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School in the Fast Lane

School in the Fast Lane

By John Bidder, Blippit® founder

For school & subject leaders, School in the Fast Lane seeks out some of the elephants in the class or staffroom such as: schools using social media for parental engagement and what's on your walls in school & who cares? Episodes created by Blippit founder John Bidder whose latest project is Blippit Boards helping subject leaders champion their subject!
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#9: What social media school updates can work best after a break like Christmas?

School in the Fast LaneJan 07, 2020

00:00
04:08
#16 Headteacher Rachel Tomlinson's school was struck by ransomware. Here's her story.

#16 Headteacher Rachel Tomlinson's school was struck by ransomware. Here's her story.

The reason for making this episode is an important one and that is to help at least one school, maybe yours, ensure that it takes the steps needed to avoid the total disruption and stress of being hit by ransomware. Don't be lulled into thinking it'll not be you because you've got backups, the latest antivirus and so on.  As Rachel says later on in the episode, in the row of houses where she lives, three out of four were burgled while her home wasn't. Why? Probably because their house has dogs and sometimes that's all you need to dissuade intruders. It's the same principle when protecting the school network, critical data and everyone using it.  Imagine one day your laptop takes an age to sign in to the school server.  No problem - tech support will sort it.  Then imagine connecting to the server and seeing absolutely nothing. SIMS data? No. Finance? No. Backups? What the....? As more and more colleagues sign in and sync up to the server imagine all of their data suddenly being effectively lockup in such a way that nobody, even industry UK and international specialists or police, can unlock it.  You're over a barrel.  The end of the financial year is upon you. Then a message is found which is a ransom demand to be met in 7 days with the prospect of it doubling as the clock ticks down or much worse - losing all of your data forever.  Headteacher Rachel Tomlinson shares the experience she and her colleagues all faced the day that ransomware hit her school servers and over 70% of all laptops.  Causing more stress than any school should ever have to endure, grab a drink, sit back and listen to this nightmare of a ride that your school may well be able to learn from. ::SPOILER ALERT>> Scroll to the bottom of this description if you want to know whether this has a happy ending or not! Rachel is also writing a book that takes in every major school event, more or less, packing it into the time frame of one school day.  When she started this the school hadn't been attacked with ransomware but maybe this too will find its way into the book! ::SPOILER ALERT>> It thankfully all ended well!
Apr 01, 202152:34
#14 The remarkable Alan November in conversation about sharks, resilience, critical thinking, remote teaching & more (exclusive to Spotify)
Feb 04, 202156:50
#15 The remarkable Alan November in conversation about sharks, resilience, critical thinking, remote teaching & more (all platforms version)
Feb 03, 202153:34
#13 Chris Evans of Virgin Radio interviews Headteacher Sarah White from Coates Lane Primary School

#13 Chris Evans of Virgin Radio interviews Headteacher Sarah White from Coates Lane Primary School

Here's a special 'School in the Fast Lane' episode featuring the interview of primary Headteacher Sarah White speaking from the heart and to the heart of her school parent community. This interview was aired on The Chris Evans Breakfast Show, 27/1/21 Virgin Radio. All rights reserved by Virgin Radio, Sky and applicable artists & recording labels.

Jan 27, 202113:24
TRAILER: School in the Fast Lane

TRAILER: School in the Fast Lane

Podcast Trailer: Aimed at teachers, Heads and anyone else working with children in schools, welcome to ‘School in the Fast Lane’
Jan 14, 202100:51
#12: It’s good to talk. Record & leave a message?
Jan 11, 202105:09
#11: What’s on the walls in your school?

#11: What’s on the walls in your school?

What's the vibe in your school?  What story are the walls telling? A huge fan of display, John makes the case for a new bit of easy tech that might just be what you didn't know you needed!  This one is for subject and school leaders in particular.  To leave a message use the button below or use this link anchor.fm/blippit/message  

By the by, this episode was recorded entirely using the Anchor App via mobile phone with no fancy studio stuff.

Jan 06, 202105:54
#10: Pros and cons for systems of learning in lockdown for schools

#10: Pros and cons for systems of learning in lockdown for schools

Linked to recent funds for school implementations of the big two, Google and Microsoft, the broad pros and cons of approaches are reviewed here by John Bidder (@Getloggedin)including: MS Teams, Google Sites & Classroom, Moodle (& Darwinism!), Facebook and school websites at primary and secondary level. John talks about different effects of choices schools are making regarding how they bridge the gaps of different kinds between home and school during lockdown including the role & stresses faced by parents.  What’s important to note is that for many, it’s about creating an ecosystem and not depending on one specific provider or approach. Not included are content provider sites, as excellent as many are, in the name of keeping this to a listenable length.

This podcast doesn’t pretend to be comprehensive in content and choices being made but it does recognise that viewers are likely to be experienced educators and may be interested in the recent government funding application opportunity described here to support Microsoft & Google roll-outs. It also mentions vschool which is a new Blippit product & service to school based on Google tools.

The unedited slide-based video version of this podcast is available on the Blippit Blog.

May 03, 202021:60
#9: What social media school updates can work best after a break like Christmas?

#9: What social media school updates can work best after a break like Christmas?

Sharing some tips about what works when you go back to school and start talking to parents and the community again via social media.  We'll do an additional episode about humour soon!

Jan 07, 202004:08
#8: Ambition! Flakefleet Primary Headteacher Interview

#8: Ambition! Flakefleet Primary Headteacher Interview

A guest chat (12/18) with Headteacher Dave McPartlin from Flakefleet Primary in Lancashire whose school is going for the Christmas No 1 with their song 'Light Up'. Hear their now global social media story so far #daretodream

**Pre-order is available at the time of this podcast recording from all major platforms, single goes live on streaming services (Spotify/Apple Music) 14th December
Dec 05, 201811:36
#7: Can a school 'dip its toes' in social media? [Archive].mp3

#7: Can a school 'dip its toes' in social media? [Archive].mp3

If you think you're heading, or have headed down already, towards a path of tokenistic social media use for communication at your school, you might find this episode useful featuring lessons learned & action to take.
Jul 10, 201805:00
#6: What about the school website if we're using social media? [Archive]

#6: What about the school website if we're using social media? [Archive]

Here's an archive episode that deals with one of the most commonly asked questions from Heads about what happens to a school website when social media is used by school & how the two can fit (School in the fast lane).
Jul 02, 201805:22
#5: Why use social media for school comms? [Archive]

#5: Why use social media for school comms? [Archive]

Here's an archive episode that deals with one of the most commonly asked questions from Heads. (School in the fast lane)
Jul 02, 201805:27
#4: Parents behave differently with school on FB

#4: Parents behave differently with school on FB

This fourth episode takes you through why worrying about parent behaviour shouldn't be a barrier for you using Facebook for your school. (School in the fast lane)
Apr 30, 201809:26
#3: School websites & Social media

#3: School websites & Social media

This third episode is about how can your school values be your guide on social media & how relevant is your school website to parents these days? (School in the fast lane)
Apr 26, 201806:03
#2: Stick a smile on it!

#2: Stick a smile on it!

This second episode focuses on the value of a 'smile' in schools using social media parental engagement. Say CHEESE! You're listening to (School in the fast lane)
Apr 09, 201808:55
#1: You've not met our parents!

#1: You've not met our parents!

This is the very first episode of the 'school in the fast lane' series! I'm unpicking the barriers of adoption for schools wanting to use Facebook to engage parents and the community. Senior School Leadership Team members and teachers I'd love to hear from you.
Apr 04, 201807:21