Computeam Delivers ICT in £9m Primary School New Build Project

In February 2010 Irk Valley Community School was opened to replace St Thomas Primary school in Crumpsall, Greater Manchester. Computeam was engaged by Manchester City Council and the school governing body to provide ICT equipment and services to this £9million new build project. The new school sits on a river flood-plain and called for an innovative design that involved installing stilts under the main building to protect against floods in the future!  As an iconic and unusual new building it was essential that ICT delivered both efficiency in day-to-day teaching and learning, along with a certain amount of ‘wow-factor’.

Computeam successfully installed over £120,000.00 worth of ICT equipment across the school in a tight 3 week timescale. The installation involved desktop and laptop PC’s from Dell, a new Server and active switch infrastructure, and a wide range of audio-visual technologies. We have also continued to support the school with a highly responsive PrimaryCare support contract since it opened.

We were able to create real impact with specialist audio-visual installations in every classroom that were integrated into teaching wall furniture. This has provided teachers with a real plug-and-play experience when teaching with their Smart interactive whiteboards. Computeam also installed a state-of-the-art digital signage system to display live information to pupils and visitors. The system can be edited from any internet-connected PC and feeds can be taken from the school’s media store or even directly from sources on the internet such as the BBC weather report (a useful feature in rain-soaked Manchester).

One of the challenges presented by the project was the lack of an on-site connection to the internet until very close the go-live date. To get around this issue, we were able to transport the desktop and laptop PCs back to our office Imaging Suite and then deliver them, fully configured and updated with anti-virus patches just prior to the Grand Opening!

Computeam is delighted to have been selected to deliver this project for Manchester City Council and looks forward to a long-term relationship with Irk Valley Community School.