Probably one of the greatest boosts to children’s learning is the help they can get at home. Playing educational games at home with parents  and closer links to the school can help  improve achievement  in class by two grades. The new Home Access scheme announced in January 2010  by the Department for Children Schools and Families (DCSF) opens the door for poorer families through a grant to buy  a laptop and broadband access. The scheme  links  families on-line to the school where parents can monitor progress and get advice from teachers where children would benefit from extra help at home.

We are asked frequently for details of the scheme, and have reproduced the following guidelines from Becta. The list is growing so we have now grouped the information into two categories: Parents,  and Schools and Local Education Authorities. There a number of overlaps so take a look at both lists to see you have all the information you need.

Parents

1. Home Access Introduction
2. Home Access Something for Everyone
3. Home Access making it easier for everyone to learn
4. Home Access Technology Software
5. Home Acess Eligibility Criteria Updated 01/02/10
6. Home Access Packages
7. Home Access Looked After Children
8. Home Access e-safety

Schools and LEA

1. Home Access Info for Schools
2. Home Access Background to the Programme
3. Home Access Information For School Governors
4. Home Access information for Sencos
5. Home Home Access Overview for School Business Managers
6. Home Access FAQ’s for LEA
7. Home Access Purchase Schemes via LEA or School

Keen 2 Learn is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

Book of Green is the new annual paperback eco guide brought to you by Ethical Junction members www.allthingseco.co.uk and www.onegreenearth.com. 
The two online eco directories have joined forces to create an
inexpensive marketing tool for green businesses wishing to reach the
eco conscious consumer. 

What’s more it will be given to the public
for free and distributed by leading green magazines The Ecologist and
Permaculture Magazine, plus online stores Green Rewards, Love Eco, Onya
Bags retail shops, Bags of Change retail shops, and the UK’s digital
radio station specialising in health & environmental issues Passion
for the Planet Radio. More distribution outlets will be announced
shortly.
In a handy A5 format, printed on 100% recycled paper, a
print run of 30,000 plus an online flip magazine version with clickable
links (circa 500,000), and prices starting from as little as £35.00 for
a listing, Book of Green is a fantastic opportunity for green
businesses to find more customers.
There’s advertising space in the
guide ranging from a basic listing, eighth of a page, a quarter, a half
or a full page. The ad space can consist of adverts, product reviews,
features and eco tips giving general public a great information packed
resource.

We would like to invite EJ members to join us in
providing the consumer with a green guide covering many different
sectors, allowing customers to green all different aspects of their
lives, to help them reduce their carbon footprint, live a healthier
lifestyle, and have a positive impact on their environment.
You can see an online demo (click 1:1 to zoom in) and download our media pack to get more information. Contact sue@bookofgreen.co.uk & katie@bookofgreen.co.uk who will be happy to answer any questions you may have.

A British supermarket chain is beating traffic congestion and reducing its carbon footprint by using a non-motorised, hand-drawn truck for deliveries of less than a mile.

Hand carts are thought to have been used first in Sumeria over 5,000 years ago, but Waitrose is using an up-to-date version to make deliveries that would normally be undertaken by a diesel-engined lorry.

Director at the Environmental Transport Association, an  organisation that campaigns for sustainable transport, Andrew Davis said: “In this case, ancient technology is a perfect solution to today’s problems of congested streets and polluted air.”

Southampton based social enterprise, Jamie’s Computers was one of 14 organisations in the region to receive a ministerial visit, when Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his Cabinet descended on Southampton on Monday 23rd February.  

The computer re-use and recycling project, Jamie’s Computers is a project of Southampton’s largest homelessness charity, The Society of St James.  Jamie’s welcomed Liam Byrne, Minister for the Cabinet Office to its operation in Northam as part of the ministerial visits which took place in the region.

Minister Liam Byrne said, “Jamie’s Computers is a great example of how social enterprises can
benefit the local community and the country as a whole.  It’s clear to
me that they give vulnerable people real opportunities to realise their
potential and get on in life, regardless of their circumstances.

“In this tough economic climate we need businesses like this that put
ethics first.  This way we can all build a fairer society and a
stronger country.”

The visit followed this month’s announcement of the Government’s Third
Sector Action Plan, which has been designed together with third sector
leaders over the last three months and builds on the wide range of
measures the Government has put in place to support people through the
economic downturn, and on the Government’s long term commitment to
voluntary organisations and social enterprises.

Della Cunio, Operations Director for Jamie’s said of the visit:

 “We were delighted to learn that the Minister would visit the project –
it was a great compliment to the work that we do and a proud moment for
all the staff and service users involved.  

“The importance of social enterprise in the provision of public service
and contribution to the economy is recognised by government and keenly
promoted.  We were pleased to be able to provide a positive case study
for the Minister.”  

For more information about Jamie’s Computers call 023 8063 2198 or visit www.jamies.org.uk.

Eco-Computer company VeryPC®, has launched a new eco-efficient, mission critical storage offering

The “L210” storage server supports up to 12,000GB of storage, at speeds of up to 700MB/s, which represents one whole CD worth of data per second. The server is a rack mountable, 2u high device that consumes a tiny195W when fully configured and operating. Similarly specified, non-eco friendly storage units use three times as much electricity!

At peak load the 24 disk 12TB L210 server consumes only 250W and
supports 12,000 I/O operations per second, as measured by the industry
standard IOmeter. The server achieves this efficiency through its use
of VeryPC’s GreenServer Architecture™, ultra high efficiency power
supplies and ultra-efficient disks. VeryPC achieve huge performance
through the use of intelligent technologies to aggregate the
performance of the 24 disks together.

The L-Class server also supports the new intel solid state disks, for
ultra high throughput, high performance storage. When used with solid
state disks, each disk has 32 parallel command queues, allowing the
server to address 768 command queues resulting in hundreds of thousands
of I/O operations. The unit is available as a NAS or as a SAN with
iSCSI, Fibre Channel or Infiniband interfaces.

Memset, the multi-award winning Web host and UK’s first carbon neutral
ISP, have been using the L210 to host their SquirrelSave personal
backup service and are making them available to customers as part of
their range of storage solutions. Kate Craig-Wood, Memset’s MD said:

“We are delighted with the L210. Many of our customers have a
requirement for a high-performance storage array and a dual-CPU server
- the L210 gives us this in one compact box. Not only that, but it is
vastly more energy-efficient than the alternatives, which makes it a
very cost-effective performance-storage solution.”

Customers can purchase the L210 unit through VeryPC or one of VeryPC’s
approved Reseller partners, alternatively customers can rent the
servers along with hosting provision from Memset dedicated hosting.
L210 units start from £3779+VAT, with a 12TB unit costing £6810+VAT.

VeryPC Can be contacted on 08456 170081

New report shows parents can reduce carbon emissions by 40% by using real nappies.

A new report published by the Environment Agency confirms that by using real nappies, parents can reduce their carbon emissions by 40%. Incredibly, disposable nappies account for half of household rubbish if you have a child in nappies. Over 28 million are sent to landfill in Devon each year, costing the taxpayer £500,000 annually and taking hundreds of years to rot down. With the recent closure of Chelson Meadow, refuse lorries now make a 40 mile round trip to deliver them to the nearest landfill site in Cornwall.

Tracy Dixon of Green Mums in Plymouth suggests parents follow these simple steps to reduce their impact on the environment:

• Wash nappies at either 40 or 60 degrees
• Dry on the washing line when possible – alternatively dry in a warm room
• Keep your nappies for subsequent children
• Wash using a full load – nappies can also be washed with other laundry
• Use an energy efficient washing machine
• Tumble dry as little as possible
• Don’t iron them – they don’t need it!

Environmental factors are not the only reasons why people are choosing to use cloth instead of disposables. Choosing cloth will save parents around £500 per child – this figure can be even greater if you keep nappies for second or third children.

You can even sell your real nappies once your child is potty trained and get back around 50% of the original purchase price. Potty training is usually achieved an average of 6 months earlier by children who wear real nappies – another benefit to parents. Cloth is also a natural, breathable product against your baby’s skin – they do not contain any of the chemicals and gels found in disposables. Modern cloth nappies are fun, funky and comfortable, do not involve folding and there is no need for safety pins!

Plymouth parents wishing to try real nappies are able to do so for free by using a cloth nappy trial kit for one month. So far, parents have been very positive about these kits, which are funded by the Devon Authorities Recycling Partnership. They contain everything you need to try real nappies on your baby for one month.

Tracy Dixon from Green Mums has been offering these kits alongside her own real nappy trial scheme since March this year. She has found that 84% of people who try real nappies go on to use them on their babies, rather than disposables.

For more information on real nappies, or for a no obligation demonstration, please contact Tracy Dixon on 01752 661835 or email info@greenmums.co.uk. To view the latest nappies on the market have a look at Tracy’s website.

VeryPC Initiative Offers Green Servers For Zero Cost

Britain’s leading green IT manufacturer, VeryPC, has launched www.freegreenservers.co.uk to help organisations exceed current government pressures for ‘greener’ ways of working by exchanging new for old servers for zero capital outlay.

The ‘Free GreenServer Initiative’ is set to help businesses reduce server C02 footprint by over 60%, improve system performance and reduce operational costs.

VeryPC is inviting organisations with data centers to trade-in their existing servers for VeryPC’s energy efficient Janus 2 server. The company has a database of 150 approved servers that customers can trade-in including some of the most efficient in the marketplace like the Fujitsu TX120, Dell’s Energy Smart range and SunMicrosystems Sun Fire servers. All the customer has to do is pay the energy related cost difference between the old and new servers on a monthly basis over the server’s lifetime.

Data centres use an estimated 2.3% of all electricity in the UK. As organisations continue to increase the volume and size of their data they are having to expand data centres at exponential rates to keep up with demand. However, energy prices are rising and this is providing data centre managers with key issues.

Managers are now looking at investing in more efficient equipment and greener approaches to overcome the data centre quandary, but new hardware usually comes at a price.

Sheffield based eco-computing company VeryPC hopes to kick start the cycle of refreshing to greener hardware, says Peter Hopton, Managing Director: “Refreshing IT hardware is widely recognised as adding value to a business. We want to help organisations increase their competitive advantage with better IT for zero capital outlay at the same time as demonstrating that a genuinely ‘green’ alternative to hardware refresh does make commercial and socially responsible sense. It proves our Total Cost of Ownership model stacks up.

With Christmas starting to creep around the corner, now is the time to start thinking about what gifts to buy for family and friends. As well as having to choose the appropriate gift, more people are questioning the ethical credentials behind them.

With a wide range of affordable, fair trade gifts, Only Fair are here to help you find the ideal gift. With our easy to use order process, quick delivery and a flat shipping rate of £2.95, we aim to make your shopping experience as easy as possible – no fighting through the crowds of shoppers! If you need some gift inspiration, here’s our top five fair trade gifts to get you on your way

1. Cat Rucksack – children will love this adorable cotton rucksack at £9.49.

2 – Candles are great in winter – pop a tealight in this chunky People Soapstone Tealight Holder at £7.49.

3 – This fair trade Travel Journal is the ideal gift for someone who likes to record their thoughts at £7.99.

4 – Ceramic Piggy Bank – an old fashioned favourite with a fair trade twist, at £9.95.

5. This bright and fun Rooster Shopping Bag is ideal to brighten up dull shopping trips! £8.95

6 – Know someone who thinks they’re an entertainer? See how they cope with these Crochet Juggling Balls a £8.85.

7 – Add a touch of sparkle with this pretty Metal Beaded Cuff at £4.95.

8 – This Sheesham Wood Star Puzzle is not only beautifully crafted but a great brainteaser! £6.49

9 – Share your Wisdom with our soapstone pebbles – an ideal stocking filler at £1.30.

10 – Still not sure what to buy or looking for a stocking filler? Play it safe with Divine Milk Chocolate. £1.29 for a 100g bar, free from artificial flavourings, colourings and preservatives.

And don’t forget, spend over £30 and receive a FREE 100g bar of Divine chocolate.

Keen2Learn are an ecommerce web site promoting educational games, toys and puzzles to schools and parents. Following the National Curriculum these teaching resources are designed to bring fun into the learning process -something that can be missing in the day to day “text book” approach in the classroom and in conventional homework.

A critical part of learning is practice. 75% of learning retention comes with practice in doing, compared to around 50% retained from listening to the teacher. Trouble is the classroom is not the best place to practice; time, lack of facilities and a class of 30 often makes this difficult. But at home, in fun game that can readily involve parents, a new opportunity to practice opens up.

Research has shown that the effect of parents and what they do at home to support learning can account for 80% of a child’s academic success.

Studies show that computer games have a huge benefit to children. Based on research by universities many hi-tech manufacturers are now designing games with educational content. Nintendo and PlayStation options could be around in the next couple of years. Many computer games already exist for PC and Mac’s as lesson starters quizzes that help settle the class – especially boys and the unruly element. These are also being used at home.

Keen2Learn have recently set up an online reading facility. “MightyBook” gives subscribers access to over 600 books games and puzzles. This paperless approach is a hit in the USA and of course saves paper and energy as nothing is printed. Using a laptop to read bedtime stories is an ideal way to involve Dads, that essential role that has been largely abandoned with the latest generation.

Fed up of catches by budget airplanes and unscrupulous ecommerce sites who apply hidden charges as you go through the checkout? All keen2learn prices on the site are the final price you pay.

• No VAT to add

• No minimum order value

• No hidden handling fees.

• No carriage charges to add depending on shape weight and distance.

• No tricks to keep the net price low on search engines, adding charges as the customer progresses through the check-out stages.

VeryPC Fulwood 75% more efficient than Energy Star (and 4x faster than atom)

VeryPC announces the launch of a high performance 16Watt dual- cored media centre PC, aptly named Fulwood (after the prestigious suburb of Sheffield). At over four times faster1 and at almost half the energy consumption Fulwood offers extremely high performance and flexibility while retaining its environmental standing.

Brief specification:
The Fulwood, the size of a mac mini, despite its meagre power draw doesn’t fall short on features, which include an Intel P9500 2.53GHz dual core CPU, 2GB RAM, 250GB HDD, Intel x4500HD graphics, DVDRW, remote control Windows Vista Premium, DVI (with DVI-VGA splitter for dual screens and HDMI adaptor), and surround sound audio (with SPIDIF optical interface Gigabit LAN).

Like with all VeryPC machines the Fulwood is fully customisable. Available options include internal WiFi, internal digital/hybrid TV tuner and internal Bluetooth.

VeryPC hopes the Fulwood will become one of the first PCs to be seen on the new European Energy Star List and the Energy Saving Trust’s Recommended List with impressively low power consumption figures of 16Watts idle for the base model, 19Watts idle with all the available upgrade options, and only 2Watts in ‘sleep mode’. These figures are 75% below the threshold of Energy Star 4.0 category B, which requires 65Watts or less at idle in Windows desktop.

Pricing and availability:
The Fulwood is available to pre-order on a deposit basis, and will be available to purchase online at www.very-pc.co.uk from mid October.

Prices start from £868 (inc. VAT) for the standard model and go up to £1104.5 (inc. VAT). All prices are for the PC only, and exclude monitor, keyboards and mice, and delivery.