"Our experience of i-desks in a Children's Centre with children 6 months to 5 years has been very positive. On our old computers we had a number of repair bills due to children putting toys, paper clips, biscuits etc into disk drives. Staff would also decide they wanted to move computers to different parts of the classroom, causing major upheaval with wires trailing etc. There have been no such challenges with the i-desks, as we have a blanking plate over the CD drive and all the wires are neatly enclosed." Kintore Way Children's Centre
"The i-desks are fantastic and the children really enjoy using them"
Beatrix Simpson, Head of George Eliot Junior School, London
“Staff think it looks smart and it impresses parents and prospective students at open evenings.”
“Professional plans and layouts were provided following discussions regarding our needs.”
“The i-desk is a quality product and everyone who has visited our centre has been impressed.”
“The staff are delighted. The visual impact has been tremendous and performance is very good.”
“In addition to the high quality of the product, the overall service received has been excellent.”
“They have helped us to create a professional atmosphere together with efﬁcient use of space.”

Arden School Case Study

School Address:

Arden School

Station Road

Knowle

Solihull,

West Midlands

B93 0PT

1. Synopsis of Requirements following preliminary meetings

Provision of suitable PC Furniture and PC hardware by an organisation who has knowledge and experience and a sound track record of meeting such requirements.

Such solutions offered should be innovative and serve to enhance the teaching and learning environment.

The area is to consist of a number of networked and student-based PC workstations. Suitable workstation furniture is included within the scope of supply, as is the installation and commissioning of the equipment into the suitable classroom facilities that will be provided.

Each computer station shall consist of a suitable desk to accommodate required equipment and the personnel who will be using the equipment. It is suggested that the school also need to make provision for suitable wheelchair access.

Each workstation should provide a safe, modern and comfortable working environment, which is conducive to teaching and learning. The furniture should also be designed such that all cabling and PC equipment is accommodated within the footprint of the workstation to minimise the risk of damage to the equipment, exposure to electrical shock or trip hazards.

The design of each workstation should be such that desk-working space is maximised to allow students and instructors to place notes, books and other documentation or items on the desk. It is not expected that the workstations will contain facilities to extend or move parts of the desk (mechanically or otherwise) to achieve these requirements.

An additional important requirement is the need or desire for the monitors to disappear, thus offering a completely clutter free desk top and dual purpose space/classroom.

The requirement encompasses the provision of all hardware and operating systems necessary to meet the specification. This includes the testing delivery and installation of equipment at each site.

2. The i-desk Solution

i-desk fitted a range of solutions in a large number of the new building’s rooms. Products installed included i-desk classics, iMac style classic desks, i-rises, i-walls (a brand new concept developed for Arden) and café style i-desks. Each was carefully selected for its ability to meet the full needs of the client and, where required, special adaptations were made.

For example, i-rises were selected to meet the requirement for flexible space and a clutter free workspace by offering monitors that mechanically lower into the body of the desk. In other rooms, the i-rise was specially adapted to contain sewing machines rather than computers, giving teachers full control over practical sewing classes from a café desk.

In addition, an i-wall was fitted in almost every room. Our customer had identified a problem in existing classrooms whereby there was vastly inadequate storage space and sought a practical answer to this. The i-wall is an ingenious combination of height-adjustable interactive whiteboard, standard whiteboard and large storage all brought together in an attractive and practical solution.

3. Comments from the School

The Assistant Head of Arden School, John O’Keeffe, gave his considered comments following time to evaluate the project:

“i-desk was the only company able to fully realise the vision of our project. They listened to our requirements and were able to offer a solution which exceeded those needs, both visually and technologically. We needed products that would last for years to come and were exceptionally impressed by the quality and easy upgrade of the i-desks when we saw them at the Design and Technology Show in 2008.

Throughout the project and since, their customer service has been second-to-none, offering exceptional support on the few occasions we have needed it. Furthermore, the new i-desk installations have proven extremely popular with students and teachers alike, having benefited the way in which lessons are taught and resulted in notably increased enthusiasm from students.”

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Arden School Case Study