Company of the Year (less than £3m)
CreativeHUT
Looking back over 2021 it’s incredible how facing extreme adversity in a global pandemic challenged us to build a stronger identity and move our business forward to the next level. Moving from a challenger brand to an established partner on some of the biggest projects to impact the STEAM skills gap in the UK. CreativeHUT have continued to build their position as the go to partner for teachers, parents and educators looking to develop their STEAM skills. We do this through the provision of hands-on resources, delivery of expert training services and the installation of inspirational learning spaces. Our continued success is now built on transformational partnerships with like minded organisations who share the ambition of positively impacting the lives of 1000s of children.
EvidenceB
EvidenceB develops and deploys adaptive learning resources for K-12 markets focused on fundamental knowledge and intended for students in primary and secondary education and their teachers.
In the service of personalised learning, our Adaptive Learning resources is based on a unique alliance of 3 key areas: recent cognitive research about how childrens’ brains learn fundamental knowledge, reinforced by Artificial Intelligence and proposed through rich UX/UI promoting student engagement and supporting teachers’ pedagogical decision through powerful data analytics and dashboards.
Our business model is B2B2C, through partnerships with Educational Publishers and Ministries, in a strong internationally scalable approach to market.
EvidenceB was born from two observations about the challenges facing Education systems:
• The direct link between academic success and the future integration of students into society
• Recent discoveries in cognitive science and artificial intelligence that have opened up new potential to facilitate knowledge and skill acquisition for each student.
These opportunities have led us to design a personalized learning solution allowing each student to reinforce the desire to learn at an individual pace. It is really about helping teachers to help students, facilitating decision-making by providing new tools to better support their students, regardless of their level.”
Fiction Express Education
Fiction Express is an award-winning literacy resource designed to improve all areas of literacy: reading; writing; spelling, punctuation & grammar; and speaking & listening. The resource improves poor reading habits by getting children excited about reading through the power of a deeply engaging experience of co-creation between pupils and authors.
In cooperation with the government of El Salvador, Fiction Express has developed a programme to supports its new educational policies to significantly improve their pupils’ learning outcomes.
The programme shows clear evidence of impact and learning outcomes. After just three months, both reading and writing skills have improved across all pupils by one grade.”
Maths Circle
Maths Circle creates award-winning maths learning programmes to help children acquire fundamental numeracy skills. Our sound pedagogy and expertise in maths mastery, combined with enticing gamification and design, make maths fun. Our mission at Maths Circle is to give every child the opportunity to leave school saying they were “good at maths”.
Our programmes, Times Tables Rock Stars and NumBots, have helped over 10 million children in over 160 countries and are now being used in 3 out of 4 primary schools in the UK. The efficacy, affordability and accessibility of our learning platforms are resulting in better maths outcomes and instilling a love of maths in young people. Our rapid growth is down to our passionate team who go above and beyond to deliver excellent customer care, our drive to innovate, and our commitment to make a real difference to maths education worldwide.”
Overnet Data – Edulink One
Overnet Data has been supporting schools since 2007. We’re best known for Edulink One, which is a school engagement and management system that keeps everything in one place. Edulink is designed to streamline SIMS data into a platform that’s functional on any device – our customers often say we’re “SIMS on an iPad or Chromebook”.
The app combines everything that’s needed to support a school, from administration and planning to communicating with students and parents – all under one login.
This year we’ve grown our team from 8 to 14 staff and Edulink One is now used in 1 out of 8 secondary schools. We have an excellent reputation for customer service and a customer retention rate of 99%.
We are constantly developing our product and in response to Covid-19 we added several new features, including a virtual parents evening function.
On average, we estimate we save the average secondary school c. £10,000 a year in printing and software costs, as well as reducing administration time for all staff, improving efficiency and staff wellbeing.
One of our customers sums us up: “It has vastly improved our communications with students and parents and revolutionised our staff’s normal way of working”
Staff Absence Management – part of Fusion Education People Solutions
Staff Absence Management Ltd, established in 2013 has seen significant growth this year and has launched SAMpeople and FACE-Ed, whilst continuing to support Staff Absence Management Software (SAM). Our EdTech products meet the needs of schools, trusts, colleges and universities, enabling them to integrate multiple systems and have a central point of management for their HR information and processes. Our company growth through an integrated marketing campaign is heavily supported by client referrals and social media recommendations.
We are passionate about innovation within the education sector. Our vision is “Creating Better Futures for Our Children Through Innovative People Solutions” and we utilise user groups to shape product development.
Our future roadmap includes integrated payroll and finance modules which demonstrates our commitment to innovation long-term.
We are committed to investing back into education. As a group, we host the Leeds School Managers’ Forum (LSMF) in our own time, and we are part of the DfE Network Leaders Group. We have sponsored a bursary for school business management training through the Association of BAME Leaders in Education and supported local football teams and charities. We will continue to innovate, grow and evolve as a company alongside our clients.
Teach Active
Teach Active (formerly Maths of the Day) is an award-winning online resource tool, providing teachers with over 3000 lesson and homework plans which deliver the Primary Maths and English curriculum through physical activity. Written by teachers for teachers, Teach Active contributes to the government’s recommended 60 minutes of physical activity per day and has been proven to improve attitudes and attainment in Maths and English, whilst also improving children’s health and wellbeing. Teach Active works in partnership with Youth Sport Trust, is endorsed by AfPE and has been recognised by Parliament for its outstanding contribution to education.
For further information, please visit our website: https://www.teachactive.org/
or watch our YouTube video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JX4CeTol0NQ”
The Safeguarding Company
We are The Safeguarding Company, the makers of MyConcern®, the Queen’s Award-winning safeguarding software used in thousands of education settings in the UK and more than 30 countries across five continents. We bring together the very best safeguarding technology and practice with world-class customer service.
Adopting MyConcern gives school and college staff confidence to act quickly to prevent harm, enables them to focus on pupil progress and attainment, provides peace of mind and supports them to better manage their work-life balance.
A year ago we were a one-product company but our close relationship with c25,000 Safeguarding Leads identified an urgent need for additional capabilities. Consequently, we developed and delivered four additional safeguarding solutions that are fast being adopted by education customers:
- Clarity – for mulit-establishment safeguarding
- Sentry – for safer recruitment
- Confide – for confidential management of allegations against staff
- Mentor – CPD accredited training
Our products have been described as ‘a life-line’ and ‘heaven-sent’ by those working on the front-line of education throughout the pandemic and our customer service is consistently receives world-class approval ratings.
Together we support our customers to protect their students from abuse, harm and neglect. We are The Safeguarding Company – For Everyone, Everywhere.”
YourGamePlan
Danny Heath, founder of YourGamePlan, became aware of the lack of support and knowledge young people were receiving about career opportunities and the common transferable skills desired by employers when previously working within recruitment. Danny wanted to break down these social barriers and share insight into as many careers as possible to set young people on the trajectory for a successful future career path.
These factors encouraged him to make it his mission to start up a company that brings about positive social change and encourages social mobility.
In summer 2020, he launched YourGamePlan – the digital career coach for students’ back pockets. It’s designed to ensure that every student has the confidence and support they need to make the right decision about their future when they leave school, no matter what their social background, ability, ethnicity, or gender.”
