Linaker Primary School receives ‘Schools Excellence’ Award

LINAKER Primary School in Southport is celebrating the news that it is to be presented with the ‘Schools Excellence’ award by leading supplier of ICT software, services and systems to UK education, RM. The award recognises excellence and innovation in the use of ICT and since its launch two years ago just 10 state primary schools have received it.

Linaker Primary School has been selected to receive this award due to the all round forward thinking approach to ICT that the school has at all levels of its teaching and learning and which has led to it becoming a paperless environment,  something of a rarity in a school!

The central asset of this all-round embracement of ICT is a school-designed web-based portal system, much like an intranet, that allows teachers to pick up emails as well as share files and resources. It has been designed and built internally using free/open source software and as Colin Coleman, Head Teacher at Linaker, explains it allows for far greater sharing of resources throughout the school:

“Being able to share teaching and learning materials is something that has become vital in the modern school and indeed what you’d expect of an establishment with either a Learning Platform or Virtual Learning Environment. What we’ve found with our system is that it’s particularly useful for teachers who want to refer to materials used in another year group – this is sometimes the case when a particularly gifted pupil needs extra stimulating material to work from.”

Not resting on their laurels however, the staff and pupils at Linaker School have a raft of ICT related initiatives forthcoming that underline their open and creative acceptance of technology’s benefits.

First off is the opening on 3 July of a children’s centre that will offer health services; childcare and family support all on the same site adjacent to the main school. This will have the same approach to ICT as the school and aim to be a paperless environment as well. It is being introduced in order to meet the needs of our pupils and provide an integrated support service that helps remove barriers to education such as ill health.

Moving further afield, the school is forging a relationship with a school in Ghana, from where the Head Teacher recently returned. On his visit there Mr Coleman visited a local school and presented them with a digital camera and laptop so that the two schools can keep in touch throughout the year and share experiences of different cultural and religious events.

Yet the use of ICT at Linaker School doesn’t stop there. The school will soon be launching an online radio station with regular podcasts via which the school website will feature broadcasts from the pupils themselves. The kids can use the podcasts as a chance to share their experiences and showcase poems, stories and other work.

Tim Pearson, CEO at RM, comments on Linaker:- “Linaker School has not only embraced the use of ICT to the highest level throughout the teaching and learning function but is also now extending that to the local community and further afield with its links to a school in Africa. Additionally, they are also keen to embrace new technologies and their plan to launch an Internet radio station from which they can publish podcasts is just one example of this. For these reasons they became a clear and very worthy recipient of the RM Schools Excellence Award and we hope they continue to work innovatively with technology in the future.”

AVERAGE PERSON RETIRING NEEDS AN INCOME OF AROUND £400,000

ACCORDING to Economic Lifestyle, the retirement housing and finance specialist, a woman retiring at 65 today and living on the average pensioner income will need around £437,886 for the rest of her life. The corresponding figure for an average man retiring at this age is around £366,912, nearly £71,000 less because of a shorter life expectancy. This equates to an average of £402,399 per pensioner.

The figures are based on Economic Lifestyle’s analysis of government statistics on average gross income for pensioners and how this has changed over the past 10 years, and applying this to the latest life expectancy figures. A woman retiring today at 65 can expect to reach their 89th birthday, and the average man retiring at this age should live until they are 86.

Mark Neal, Managing Director, Economic Lifestyle said:- “Medical advances mean that on average, we can all expect to live longer and enjoy over 20 years of retirement life. However, this can put a growing strain on our finances, which means that many find it difficult to make ends meet. Around 2 million pensioners live below the poverty line and we expect this number to grow.  This financial shortfall helps to explain why many more retired people are deciding to release equity from their homes to support their standard of living. Indeed, we estimate that retired homeowners have over 1 trillion pounds of equity in their homes.”

In terms of where the average pensioner’s income comes from, Economic Lifestyle’s analysis of industry data reveals that around 61% comes from benefits, 23% from occupational pensions and 7% from investment income.

Gross income source	% of income from this source
Benefit income	61
Occupational pension	23
Investment income	7
Earnings	6
Personal pension	2
Other income	1

Source:- Department of Works and Pensions

TROOPER CHRIS ON HAND TO SPEAK TO LOCAL YOUNGSTERS

TROOPER Chris Barker from Bidston, Merseyside will be at the Army Careers and Information Office (ACIO) in Birkenhead on Oxton Road from the 22 May to 26 May 2006 as part of the Army 'Satisfied Soldier' scheme.

The scheme allows young people to find out more about the experiences and opportunities the modern British Army can offer. Chris will offer advice and share his experiences of Army life to youngsters from his local area.

Chris, 18, enlisted in 2005 and has just completed his full military training as a Challenger 2 Crewman and is now a serving member of the 1st Royal Tank Regiment. To achieve this Chris had to successfully complete 12 weeks of arduous training where he took part in many military exercises.  He chose to specialise in communications, driving and maintaining of Armoured Fighting Vehicles.

Chris who attended Park High School in Birkenhead commented:- "I have always wanted an adventurous and rewarding career so joining the armywas the best move I've ever made. I am really looking forward to building a long a rewarding career for myself in the Army."

Senior Recruiter at the Birkenhead ACIO Shaun Bannister said:- "Chris is a great example to all youngsters who are interested in a career in the Army. He can give a real insight on what it takes to be successful in the modern British Army. There are so many opportunities available, there is a career in the Army to suit everyone's needs."