Customers of Precedence Technologies

Precedence Technologies solutions are being used by tens of thousands of people daily throughout the UK. Some people just had to shout about how great they are...

• "They are so simple to use; children and staff love the ease of use. Logging on and accessing all the programs could not be easier. The whole system has removed a level of 'techno-fear' from members of staff who were reluctant users before."
• "In our recent Ofsted inspection the inspector said that it was the best ICT he had seen in 35 Ofsted inspections and we've only been using the network since November!"
• "Where we have wanted to configure something in a bespoke way to integrate with our network, Precedence have responded quickly and helpfully. There is a very strong 'partnership' relationship with client schools."

Case studies

• Dan Everard Partnership
• Cranbourne Business and Enterprise College

Clackmannanshire County Council

Clackmannanshire Council maintains nineteen primary, three secondary, four nursery and two special schools along with two pupil support services. John Munro, Clackmannanshire Education IT Team Leader, is one very satisfied customer of Precedence Technologies and this is what he had to say about the NetManager package:

"I have been using server solutions from Precedence Technologies since their development in the Xemplar Network Computer systems of the mid 1990s. Two years ago we upgraded to the Precedence NetManager, which provides e-mail and web services to the 8,000 users (students, teachers and administrators) across Clackmannanshire, using a wide range of different computers and software to access the system. The stability of the software throughout that time has always been very impressive: it just sits there and works.

"One of the key factors with any software, particularly one dealing with this number of clients, is the support that you get. And the support we have had from Precedence Technologies has been first class; it was a major factor in deciding to use their NetManager when developing a solution for our schools.

"The system is based on a very sound architecture and is extremely flexible. Indeed it is a feature of Precedence Technologies that they are willing to create solutions tailored to your local needs rather than simply deliver a black box and let you get on with it. The ongoing development of the system has seen a big improvement to the range of management tools available and these are complemented by the overall functionality, excellent support and keen pricing.

"I am of the opinion that the Precedence system is a very cost-effective Internet solution for schools, providing a wide range of functionality normally associated with very expensive competitors."

Springfields School, Wilts

Unlike most ICT suppliers, we personally actively develop our products. As such, we are ideally placed to customise the products we supply or even do contract development. Try going to a regular PC supplier and asking them to do the same! As an example, for one of our schools, we have developed a pupil behaviour monitoring system which is completely web-driven.

Springfields School is a school for children with behavioural problems. They have a NetManager and its email filtering has proved very useful. In many schools, a system is in place to put pupils "on report" whereby a report card is filled out at the end of each lesson. At Springfields, every single pupil is on report! Both positive and negative behavioural aspects are recorded. Each pupil is given a number of codes per day (as many as 30-40) each of which correspond to an issue (such as "Physical abuse to staff" or "Completes extra work"). Each issue has a points value (-99 and +80 in the above examples). Until recently, someone had to enter all these points by hand into a spreadsheet which was a major task. Pupils had no way of seeing how they were doing and it was a long and tedious process generating reports for parents. With our help, they entered the information age and can now do the entire job on-line.

Issue codes are now entered by the class teachers instead of the over-worked secretary and the method of entry was made as quick and easy-to-use as possible with feedback from the teachers. It is extremely easy for both pupils and teachers to look at ranking and track improvements. The system generates graphical reports which can be printed out and sent to parents. Now the school is connected to broadband, it is even possible for parents to view their child's behaviour record from home.

Wendy Hall, ICT Coordinator, comments, "The new system has really worked. It has made the children much more aware of where they are and their level of behaviour, it can really help to change behaviour. Not only can we see the overall scores and trends, but we can also see the predominant type of behaviour and this helps in planning strategies to improve the situation."