Earwig is a new way of working. You can learn something from websites and videos, but to really get it, you need to talk to a real person and have it demonstrated to you. We can do this online, if you like or we can hop in a car and be with you (and members of your SLT) any time you choose. Of course, it’s free, and there’s no hard sell or obligation – we’ll just show you what it can do and answer your questions. Then it’s up to you.

To order up a demo, just click here

Or call 0333 6666166 and speak to Mark.

If you haven’t yet seen enough video clips of teachers saying how much they love Earwig, try our Teachers to Teachers channel.

Earwig is not just another long division app. It will have an impact across the school and outside, to parents and governors. So you need to understand how we get you set up and how we ensure that your Earwig system is always current and your staff are always up to speed.

1    APPLICATION FORM

To kick things off you’ll need to fill in the Earwig Licence Application Form which provides us with the information that we need to get started. Check the Earwig Terms and Conditions for Schools using the link in the footer. The key provisions of this are (1) that the school owns all the data generated via the Earwig app, but Earwig enjoys an exclusive licence to sell any images or videos to parents on your behalf, and (2) that you can cancel the arrangement on any contract anniversary by giving three months’ notice. So, no commitment.

2    PROVIDE EARWIG WITH THE ESSENTIAL DATA THAT THE SYSTEM NEEDS

To keep your Earwig data current we need to synchronise data about the staff, pupils and parents from your SIMS or equivalent database, every evening. We only extract the data that we need to provide you with the analysis facilities that you need to maintain or improve standards at your school. Your network manager will hook up with our technical support people to arrange this. It will take them about half an hour.

3    STAFF TRAINING

The Earwig system is designed to be easy to use but, as with all technology, some people get into it quickly and others take a bit longer!  So, we provide you with an initial training session for teachers, TAs and anyone else who records pupil progress. Your Earwig agent will arrange with you a time to do this.  It shouldn’t take more than an hour and a half.

4 EARWIG AMBASSADOR

It is important that each school appoints one person who is the recognised link between Earwig and the staff. This is the School Earwig Ambassador. The Ambassador gets additional support and training, which counts towards their CPD. They can also call in an Earwig trainer for additional tutorials for staff, as necessary.

5 ONGOING SUPPORT

Your staff will continue to receive support in the form of regular newsletters and the Earwig Noticeboard, with titbits of advice and information about new features. There are also occasional webinars and online Q&A sessions and a Customer Support helpline (0333 6666 166) available during working hours. You also get a free refresher training visit once a year.

6 ADDITIONAL EARWIG MODULES

If your school has subscribed for the Early Years Module, the Primary Assessment Module, or the Portfolio Module there will be additional training for relevant staff in the use of these features.

7    LAUNCHING EARWIG TO PARENTS

It usually takes a few weeks for staff to become completely familiar with the Earwig image capturing and tagging process and to create a collection of Earwig records. Once most children have records in their timelines, you’re ready to launch Earwig to the parents.

The first step is to send an explanatory Earwig Parent Leaflet to the relevant parents via their children. Then we press the ‘parent launch’ button and emails go out to all those parents whose children have at least two records in their timelines. This contains their individual logins and passwords. All parents have access to their child’s timeline for a year and can purchase images and videos if they want to keep these permanently. Parents will also have the opportunity to upgrade to Parent Plus which gives them an image gallery and free downloads.

Orders from parents are all dealt with by Earwig. Prints, photobooks, etc. are shipped direct. To monitor sales, click on the ‘Image Sales’ button on your Earwig dashboard.  The commission to the school is 25% of all income from parents, net of VAT.

8 SAFEGUARDING

Earwig is a closed system, so only people approved by the school can access the records and each parent can only see their child’s timeline. Parents can opt their children out of the system but almost never do.

9 FEES

Once you have signed up we will send you an invoice for the first year’s licence fee and the training and setup charge. So there is a payment to make at this stage. But once parents upgrade or start buying images, prints and photobooks, the commission returned to you will reduce the net cost in future years. In addition, you can expect to save substantial sums in printing and network costs, and especially in terms of staff time.

10 COMMITMENT

One last thing – we have found that the degree of success of the Earwig project in any school is down to one factor more than any other. That is the enthusiasm with which the Head, the Ambassador and the SLT promote it within the school in the early months. So we hope that your school will embrace the changes in classroom process that this entails and will therefore reap the benefits in terms of reduced workloads, delighted parents and inspired children.