We’ve been privileged to speak with even more edtech and industry thought leaders throughout 2023 as part of our #FinnemoreFireside chats, and the insight they continue to provide to us and our community is invaluable.

Thanks to Catherine Tallis of HFL Education, a long-standing provider of MIS support to schools, for discussing how support teams must adapt as the MIS market continues to evolve.

Thanks to Derek Hills from Ark for sharing your views on where you see AI fitting into technology budgets and the broader education landscape, and what the future of MIS might be.

It’s great to speak with thought leaders from government so thank you to Edtech NED, legislator, schools and education expert Jim Knight for your thoughts on the disconnect between the education and labour market, and the need for a school system which truly meets the needs of learners, communities and employers.

Thank you to Chris Kirk of CJK Associates Ltd for your insight into MAT’s needs in terms of vision, strategy, operating models and governance, and what this means for suppliers – both now and in the future.

Our chat with Lyndon Stickley and Sam Curtis of iplicit is essential listening for everyone with an interest in finance as they discuss the importance of change in the education sector and the need for flexibility and adaptability in finance and management systems

Thank you to Ollie Burnett from the school support team in Coventry for talking to us about all the valuable ways they support their schools, including helping them procure and migrate to their new MIS as a group earlier this year.

Finally, we were delighted to speak with Izzi Dorrian and Ed Butcher, founders of the brilliant Habitude workflow platform, for an insightful discussion on the evolving landscape of MATs, the importance of infrastructure, and the need for a clear vision.

As always, we’ve thoroughly enjoyed making the series and are looking forward to a fantastic 2024!

Have a great Christmas break

Best wishes from Sarah & Nick

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We’ve been privileged to speak with even more industry thought leaders this academic year as part of our #FinnemoreFireside chats, and the insight they provide us and our community is invaluable.

So thank you to Edtech NED, legislator, schools and education expert Jim Knight for your thoughts on the disconnect between the education and labour market, and the need for a school system which truly meets the needs of learners, communities and employers.

Thanks to Derek Hills from Ark for sharing your views on where you see AI fitting into technology budgets and the broader education landscape, and what the future of MIS might be.

Thank you Matt Woodruff for an insightful conversation about how technology can support more effective decision-making at all levels to improve outcomes and identify ways to be able to ‘do more, with less’ – more important than ever in today’s economic climate.

Thanks to Catherine Tallis of HFL Education, a long-standing provider of MIS support to schools, for discussing the ways in which support teams must adapt as the MIS market continues to evolve.

Thank you to Chris Kirk of CJK Associates Ltd for your insight into MAT’s needs in terms of vision, strategy, operating models and governance, and what this means for suppliers – both now and in the future.

And finally, we were delighted to welcome back Martin Baker of The Safeguarding Company for a follow-up chat about the lessons that can be learnt from the Child Q case. A challenging topic and we really appreciate you sharing your experience.

Nick and I have thoroughly enjoyed making the series and already have a great session ready to go in the new term from Lyndon Stickley and Sam Curtis at iplicit. Ollie Burnett from the school support team in Coventry will also be joining us to talk about all the valuable ways they support their schools, including helping them procure and migrate to their new MIS Bromcom as a group earlier this year. Watch this space!

Have a great summer break everyone 🌞

We’ve been privileged to speak with even more edtech and industry thought leaders throughout 2022 as part of our #FinnemoreFireside chats, and the insight they provide us and our community is invaluable.

So thank you Jonathan Coyles of EO Consulting for talking to us about how Trusts can become more energy-efficient, hit carbon targets, and save money at the same time.

Thanks to Mike Donoghue for giving us an insight into how MATs work and what is important to directors, leaders, governors, staff and learners.

It’s great to speak with entrepreneurs from across the edtech industry so thank you Lawrence Royston for getting involved and giving us your perspective.

Thank you to Stephen Bilboe for talking to us about changes across the international and independent education sector, and what the future might hold in terms of MIS.

Our chat with marketing and PR guru Cath Lane is essential listening for everyone who owns or leads an edtech business, thanks for the great advice.

Thank you to Andy Kent for talking to us about his focus on innovation and culture to help all levels of the education sector.

We welcomed Phil Neal back for a follow-up chat to discuss changes in the world of school management systems.

We spoke with Martin Baker of The Safeguarding Company about the lessons that can be learnt from the Child Q case.

And finally, we were delighted to speak with Matt Woodruff, Vice President of Analytics and AI at Community Brands UK, for an insightful conversation about data and machine learning.

We’ve thoroughly enjoyed making the series and already have some great sessions ready to go in the new year including a discussion on school support with Catherine Tallis, Director Of Business Services at Herts for Learning Ltd – watch this space!

Have a great Christmas break, looking forward to sharing more with you all in 2023! 🎄

Best wishes from Sarah & Nick

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We’re almost the end of term in what has been another weird year. We spent the first 3 months in lockdown so lost all face-to-face contact again (the fact we didn’t start the year by attending the Bett show was a novelty in itself!) so we’ve been continuing to catch up with people by video and share the recordings with you all – I really appreciate your positive responses!

As humans we all want to deal with other humans; it’s so important to have a real face and a real person behind your solutions. It’s been great to have so many people involved in our ‘fireside chats’ to talk education, management and innovation.

So thank you Martin Hall and Stephen Bilboe for giving us an insight into the MIS market which has continued to see big changes in 2021.

Thanks to Will Jordan and Luke Pargeter for talking to us about the things you do alongside the MIS solutions and the ways in which you help schools.

The insight Rowena Hackwood and Jeff Marshall provided into how MATs and academies work has been invaluable, both for edtech suppliers and education professionals alike, so thank you for this.

And finally thank you Phil Neal, Mark House, Andre Skepple and Priya Lakhani for your views and ideas on what might happen next and the big trends in edtech.

Sarah and I have thoroughly enjoyed making the series, and already have some great sessions ready to go in the new term with industry thought leaders Duncan Baldwin, Keren Wild and Tony Lockwood – watch this space!

In case you missed it, here’s a round-up of all our thought leader Q&A sessions from 2020.

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How important is human contact?

When lockdown happened back in March, like many other businesses, our business lost all in-person contact with the outside world (and it was hard!).

But as humans we all want to deal with other humans; it’s so important to have a real face and a real person behind your solutions.

It’s for that reason we set up online chats with various people in our industry to talk trends, try to make future predictions in a changing world, and generally shoot the breeze. We’ve been sharing the recordings and the response has been great, I think everyone wants to get to know the faces behind the companies too!

So thank you James Weatherill, Richard Harley, Ali Guryel, Winston Poyton and Barry Anns for giving us an insight into the school MIS market which has seen some big changes this year.

Thanks to Mark Tadman, Guthrie Denniston and Martin Baker for talking to us about all the things you do alongside the MIS solutions and the ways in which you help schools.

And finally thank you Phil Neal, Joshua Perry and Graham Reed for your views and ideas on what might happen next and the big trends in edtech.

Nick and I have thoroughly enjoyed making the series, here’s to many more in 2021!

Over the summer, we took the opportunity to have a virtual get together with thought leader and entrepreneur Josh Perry to talk all things education.

Josh has a diverse and creative background, having worked in a large, progressive MAT himself and then going on to start numerous edtech businesses.

Really interesting views on everything from the role of MATs in an emerging tech market, his new projects (including Carousel, Smartgrade and advisory work), trends in the MIS sector, his Bring More Data blog, thoughts on forthcoming MIS mergers/acquisitions, and a great deal more!

Lots of insightful stuff was discussed so we’ve split the interview out into separate parts below – enjoy!