Higham Ferrers Junior School

Higham Ferrers Junior School lease Clevertouch interactive touchscreens for the second time

About Higham Ferrers Junior School

Higham Ferrers Junior School is based near Rushden in Northamptonshire. They are a large junior school with 14 classrooms and the children at the school are at the centre of everything that the school does. They are involved as much as possible in making the school and their learning journey the best it can be.

The staff and governors work hard to ensure that all the children feel safe, love learning and work hard by creating a happy, safe and welcoming environment which promotes learning and provides equal opportunities for all children to reach their potential.

Part of their mission is to seek to create a partnership with teachers, children, parents and governors working together in harmony and are very fortunate to benefit from a highly supportive and loyal parent community. Higham Ferrers Infant and Nursery school is two minutes away and for this project the two schools joined forces because, amongst other things, they wanted to ensure that the children were able to use the same technology and resources when moving from one school to the next.

The Project

Higham Ferrers Junior School has been a customer of Proactive AV since 2008 and historically purchased equipment as and when budget allowed which meant that at times the equipment in each classroom varied. Not ideal when children are moving classes as they move up year groups. In 2013 it was felt that they needed a way to ensure that the same interactive touchscreen technology was installed in each classroom at the same time to ensure complete continuity throughout the school.

Project Details

At a meeting with Jo Longland, the Business Manager within the school, Proactive AV presented an operating lease option which meant that the school could lease 12 Clevertouch 55” interactive touchscreens to be installed in their classrooms. As the Business Manager, Jo was keen to be able to spread the costs of the screens over a number of budget years and it enabled her to budget the exact amounts needed over the three year period.

Having worked previously with Proactive AV and having received an excellent service, they were very comfortable in employing Proactive to carry out this project and undertake an operating lease through Investec, which are an approved education lease supplier.

At the end of this first three-year lease period, the school continued the lease for a further year at a reduced cost as the equipment was still in good working order. At the end of year four, the decision was taken to replace the equipment for new and again Proactive discussed purchase and lease options including the requirement of the Infant and Nursery school.

Having looked at the costings for both purchase and lease, the decision was taken to start up a new lease as the costs were very comparable and again Jo would be able to budget each month until the end of the lease period.

Joining forces with the infants school ensured that the children used the same equipment as they moved from classroom to classroom and school to school. Due to the volume of equipment being leased it also ensured that both schools achieved the best possible pricing.

Project Outcome

During the Easter holidays 2017 Proactive AV attended both schools and de-installed all their original equipment and removed it from site. They then installed the new 65” Clevertouch Plus interactive touchscreens in all classrooms.

Training and Support

Part of the Proactive package includes onsite training and support. The school is able to call and book training at any time and the support team are at the end of the phone to assist with any queries whether it be a hardware query or a question of the wrong button being pressed. The hardware is supplied with a five year onsite warranty and should anything go wrong, Proactive deal with the manufacturer on the schools behalf, ensuring that they aren’t having to take up their valuable time chasing around speaking to manufacturers. Uniquely, Proactive also offer their customers a five year warranty on all cabling so that the whole solution is covered.

To lease or not to lease?

Jo meets with other schools regularly and she is aware that a great deal of schools have historically not considered leasing because they say that the property is not theirs at the end of the lease and that the money has been spent with nothing to show for it.
Chris Birks, Proactive AV Managing Director says “In reality, this is not the case. Proactive have partnered with Investec/LDF Finance and we have collectively offered a package welcomed by school Business Managers and approved by NASBM. The package gives the school clear and concise options at the end of the approved lease which are:

Have the equipment de-installed for free, walk away from the lease and purchase something else entirely
Continue renting
Buy outright an amount agreed in writing at the start of the term (over 12 months interest free if required)

We have taken the uncertainty out of leasing and are trying to work with schools to ensure that they receive the best package for them.”
Jo would definitely recommend leasing because her school have had nothing but a good experience. They were able to procure the same technology in each classroom at the same time, she knew exactly how much she would be spending each month and using Proactive AV was able to continue for another year before deciding to replace the old equipment with brand new updated screens. She would definitely recommend going down this route to other schools.

Of Proactive AV, Jo said:

In my experience Proactive have always been helpful, professional and the after sales service has been good. Dave, our account manager, is very knowledgeable and always willing to adjust to meet the school’s needs