You may remember that before the school holidays we were looking for children aged 5-16 to impress us with their poetry prowess by submitting a poem or short story based on the theme – Do Computers Rule the World?
We received over 500 entries – an absolutely amazing response – and are delighted to announce that Ian McMillan, the Bard of Barnsley, has picked three winners.

Cue drum roll…

1st Place: Emily Wilson, Wetherby High School
2nd Place: Sophia Barnett – Bishop Walsh Catholic School
3rd Place: Annabel Cox – Oasis Academy John Williams

A huge thank you to all children who entered. We will be publishing a large selection of the entries in the coming days for you to read and share!

Emily’s poem:
My dog ate my homework
Was the line that used to be,
But now it’s all gigabytes
And my printers ran out of ink

The old park swing
That was full of joy,
Is now empty
Just swinging in the wind

The boy with his head down
Looking at a screen,
Just missed the chance of a lifetime
A friendship that could’ve been

The mother that climbed monkey bars
Can’t get her child to stop watching ‘Cars’
She asks herself why?
Why don’t children want to see the kites fly?

We’re completely addicted,
Addicted to the net.
Those children who want to make computer games
Instead of becoming a vet

It’s got us in its grubby hand
Controlling us through its links,
We’re buried in the sand
Puppets on strings that can’t blink

Children used to cry
From a grazed knee,
Now children cry
From losing to technology

It’s a disease
And it’s spreading fast
There is no cure
No way you’re going to last

The forever chatting world
Is now silent
All the chatting is online
And bullying is no longer violent

It’s all done online
The hate, rumours, the stories
We’re running out of time
To return to our former glory

We don’t dare say it to their faces
But we say it in online places
Where we think we’re safe from torment
But we’re not safe from judgement

So look up from your screen
And see the world as it is
We don’t need to be the robot generation
We need to stop at the outside station

So break out of the chain
Out of your prison cell
To a world without pain
To a world which isn’t technology hell

.
Open Source e-Learning for Business

Wednesday 24TH September 18:00 – 20:00

.

City Exchange, 11 Albion St, Trinity Leeds, Leeds. LS1 5ES.

5 mins walk from Leeds City Station

.

Only 20 places available
to book your FREE
ticket visit
https://bit.ly/wa_business

.

.

.
A evening seminar on the benefits of open source e-learning to the business sector. Conor Gilligan, Head of Operations at Webanywhere will talk about how moving learning online can help business
organisations to:

.

.

We’ll be exploring these topics via case studies from British Safety Council, who have recently implemented online learning platforms, and discussing the improvements they’ve experienced post-launch.

.

.

If you have any questions,
call us on 0800 862 0131
or email events@webanywhere.co.uk

.

.
Open Source e-Learning for Retail

Wednesday 17TH September 10:00 – 13:00

.

City Exchange, 11 Albion St, Trinity Leeds, Leeds. LS1 5ES.

5 mins walk from Leeds City Station

.

Only 20 places available
to book your FREE
ticket visit
https://bit.ly/wa_retail

.

.

.
A half day seminar on the benefits of open source e-learning to the retail sector. Conor Gilligan, Head of Operations at Webanywhere will talk about how moving learning online can help retail organisations to:

.

.

We’ll be exploring these topics via case studies from Zara and Autotrader, both of which have recently implemented online learning platforms, and discussing the improvements they’ve experienced post-launch.

.

.

If you have any questions,
call us on 0800 862 0131
or email events@webanywhere.co.uk

.

.
Open Source e-Learning for Healthcare

Wednesday 15TH October 10:00 – 13:00

.

City Exchange, 11 Albion St, Trinity Leeds, Leeds. LS1 5ES.

5 mins walk from Leeds City Station

.

Only 20 places available
to book your FREE
ticket visit
https://bit.ly/wa_nhshealthcare

.

.

.
A half day seminar on the benefits of open source e-learning to the healthcare sector. Conor Gilligan,
Head of Operations at Webanywhere will talk about how moving learning online can help healthcare
organisations to:

.

.

We’ll be exploring these topics via case studies from UCLH and the NHS Leadership Academy, both of which have recently implemented online learning platforms, and discussing the improvements they’ve experienced post-launch.

.

.

If you have any questions,
call us on 0800 862 0131
or email events@webanywhere.co.uk

.

Over the next three months, as we approach the end of the school year, Webanywhere will be hosting more and more free events for teachers and schools. We’ve recently announced a selection of events around the country – and they can be found on our Events page. We’ve given an overview of each one below.

24th April: Nurturing Online Learning: Liverpool
Our series of free Nurturing Online Learning events reaches Ranworth Square Primary School, Liverpool later this month – where we’ll be covering two key topics: Pupil Premium, and e-safety.
CEOP Ambassador Tracey Gentle will run through the Ofsted guidelines for Pupil Premium – and then explain how our free online rewards system, School Merits, can help you evidence improvements in behaviour, attendance and achievements.
Tracey will then walk teachers through cyberbullying, how to spot it, stop it and prevent it. There will be a Q&A session where delegates can ask anything about e-safety, Pupil Premium or e-learning. Everyone who attends this event will receive School Merits for free.

Find out more about this event here, or sign up by emailing info@webanywhere.co.uk.

29th April: LMS Matters West Yorks

If you’re new to LMS, yet to try it – or need some refresher coaching, our free LMS Matters West Yorks event is for you. Our expert Ben Wagner will explain the benefits of being part of the community, give tips for implementing an LMS, plus give you a ‘quick start’ guide if you’re completely new.

LMS Matters West Yorks, which will be held at Wetherby High School, is Webanywhere’s first event for 2014 – and we expect several more to follow around the country.
Find out more about this event here, or sign up by emailing info@webanywhere.co.uk.

2nd May: Introducing Bloganywhere
Webanywhere launched another new e-learning app this month. Bloganywhere has so far proved to be one of the most anticipated app releases yet – and is an important addition to our Jotter Suite. In this free webinar, you can find out how Bloganywhere can be used to improve literacy skills, encourage collaboration, inspire creativity and engage both pupils and their parents.
Sign up for this free webinar by emailing your name, school name and school postcode to info@webanywhere.co.uk.

Pupil Premium grants for schools increased at the end of last year – although, as you may have noticed, Ofsted has stepped up its requirements around evidencing the impact of the spending.

It means every school is now accountable for every penny spent – so making sure the money is spent wisely and effectively is of paramount importance.
In November, Professor Steve Higgins from Durham University led a discussion on Pupil Premium with the National College online community (you can see the full transcript on the DfE website (here). He covered purchasing technology to have a positive impact on learning, and provide evidence of improved learning. “Invest in technologies which you see will work well with your children and families, but look carefully at impact,” urged Professor Higgins.

Last month, we launched School Merits, part of our suite of e-learning apps, and it’s a perfect example of how technology can be used to help improve engagement as well as evidence the improvements. School Merits is a reward system that allows learning to be tracked and recognised, as well as flagging bad behaviour. It’s such a perfect tool for helping to engage learners that, this month, we will be running a webinar to show how it can help make a difference.
The webinar will cover behaviour interventions, feedback interventions, mentoring interventions – and then explain how the reporting feature within School Merits will allow you to evidence the subsequent improvements in attainment.
Making A Difference With Pupil Premium will take place on 28th March at 12pm. To sign up for the webinar, simply email your name, school name and school postcode to events@webanywhere.co.uk.

Last Wednesday – 26th February – Webanywhere officially launched the two brand new apps, Jotter Learn and School Merits. These can now be purchased and integrated with your School Jotter website – or as standalone e-learning solutions.

We launched the apps with two webinars. Tracey Gentle, our trainer – and on-house CEOP Ambassador – talked about why the range of apps, the Jotter Suite, had been introduced. Tracey then explained how the new dashboard works, integrating your School Jotter website with Jotter Learn and School Merits, plus Blog and Forum, which will be available in about a month’s time.

Tracey provided a walk-through of both Jotter Learn and School Merits, showcasing how they are simple, easy-to-use solutions for engaging pupils and improving performance and attainment.
Every school that attended the webinar was entered into a prize draw to win the new apps, and we announced the winner – Barley Hill Primary School, Oxfordshire – at 5pm. Already a School Jotter user, we’ll look forward to seeing how they integrate Jotter Learn and School Merits into everyday teaching!
Following the launch, the App Store went live. This is where you can purchase any of the new apps, or just take a trial to see what you think. The App Store is accessible to anyone who has been upgraded to the new dashboard (find out more about the new dashboard here).
For School Jotter customers who have been upgraded to the new dashboard, our e-learning expert Keith Taynton has created a training video.
If you have any questions regarding the Jotter Suite, or any of the apps within it, get in touch with us here.

Webanywhere’s recent string of Nurturing Online Learning events have been a huge success – and we’re now planning more for March and April.

During February, to coincide with Safer Internet Day, we’ve visited Manchester, Swindon, Halifax and London – with two more events, in Carlisle and Birmingham, scheduled for this coming Monday. Each event, joint-hosted by Webanywhere and a local primary school, covered e-safety and cyberbullying, and Ofsted requirements for school websites. Both sessions of each event were delivered by CEOP Ambassador Tracey Gentle.
During each session, cyberbullying was covered in detail: What it is, how teachers can spot it, and how your school can prevent it in the future. Then, Tracey helped teachers make sense of Ofsted’s ever-changing list of requirements for school websites, discussing each area in plain English and giving suggestions as to how, aside from pleasing the inspectors, a school website can benefit from meeting the requirements.

At each event, a local school presented their website and explained how they used it to its full potential – engaging parents, pupils and other teachers.
If you missed our recent events, we’re now scheduling follow-up sessions for late March and April. Most will cover e-safety and Pupil Premium, and will take place in Oxford, Liverpool, Norwich, Chelmsford, Blackpool and a follow-up event in Birmingham.
To keep up to date with our latest event news, and to find out when the dates of the new sessions are, keep an eye on our events page (www.webanywhere.co.uk/events) and our Twitter handle (@webanywhere_ltd).

It’s day 2 at the BETT show, and we’re as busy as ever at stand F380.

If you’re at the show, here’s a few offers we’re running which you might want to take advantage of:

– We’re offering 50% off our popular primary school VLE, Learnanywhere, all day today if you come to the stand for a demo.

– You can claim a free Spellanywhere account if you track down one of our dinosaur mascots and have your picture taken with them. Just tweet the pic and tag @webanywhere_ltd and we’ll get in touch to set up your account. Steve Ding (pictured), our Head of Primary Division looks like he’s claimed his already!

– Our orange shirted experts are offering free LMS checks all day, come over and have a chat about your system, how it’s performing and where you might want to develop it in future.

– On the LMS topic, Keith Taynton is giving a seminar at the stand on “Flipped Classroom” later today at 3:00pm – no need to reserve a place, just drop by.

We’re really looking forward to meeting up with everyone at the show, and we’ll have something fresh to offer each day, so watch this space or keep an eye on Twitter: @webanywhere_ltd.

 

 

Last night saw Webanywhere launch Learner Journey here in Keighley. Learner Journey is the new pupil e-portfolio system that allows learners to showcase their proudest achievements – and with the option to communicate with peers in a safe, secure environment, it promotes e-safety in schools.
e-Safety is now a big part of Ofsted’s inspections, so we invited along safeguarding expert Jeff Haslam. Jeff sits on the Education Board of CEOP and is a consultant for the UK Safer Internet Centre – making him the perfect choice for guest speaker.
Jeff took us through Ofsted guidelines and the legal responsibilities for safeguarding in schools, discussing how they can protect both staff and children from the risks the internet presents. A walk-through of Learner Journey followed, with its many functions demonstrated: from sending messages and posting on peers’ walls, to uploading work and collaborating on joint projects. Learner Journey works in a similar way to social networking sites like Facebook – but users’ profiles are not visible or accessible to anyone outside of their school.

Guests were then able to try it for themselves – and enjoy some of the delicious buffet provided! Webanywhere looks forward to working with these teachers further – and help promote safe social networking in schools, with Learner Journey.
If you’d like to keep up to date with Webanywhere events like this, follow us on Twitter (@webanywhere_ltd). If you would like to book a free Learner Journey Demonstration, contact us by clicking here.