The School

Established in 1931, Chislehurst & Sidcup Grammar (CSGS) welcomes children from all backgrounds, and accommodates 1,400 pupils, retaining around 130 staff. Affectionately named ‘Chis & Sid’, the school’s mission is ‘helping the learners of today become the leaders of tomorrow’ and it aims to develop pupils intellectually, emotionally and physically in order to reach the highest academic, sporting, cultural and aesthetic standards. The school has made heavy investment in new facilities with an ongoing focus on development and improvement, of which technology has been a critical part.

The Challenge

Fourteen years ago, CTS was awarded this prestigious contract with Chislehurst & Sidcup Grammar School based on the attraction of our Managed service offering. First, the company’s rationale and reputation is built upon providing flexibility, which for Chis and Sid was vital, in order to shape the service according to its unique requirements. Secondly, they needed a trusted partner who had a long-term vision for IT who could also ensure the effective management of an ever-increasing cost-centre. Working in harmony with the school, our overarching objective has been to support its strategic development and vision which underpins ambitious plans for enhanced teaching and learning. Through our fourteen years of partnership, the diligent management of budgets has been critical as the combined pressures of increased technology expectations and usage has grown year-on-year. The long-standing dedicated team, has remained virtually unaltered in the school forging strong IT processes and effecting change in the support architecture. Our friendly team are familiar and are trusted faces within the school, contributing actively to the Chis and Sid ethos. We know that students feel vulnerable with the arrival of modern technologies, and our team are of invaluable help in ensuring that they feel happy, valued and secure at all times.

Projects

Alongside our managed service provision, we have been working with the school on a rolling programme of activities:

  • Boosting Internet connectivity
  • Implemented Firewall
  • Filtering solutions
  • Providing structured cabling
  • Improving the switching architecture
  • Technology Refreshes, end-to-end IT project implementation and delivery
  • Intelligent software licensing solutions (Microsoft academic licensing and cloud based, software as a service (SaaS)

Embracing the Cloud

The school was an early adopter of Office 365 and cloud based resources and together with Class, they have continued to develop further the functionality of their SharePoint environment. All staff and students now take the full advantage of Office 365 along with a mailbox, enabling effortless communication with peers and teachers.

Summary

CTS close partnership with CSGS has resulted in a virtually seamless support service, with no major disruption or down time. We continue to work with the School to ensure that the right balance is maintained between the shape of the existing IT operating model and the on-going and changing technological requirements which will develop and support teaching and learning at the school. We achieve this through transparent service delivery reviews, timely reporting and exceptional contract management.