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The Client
Crossways Academy is a purpose built, contemporary sixth form college in Lewisham, South London. Taking students from four separate feeder schools in the borough, the new scheme is a pioneer of the Government’s 14-19 strategy to improve education in Britain and encourage more pupils to stay on at school after the age of sixteen.

Within its first year, Crossways exceeded its recruitment target of 550 students by 110 and the number of students staying on for post-16 education in north Lewisham increased by 55%.

The Challenge
A key requirement of any new solution was that students would not only be given access to the internet but also to the Cambridge University Data Network. The latter provides a host of valuable resources for students but can only be accessed by those who are ‘seen’ as internal rather than external users to the network.

To handle this and to deal with the security issues surrounding the use of wireless networks, the computer science students at Trinity Hall installed a Linux-based Virtual Private Network (VPN) server. With the VPN in place, Eric Marcus began the search to fi nd a company who could provide the necessary connectivity from the students’ housing back to the College.

The Solution
Redstone introduced the OneNET™ ICT network with a secure LAN as the hub and access to a variety of hosted applications on the London Grid for Learning.

In addition to a bespoke communications infrastructure providing a range of voice, data and Internet applications, Redstone installed its OneDesk solution to lock down desktops and prevent students or staff from changing the standard configuration of software on each machine. As a result, Crossways was able to reduce its risk of consuming IT resource to rectify problems caused by over-enthusiastic users and can allow greater flexibility for laptops to be taken home.

 

Redstone’s knowledge of intelligent buildings means that the
ICT solution is integrated into the very fabric of the building and
thus into the way we work.
Anthony Bravo, Principal, Crossways Academy

The entire network is protected with a PIX firewall and Cisco access control server and a Redstone representative remains on site at the Academy for a contracted number of days per year to provide system and end user support.

Realising the benefits
One of Crossways' first objectives was to put ICT at the heart of the Academy to
provide students and staff with the most flexible, mobile and up-to-date learning and support facilities.

Redstone Managed Solutions was chosen from 100 separate companies to provide a complete ICT solution in time for the Academy’s opening in September 2004.

 

The results

• Joined up learning facilities allowed the sharing of teaching best practice and materials
  
  
• Administrative processes were simplifi ed and the speed and quality of communication has improved
  
  
• IP Telephony allowed voice and data to run across the same infrastructure and changes to be made internally, leading to lower support costs
  
  
• Wireless networking introduced greater flexibility
  

The Outcome
Redstone Managed Solutions’ recommendations allowed Crossways Academy to pioneer the most modern teaching techniques, prompting The Guardian to proclaim ‘One day, all schools will be like this.’ Anthony Bravo, principal at Crossways Academy comments:

Redstone is unique in its proven ability to provide the education sector with the best ICT solutions to build a flexible learning infrastructure fit for 21st century teaching and learning. Because they supply ICT solutions to leading industry and commercial organisations as well as leading education establishments we get the best of both worlds. Their knowledge of intelligent buildings means that the ICT solution is integrated into the very fabric of the building and thus into the way we work.

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