Almost all pre-schools in UK have adopted the EYFS curriculum. And the progress that has been observed in children in their early years who belong to those nurseries or schools that follow EYFS is praise worthy.

In September 2014, the Department of Education had released the latest version of the EYFS. Main changes have been brought to the Safeguarding and Welfare Requirements, where requirements of several policies have been removed. However, the learning and development aspects have not undergone any large changes.

Here are the latest changes that have been made:

General

Throughout the new version of EYFS, there are several references to childminder agencies. It says that the child minders registered with the agency are supposed to provide staff information to the agency and also, the agency is responsible to check whether the child minders are appropriate for the job

Learning and development requirements

  1. Wraparound and holiday providers should be guided using learning and development requirements and look forward to carry out learning in settings in which children can spend more time has been removed from EYFS
  2. However, the Characteristics of Effective Learning continue to exist
  3. A sentence about providers looking after the training and development needs of every staff on a continuous manner has been moved to the Safeguarding and Welfare Requirements section
  4. The Early Learning Goals remain unchanged

Assessment

  1. Progress Check at Two which states that ‘Practitioners must discuss with parents and/or careers how the summary of development can be used to support learning at home’ has been removed.
  2. Reference to information sharing with a teacher (in case a child moves to school-based facilities at the age of three years) has been changed to the staff of any facility the child may transfer to.
  3. The necessity to do Progress Check up to date to add into the Healthy Child Health and Development Review has been made less strict
  4. The EYFS Profile has still been made compulsory

Safeguarding and Welfare Requirements

  1. The responsibilities of providers listed under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 has been elaborated ad to say that  the providers to make referral to the Disclosure and Barring Service where a staff member is dismissed because they caused harm to a child or put a child in risk of harm
  2. The ‘Disqualification’ section has been further improved to give a clear idea of the aspects of disqualification or living with a disqualified person

Staff qualifications, training, support and skills

  1. References to giving local authority training  and in first aid to child minders have been removed
  2. Staff having an Early Years Educator qualification should have English and Math GCSEs at grade C or above in order to count in ratios
  3. References to ensure staff appraisals and supporting staff to enhance qualification levels have been removed

Staff: Child Ratios

  1. Staff working apprentices can now be counted in ratios from age of 16 years
  2. When graduates are working at a ratio of 1:13, the reference to ‘full and relevant level 6 qualification’ has changed to a ‘suitable’ one
  3. A new footnote says that the teacher(or equivalent) is expected to work with the children for most of the time when 1:13 staff: child ratio is applied

Before/after school care and holiday provision

A new paragraph in this section refers that the regulations for the providers in terms of ratios, qualification and learning development has been made less strict. Where is said before that ‘sufficient staff as for a class of 30 children’ has been changed to ‘for providers to determines how many staff are needed… and to determine what qualifications, if any, the manager and/or staff should have.’

Managing Behaviour

The need to have a behaviour management policy and a named practitioner responsible has been removed and it at present, it says’, providers are responsible for managing children’s behaviour in an appropriate way’

Safety and suitability of premises, environment and equipment

  1. The paragraph that says about premises having to be fit for purpose has been cut down, with requirements for a health and safety policy removed
  2. The need for a no smoking policy has been removed
  3. Reference of Equality Act 2010 has been removed while the requirement to ensure  that ‘facilities, equipment and access to the premises are suitable for children with disabilities’ have been removed
  4. Reference to providing facilities for children  who want to relax, play quietly or sleep with the right kind of furniture has been removed
  5. The need for a risk assessment policy where all important steps to ensure that the staff and the children they take care of are not exposed to any kind of risks has been taken off
  6. The need of getting written permission from parents to take the children on outings have been removed

Special educational needs

  1. This section has been changed from ‘equal opportunities.’ The requirement of a policy to provide equal opportunities to all students and explains how  inappropriate attitudes and practices will be prevented while encouraging the children to give value and respect to others, has been removed.
  2. Also, maintained nursery schools should have a SENCO while others are supposed to ‘identify a SENCO.’

Education and technology go hand in hand nowadays. There are a lot of software to help out teachers, parents and students. These software make studies easy and interesting while ensuring parental involvement as well as safety. Edsys has introduced Parent Portal, Smart apps for preschoolers, Smartcards for schools, school bus tracking system, RFID Student Tracking system etc. All these makes education lively.

Why has technology become the soul of education? There are many reasons for it. The wonderful achievements of technology reduce human effort and saves time and money.. here are 8 reasons why technology in education is the new trend.

  1. Every place becomes a classroom: With the help of new technologies you don’t have to sit in a classroom to learn. There are online classes where students from around the world participate, sitting at their homes. Study materials are available  online. All  you need is a smart device and an internet connection.
  2. Easy to carry:  Huge text books and heavy logs make education heavy task. Technology makes education portable. Everything can be saved in a tab or PC. Bulk text books, records, registers and assignments can be made portable in a chip.
  3. Saves time and energy: Technology helps teachers in many ways. Teachers can manage evaluations easily. All information can be stored systematically which makes searching easy. Properly entered data about any student can be retrieved when necessary. Teachers can play video in the class rather than explaining things orally. It will be more effective too.
  4. Share knowledge: Sharing knowledge will increase knowledge. With the help technology any knowledge can be shared with anyone in the world. News, articles, blogs, quizzes, puzzles everything can be shared with internet connection. Publishing blogs or magazines becomes possible.
  5. Helps to make parent- teacher communication effective:  Edsys has introduced Parent Portal and EYFS managing software which makes parent- teacher communication more effective. The EYFS managing software helps teachers in observing the child’s development and to  stay updated. It also helps teachers  in making postcards that can be shared with parents. Parent Portal provides communication centre where teachers and parents can interact. .
  6. Safety of the child in and out of the school: With the help of RFID Student Tracking system teachers and parents can understand the whereabouts of the students. Their attendance in class and school bus can be marked with the help of Smart Cards. School buses with GPS tracking System can be traced as well as monitored by the authorities any time.
  7. It makes education stress-free and relaxed: Technology reduce the burden of learning for the students and teaching for teachers. It makes education more interesting. Smart classrooms will enhance creativity.
  8. Technology reduces the cost of materials: We don’t have to pay huge amount for books and classes. With one laptop or tab we can store all the necessary data of each class. Students can depend on their e-device and can save money without buying books, assignment papers and study tools. They can do all their assignments in the e-device and send them to the teachers’. The teacher can evaluate them in her smart device!

Technology has become a part of our life. It has changed education in a way that was unimaginable a couple of decades ago. We can only wonder how it will be in future. But one thing is for sure. Technology in education is here to stay. It’s not just a simple trend.

What do you think? Share your thoughts with us in the comment section.

The use of smart cards began in the 1980s and since then the technology evolved at an exponential pace. Replacing the plastic cards with magnetic strips has provided the latest smart cards with durability of more than 10 years and increased security.
A smart card is nothing but a pocket sized plastic card with an embedded chip that is capable of processing data. Hence it is also called a mini-processor. Initially the contact smart cards were developed, which then gave way for contactless smart cards and now the industry is fast moving to hybrid cards. Smart cards are being commonly used for identification and authentication purposes (Example: Debit cards, credit cards).

Present day smart cards

  •  Earlier, computer data used to be stored in hard disks with the risk of device damage and data theft. With the use of a smart card, all these problems are taken care of, as accessing the smart cards without proper authentication is difficult.
  • At present, smart cards have a contact pad, which when comes in contact with a card reader, initiates data reading and recording. As soon as the contact pad comes in touch with the reader, an electrical connection is established.
  • Smart cards have stirred up massive changes in numerous fields. The most noted are in the school system. It has helped in ushering fluidity and transparency to transactions. Students have been saved from the burden of carrying cash in hand as smart cards are viable alternatives for them. Paying school fees, for canteen food, library books and so on has been made simple with the intervention of smart cards.
  • Smart cards are also widely used in the field of health care and banking. The records of patient or clients can be made and stored for future reference. Patient history or the transactions made by the customers in a bank can also be recorded, thereby avoiding the need for a hard copy.

Future of Smart Cards

  • Contactless smart cards use RFID to communicate with the reader. When in the proximity of the reader, the smart card-reader interface begins which allows data transfer.
  • As said before contactless smart cards are in production and have been accepted globally. But what the future holds is a hybrid smart card, one that combines contact and contactless technology of both the previous smart cards. These cards can serve multiple functions.
  • Biometric smart card shows a promising future as the security is enhanced to a great extent. Though the full potential of this technology has not been understood, research has shown that biometric smart cards are the way to go.
  • As a patient’s medical history can be recorded in a smart card, effort have been made to develop smart cards that stores entire hospital records in just one smart card.
  •  Smart cards of the future are also capable of providing secure logging into the organizational network and secure B2B commerce.
  • It can also be used for storing digital certificates, credentials and passwords and can even support encryption of sensitive data.
  • The most promising uses of smart cards in future seem to be in using it for developing traveller’s ID. This can hold information regarding the person who holds the card, his travel history and all other relevant data. This can be helpful in reducing hours of security check. Business travellers will be most benefitted as they are the ones who travel frequently.

It is clear that the use of smart cards could help in simplifying labour oriented works and helps in massive storage of data. It even doubles the safety when compared to the presently popular swipe cards. Moreover the integration of smart cards, biometrics and the development of hybrids can change the way we look at future of education, medical, banking, travel and many other fields.

It is a fact that technology is taking over our lives. It is helping people stay connected than ever before. Technology does magic in the field of education as well. Learning new things are a touch away, as lectures are bought home according to convenience and interest.

Technology has extended its helping hand over to pre-schoolers also. New apps have made learning a more enjoyable experience for students. There are apps out there that engage preschoolers in fun and at the same time educate them.

There are a lot of advantages that comes with smart apps

  • Friendly and educational apps make learning incredibly fun and interesting. The learning opportunities are hidden yet very much present.
  • Hand-eye coordination is developed: may pre-schooler apps include tracing lines, numbers and letters that helps in coordination of hand and eye which enables healthy grooming of kids
  • Smart apps help in educating children without reducing the excitement of the kids. The more they play, the more they learn. Children feel excited to learn new things.
  • The healthy growth of brain is really important for kids. Apps  makes the mind of kids strong and smart, preparing them for future
  • Apps even improve the lifestyle. Little ones are encouraged to eat healthy, and stay fit.

11  Astonishing Apps for Preschoolers

1. Dr. Panda’s Hospital

Dr. Panda’s Hospital is an interesting game that makes kids curious for life and the world around them. A positive influence is instilled on the kids. Preschoolers will love the game.

Key Features of the App

  • 10 fun doctor games and activities
  • 8 different and friendly animal patients
  • Complete Hospital consisting of waiting room, two patient rooms and a helicopter landing pad
  • Medical or animal stickers can be earned as rewards.
  • Touch & Discover: Fun animations and sounds

2. Kinectimals

The app provides opportunity to visit the Lemuria island and to care and fall in love with the own cub. The app develops love and compassion for animals and living things around the world.

  • The app has 5 different exotic animals to choose from
  • Wonderful lasting friendship between the animals teaches kids the value of friendship
  • Kids can teach, command and can play with the animals

3. Thomas Game Pack

The app offers multiple uses for the kid as it sets the kid with game, mazes and puzzles. The game entertains the kids for hours. There are three games in the pack Matching Mission, Cargo Mazes and Engine Puzzles.

  • Boosting of memory skills
  • Coordination of eye and hand
  • Healthy development of brain 

4. Alpha Tots

Alpha Tots as an app that consists of 26 preschooler puzzles and mini-games that makes kids understand and learn alphabets. The interactive alphabets in the game help to recite those familiarizing kids easily with the 26 alphabets.

  • Upper and lower version of the alphabets are available
  • Parents choice award winner
  • Make kids more interactive

5. The Cat in the Hat – Dr. Seuss

The interactive app helps the students to learn new vocabulary and also personalises the story with own narration. The mischief done by Dick and Sally when their mother is out should be cleared and things should get back to normal.  The name of objects is read loud when tapped.

  • Learn new vocabulary
  • Multiple fun ways to learn     

 6. Colour & Draw

Colour & Draw Super is a super artistic app that has bagged many awards for its multiple uses for kids. It encourages children to draw, colour and decorate drawings. The app introduces children to the world of colours. The app consists of more than a hundred colouring pages with four colouring books.

  • The app consists of  more than 100 cute and smart  fascinating illustrations
  • Kids can use pencil, crayon, wet brush and air brush
  • Appropriate themes that keeps the fun alive
  • Fun backgrounds to draw on

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7. Sprinkle Junior

Kids will have a good time with Sprinkle Junior. The app consists of a water-physics based playground for young children to play with. The app allows kids to splash unlimited amount of water. The app is all about playing games and having fun.

  • Water physics is introduced with fascinating features
  • Creative levels that are unique
  • Touch control

8. Kids Connect the Dots

Children connect dots and when it’s completed the dots transform in to a creature. The creatures created by the preschoolers acquire life. The app consists of 25 images. In a friendly manner the app teaches children to pronounce numbers and letters. The app is a perfect balance of entertainment and education. The audio and visual treat for the children are not over-loaded.

  • There are over 100 images
  • The number games in the app teaches numbers only
  • The letter game teaches letters only and not maths
  • When the dots are connected or when children tap on them, alphabet is pronounced  by the app

9. Time Bird

It is difficult for preschoolers to understand the whole concept of time. Time Bird is an app that helps to introduce the concept. The app keeps things simple for children. The app is exciting as well as educating.

Advantages of Time Bird

1) Learn to Tell Time

  • Introduction to the purpose and features of clock
  • Both analogue and digital clocks are used
  • Explains about the hour hand
  • The user can choose Auto Learning or Self Learning

2) Activities

a) Matching: It is a simple activity that asks the child to match the digital and the analogue clocks          showing the same time

b) Set Time: The activity asks the child to set the time on the clock

10Body Parts

Body Parts is an interesting app that introduces the human body to preschoolers.

The learning section of Body Part app

1) Names of the Body Parts

2) Five Senses and their use

3) Following parts of the human body are covered

  • Head (including hair, eyes, ears, nose, and mouth)
  • Neck
  • Shoulders
  • Arms (including elbow and wrist)
  • Hands (including fingers)
  • Chest
  • Legs
  • Knees
  • Ankles
  • Feet (including toes)

4) The app includes kids game Simon Says

5) Fun with senses

11Quiz Time

Quiz Time is a smart app that provides fun and knowledge quiz for preschoolers, kids and toddlers. It tests their knowledge in English Alphabet, Math and Early Science. The app offers large collection of question to the preschoolers.

Highlights of the app

1) All questions are categorized into three rounds

  • Audio
  • Visual
  • Rapid Fire

2) The app tests knowledge of alphabet, numbers, colours, shapes and many more interesting topics

3) All questions have multiple answers however there’s only one correct answer

4) The Score Board after every round displays the scores

When holidays are at the doorsteps, children make a lot of plans. Parents always feel the urge to find something that can make them engaged as well as safe. What if something can be introduced to your children that can keep them engaged and enhances their knowledge/learning skill at the same time? That’s where education apps functions as a magic wand. There are numerous smart apps for preschoolers as well as bigger children.

Holidays are meant for enjoyment and relaxation for children. With interaction and through games, they learn a lot of things. The appropriate use of technology can make a lot of difference and can transform lives. Using smart apps can help preschoolers in developing critical thinking, problem solving and creativity. With learning apps, children can elevate their experience in education.

Vacations can be made useful as well as fruitful by introducing education based apps to your children. What is better than your children gaming quietly, learning about new things without disturbing others?

Researches prove that education apps numerous positive effects on children:

1)Patients to follow the instruction
2)Concentration
3)Boosting memory
4)Accuracy
5)Rapid problem solving attitude
6)Analysis
7)Recognizing the pattern
8)Entertainment
9)Enhances the natural curiosity of children

There are a lot of apps out there that can help you with the education purpose through entertainment

1)Doodle Critter Math: Shapes

Introduce to your kids the world of geometry resulting in the developments of their mind too. Doodle Critter Math: Shapes is an app that encourages children to interact and play with basic shapes like triangle, rectangle, square, pentagon, hexagon, and circle. The shapes are familiarized by children through the game they play. The design of this smart app and its characters are really cute that preschoolers will love to play with it.

The app teaches its young user to

•Learn Shapes
•Sort out Shapes
•Match the Pairs
•Remember Shapes
•Make Different Shapes
•Find Shapes

2)GOZOA – The Key Quest

Appropriate for children between the ages of 6-11, Gozoa – The Key Quest is an adventures game app, where the user should help free Gozoa’s friends from the evil Villain. By completing an assignment children will win stars and diamonds. The rewards encourage them to repeatedly solve and improve themselves. The rewarded diamonds can be used to buy various items in Gozoa’s house. Children should engage themselves in additional assignment if there are no diamonds left in their pocket. They are motivated to use their math skills through the game. Each level gets harder and harder familiarizing the child more with the mathematics skill.

LEARNING AREAS WITH THE APP:

1. Practice numbers up to 100
2. Adding numbers together from 0-100
3. Subtracting numbers from 0-100
4. Multiplying numbers from 1-9
5. Dividing numbers from 1-9
6. Learn times tables 1-9.
7. Learn to tell time by using the dial and the digital clock.
8. Recognize and read the dial – the position of the hands.
9. Recognize and read the digital clock – using hour and minute display.
10. Set the time shown on the clock face on the digital clock and vice versa:
one hour, 30 minutes, 15 minutes, 10 minutes, 5 minutes.

3)Sudoku Junior

Sudoku Junior is an educational and learning platform for the 4+ age groups. The app provides children pictorial sudoku puzzles. There are 24 game categories like Animals, Famous Monuments, Sports and Science with over 250+ stunning picture icons. The app helps to brain-boosting. Children can never get bored with this colourful app. They think a lot while solving the puzzle.

Advantages of playing Sudoku:

1)Sudoku brings a sense of calm and order
2)Sudoku helps the brain to stay healthy
3)Children tends to be active problem solver

4)PlayKids

PlayKids is an app that is filled with over 200 videos, shows, stories and educational games. The app is constantly updated in order to provide entertainment to kids. Through the app, children can enjoy the videos anytime and anywhere. The app guarantees fun, even without internet connection.

5)MyMathBook

MyMathBook is an smart application that entertains as well as engages children to learn mathematics in a fun-filled way. Basic knowledge about maths can be derived from the app. Various animation and illustrations in the app invokes the interest of learning mathematics. Creativity mixed with knowledge is MyMathBook app. Learning Numbers, Trace Numbers, Learn to Count, Addition, Subtraction and Finding the missing Numbers are the various sections of the app. After learning of a topic the user can attend a test. Evaluating oneself becomes easy with the test section provided by the app. Learning becomes possible with the best environment.

Smart technology for better future

•Research indicates that by 2016, smart phones will be the only types of phones that Americans use
•Less than 2 years after its introduction, 1 in 5 adults owned a tablet
•70% of tablet owning households with children under 12 say that their children use the device
•41% of families with children entertain them with a mobile device at restaurants
•77% let their children use the tablet to play games
•57% let their children use the tablet for educational apps
•More than 80% of the best selling paid apps in the iTunes store’s ‘Education’ category are targeted towards children

In a study, children who used an educational gaming app for 5-10 minutes per day for three weeks:

•31% improved their knowledge of colors by 2 or more
•45% improved their picture naming skill levels by an average of more than 8 months
•38% improved object assembly skill levels by an average of more than 10 months

Four walls and a blackboard alone cannot make a proper classroom. A good classroom is the place where a student can learn things in a positive way. The subject knowledge of the teacher itself is not enough to make the classroom good. There are so many things that can improve our classrooms. A skilled teacher, a pleasing physical environment and advanced technologies can do wonders in the making of an ideal classroom. Students learn more from their schools than from their homes. So, creating a learning environment is a necessity. The classroom must be charming and filled with sparks that can evolve children in a positive manner.

How should it be?

First and foremost thing is the mode of conduct in the class. There must be activity oriented learning in our classrooms. Practical learning methods are much better than long lectures. So our classrooms must provide a space for activity oriented learning. Activity can be of any type like practical workouts, writings, oral speeches or presentations etc. Let the students share their ideas about the current topic of discussion. Every development or action in the classroom can be recorded and analyzed for the purpose of evaluation of the students’ potential. Rewarding them for their presentations and achievements will be a great motivation for them.

Role of the Teacher

The teacher must have a pleasing personality. Always begin your classes with a smile. The students must not feel any kind of stress inside the classroom. He must feel free to interact in the class. It is the teachers’ responsibility to motivate all students in a class without any disparity. All the students should get a chance to speak up at least once in a day. Thus the classroom must turn into a space for interactive learning.

All these things are applicable only if the number of students per class is manageable. Not only the number of students but the number of hours and portions allotted to each teacher should be reasonable. A heavy workload or a constrained time limit is not good at all for the teacher and the students.

How to Make These Allotments Easy?

Division of workload and the making of timetables are really complicated in the case of any institution. Edsys brings solutions for these problems.

Teachers should not be over burdened with responsibilities. Managing the workload among teachers is not easy like cutting a cake. Edsys introduces Workforce Management software to solve this problem.  It doesn’t simply divide the workload among the teachers but it records the works done by every teacher. With the help of this software, every work done by a teacher can be recorded and the time they spend in the classrooms also be measured. It helps the management or the authorities to evaluate the performance of the teachers and they can be rewarded according to their works. If anyone is over burdened, they can be identified and their workload can be reduced.

Workforce Management software also helps the teachers to apply for their leaves in advance. So it helps to manage the hours of those teachers by making slight changes in the schedule. The number of leaves taken and working hours are also recorded.

Only if the teacher is happy in his/her working environment will they be able to make their classrooms lively.

Edsys has introduced the Timetable Management Software to make work allotment easy by making timetables without much manual effort. With this software, it is easy to club smart classroom facilities effectively and allot periods both class wise and teacher wise. With its help, substitution work can be done easily. This software has locking and blocking options which can be used for individual adjustments.

Technology can also place a great role in making the classroom a better place to learn. Smart Classrooms are best examples for it. Classroom must have the facilities like LCD screen or projector and Internet connection. These facilities will enable them to make use of educational CDs and online classes.  They will be able to interact with a wide range of tutors from around the world. Preparing a small class library is another useful tip to make classroom learning effective. With the help of Parent Portal, parents can also have a look at the books they read. While teaching a new topic in the class, teachers can give them more information related to the particular topic with the help of Internet, and can issue related books. Seeing visuals regarding the subject will enhance the memory of students.

Physical Environment

Physical environment has a great role in the making of an ideal classroom. When there are so many distractions in a classroom, diverting the attention of the students, the learning process won’t be effective.  So a calm and pleasant atmosphere is necessary for a classroom. The classroom must be spacious and should have proper ventilation and light. The walls of the classroom can be decorated with charts and posters related to their curriculum.

The models, pictures, posters, charts etc the students make should be displayed in the class. The student must get a chance to exhibit their skills in their classrooms. After each hour, the teacher must give some minutes to the students to analyze the activities of the hour and should encourage them to speak up their opinion.

To analyze everything that happens in a classroom, there must be an assistant to the teacher.  The assistant should record the progress of the students and add the data into the Parent Portal. So the parents can be a part of the class.

Team work

Finally, what makes the classroom a better place to learn is the team work of the teachers, students, school authorities and the parents with the help of advanced technologies.  A well designed time schedule and a properly distributed workload and a fine supervisor can make it really happen.

The Workforce Management System provides myriad of possibilities. Tracking attendance, marking leaves and paying manually requires a lot of effort and time. As a single solution for all these requirements, the Workforce Management System helps school managements to manage their workforce with ease.

Any new staff member of an organization can be enrolled in to Workforce Management System online portal without difficulty. Each staff member is provided with a profile along with unique login-id and password for privacy. By using the ID, each member can login to the profile and mark attendance. Manually entering attendance, leave and other details leaves space for errors. Automating the process can make it easier to maintain a far more reliable record.

The advantages are numerous. Calculating monthly salary becomes easier and applying leaves can be done through individual profiles (which makes managing pre-planned leaves easy). These are but just two of the benefits offered by WFM.

Watch the video below to understand how Workforce Management Software works.

Advantages of switching to Workforce Management System

Attendance

Teachers and other staff members can punch through the biometric system or the attendance menu of the workforce management account. The punch in and punch out time is calculated by the system, making it handy to calculate the working hours of each person. If a person does not punch-in for a day, an automatic email is generated to the concerned person, after marking leave for the day in the profile.

(i)   Attendance history is handy

(ii)  Each Monday, the attendance details of the previous week is sent to the person

The punch details will include:

  • Date
  • Status (whether present, absent or if it was a day off )
  • The punched in time
  • The punched out time
  • The working time duration in hours and minutes

Leave management

Managing leave becomes easy with the Workforce Management Software. Through the web-portal, an employee can easily apply for leave without the confusion of paper works. Public holidays are marked in the calendar provided, which makes it easy to pre-plan the leave. The page will show the remaining leave and its category. The pre-planned leaves consist of the sub-menu option which shows the status of the applied leave. The principal of the school or the head of the department can approve or decline the leave application through the portal.

The leave application includes:

  • The date on which leave is applied
  • Details of the employee
  • The type of leave (casual, medical, earned leave, loss of pay)
  • Number of dates leave applied for
  • Reason for the leave
  • Contact details of the employee including address and phone number

Productivity

To evaluate each individual’s contribution in building up and sustaining an organisation, regular tracking of productivity is vital. Merely calculating the working hours of an employee doesn’t show the exact contribution. Workforce Management System comes with timesheet, where teachers and other staff members can enter the productivity report daily.

The timesheet provides special facility for the principal or the concerned person to assign projects to teachers and staff members. This allows them to fill in the projects with activities and the time taken for each corresponding activity. My Diary is a feature that shows the daily details of each employee.

Payroll

HR managers hold the responsibility of calculating the salary for employees every month. It takes a lot of time and energy to calculate hours worked, number of leaves taken and other factors of each employee and then prepare a pay slip for each. Manual calculations are prone to errors and does not ensure accuracy. A single mistake can ruin the whole calculation process.

With the help of Workforce Management Software, HR can generate digital payslips. The employees can view their salary details as well. By logging in through their respective accounts in the web portal, salary details can easily be retrieved on monthly basis.

More advantages that comes with Workforce Management Software

  • Employee productivity tracking
  • Performance evaluation
  • Privacy
  • Transparency
  • Better management with less effort
  • Save time, energy and paper

Let’s look at the following situations:

  • Child losing money sent with him to buy food, stationary or to pay fees
  • Children having to remember and carry all kinds of cards including bus pass, library card etc.

You may get angry at your child for some time for losing the money/card or may be punish them. But does that form a permanent solution? Definitely No!

Smartcard solutions by Edsys are tailor-made to avoid such situations. From tracking students to fee payment, purchasing from canteens to book store and library management, smart cards makes student life a lot easier.

Check out the video to know more about the working of Smart card solutions by Edsys.

 

Here’s a list of situations where smart cards come handy from both students and parents:

1. You don’t know what your child is doing in school and would like to know his/her whereabouts as soon as they step out of home or your child has complained of overspending and you want to report it at school, but where do you get the driver information from?

Smart cards! They help you keep track of your child right from the time he/she enters the school bus and the also all details regarding the student, parents, school bus and its driver.

2. Your child has the habit of losing money that you give him/her to purchase food from the school canteen or purchase stationary items from the school book store
Smart cards by Edsys obviously! They offer cashless payment and when your child buys food or beverages from the school canteen or stationary items from school book store, the appropriate amount of purchase would be deducted from the Point of Sale and you will get the statement of purchase.

3. You go to pay your child’s school fees but when it’s your turn to pay the fees, you don’t remember any information about your child such as the roll number or the division he/she is studying in.

It’s a common scene in fees counters of schools where parents go on a hunt in their bags to get information about their child that is necessary to pay the fees. Forget the struggle by using Smart cards by Edsys. You have all your child’s information stored in there which can be easily used for fee payment. Also you can top up the smart cards from the school’s fee counter.

4. Your child goes to the school library to borrow or return a book but suddenly remembers that he/she left the library card at home
Since Smart cards have all student information stored in them, it can be used in school libraries to borrow or return books. They can be used to mark library attendance too.

Apart from its use in the educational field, about a billion Smart cards are used across the globe for various other purposes.

  • In many countries, payphones are equipped with card readers thus freeing you from carrying coins or remembering long access codes
  • Smart cards can be used to properly identify and bill a mobile user
  • Smart banking cards can be used in place of credit cards, debit cards etc. for secure and cashless payment transactions
  • Smart cards can be used for payments while making purchases and also in taxis or buses
  • Smart cards can be used in health sector for verifying patients or to access information about the patients
  • Smart cards can be used for verification processes and can even tore information such as user’s photograph or fingerprints

‘Bullying’ is not a strange word now. Everywhere, children are facing bullying. Majority of the students in the world are facing bullying from school, from home or through online.

Definition

Bullying is unwanted, aggressive behavior that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated or has a potential to be repeated, over time. Bullying includes actions such as threatening, spreading rumors, attacking someone physically or verbally and excluding someone from a group with purpose.

Bullying in schools

It’s a type of bullying that takes place in an educational institution and it can be physical, sexual, verbal or emotional nature.

Main characteristics of bullying at school

  1. It is deliberate and with an intention to harm; not accidental.
  2. It may cause psychological, social or physical trauma in varying degrees to the victims.
  3. It has a potential to happen again and again; it is persistent.
  4. It is motivated by the perceived benefits of their aggressive behavior.

 

Types of bullying that happens to students

Physical bullying: Any unwanted physical contact between the bully and the victim. It can be identified easily.
Examples: punching , pushing, kicking, tickling , inappropriate touching, fighting or using any object as weapon.

Emotional bullying: It won’t harm the body but the mind. It causes damage to the psyche or happy mood.
Examples:

  1. Spreading rumors
  2. Keeping someone out of the group
  3. Avoiding or ignoring someone purposefully
  4. Harassment
  5. Making fun of others

Verbal bullying: It includes any statements or accusations that cause distress to someone.

  • Using foul language at someone
  • Using derogatory remarks or terms about a person
  • Making negative comment on the person’s appearance
  • Mocking, teasing, belittling etc.

Cyber bullying: It is the most threatening type of bullying and difficult to find out.
“ Cyber bullying is bullying that takes place using electronic technology. Electronic technology includes devices and equipments such as cell phone, computers and tablets as well as communication tools including social media, text messages, chats and websites.”

How is Cyber bullying different?

  • It can happen at any time and anywhere.
  • Messages or images can be sent anonymously
  • It threatens the victim about publishing pictures or messages to a wide audience. It is very difficult to find out the source unless we inform the authority.
  • Once the bully deletes the message, it is difficult to catch them.

Sexual bullying: it is also a very dangerous type of bullying that happens to school going children. Sexual bullying is “any behavior, whether physical or non physical that is based on a person’s sexuality or gender.”
It is commonly directed at girls but boys are also not spared from this nowadays. It is very difficult to detect this kind of bullying because of ignorance and fear about the threats from the bullies.

Power imbalance : a main cause of bullying at schools

Power imbalance is always there behind every bullying. The bully might have supremacy over the victim with size, gender, age or colour. Children find motivation to bully others in their weakness like not fitting in, physical weakness, short temper, who their friends are, overweight, facial appearance, the clothes they wear,academic status etc.
Students who bully others usually have an unpleasant atmosphere at home. The suffocation that they feel at home and the attempts to make them over disciplined will make them more violent. A bully is often someone who was bullied in the past or has witnessed bullying.

Role of children in bullying

Children have different roles in bullying:

  • Children who bully others
  • Children who are bullied
  • Children who witness bullying
  • Children who assist or support bullying
  • Outsiders who just watch bullying
  • Children who defend

How to identify the victims if they are unspoken?
There will be drastic change in the behavior of the child if he/she is bullied. Some of the following symptoms can be noticed:
• Injuries
• Anxiety
• Change in eating habits
• Declining grades
• Self injury
• Sitting alone
• Insomnia

How to deal with it?

• Talk about bullying. The parents and teachers must be very friendly to them. Their talks should enable them to identify the situations of such harassments
• Talk to them about ‘what is bullying?’ and ‘how to escape from it?’ Make them understand it is not acceptable. Make sure that they know how to get help
• Always listen to them, know their friends, activities and interests
• Promote them to follow what their mind says
• Be a role model for your kids
• If any of the signs are visible in your kids, inform teachers about it using Parent portal. The teachers also can do the same so that they can give more attention

Prevention at Schools

• Find out bullying in schools and take necessary disciplinary actions against it.
• Create rules to report bullying.
• Choose a good School app with which the parents and teachers can trace the bullies
• Build a safe environment.
• Arrange supervising cameras if necessary
• Find out those who are bullied and bring back as normal students by counseling etc.
It is best if we can find out bullying at the earlier stage and find a solution to it. If we can create a safe surrounding where bullying won’t occur, it is far recommended than finding a remedy.

So many researches and studies are going on about the relevance of our gradation system in schools. There had been various discussions about the advantages and disadvantages of gradation system in schools. This is a very important area that is to be studied seriously. Whether to stop or to continue this gradation system is an ongoing debate for the last few years.

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What is the purpose of gradation system?

The main function of the grades is to inform the parents, guardians and others how the student is performing in studies. This is to be done with at most attention and care and without any prejudice or partiality. It is a very private thing; unfortunately, it is done in a very public way.

Teacher app ad bannerAdvantages of gradation at school level:

  • Helps in self improvement to some extent
  • Enables students to fix a target and to work hard to attain it.
  • Makes the parents aware of the performance and standard of their children at school. That helps the parents to give necessary attention for them.
  • Makes students more objective.
  • Gives students competition spirit.

Disadvantages of gradation at school:

  • It is incomplete. It is not possible to asses all the learning and skills of all students using the same scale. Some skills cannot be measured.
  • It creates inequality among students.
  • To get higher grades, some students choose tasks much below their capacity. They won’t dare to be creative or innovative in their assignments.
  • It de-motivates students.
  • Those who get higher grades may feel proud and tend to deviate from studies.

How gradation psychologically affects students?

Our present gradation system announces the quantified results in the public. It really affects student’s psyche. Receiving a lower grade and everyone knowing about it, is really matter of shame. No one would like to show the low grades they received to others. If they are getting low grades continuously, they may feel that they are out of track and sometimes, they may quit education.

The low grades students receive in schools make them feel inferior to their classmates and that make them depressed. A division is created between the students who obtain higher grades and lower grades and an attitude of superiority and inferiority gets developed in them.

In the fear of getting lower grades, the students who obtain higher grade won’t take risky or innovative tasks and choose simple tasks, much below their caliber. This keeps them away from learning or experimenting new things. Actually, it makes them cowards.

The comparisons made by parents and teachers about the grades students got will affect them badly. It can even make them detached from the society.

How to solve this issue?

It is not possible to stop gradation in all levels. But the educators must understand that all results cannot be quantified and all learning cannot be assessed. They must inform the parents about the child’s performance, thereby, making the parents a part of this assessment or grading, as well. They are also responsible for the success or failure of the student.

Give them a qualitative feedback than a quantitative report card. Make it a weekly activity if possible. Let the parents also take part in these feedback sessions as far as possible. This can be done easily with Parent Portal.

Parent Portal

Edsys provides Parent Portal which makes parent-teacher communication an easy task. Every day, the teacher can inform the parents about the performance of the student. No need to wait for months or terms. So, the parents can guide or help the child to improve. It will be far effective than punishing after a terminal evaluation. Parents can also give their feedback though the Parent Portal.

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The parents can always have an eye on the students’ activities at schools using the Smart Cards for schools. It helps them to track their attendance in class and school bus. It helps the parents to know about the books they borrow from the library, the time they spend there, the purchases they make from the school store etc.

A proper intervention of parents at the proper time can reduce the shock given by the low grades. Nowadays, we have so many ways to do that. Parent Portal, School Apps, Smart Cards etc. are very useful for this purpose.

Also Check: Latest Updated Educational Apps Directory List