I don't know what I don't know

It's been an interesting and busy week.

Monday started by putting together a slide-show designed to take users through the install of the ProAct client. This was triggered by a request from one of our reference sites who had recently updated their office hardware. I suspect it took much longer to write up the presentation than it did for them to actually do the install and set up but at least we have another useful document in our library for other such eventualities.

Tuesday was spent talking with representatives of the Council investigating how our products can support complimentary projects they are working on. Early days but lots of positive points to move forward with.

Wednesday was really good. Nelsons Solicitors hosted a Education Conference drawing in a number of delegates from local schools with or looking to move to Academy status. It is not till someone lays out the many issues in front of you that you realise, to coin a phrase, you actually don't know what you don't know. 

When Michael Gove announced recently that 

"Improving education is central to our reform agenda and we are committed to giving governors, headteachers and teachers more control over how they run their schools. We know they are best placed to decide how to give their pupils the best possible education and that is why we are encouraging more schools to become academies.

Many more schools will now be able to become academies and I am pleased they will be able to enjoy the additional freedoms, responsibility and empowerment that comes with academy status..

I suspect the use of the word 'enjoy' may not have been the most appropriate verb to use judging by the frowns on the faces of the delegates in the room. Still no pain no gain and if we can step in and help reduce some of the burden through our software, let us move forward together. It also helps that many of the new responsibilities have been engrained in commercial practice. Audit and accountability, Business Continuity Management, Data Protection and Freedom of Information etc etc all of which have been an integral part of our working life for many years.

Thursday was another useful learning opportunity. I joined in the #UKedchat twitter  hat in the evening discussing tips on supporting disengaged children. It was really nice to see how the teaching staff were embracing digital media to motivate children. Phone calls, e-mails and SMS messages home to parents to highlight exceptional performance seemed a nice, quick and personal touch that appears to return a really positive response from parents and pupils a like. It's a suggestion we are going to take to and try at our school reference site seeing as they have the facility at their fingertips and the benefit of being able to track and record such events against the child.