hand washing skills, and has been a trusted specialist in ultraviolet (UV) systems since 1985. The company specialises in the design and manufacture of UV products for water, air and surface disinfection and hygiene equipment – using long wave UV light. Since the onset of the coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak, Daro has focused its manufacturing capability to producing as many UV products as possible, including the hand inspection cabinet and a mobile disinfection unit. Mervyn Douglas, managing director of the Daro Group, said: “The Department for Education reports 60 million days are lost each year due to infections. When schools begin to open up we especially need to ensure children are properly educated on handwashing techniques, in order to protect family, friends and teachers. The hand inspection unit can be a strategic and uniquely striking educational tool in helping them visualise the dangers of bad handwashing, and creating lifelong habits. “Daro is proud to be able to deliver products that are both educational and help support the health and wellbeing of school communities.” Julian Cant, general manager at Daro UV Systems, added: “Proper handwashing can really help to reduce the spread of infections and cross contamination.” “Whenever we demonstrate the cabinet for the first time, even to workers on the frontline, they are hugely impressed by its capabilities.”
School safety: Put parents at ease with coronavirus control measures in canteens
Schools will have a phased re-opening following the coronavirus shutdown, and with the government suggesting this will begin on June 1st, a food safety consultancy has suggested school restaurants and canteens will need to respond heavily with coronavirus control measures. As pupil’s education has suffered due to the lengthy lockdown, parents’ concerns have mounted surrounding the safety in schools as they hope for their children to return. Derek Gardner, Environmental Health Consultant and a Director at Navitas, one of the UK’s leading food safety consultancies, says that parents and pupils will need reassuring upon the reopening of education facilities. With fears that a dangerous second peak could unfold if the public and the catering sector is not prepared Derek says: “It would be logical to implement strict safety measures similar to the hospitality industry in order to significantly reduce the risk of transmission. “Canteens and kitchens are naturally characterised by close physical proximity and so could pose a risk to children and staff if not correctly organized and monitored. Similarly to the hospitality sector, Navitas advises schools to implement coronavirus control measures. These include: regular staff and student health declarations upon returning to the school environment, coronavirus awareness training for staff, plus the considered appointment of a designated Covid Champion who would conduct and monitor efficient implementation of each measure. “We would also advise schools to include multiple sanitising stations around canteens and classroom areas and touchpoints such as light switches and handles. There should also be a clear system of travel and signage that displays it in these areas and reviewed seating and screening arrangements between tables. “Pre-ordering lunch from a reduced menu during morning registration could also ensure catering staff can prepare earlier on and then have a simple pick-up service.” “Moreover, increased staggering of lunch breaks would reduce numbers in the canteen at any one time, which would allow seating to be spread out and enable staff to enforce hand and tray sanitising procedures more easily.” Navitas’ are currently offering free instructions to kitchens across the UK as part of their new Covid Control certification which aims to assist catering facilities in becoming competent in safety procedures and hygiene measures surrounding Covid-19 which fall in-line with government guidelines. “In these extremely challenging times, we consider our guidance to be the best-case scenario that will enable schools to re-open their doors as safely as possible, as soon as the government allows them to do so.” Please visit www.navitas.eu.com for more information on the Covid Control certification and free practical guide.
Education sector turns to AI company to defend millions of students’ data and research
Darktrace, the world’s leading cyber AI company, has announced that more education institutions around the world are using Darktrace’s cyber AI technology to safeguard systems, student data and sensitive research from cyber-attackers as they rapidly transition to remote learning. Last month, a university in the UK was hit with an attempted ransomware attack – a kind of malware attack that strikes in seconds and blocks access to a computer system until a sum of money is paid to hackers. Hackers tried to gain access to staff and students’ computers using their own devices via an externally facing server – using a mechanism typically used by IT teams to remotely diagnose and resolve problems on employees’ computers. Once they gained a foothold, in an instant Darktrace AI spotted the attacker attempting to move laterally and log into devices in order to encrypt files that were later revealed to be PhD student research papers. Having identified the abnormal behaviour associated with the ransomware attack, Darktrace’s AI interrupted the malicious activity precisely, without disrupting the university’s normal practices. With the use of EdTech on the rise, the personal data of students and staff data, the painstaking work of researchers, as well as the very systems that make remote learning possible, are increasingly at risk in a world where data can be compromised more easily than ever. “We are seeing more and more attacks aiming to undermine data integrity and in turn, organizational reputation, which can erode trust in the education sector itself,” commented Richard Jenkins, Head of information Risk Management, Cyber Security and Governance at the International Baccalaureate. “When it matters most, we can trust that Darktrace’s AI will fight back againt fast moving attacks in seconds but crucially also spot subtle and stealthy attacks, allowing us to have full confidence in the programmes we provide.” Other organisations in the sector leveraging Darktrace’s AI technology include Eton College in the UK, Salve Regina University in the US and Girton Grammar School in Australia. About Darktrace Darktrace is the world’s leading cyber AI company and the creator of Autonomous Response technology. Its self-learning AI is modelled on the human immune system and used by over 3,500 organizations to protect against threats to the cloud, email, IoT, networks and industrial systems. This includes insider threat, industrial espionage, IoT compromises, zero-day malware, data loss, supply chain risk and long-term infrastructure vulnerabilities. The company has over 1,200 employees, 44 offices and headquarters in San Francisco and Cambridge, UK. Every 3 seconds, Darktrace AI fights back against a cyber-threat, preventing it from causing damage. For similar articles visit our features section
£100,000 investment allows North East company to deliver app to tackle nationwide teacher shortage
Angel investor Gary Dewhurst has injected £100,000 into a North East company to fund the development of an innovative mobile app that is set to transform the teacher recruitment process. The serial entrepreneur opted to invest in Sunderland-based Premier Teachers after recognising that the app could cut recruitment costs while expanding the talent pool – increasing a school’s chances of hiring the ideal candidate. It also allows candidates to maximise their job search by applying for multiple posts quickly via mobile phone or tablet using just one tailored submission form. It also provides schools and local education authorities with a searchable database of applicants exactly matching their criteria. The specialist education recruitment agency was founded by experienced teacher Mike Donnelly in 2013 and supplies teachers and support staff to schools throughout Teesside, County Durham, Tyne & Wear and Northumberland. However, it was his experience working in the sector, supported by research by Sunderland University, that led him to put a team together to begin work on the mobile app. Mike added: “This £100,000 investment was absolutely critical as we had taken the product as far as we could and were unable to access the necessary funds to make it a viable product. “It is a simple and scalable tech solution to address a nationwide shortage of teachers in a profession that has missed government recruitment targets for secondary school teacher trainees for the seventh year in a row.” Currently candidates face spending two to three hours filling in application forms for each individual teaching position – prompting many to limit how many they apply for. The app is due to undergo testing next month and is scheduled to be launched later this summer. Gary said: “I’m excited to be investing in Premier Teachers and its app as it offers a simple solution to ease the chronic shortage of teachers. “I have three children in education and have seen first-hand the challenges that both teachers and schools face in recruiting the right people. I value education highly and that is my main motivation behind this investment.” He recently left his role as part-time CEO of gap Personnel Group after selling his remaining shares in the Wrexham-headquartered company, having sold a 75% stake in 2017 to Japanese-listed recruiter BeNEXT – allowing him to devote more time to his investment portfolio of 10 companies. The £100,000 investment in Premier Teachers was fast-tracked via the government’s HMRC approved Enterprise Investment Scheme. In addition, he is also able to provide the company with full back office capability, supplier savings and non-executive management support to help grow the business. For similar articles please visit our features section
Appreciating and learning using our outlook, not just our Outlook.
Education experts at the University of Chester are encouraging us to use the view from our windows as a way of appreciating and learning more about the world. Elaine Jackson, Visiting Lecturer in the Department of Initial Teacher Training in the Faculty of Education and Children’s Services, has published a blog as a reminder to not dismiss where we live but to appreciate the beauty around us while we live our lives in a different manner. Elaine took her inspiration from a book Window by Jeannie Baker, which has been used as an educational text book. Elaine used this book herself when she was a primary school teacher and head teacher and with a colleague in the Faculty, Wendy Garner, utilised it to develop Geography lessons for pupils in years three and four. She said: “The book Window gives children, and adults, an understanding of how growth has affected the world in which we live. How year by year, little by little, the small changes in the view from ‘the window,’ changed the landscape, reflecting the impact of the relentless expansion of urban environments into the surrounding countryside. Jeannie Baker illustrates each double page spread with her beautiful and unique collages, which achieve a wonderful three-dimensional illusion. They are created from materials and textures both from the natural world (bark, flowers, feathers, vegetation), as well as from the more usual artists’ materials.” To watch Window: Jeannie Baker visit https://youtu.be/4JLVneJa1Is or Window: A digital media production https://youtu.be/j4MMzPOV8yI Elaine also refers to Belonging, another textless picture book about the view from a window, also by Jeannie Baker which is Windows in reverse, with the land being reclaimed from built-up urban, concrete environment. This book shows how, year by year, the natural world can return to urban landscapes. To find out more, watch https://youtu.be/uFd12NAoSoQ or https://youtu.be/cteuiljxfYc She added: “Instead of all the hustle and bustle, the dashing and scurrying around, charging here and there, travelling miles and miles in cars, on trains and aeroplanes, attending this meeting here and that conference there, we all now have time to stop for a moment or two, to take in the beauty which is just outside our window and surrounds us all. “Travel has been curtailed, but, by opening up our windows and looking through them, we can experience just how wonderful our world is. Don’t dismiss the view from your own window as just mundane, but look with renewed eyes at the awe and wonder, of both the natural and man-made world, and become more sensitised to and alert to the small details of this wonderment.” Elaine also recommends using technology to bring families together to share each other’s views. For parents home-schooling their children there are additional activities from subjects across the curriculum for children to complete, based on Jeannie Baker’s book Window. Also read Windows on a Changing World https://www.jeanniebaker.com/focus/window-on-a-changing-world/ Caption: Elaine Jackson.
Major stressors for parents during COVID-19 revealed in new report
Work cited as the most frequent source of stress for parents, followed by their children’s wellbeing 80% of families previously receiving support from services say it’s been stopped/postponed Parents of children with special education needs and neurodevelopmental disorders report higher levels of stress across all areas The interim report from 5,000 responses to the Co-SPACE (COVID-19 Supporting Parents, Adolescents, and Children in Epidemics) survey led by experts at the University of Oxford, indicates some important concerns for parents, employers and health professionals. Professor Cathy Creswell, Departments of Psychiatry and Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, said, “This study is so important to understand the experiences of families currently and how this crisis is impacting on them, but also so we can know how best to support families going forward. Our results are showing some hotspots of concern, particularly for parents of children with special education needs and neurodevelopmental disorders. These parents report increased stress across all areas, including managing their children’s behaviour, they also express a desire for personalised support from professionals.” Other highlights from the interim report: Parents particularly want support around their child’s emotional wellbeing, education and coming out of social isolation Nearly half the parents/carers thought that their child was concerned about family and friends catching the virus A third of parents/carers reported that their child was worried about missing school The Co-SPACE survey aims to track children and young people’s mental health throughout the COVID-19 crisis. Survey results will help researchers identify what protects children and young people from deteriorating mental health, over time, and at particular stress points, and how this may vary according to child and family characteristics. It also aims to identify what advice, support and help parents would find most useful. Parents/carers are invited to complete an online longitudinal questionnaire monthly until social distancing measures end. The first survey takes about 15-20 minutes, and subsequent surveys about 10 minutes. Parents/carers will be asked to answer questions about family life and relationships, overall health and well-being, parenting, psychological symptoms and how they and their child are coping during the Covid-19 pandemic. In collaboration with colleagues at University College London, parents of 11-16 year olds are also invited to give permission for their adolescent to take part and give their own perspective on how they are getting on. Regular summaries of key findings are made available via the UKRI www.emergingminds.org.uk research network website throughout the study and will be shared directly with partner organisations in health and education services and the community and voluntary sector, to inform the development of effective support for children, young people and families. This research is supported by the NIHR Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre, the
Supply Teacher Furlough Pay – making it fair
This week has seen the debate around furlough eligibility for supply teachers and agency staff reach fever pitch. For many school leaders, agency staff aren’t just the saviours who swoop in at the last minute to cover sickness absence – they’re a critical part of the team, the community and the fabric of the school. Chetan Sood, Head of Operations, Teacher Booker looks at what schools and agency workers need to look out for. The coronavirus disruption has shone a light on the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to agency worker’s employment status and remuneration. We’ve been calling for greater transparency and accountability in this essential segment of the workforce for years, and now the turning point has come. Where previously agency workers’ employment statuses, compensation packages, professional challenges and personal circumstances were all too often swept under the rug, school leaders must now look to understand the brokenness of the temporary worker sector, act to end exploitation of workers and step up their workforce planning game to realise budgetary efficiency and the workforce’s demands for increased flexibility. Supply work in schools has dried up, leaving many agency workers without income. But Government guidance has not yet explicitly addressed furlough eligibility for every employment mechanism – and there are several employment mechanisms that supply teachers may work through. Below we break down how these mechanisms work and consider how schools can support, and maintain positive relationships with, their network of great agency staff at this challenging time by accessing furlough grants or other public funds for these at-risk key workers. Furlough pay If teachers are paid PAYE for agency work, they are eligible for furlough pay. This is how Teacher Booker operates, and reputable agencies or online platforms will offer this. That’s the easy one – moving forward, schools should work only with providers who offer this. If teachers work through an umbrella company (many agencies corner teachers into agreeing to this because of private financial benefits and removing the associated administrative burden), there are three main ways their pay might be calculated. 1. Gross pay with statutory deductions only. This includes income tax, employee’s NI and employee’s pension contribution. This is the how one would expect to be paid — simply, cleanly and only with statutory deductions 2. Gross pay with extra deductions. This includes the deductions above, but may also include things like umbrella company fees, admin fees and in bad cases, Employer’s NI deductions (Employers NI should never be taken from the teachers’ agreed rate of pay). This should raise alarm bells as extra ‘hidden’ deductions seriously reduce supply teacher’s take home pay, creating undue hardship 3. ‘Employment Income’ (or otherwise described) further broken down into National Minimum Wage (NMW) + ‘Profit Share’ or ‘Discretionary Bonus’ This would include statutory (and maybe extra) deductions as above, but further breaks down teachers’ take home pay into two or more ‘categories’. The coronavirus crisis has exposed this poor practice for what it is — a tax loophole. This method of calculating pay has left thousands of supply teachers in serious financial difficulty Where umbrella companies structure supply teachers’ pay in this third way, they can currently only claim 80% of what is considered basic pay – that is, NMW – from HMRC as a furlough grant. This means supply teachers paid this way can only receive a maximum of 80% of National Minimum Wage, regardless of how long they’ve been at the school or how important they may be to the school community. In fact, several large umbrella organisations have refused to claim even this on other, peripheral technicalities, either stating that they are “waiting on further clarification” or just staying silent and not responding to workers – leaving key workers high and dry. School leaders may now question why agency workers’ pay would be structured this way. They may also question why and how this practice has been allowed to continue. Finding a solution Whilst we would ideally like to fundamentally reshape the sector so these kinds of practices become a thing of the past, and agency workers receive the employment security, compensation and respect they deserve, right now, we need to act fast to help supply teachers access the financial support they need. We have developed practical solutions to ensure your network of great agency teachers are supported financially, establishing security and generating goodwill throughout this period. Act now to ensure your good professional relationships – and the relationships between those agency staff and your pupils – are maintained. Ask your agency teacher contacts whether they have been furloughed, and if so, whether they are being supported adequately. If there are discrepancies, or your agency teacher contacts are not receiving adequate support, encourage them to seek advice. We offer free, confidential advice and practical solutions and there are some other great organisations out there doing the same. It is important that agencies and school leaders work together to ensure workforce plans are well laid for the new dynamics in recruitment and workforce management that this crisis will precipitate. For teachers who may be registering with new employment businesses and agencies at this time, be sure to ask for the Key Information Document (KID). As of April 6th 2020 it is a requirement that agencies provide this when you register with them, and it will detail how your pay is broken down, the type of contract you will have, and an indication of the rate of pay you can expect. Knowing all this in advance will help you make informed decisions about who to register with and how you will be paid. Teacher Booker’s KID is available on our website here. Lastly, if any supply teachers are still being paid via an agency through this period, school leaders should note that they should be engaged on an open book basis – that is, the agency must provide schools with full details of the cost of (i.e. the gross pay
What helps or harms adolescents’ mental health during COVID-19 crisis
A new research survey from experts at the University of Oxford along with collaborators from the Universities of Cambridge, Glasgow, and New South Wales. It will track adolescents’ mental health during the COVID-19 crisis to find out what promotes or hinders their resilience. We know that mental health problems often first appear during adolescence. The COVID-19 pandemic and social isolation is likely to intensify stresses and mental health issues, particularly for young people. The research study, called Oxford ARC (Oxford Achieving Resilience during COVID-19: https://oxfordarcstudy.com/) will evaluate what hinders and what promotes resilience during the pandemic. The study will assess common mental health problems relating to worry, anxiety, depression, eating-related problems and mental inflexibility as well as examining how various activities such as social media use, video conferencing and exercise affects young people’s mental health. The Oxford ARC study is international and 13-18-year olds and their parents or carers are being asked to take part. Professor Elaine Fox, Professor of Psychology & Affective Neuroscience at the University of Oxford, said, ‘Understanding how social isolation and the pandemic is affecting young people’s mental health is crucial. This study will help us to better understand how to safeguard mental health and how to promote resilience in young people and their parents or carers, should similar situations arise in the future.’ Dr Amy Orben, Research Fellow, MRC Cognition & Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, added, ‘Tracking how young people feel during this unprecedented time will provide a rich data source to support urgent work aimed at mitigating the crisis’ impact on mental health; it will also enable longer-term research that can provide new perspectives on resilience, coping and community.’ Elina Thomas Jones from the TRIUMPH Network’s Youth Advisory Group says, ‘From my perspective, everything that made me anxious before lockdown has been taken away, however I’ve also lost the socialisation which kept me happy. The uncertainty of the future and the sudden changes lead to confusion and rising levels of anxiety and other mental ill health. Additionally, with counselling and other support networks being online only, it feels as if it’s not really there at all which makes this period much harder than it is already.’ For further details and how to take part, please visit: https://oxfordarcstudy.com/ | Follow the study team on Twitter @oceanoxford
Staff and students have been producing PPE for NHS frontline workers
Tutors and students at The Manchester College and higher education provider UCEN Manchester, both part of LTE Group, have been helping in the fight against coronavirus by producing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for NHS frontline workers. College Media tutors Katy Rushton and Ben Elson, along with Advanced Practitioner Anna Kettlewell, have joined forces to make protective visors and ear guards for face masks with a 3D printer and files available online. The items have so far been distributed to an infectious diseases doctor at a London hospital and a GP surgery in Bolton, with around 100 more ear guards planned for a hospital in Bury and 50 ear guards being prepare for a hospital in Yorkshire. Katy said: “I have friends in the NHS who were saying they could do with bits and pieces as they know I have a 3D printer. I started out just wanting to keep them safe, then once I knew I could produce the items put a shout out on local Facebook groups. We have a DaVinci Mini 3D printer which has been a bit tricky as it’s smaller than most printers. I am lucky as I am not a 3D specialist but Ben has helped me to refine the 3D models because that’s his speciality as a games tutor. It’s interesting how our media skills can be adapted to other situations. I had to print a few prototypes to get the visor design working beforehand. It takes about two hours to print five ear guards and four hours to do a visor in two halves as it is only small so I can’t do loads in one go. Hopefully Ben’s revision of the visor will speed this up a bit. Anna lives near me and offered to do deliveries as I don’t drive, so it’s become a bit of a TMC team effort with Ben and Anna offering to support me!” Access to HE medical science student David Gardner, from UCEN Manchester, has also been putting his FOUR 3D printers to good use by producing over 1,500 face shields to medical staff across the country. David, who will start a BSc in Plant Sciences at Edge Hill University in September, and his two housemates have been printing a range of six different face shields for health care colleagues around the UK, from the Scottish Highlands to Canterbury. He said: “A couple of weeks ago I joined a dental and medical Facebook group and it was my housemate who suggested using our printers to create mask for staff who did not have PPE but were expected to treat Covid-19 patients. “I added a 20 second video of one of our printers in action onto my own Facebook account and by the next day, it had received thousands of views and we received 10,000 order requests. Our only limit now is that we’ve run out of acetate and sheets, but it has been great to be able to help people and see our efforts be put to good use.” David has set up a gofundme page to raise money to buy materials and raise funds for two other organisations. Find out more about The Manchester College, UCEN Manchester and LTE Group.