Amteus signs MOU with SSAT

 

TIDMAUS 
 
 
Amteus PLC 
02 April 2009 
 
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For immediate release 2 April 2009 
 
 
AMTEUS PLC 
("Amteus" or the "Company") 
 
 
DCSF approves imJack offering for specialist redesignating schools 
 
 
Amteus is pleased to announce that the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust 
("SSAT"), one of the world's leading schools networks with a membership of over 
5,000 schools and organisations, has signed an exclusive memorandum of 
understanding confirming that all schools applying for Department for Children, 
Schools and Families ("DCSF") redesignation* through the SSAT will be 
offered imJack, the Company's secure Web 2.0 communication and collaboration 
platform.  The offer, which applies to approximately 90% of secondary schools in 
England, has been agreed by the DCSF. 
 
 
The DCSF has also confirmed that each redesignating school taking up the 
imJack platform will be eligible for a GBP15,000 credit towards the GBP25,000 
qualifying criteria for a GBP25,000 DCSF capital grant - equivalent to 
delivering GBP2.25 million of government funding for schools. ** 
 
 
Around 1,000 schools apply to the DCSF for redesignation every year.  The offer 
of imJack to redesignating schools will be made available to an initial group of 
150 redesignating schools, covering approximately 450,000 users. imJack is now 
working with the SSAT to deliver the sponsorship programme to schools. 
 
 
Len Sanderson, CEO of Amteus, said:  "We are very pleased to have secured the 
formal support of the DCSF for the roll-out of imJack to specialist 
redesignating schools.Amteus is committed to providing all pupils, teachers and 
parents in the UK with access to the best educational technology and content. 
Our sponsorship model enables us to deliver imJack to schools wholly free of 
charge, thereby ensuring that this platform is available to all educational 
establishments." 
* Further information on redesignation is shown below. 
** This figure is based on each of the initial 150 redesignating schools 
receiving GBP15,000 government 
     funding. 
 
 
For further information, please contact: 
 
 
+--------------------------------------------------+---------------------+ 
| Amteus plc                                       |   Tel: [phone] | 
|          Len Sanderson, CEO                      |      www.amteus.com | 
|                                                  |                     | 
+--------------------------------------------------+---------------------+ 
| John East & Partners Limited (Nomad and Joint    |  Tel: [phone] | 
| Broker)                                          |                     | 
|          John East/Simon Clements                |                     | 
|                                                  |                     | 
+--------------------------------------------------+---------------------+ 
|         Daniel Stewart & Company  (Joint Broker) |  Tel: [phone] | 
|         Martin Lampshire/Stewart Dick            |                     | 
|                                                  |                     | 
+--------------------------------------------------+---------------------+ 
|         Rawlings Financial PR Ltd                |   Tel: [phone] | 
|         Catriona Valentine                       |                     | 
|                                                  |                     | 
+--------------------------------------------------+---------------------+ 
About imJack 
 
 
imJack enables teachers and parents to communicate with and guide students, 
while removing the many dangers of using unregulated public sites. It operates 
on a secure system by separating a defined user network from general internet 
traffic and by using SSL encryption technology to maintain privacy and security 
for all users. 
 
 
Students can upload and download homework, share ideas and collaborate with 
teachers and peers through messaging or video conferencing, which is an integral 
part of the system.  imJack is centrally administered, so the school alone 
decides who can and cannot be part of the network. 
 
 
imJack automatically logs and creates a permanent record of communication 
between the parties on the system.  This is only accessible by the administrator 
for safety, security and legal reasons.  imJack also allows truly live 
interactive collaborative working with features including real-time drawing 
exchange, video conferencing and document management.  In this way, teachers and 
pupils can exchange documents and sketches, while maintaining a video conference 
link. 
 
 
imJack software is offered as a software package hosted on open source 
technology.Additional modules include an interactive calendar, real time surveys 
and polls, as well as educational content, tutorials, news aggregation and 
explanatory journalism, etc. 
 
 
The Company now has strategic alliances through its MOU's with the 
Specialist Schools and Academies Trust ("SSAT"), and the e-Learning Foundation, 
a national charity dedicated to ensuring that every child in the UK has home 
access to technology for their studies. 
 
 
The Amteus business model provides imJack free to schools, colleges and 
universities and aims to generate income from both sponsorship and digital news. 
 This income is shared with those schools, colleges and universities, providing 
them with an additional contribution on top of their funding from the private 
sector. 
 
 
About the SSAT 
The Specialist Schools and Academies Trust is an independent, not-for-profit 
membership organisation dedicated to raising levels of achievement in secondary 
education. It has a membership of over 5,000 schools and organisations and is a 
registered charity. 
 
 
The SSAT aims to give practical support to transforming secondary education in 
England by building and enabling a world-class network of innovative, 
high-performing secondary schools in partnership with business and the wider 
community. 
 
 
www.specialistschools.org.uk 
 
 
Redesignation 
 
 
The Specialist Schools Programme seeks to encourage schools to focus on their 
chosen specialisms. The schools can achieve this through partnerships with 
private sector sponsors and through additional government grants. 
 
 
There are 12 specialist areas: arts, business & enterprise, engineering, 
humanities, language, mathematics & computing, music, science, special 
specialism, sports, technology and vocational. 
 
 
The Specialist Programme Development Team assists schools which are seeking 
initial designation as a specialist school and existing specialist schools 
seeking designation in later phases of the programme. 
 
 
How does the funding work? 
 
 
  *  When a school seeks to redesignate itself as a specialist school, it typically 
  engages with businesses and employers in the form of one or more reciprocal, 
  long-term partnerships. 
 
 
 
  *  In order to be able to redesignate itself the school is required to source 
  GBP25,000 of support, which can be provided in the form of cash, goods or 
  services. At least GBP10,000 of this support must be from a company or a 
  business. 
 
 
 
The Government will, in the form of a grant, match the GBP25,000 raised by the 
school which effectively means the school benefits from total support of 
GBP50,000. 
 
This information is provided by RNS 
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange 
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