School pupils visiting the Birmingham Botanical Gardens enjoyed all the fun of learning about the Earth’s Tropical Rainforests on special pre-booked sessions involving live animals!

'Tropical Inc' were guests at the Gardens’ Study Centre, teaching school children about the importance of the rainforest habitat and introducing them to a range of rainforest animals from creepy crawlies, to birds, mammals and even snakes.

Museums and archives will work with more than 1,000 trainee teachers to support learning, develop cross-curricular projects and encourage school visits following the announcement of successful bids for the 2009-10 Initial Teacher Education (ITE) Grants Programme.

There are 15 awards across the English regions and the programme will start in January 2010, ranging in focus from projects on World War II, object-based learning, boy’s writing and the history of the Black Country

The School Food Trust is calling for a January sale on school lunches - as new research highlights the importance of price when it comes to encouraging more children to try a healthy school meal.

The Trust – the organisation charged with transforming school food – is urging more local authorities and schools to join the high street in using special offers to tempt customers, at a time of year when cash is particularly tight for parents.

The Court of Appeal recently handed down judgment on an important case* that will help secure the rights of over 150 UK teachers working in European Schools, says City law firm Reynolds Porter Chamberlain LLP (RPC).  These Schools are funded jointly by the EU Member States to provide education for the children of EU officials.

The teachers who brought the case against the Department for Children Schools and Families (DCSF) were supported by their unions the NASUWT and ATL.

Discovering the Arctic, a new website featuring a unique collection of videos, photographs and resources about the region, will put GCSE-level students in ‘pole’ position to study the worldwide implications of changes to its environment and peoples.

First-hand stories from people like Inuit lawyer Aaju, biologist Lily Peacock, and Nancy, a resident of Umingmaktok in Canada’s Nunavut Territory, encourage visitors to go on a ‘journey across the top of the world’, to consider what it’s like to live and work in some of the most Northerly communities on Earth.

 Reacting to the Chief Medical Officer’s guidance on the consumption of alcohol by children and young people, Chris Sorek, Chief Executive of alcohol awareness charity Drinkaware, says: 

“The drinking culture in the UK is entrenched and many young people see drinking alcohol as a rite of passage, so this guidance from the Chief Medical Officer is extremely useful. It’s imperative that from an early age, we start to educate children and young people about the dangers of alcohol misuse.

The School Food Trust has welcomed plans announced in today’s pre-budget report that more children will be eligible to receive Free School Meals.  The plans will see the universal free school meals pilots extended to at least one in each English region, as well amending the general qualifying criteria for working families.

The Trust’s Chief Executive, Judy Hargadon, said: “Free School Meals ensure that thousands of children receive a nutritious hot meal every day, and we strongly support any move to increase the number of families who can benefit. 

Teacher Support Network awards over £300,000 in grants during 2009

December 2009 saw 50 per cent more calls to the Teacher Support Network Group from teachers seeking urgent emotional and practical assistance than in the same month in 2008.

Calls on both Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve helped ensure that the four free, confidential 24/7 Support Lines – which cover England, Wales, Scotland as well as colleges and universities – received 1,295 calls in the last month of 2009 compared to 825 in December 2008.

While the majority of the nation’s workforce was taking a well-earned holiday, more than 140 school leaders accessed The Key’s support and guidance services between December 24 2009 and January 1 2010.

Members even accessed the service on Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve, and on New Year’s Day. 10% of activity on The Key’s website during the festive period occurred between 8pm and 10pm and 8% between 10pm and midnight. These statistics reinforce the view that school leaders are wrestling with a phenomenal workload.

On January 7th 2010 EngineeringUK, The Royal Academy of Engineering and The Lloyd’s Register Educational Trust, will jointly launch Tomorrow’s Engineers, a new enhancement and enrichment partnership to improve levels of science and engineering engagement in hard to reach schools across the UK.  The scheme, which will be announced to teachers at the Association for Science Education Conference in Nottingham, will initially support hands-on engineering activities to 30,000 children and young people aged five to nineteen in 2010.

Students who watch as their peers endure the verbal or physical abuses of another student could become as psychologically distressed, if not more so, by the events than the victims themselves, new research suggests.

Bullies and bystanders may also be more likely to take drugs and drink alcohol, according to the findings, which are reported in the December issue of School Psychology Quarterly, published by the American Psychological Association.

Northumberland-based manufacturer, SCA Hygiene has announced a groundbreaking partnership with Prudhoe Community High School, to provide students with a practical insight into industry as part of a new engineering qualification aimed at year 10 and 11 students.

Staff at SCA’s Paper Mill in Prudhoe - home of the popular ‘Velvet’ brand of toilet tissue - will be working closely with Prudhoe High School’s head of engineering, Geoff Wallman, to deliver a unit of the new Higher Diploma in Engineering at the Mill.

The United Kingdom risks a brain drain of top professors if it pushes ahead with controversial changes to how university research is funded, warns a survey released today (Thursday) by the University and College Union (UCU). Over a third (35%) of professors polled said they would consider pursuing their academic career abroad if the plans were introduced.

The poll further warned that more than one in five (22%) professors already knew a colleague who was also considering leaving the country over the issue. The survey gives a stark insight into the likely impact the new proposals would have on jobs. Half (49%) the professors polled said they thought the changes would influence their department’s hiring and firing plans.

Babington college IT department recently reviewed the time it takes to respond to IT issues from staff and students as the previous method of responding to calls was becoming inefficient and unreliable. Technicians had difficulty recording notes each time an issue had been fixed, so it was difficult to pick up a task that another technician had been working on. This made it a nightmare when staff went off sick.

Fellowes, the leading provider of workspace solutions, has announced the latest addition to its R-Kive® Premium range – the instant assembly storage box, featuring Presto™ construction. This truly innovative product is designed to infuse some magic into ordinary filing and storage tasks, no more complicated assembly instructions – simply push the corners together and the box is ready for use.

Fellowes entered the UK storage box market in 1972 and today has become the market leading brand with R-Kive® filing and storage products. 

Since the demise of e-learning credits, many seem to believe that there is no dedicated funding for ICT, yet the Harnessing Technology Grant is alive and well; and guaranteed until 2011. One difficulty with this grant is that it is capital funding and, when originally launched, was not immediately accompanied by comprehensive guidelines for its use. Many local authorities therefore had to provide schools with a quick assessment of likely usage guidelines, but which turned out to be an overly restrictive interpretation when the guidelines were published some months later.

St Augustine’s CofE Primary School in Kilburn, Westminster, has installed a brand new training kitchen for pupils using Lincat’s market leading Silverlink 600 range of prime cooking equipment.

The kitchen has been fitted with six workstations at differing heights (720mm and 850mm) to accommodate the age range of the children, to enable them to cook safely. Each workstation incorporates an HT3 two-plate boiling top and a V6/FD fan-assisted glass door oven.  Preparation tables, sinks and wash hand basins at corresponding heights complete the new kitchen layout.

OrgPlus® from HumanConcepts has been chosen by St Helens College, Greater Merseyside, to provide a unified view of their workforce. OrgPlus has enabled HR staff at St Helen’s College to automatically create accurate visual representations of the college’s workforce structure.  OrgPlus reads HR data directly from the college’s HR management system, NorthgateArinso ResourceLink, allowing the college to monitor establishment control. Any grading or salary discrepancies across departments throughout the college are now clearly highlighted.

It’s important to ring-fence budget for procurement – there is no need to squirrel away funds in case the economy gets worse. The Pre-Budget report has promised schools will continue to receive an increase in funding until 2013 and trade association BESA urges schools to think about investing rather than holding back.

As the UK still waits to move out of recession, schools could be forgiven for putting off procurement and putting funds to one side in case of a “rainy day”.

School surroundings influence children’s academic performance and their personal sense of well-being.  Futia from The Consortium, the award-winning independent supplier to schools, provides a one-stop shop service for the individual finishing touches.

The Consortium has supplied over £5 million worth of storage furniture, chairs, computer tables and pods, specially designed lunchtime seats, playground equipment and bike racks.

High performance walls and ceilings featuring plasterboard and related systems from Knauf Drywall helped create a quality learning environment in a newly built secondary school in north Somerset. The £29 million One School Pathfinder project, part of  the BSF  programme, gives Nailsea School attractive and functional new surroundings for its role as a technology and media arts college, and benchmarks future BSF projects in the county. Knauf Drywall’s systems, installed by Optimum Drywall, set acoustic – and some aesthetic – standards for the new school.

The highest  BREEAM rating for carpets has recently been awarded to international Irish manufacturer Tretford.  Their unique cord carpet has been awarded an A+ rating, for retail and leisure environments and an A rating which covers the average service life of 10 years in heavy duty environments, such as schools.

The carpet’s innovative construction, comprising up to 80% goat hair with 100% jute backing, has the lowest environmental impact and makes a maximum contribution to overall performance of a school’s green standard.  It also has positive influence on the design and management, helping to reduce running costs while improving leaning and pupil well-being.

Sarnafil is celebrating the completion of a green roof with a twist – the single ply specialist’s distinctive Patina Green coloured membrane now crowns a 15-storey block in Dalmuir, Scotland.

Sarnafil’s single ply system not only met the client’s practical requirements to reduce the carbon emissions from old building stock, but also the project’s aesthetic requirements.

Hamilton Primary School in High Wycombe has just bought a second batch of Dorgard wireless fire door retainers for its Priory and Hampden Road Sites, to legally hold open fire doors, and help the flow of pupils and staff throughout the school without compromising fire safety.

Hamilton is the latest in a growing number of UK schools and colleges who recognise that Fireco’s Dorgard range is the wireless solution that offers the simplest, most cost-effective way of legally holding open fire doors safely in any position, automatically releasing them should the fire alarm sound. Dorgard also offers significant cost advantages as it can be fitted in minutes, with no wiring required.

Sovereign Play Equipment has been accepted as a member of the Association of Play Industries (API) recognising its wealth of experience within the play sector.

As one of the largest providers of school ground developments in the UK, Sovereign has transformed over 10,000 outdoor environments into imaginative play and learning zones. Over 17 years it has built an enviable reputation for delivering both a comprehensive and flexible service, providing customers with all their outdoor play and learning requirements.

Up until now, Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) has not been viable for use with site visitor management and access control due to its high cost and technical complexity. However, with the introduction of ClearView’s new ANPR Visitor Management System, vehicle registration data can be used as a basis for visitor management. It provides a host of services including email or SMS notification of visitor arrival; recording of all vehicle site activity; control of barriers and welcome signage; live and historical car park data usage; and security prompts for black-listed vehicles. It also offers an optional capability to print visitor identification cards.

BETT is the world’s largest educational technology event, attracting more than 30,000 UK and international visitors over the four days. With more than 700 exhibition stands promoting a range of products and services from the ICT industry, it is wise to plan ahead for your visit. Education Today spoke to a number of schools to find out what they will be looking for at this month’s show and liaised with Becta (The British Educational Communications and Technology Agency) to see what advice they are offering to help buyers find the right products.

ICT is such a significant investment that a school can save thousands of pounds every year by adopting approaches that secure value for money.

This is not just about saving money by reducing initial costs on purchases. The total expenditure over the time the school uses the equipment and services needs also to be calculated.

Buying low-cost hardware or failing to take aspects such as reliability, ongoing support or compatibility with existing systems into account can lead to increased costs in the longer term. Failure to address issues such as security of data, software management and licensing is likely to have legal implications for you and your school.

With resources scarce and budgets currently tight for peripherals and networking equipment across the UK’s education sector, schools, colleges and universities need to ensure that they target their spending on electronic equipment very deliberately and diligently in order to ensure that they get the best possible  return from their investment. 

To meet these needs LG Business Solutions is strengthening its focus on education. Through its newly created Business-to-Business Group, the company is delivering a comprehensive set of solutions, which together are enabling schools, colleges and universities to deliver more learning value from their ICT budgets.

At this year’s BETT Microsoft will be reflecting on the way children learn today and how they’re motivated, as well as encouraging old habits from the past to change as we move into 2010 and beyond. To encourage this Microsoft will be announcing a new addition to Microsoft Office which is free and designed to help teachers use digital content more easily in their teaching.  We believe that creating an immersive multimedia experience where teachers can customise lessons and create interactive environments will enable them to better engage with their students.

KI is the  world’s largest educational furniture manufacturer  and with over 60 years experience, KI understand the distinct and evolving needs of the educational environment designing  furniture that facilitates learning and interaction between students and staff.

KI education furniture includes: classroom furniture, powered tables, auditorium seating, fixed seating, tables, desking, task/desk seating, guest/side seating, lounge seating, occasional tables, library furniture, cafeteria furniture and residence hall furniture.

"BSquared has been an asset in our school development over the last 2 years. It has helped to strengthen our assessment procedures and tighten our planning. It was crucial in securing our Outstanding OFSTED Inspection too!" Mrs Lisa Bird, Headteacher, Elmsleigh Infant & Nursery School Derbyshire

B Squared’s customers find our assessment package assists them with tracking and demonstrating pupils’ progress. It allows teachers  to plan and differentiate appropriately, making their planning and teaching more effective.

With JANET Videoconferencing Service (JVCS) you can view videoconferences in high definition, bringing the classroom to life with even better interaction and razor sharp images. 

New for BETT 2010 is a videoconference recording service allowing teachers to record videoconferences, so students and staff can download them at any time and from any computer; and a new ‘streaming’ feature, that allows you to stream a live videoconference to viewers other than the ones attending.

Education technology provider DRS installed its biometric e-Registration solution in 56 classrooms and changing rooms around the school to help deliver lesson level registration.  As a result, Whitburn School now has clean, instant, accurate and consistent data that monitors student whereabouts whilst providing the opportunity of real time information for parents.

Whitburn School reports that the lesson level registration data also has the potential to aid academic mentoring by highlighting any students that may regularly arrive late to a particular subject, suggesting there may be a potential issue that needs investigation.  Thanks to the monitoring provided by the DRS IntelliReg®, such students can now be identified more easily.

Sony’s heritage in designing advanced workflow platforms helps education professionals to bring learning to life

Sony Professional has revealed the breadth of solutions that it will showcase at BETT 2010 to help education professionals create a more connected and engaged school community through rich multimedia content and interactive learning.

Promethean, a global leader in interactive education technology, will be showcasing its latest suite of ActivClassroom solutions at BETT 2010 (stands B30 and N23). New launches aimed at helping to transform the way educators engage, assess and motivate 21st century learners include the latest version of ActivInspire teaching and learning software, the ActiView Visual Presenter and new ‘Self-Paced Learning’ functionality.

Anders+Kern, the sole distributor for PolyVision products in the UK, will help showcase the company’s award-winning eno range of interactive whiteboards at the 2010 British Educational Training and Technology (BETT) show, 13-16 January, Olympia, London – believed to be the largest educational technology event in the world.

The highlight of the PolyVision stand (J25) will be the eno Flex Dynamic, a complete classroom solution and the first all-in-one product in the world to combine a dry-marker board, chalkboard and/or tack surface with PolyVision’s eno interactive whiteboard. Flex Dynamic allows up to three simultaneous users and can save notes and drawings for future lessons.

Does your Laptop trolley conform to the new Health & Safety Guidelines?

Leba NoteCarts have been independently tested and comply with EN60950-1 and BS6396 safety standards meeting CE approval.

To make sure your equipment meets the new standards, take advantage of our offer of £150.00 off a new NoteCart when you trade in your old one! For a limited period!

Harnessing the benefits of technology delivers a significant competitive advantage not only to your students but also to the educational establishment as a whole. Balancing the benefits of technology against costs both to your budget and the environment is not always an easy task. Consideration of the Total Cost of Ownership is high on the agenda in the education sector. Comparing only the product cost is now less important than consideration of the overall cost taking into account lamp life and lamp costs, for example. Operating costs – defined in terms of power consumption – also play an important role. This development is being reinforced by tougher legislation, such as the new EuP directive, which imposes limits on standby power consumption.

BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, has developed a range of practical qualifications and resources designed to get everyone using IT to their advantage.  Our qualifications offer ‘Solutions for Schools’ with a fantastic range of qualifications ideal for the school environment.

Digital Creator is an enjoyable way of achieving a GCSE equivalent qualification while expressing creativity through digital media. There are eight engaging units which include digital audio, still images, video, storytelling with animation, optical media and much more. The course involves five creative aspects of digital media, and three which share work via optical media, presentations and the internet.  This qualification engages with students and allows them to express their creativity right across the curriculum.

30 pupils at a London secondary school were last month supplied with iPhones in the first project of its kind in the country. Girls in years 7 to 11 at Gumley House Convent School in Hounslow, will use the phones in class over the next 7 months, as part of a trial to understand how mobile devices can be used to facilitate learning.

The trial is the result of a 2-year research project based on the use of technology in a learning environment carried out by an education expert, Professor Michael Gibson. Brentford City Learning Centre (CLC) partnered with Academia Ltd, a leading provider of technology solutions, to implement the roll-out. Gumley House was selected after a competition to design the classroom of the future revealed a high interest in technology among pupils.

Ampleforth College has signed a new five year contract with leading broadband provider NYnet to deliver a high-speed broadband connection to dramatically improve its online access.

This access will have a positive impact on pupils, teachers and parents at the boarding college, by allowing real-time communication with parents, many of which live overseas.

The worldwide launch of the CleverLCD Touch Plus all-in-one interactive LCD display with PC and Blu-Ray player at BETT 2010 heralds the arrival of real interactive classroom of the future.

With more than 75% of UK classrooms equipped with interactive whiteboards and projectors, interactive technology has become a familiar part of 21st century teaching and learning.

IRIS Connect is a unique new web application and mobile camera system which revolutionises the process of lesson observation and sharing best practice. Colleagues can make time-linked verbal or written notes about the practice they are observing, which are automatically added to the lesson recording at the relevant point. Recordings can be indexed and uploaded to the IRIS Connect Secure Server for future reference and sharing with colleagues, if desired.

This time of year, the value of a good school meal is more important than ever to help children stay healthy and warm. It has been proven that a good meal at lunchtime can help to improve concentration and drive better results in the classroom.

The government is also championing school meals and in his pre-Budget report last month, Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling promised “to extend free school meals to half a million primary school children of low income working parents, who previously would not have been eligible”.

Steelite International understands that the provision of school meals is an important part of children’s development and education. Providing an effective lunchtime environment that includes high quality food, service and presentation is essential to engaging children and improving the uptake of school meals.

Steelite International’s market leading tableware provides a practical solution for schools wanting to maximise the quality of meal times. Combining style with inherent strength, the Ultimate bowl ensures lasting durability and provides a versatility that is essential for school cooks. 

Tibard is a family business and its name is synonymous with quality hospitality uniforms. The company still manufactures in the UK. With an unrivalled range of stock supported chefs wear, front of house uniforms and leisurewear, Tibard also has the facility to design and manufacture bespoke products based on client specifications.

Tibard is able supply any items from work wear, to tailored garments. Akin to the ever-changing needs of the school catering industry, Tibard invests in developing new styles, utilizing fabric technology and more importantly, working alongside key industry figures to ensure comfort and durability in all our product lines.

Victorian Baking Ovens Limited are the major manufacturer of potato baking ovens in Europe and have enjoyed success in the schools sector, especially as healthy eating has become a priority.

Victorian Baking Ovens’ Design Department came up with the Spuddy Buddy Concept Cart, designed to grab the attention of the inquisitive young customers in schools, and to help the busy catering staff produce up to 120 baked potato meals at one sitting, with very little preparation required.  The Potato Cart is compact, manoeuvrable, attractive, quick and easy to position anywhere an electric supply is available.

Hundreds of schools, universities and students unions have purchased panini grills over the past ten years from The Contact Grill Company. These new grills are of particular interest because of their low cost coupled with advanced features.

With over twenty five years experience in this field, and the widest selection of contact grills available in the UK, The Contact Grill Company offers customers maximum choice, competitive prices and an excellent service. Their aim is to ensure customers receive reliable and unbiased advice, enabling the right choice of equipment to be made within operational and budget requirements.

It can be daunting to find the right products for your school kitchen. You need specialist guidance, not just for which catering equipment you need, but to be shown how it works and to have it installed to legal standards.

Direct Catering Equipment has a vast amount of experience in helping schools and all its engineers are fully qualified and registered with gas safe, giving you complete peace of mind. The company realises that schools need value of money as well, and is therefore highly competitive in its prices.

Deanesfield Primary School in Middlesex has awarded a 3-year contract worth around £250,000 to Accent Catering to provide fresh, high quality school lunches for its pupils. The decision to award to contract was driven by the school’s desire to improve food quality, portion sizes and choice.

A full menu will be prepared on site each day to include a main meat dish, a vegetarian dish, fresh vegetables, jacket potatoes, a hot dessert, a fresh fruit platter and extensive salad bar. Staff will also be able to choose from the daily menu or pre-order sandwiches, baguettes and plated salads from the catering team.

In the same week that the Department for Children, Schools and Families announced an extra £100m in funding to tackle a national shortfall of tens of thousands of primary school places; UK Company Alfresco Rooms Ltd unveiled an alternative building solution that could be the answer to this growing crisis.

New school building delivered in less than seven weeks

In a flagship project, Coupals Primary School in Haverhill, Suffolk opened the doors of a custom designed Alfresco free standing classroom, the first of its kind in the UK and believed to be the largest stand alone building of its type in the country. Incredibly, the bespoke octagonal building was delivered in less than seven weeks, with minimal upheaval to the school, meeting all stringent building regulations and exceeding eco guidelines.

Paul Townsend, Director of Alfresco Rooms said: ‘We are very proud of the installation at Coupals Primary School, which is the largest stand-alone structure of its type in the country, if not the world. We hope this installation will pave the way for more schools to create amazing facilities within the growing constraints of space and finances that most schools face.’

Unique in design and limited only by imagination, shade sails and waterproof tension structures can easily be extended over time to suit a school’s needs and budgets – and provide the perfect architectural solution to an outdoor classroom, waiting area or the modern gazebo.

These structures have recently appeared on headteachers’ wish lists thanks to calls from Ofsted, Every Child Matters, the World Health Organisation and Cancer Research UK’s ‘SunSmart’ campaign – with guidelines flagging up the importance of providing outdoor learning activities that protect children from the dangers of UV radiation.

The Kalwall system of diffused daylighting has been widely specified by AEDAS architects for seven new schools commissioned by Knowsley Council and built by Balfour Beatty.  Daylight research proves, and Knowsley school staff confirm, that the translucent system has a marked influence on pupil behaviour, well-being and learning.

Hetton Lyons Primary School is part of a major commitment from Sunderland City Council, to reduce carbon emissions across all of its operations by the year 2012 and they were keen to work with Alumasc.

A ZinCo green roof from Alumasc was specified to complement the sustainable design of the building which also included a wind turbine, a wood burning boiler and rainwater recycling, earning the scheme a BREEAM rating of ‘Very Good’. Installed by Alumasc’s Approved Contractor Roofclad Systems of Durham, the extensive green roof is designed to evolve and flourish, helping to combat a number of climate change issues facing the next generation.

Premier Interlink (Waco UK) has over 60 years experience in providing buildings for education offering a flexible, smart, modern and comfortable education environment.  School buildings can be provided in half the usual time compared to traditional build and at a very competitive price using modern and innovative methods of construction.  Our newest building system is a permanent solution for adding extra single storey classrooms and our increasingly popular PremierPlus multi-storey, high quality building system is ideal for new multi-purpose education solutions for nurseries, schools, colleges and universities.  

Metsä Tissue has found a way of dramatically cutting washroom waste whilst retaining high levels of hygiene, especially in areas, which traditionally make exceptional demands on paper consumables.  The Katrinâ narrow range of hand towels, including the innovative Easy Flush range, provides the solution - reducing space requirements, lowering waste, saving money and improving green credentials simultaneously.

Today’s desks are not only our workstations, they are often our lunch tables, our footrests, our storage spaces and more. Active hygiene helps keep your desk and office cleaner and healthier. Unclean surfaces in the office can harbour unhealthy bacteria. For example, were you aware of the following facts?

• The average keyboard contains 60 x more bacteria than the office toilet seat
• In the average office there are 10 million bacteria on the area of the desk where you rest your hand
• Cold and flu viruses can remain active on a surface for up to 72 hours

Hand hygiene  pecialists TEAL (www.tealwash.com) has a range of portable warm water hand wash units that have been specially designed for children to make hand washing fun and enable youngsters to learn about and take responsibility for their own personal hygiene.

The units require no fixed plumbing as they store clean and dirty water so can be positioned in convenient locations wherever needed. They are safe and easy for children to operate and come in bright colours to encourage use.

Children need every encouragement to wash and dry their hands after using the toilet to avoid the risk of cross contamination.

SCA Tissue Europe provides a complete solution for school washrooms. Tork soaps, hand towel rolls and toilet tissue systems are designed to minimise cross-contamination and are housed in lockable dispensers to prevent vandalism.