Schools in the North East to benefit as Espresso Education and Northern Grid renew and extend their partnership
25th October 2002
All schools in the North East will be given a free month
of Espresso as they are connected to the broadband grid.
1,400 schools across the North East of England are to receive a free one month trial of Espresso's award-winning education resources as they are connected to the Northern Grid for Learning. The schools from twelve LAs will also benefit from content being created by Espresso in collaboration with the Northern Grid and other Grids across the country.
 Paul Checkley, Deputy Head Teacher and ICT co-ordinator, with pupils at Woodchurch CofE Primary School. Espresso plays a vital part in the school's commitment to providing a broad, balanced creative curriculum. |
The Northern Grid - a brand new, fully interactive, regional portal to be launched in November 2002 - will bring to life the immense potential of online learning in the North East. It will promote the use of the existing, high quality material produced by the Northern Grid and facilitate the development and sharing of new learning materials such as Espresso. The content will be accessible to teachers, pupils and parents through any web-enabled computer in the home, the classroom and libraries.
The Northern Grid, acknowledged by the DfES as a successful Regional Broadband Consortium, has a national reputation for developing high quality learning resources and enabling schools in the region to access affordable broadband technologies. Schools in the area have already had the opportunity to sample the unique Espresso resources in the form of 'Victorian Times at Beamish' (a visit to a living museum) - a CD-ROM produced by Espresso especially for schools within the Northern Grid for Learning. The tailor-made module included 40 minutes of full-screen, broadcast-quality video, photographs and pictures from the museum archive. Further collaborative projects, such as resources for Key Stage 3 English are in production. Schools connected to the Northern Grid will also benefit from the use of regional resources made in conjunction with other LAs and Grids across the country.
Schools subscribing to the full Espresso Primary service enjoy weekly updates of fresh and topical curriculum-relevant material, linked to schemes of work and stored directly on the school's network allowing access to high quality video. In addition to the free one month trial, schools in the North East will be able to utilise the full range of Espresso services for a greatly reduced price as they are connected to the Northern Grid for Learning. Connection to the Grid will eliminate the need for a satellite dish to deliver these exceptional curriculum resources.
Mel Philipson, Manager of the Northern Grid for Learning, said:
Espresso modules such as 'Victorian Times at Beamish' have been hugely popular with schools in the North East and we are delighted to offer schools this fantastic deal via the NGfL. Espresso offers the most comprehensive educational package available and enabling us to access other locally produced modules is something no other service could offer. We would encourage schools in the region to invest in the Espresso service using their E-Learning Credits.
Lewis Bronze, CEO, Espresso Education, said:
Giving schools a free month's trial will demonstrate to them what a totally comprehensive and invaluable resource Espresso is. We are delighted to be working with the Northern Grid to offer schools this fantastic deal.
For further press information or paper versions of this release please contact:
Espresso Marketing, Riverside Studios, Crisp Road, Hammersmith, W6 9RL
Tel: +44(0)20 8237 1200
Fax: +44(0)20 8237 1201
Email: info@espresso.co.uk
