Based in Buckinghamshire, Great Marlow School is an established mixed school with over one thousand pupils. Set in an attractive 40 acre site, the school boasts excellent facilities. To develop this further they embarked on an ambitious re-build of the school’s sports facilities, by converting unused land behind the school. The new facilities would not only be available for the schools use, but also open to the public out of school hours, enabling them to give something back to the community.
As part of this project a state of the art fitness centre was to be equipped with the very latest digital technology.
The school wanted a modern, fully integrated digital media solution that would be in line with the fabulous new sports centre. The main requirement was to implement a more eye catching and engaging way to communicate more efficiently. They also wanted the ability to create playlists and distribute relevant content in a zoned manner. AVM Education won a tender to provide Tripleplay’s digital media products.
Fahad Ahmed, IT Network Manager at Great Marlow School said “We have dealt with AVM Education in the past and have always been pleased with the pricing and support they offer. In addition, they presented us with the Tripleplay solution which suited our requirements perfectly. It is a full end-to-end solution with a simplistic yet feature rich management system.”
The solution included TripleSign high definition digital signage, TripleTV IPTV solution, TripleVOD digital video on demand and the TripleChoice education user portal, all supported by the TripleCMS management platform.
TripleSign Digital Signage was positioned strategically around the school to communicate key information to staff and students. Specific individuals can be given access to control certain screens such as the sports department controlling content displayed in the gym.
Fahad commented “It was important that the system we deployed was intuitive and easy to use so that individuals can update their content quickly and easily. This ensures the displays are always current and relevant and the IT team doesn’t need to be involved, which saves them time.”
IPTV was also an important element of the new system. The school wanted IPTV not only to be delivered to the signage screens around the school, but also to link with the equipment in the gym. This means that live TV and radio channels can be delivered to the individual screens on the gym equipment whilst people do their work-outs.
In addition, the Tripleplay Video on Demand portal was integrated into the system. This allows both staff and students to access live TV through their PC’s and gives teachers the flexibility to record relevant programs for playback.
The school wanted the gym to be multifunctional, so that teaching could also take place in the facility. Two classrooms were incorporated into the back of the gym. These are fitted with interactive projectors and Apple TV. This means the teachers can switch between displays and access an extensive and completely secure video library for presenting through the projector.
The new facility was named the Redgrave Sports Centre and was opened by five time Olympic Gold Medal winner, Sir Steve Redgrave in May 2013.
Tripleplay’s solution has created a centralised, simplified and thoroughly modern solution for the Centre.
Fahad commented “Everyone loves the new digital media system within the gym. It has really helped to modernise the facilities the school provides. The students are really excited about using the equipment and the teachers are reaping the benefits of the technology within in the teaching environments.”
