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We support Education for All Day, Friday 21st June!
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J. Take a look at their latest video, 'Turn on the light'. |
Would you like to win £100 of free texts for your school?
Messenger CPD Certified Training Events
Back by popular demand, we are heading out onto the road again to deliver you some Messenger CPD certified training events throughout the UK in the coming months.
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We have listened to your requests and are delighted to be able to show you all the new and exciting features of the latest Messenger v5 being rolled out to schools shortly (some schools are already using the new version). So, even if you are using Messenger v5 already, we would like to invite you to a complimentary training event at a town near you. |
These free events are a great opportunity to see all the new features of Messenger, meet with other users and ensure that you and your colleagues are using Messenger to its full capability. Even if you are not currently using the system, this will be a great opportunity to speak with our technical support team who can get you up and running or answer any queries you may have.
Also, each attendee will be issued with a certificate of attendance stating that the content of the course has been certified by the CPD Certification Service as conforming to continuing professional development principles and guidelines.
As suggested by our customers, we will deliver the training in three sessions throughout the day. The first session being 8am-10am, the second session will be delivered at 11am-1pm and the last session of the day will take place at 2pm-4pm. Light refreshments will be served on arrival. So, if you and/or a colleague would like to attend, please simply click on the secure booking link above selecting your venue and time. The full agenda and a map of directions will be sent to you nearer the time.
We look forward to welcoming you.
Already booked? Be sure to add the event to your Facebook calendar!
WCBS MIS Integrated Products Information Day - May 2nd
We are delighted to be presenting Groupcall Emerge at the WCBS MIS Integrated Products Information Day on the 2nd May!
Held at Tonbridge School in Kent, this free seminar is about how you can make even better use of your valuable data, by adding even more functionality to your school’s management information system.
Moorfield's Eye Hospital - March 2013
Congratulations to Mia (member of the Groupcall family) who has raised the fabulous amount of £6,400 for Moorfield's Eye Hospital by holding a disco at the weekend to fund research for an eye disorder that her daughter Zoe suffers from.
We are sure Moorfields will be delighted. Well done Mia!
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March 2013 Delighted to be awarded the ISO 27001 accreditation for information security management systems. Learn more about QMSI here. |
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Messenger v5 automatic update - February 2013
We are delighted to inform our existing M5 customers, that you will be able to enjoy even more new features of Messenger v5 with our automatic update taking place this Friday evening, March 8th 2013.
For full details of the upgrade, click here.
The latest version is available free of charge as an automatic upgrade. You do not need to do anything apart from enjoy the new features!
If you would like any further information or have any queries, please contact us by emailing: support@groupcall.com or call: 020 8502 7344 (option 2).
We hope you enjoy all the new features! Tell us about it, Tweet us or write on our Facebook wall, we'd love to hear from you!
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Messenger, helping improve pupils' attendance in Fife! - March 2013
Following a successful trial of Emerge, Stoke Damerel Community College are now using Emerge on more than 30 devices, ranging from iPads and iPhones to Android phones and tablets. Read the full publication, and learn how Stoke Damerel are saving around £5,700 per year by using our app! As seen in Independent Education Today.’
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What I learnt at School - January 2013
Rock and roll taught musician, campaigner and entrepreneur Sir Bob Geldof everything he needed to know - but the times are a-changin'..
Our co-founding partner, Sir Bob Geldof talk to Teach Secondary on our stand at the bett show. Click here to read the full article.
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- February 2013
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During the bett show, Sir Bob Geldof was interviewed by Mirandanet and talked about technology in Education. Watch the video.
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Many thanks to all who attended the 2013 bett show at Excel London. We had a fantastic four days at the bett show.
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We are delighted to be awarded the bett award for ICT Leadership & Management Solutions fo Groupcall Messenger! This is our second bett award, we add to our 2012 bett award for ICT Company of the year. Congratulations to all awarded and to those who were nominated. Take a look at some pictures from the night on our Facebook page! Take a look at all of the bett award winners! Congratulations to all awarded. Fantastic night! Click here.
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Congratulations to Richard Penhale, Network & Infrastructure Manager of South Dartmoor Community College, WINNER of our latest Groupcall Poll and a Bettys Montpellier Gift Box! As our new and updated version of Groupcall Emerge now includes behaviour and achievement write-back, we asked schools to take our Poll for feedback on how behaviour and achievement is currently recorded in schools. We received fantastic feedback, many thanks to all who took part in our poll, we do hope Richard and his staff enjoy the Gift Box! |
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Our very own Stuart Abrahams (Sales and Marketing Director at Groupcall) has been elected to the BESA Executive Council for the next 2 years.
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Take a look at the video of the day from the Innovate My School LIVE event that we attended last week. Many thanks to all attendees and organisers, it was a great day and we were delighted to take part!
Watch the video here: www.innovatemyschool.com
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Groupcall, one of the education sector market leaders in communication and data extraction tools, is pleased to announce that they have recently agreed an exclusive partnership with the South West Grid for Learning Trust. Click here to read the full story!
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Groupcall Xporter UGM
A special thank you to Robert Halfon MP for Harlow & all our attendees at our Xporter UGM, we hope you enjoyed the day!
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For more picture from the event visit our facebook page! |
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We are delighted to inform you that our next Emerge Release is now available on the iPad! This latest release will include: This update will be comprised of two parts, firstly the Emerge App itself will automatically notify you through App store notifications to update Emerge (the app Store update was live as of yesterday evening). Secondly, the Emerge server that sits in your school extracting and writing information to and from your MIS will need to be updated. This is an automatic update that will be done through our support team at Groupcall. |
You will be notified as to when this automatic update will take place. In order for you to the receive all of the benefits and new features (as listed above) of this release, both the Emerge App and your server will need to be updated.
Please note: This release is only currently available for schools using SIMS (iPod, iPhone & iPads) but will be available for Android versions soon.
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Properly prepped for School Trips: tips and safety advice for schools
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How can school leaders ensure that trips are managed and delivered in the best and safest way? Read 'Tips and safely advice for schools' published in the August publication of Education Business. |
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June
Cloud-Based Mobile Solution Gives School Teachers Anywhere Access to Critical Data
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With Groupcall Emerge, student data is secure in the cloud atSouth Dartmoor Community College. "We're confident about security because data is encrypted, says Richard Penhale, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Systems Manager. We have password protection on the application, so even if a device is left unlocked the user still needs a password. We can also wipe the information remotely if the device is lost."
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May
Emerge Release
Our development team are currently working on the next Emerge release. Here is your sneakpeak, this short video shows you the latest functionality of the Emerge App, including how to add and edit behaviour!
If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact us and we will be happy to help! Call 020 8502 7344 or email us, support@groupcall.com or follow us on Twitter to get the latest updates!
Kevin Smith, Assistant Headteacher at Rushcroft Sports College tells how implementing Groupcall Messenger as their parental communication system, brought wider benefits and efficiencies to his college. Integrated with Groupcall Emerge, meant that teachers now have up-to-the minute copy of their MIS data instantly and securely available in the palm of their hand!
Read the full article here, as seen in this month's Financial Management Magazine.
Thank you to our attendees & Lord Knight of Weymouth for supporting us at our Emerge Lunch at the House of Lords Thurday, March 15!
Apple have just announced the next generation iPad, bringing with it further enhancements to the screen we saw in the original iPad. Groupcall have responded to the improved screen characteristics of the latest 2 iPad versions by releasing a dedicated HD version of Emerge. Read more...
In FSM news, Warwickshire County Council went live with their FSM write back to pilot schools last week! Click here to view Connect Digitally's latest article about Online Free School Meals and more on Warwickshire's FSM pilot.
This month we have had a busy time meeting our customers, resellers and new contacts at various events across the globe!
We were at the Capita Indy Conference in Leicestershire as well as exhibiting at the National Association of British Schools in Spain Conference (NABSS) in Madrid earlier this month.
We were also joined by our co-founding partner, Sir Bob Geldof at the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) Conference in Washington DC on March 5th-7th.
We are also pleased to inform you that we will be holding an Emerge Event at the House of Lords, with the company and support of Lord Knight of Weymouth. The lunch event will take place in the Cholmondeley Room and Terrace at the House of Lords on Thursday 15th March., We will be giving an overview of Groupcall Emerge along with the future of Emerge with lots of exciting and new developments.
We are delighted that MD Lawrence Royston, has been re-elected to the SIF UK Management Board for another two years! Our techy Tim Verlander has also been promoted to the SIF Technical board for the next year!
Read our latest Blog, 'Dashboard Spring Release'.
A couple of weeks back, we released our spring version of Groupcall Dashboard. I thought you might find it interesting to know a bit more about how this really happened and give you a glimpse into how both product vision and customer feedback can shape exactly what we produce as an end product. Read the full article here.
“There could hardly be anything more exciting, contemporary or worthwhile than to be a part of Groupcall, the company which has just been awarded the ICT Company of the Year. We are at the very edge of what is technologically possible for the benefit of society and the country as a whole.
We are Company of the Year because our technologies have been proven to benefit thousands of schools and their administration and helped teachers concentrate on that which they are best qualified to do - educate our future generations. All this world beating stuff is taking place not in the United States or Silicon Valley but in modest North London! Britain can and does produce clever world beaters and I am very proud to be part of that with Groupcall. An extraordinary company and a justifiable ICT Company of the Year.”
Groupcall was awarded the prestigious title of ICT Company of the Year at the hugely anticipated BETT 2012 Awards gala dinner which took place at the London Hilton, Park Lane Wednesday 11th January. The BETT Awards recognise outstanding educational products and learning solutions and with a huge number of entries, are seen as the most respected in the sector. All category finalists were selected from a very competitive pool of entrants. Read the full story here.
Congratulations to our three lucky winners, who each won an iPod at our stand last week during the BETT Show! !
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Sarah Cook, Norfolk |
Lucy Atkins, Sheffield |
Paul Cadman, Eastbourne |
Groupcall and Schoolcomms are pleased to announce a partnership to provide integration between Groupcall’s Emerge and Schoolcomms’ messaging solution. As Emerge now integrates with both Messenger and Schoolcomms, this will enable schools to take registration in the gym or on the field, communicate with parents or guardians whilst on a school trip, or send an emergency message from the playground where a school evacuation is necessary – perhaps due to a fire alarm being activated. Parents or guardians can also receive behavioural, attendance or general communication updates from schools in ‘real time’ by text message, as issues or questions arise. Read the full article here.
Lawrence Royston, MD of Groupcall, explains why the new integration was a natural progression: “The streamlining of efficiencies is a priority for us; we are constantly improving our products to benefit the end user from either a functional or financial aspect. We have made a commitment to ensure that an Android version of Emerge will continue to be made available with all new features as it develops.”
