Hardware Modification

Fortunately this request for advice is not from one of our clients.

MAE2010 - Tuesday 30th November 2010 in Reading

The future for Military, Defence & Aerospace Electronics …
Join your peers, industry thought-leaders, and VIPs at the UK's only dedicated event on embedded computing and integrated electronic systems for military, defence and aerospace applications.
Jim Renehan of Trenton Technology will be presenting a paper entitled "High Density Computing Systems In Surveillance and Communications Applications" and Sarsen Technology will be exhibiting. Green Hills Software will have an Extreme Engineering Solutions demo running on their stand at the exhibition.www.mae-show.co.uk

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all our American friends!

Freescale P4080 Eight PowerPC e500 3U VPX-REDI Board

The Extreme Engineering Solutions (X-ES) XPedite5470 is keeping us very busy this month. The XPedite5470 is a high-performance 3U VPX-REDI single-board computer based on the Freescale P4080 processor. With eight PowerPC e500 cores running at up to 1.5 GHz, the P4080 delivers enhanced performance and efficiency for today's embedded computing applications. We are seeing great interest for demanding military, research, transportation and medical applications.

The XPedite5470 supports two separate channels of up to 4 GB each of up to DDR3-1333 ECC SDRAM, as well as up to 16 GB of NAND flash and up to 256 MB of NOR flash (with redundancy). The XPedite5470 provides the option of utilizing a PCI Express or Serial RapidIO Fat Pipe P1 interconnect, as well as two SerDes Gigabit Ethernet Thin Pipe P1 fabric interconnects. The XPedite5470 also supports dual Gigabit Ethernet, GPIO, I²C, PMC I/O, XMC I/O, and up to two RS-232/RS-422/RS-485 serial ports through the P2 connector.

The XPedite5470 provides a ruggedized, high-performance, feature-rich solution to support the next generation of rugged embedded applications. Wind River VxWorks, QNX Neutrino, Linux, and Green Hills INTEGRITY Board Support Packages (BSPs) are available.

United Electronic Industries Appoint Sarsen Technology as exclusive UK distributor

United Electronic Industries announce the appointment of Sarsen Technology as its exclusive distributor in the UK

MARLBOROUGH, WILTSHIRE – 18 October 2010 – United Electronic Industries (UEI) is pleased to announce that it has named Sarsen Technology Limited as its exclusive distributor in the United Kingdom. All UEI sales and marketing activity in the UK will now be handled by Sarsen Technology. The company will also provide first line technical and applications support, but will be fully backed by UEI’s technical support group. “Both UEI and Sarsen Technology are focused on providing optimum real-time and embedded solutions to our key clients in the defense, aerospace, simulation and transportation markets,” according to Rick Van Nostrand, International Sales Manager at UEI. “Sarsen Technology will give us the in-depth technical and commercial experience our data acquisition and control products deserve. Sarsen’s experience and reputation in serving the embedded electronics marketplace is a welcome addition to UEI’s team of international sales and distribution partners ” "We see a tremendous amount of opportunity in the UK for United Electronic Industries’ innovative Cube and RACKtangle™ DAQ and control chassis solutions," stated Nigel Norman, Managing Director at Sarsen Technology. "UEI’s data acquisition and control system products along with their supporting IP and software are the perfect addition to our line card. The UEI solutions will enable our customers to quickly deploy their products and in turn, reduce their time-to-revenue. UEI has arguably the industry’s most innovative industrial and embedded control solutions." — SHEET 1 OF 2 —

About UEI Founded in 1990, UEI is a leader in the PC/Ethernet data acquisition and control, Data Logger/Recorder and Programmable Automation Controller (PAC) markets. UEI’s I/O “Cube” and RACKtangle are compact, rugged platforms, ideal for DAQ, Logging and control applications in a wide range of applications and industries such as automotive, aerospace/aviation, unmanned vehicles, appliance test, simulator control, in-vehicle test, wind and solar power system control, semiconductor manufacturing, medical equipment and more. UEI offers both COTS and custom products to OEMs, end-users, and systems integrators worldwide. With analog, digital, counter, CAN-bus, Serial I/O, ARINC-429, 1553 I/O and more, UEI will have the interface you need. UEI supports all popular Windows, Vista, Linux and Real-time operating systems, programming languages, and application packages such as LabVIEW, MATLAB, and DASYLab. About Sarsen Technology Limited Sarsen Technology is United Electronic Industries exclusive distributor in the United Kingdom. Sarsen’s focus is on providing its customers with the very best in embedded digital signal processing, data acquisition and single board computer products and provides full local technical and commercial support. The company’s mission is to bring high technology solutions to market in the shortest possible time to the benefit of both customers and manufacturers represented in the UK and Europe. Please visit www.sarsen.net or call +44 1672 511166 for more details. — END —

MAE2010 - Sarsen Technology to exhibit

Sarsen Technology will be exhibiting at MAE2010 on Tuesday 30 November in Reading, Berkshire, UK. MAE is the industry's premier one-day technology forum focused on the design and development of military, defence and aerospace electronic systems. Dwight Justice of Trenton Technology will be presenting a paper entitled "High Density Computing Systems In Surveillance and Communications Applications" at the MAE2010 conference. Please visit MAE2010 for full details or call us on +44 1672 511166.

New Company Logo

In our tenth anniversary year, we are launching a new corporate image with a new Sarsen Technology logo.

Sunny & Busy - Day 10 Defence & Aerospace Manufacturing Technologies Road Show 2010

Day 10 of the Road Show meant a short drive across the Wiltshire & Hampshire country side to Roke Manor Research in Romsey. Roke Manor is in a great location in the Test Valley and is a site that Nigel knows well. Nigel met with new and old contacts and had a very productive day - lots of discussions about TigerSHARC DSP, Altera FPGA and single board computer applications. A good end to the week in the September sunshine. The next stop on the Road Show is BAE Systems in Filton, Bristol and another busy day is expected so Gary & Nigel will be attending.

Defence & Aerospace Technology Road Show 2010 - Day Six - SELEX Galileo - Luton

The Defence & Aerospace Technology Road Show will be at SELEX Galileo at Capability Green in Luton on Monday 13th September. This was a busy location for the road show last year and Nigel looks forward to meeting with a number of key contacts at the site to discuss the latest FPGA and Intel i7 VPX & XMC COTS solutions we have to offer.

Defence & Aerospace Technology Road Show 2010 - Day Four

Gary Lock represented Sarsen Technology at Lockheed Martin in Ampthill today. This was Gary's first experience of the Road Show and he met with some key decision makers on future technology requirements at the site.

Defence & Aerospace Road Show 2010 - Day One

The turn out for the Defence & Aerospace Road Show at SELEX Galileo in Basildon was good and Nigel met with a number of the engineering and management team. The Extreme Engineering Solutions (X-ES) Intel i7 VPX format board solutions was the product area of most interest.

Nigel also met an old collegue from his design engineering days at GEC-Marconi in Frimley that he had not seen for 26 years!

Defence & Aerospace Road Show 2010

Monday 6th September is day one of the Defence & Aerospace Road Show and we will be at SELEX Galileo in Basildon from 9am. The road show features twenty high-profile suppliers to the defence and aerospace markets and they will be exhibiting their latest technology offerings. We will be featuring COTS hardware and system solutions for applications requiring Single Board Computers, data acquisition, DSP, FPGA, high-speed data recording, ruggedised laptops, conduction-cooled systems and industrial rackmount computers. Last year’s road show was a great success and you can read about the 2010 event here:

Road Show Schedule

Nigel will be representing Sarsen Technology at Basildon; come and say hello from 9am.

Extreme Engineering Solutions Launch New Web Site

Extreme Engineering Solutions (X-ES) has launched their new website on July 29, 2010. The new features of the X-ES website include a search function, easy navigation, improved product search capability, ability to subscribe/unsubscribe to e-newsletters, the ability to follow X-ES on Twitter, and a link to SupportNet, the extranet website that provides customers with access to technical documentation, software, and ECOs.

X-ES, a leader in the design, manufacture, and support of embedded computing solutions for compute-intensive military, communications, commercial, and industrial applications, provides a product portfolio of commercial-grade to fully ruggedized boards and systems. Our specialty is custom services, from modified COTS to full-scale custom designs, getting you the technology you need as soon as possible. All of our products are backed by an unparalleled level of responsive customer support.

Interesting Post - Trends in Microprocessors - High-end Military Applications Are Beginning To Shift To Intel

An interesting post from John Keller published on Miltary & Aerospace Electronics web site discusses the processor trends in the defence market place. "When it comes to military embedded computing, basically only two microprocessor manufacturers slug it out for the lion’s share of the defense and aerospace embedded computer market for applications like radar processing. While Freescale has been this market’s 500-pound gorilla for some time, Intel’s latest introduction of its Core i7 microprocessor in January is tipping the defense embedded systems community on its head in a transformation the likes of which seasoned observers have not seen in years."

Read more on the Military & Aerospace Electronics web site.

BittWare Visitors from the USA and Germany

Chad Hamilton and Burkhard Jour of BittWare visited the Sarsen Technology offices in Marlborough Wiltshire this month. We met with some key clients and had new product training meetings whilst Chad & Burkhard were with us. We also found some time for a visit to Silbury Hill and the Avebury henge which are just five miles from our Marlborough office. Sarsen Technology gets it's name from the Sarsen stones to be found at Avebury and Stonehenge. Please click on the photos above for a larger image.

ATLANTiS™ FrameWork Overview "What is BittWare's ATLANTiS FrameWork and how can it help your FPGA development?"

New from BittWare is a series of online videos detailing the features and benefits of the ATLANTiS FPGA Framework software. The first in the series is entitled "What is BittWare's ATLANTiS FrameWork and how can it help your FPGA development process?"

In this video, you will learn more about BittWare's ATLANTiS FrameWork which provides reconfigurable FPGA components and the necessary infrastructure to implement, simulate, synthesize, validate, and deploy a complete FPGA application on BittWare's Altera-based FPGA products. BittWare's own Chad Hamilton, Director of Applications Engineering, presents. BittWare Video Library.

Business Link Web Site Search Engine Optimisation Workshop

Today Nigel attended a "Search Engine Optimisation Workshop" organised by Business Link at the Castledown Business Centre in Ludgershall, Wiltshire. The presenter was Andy Poulton who provided an excellent review of the key elements of SEO techniques for business web sites. The workshop was attended by 58 representatives of small and medium sized businesses from central Wiltshire. The business types represented a wide range of activity from Electrical Engineers, Web Site Developers, Growers & Sellers of seeds, Business Coaching, Wedding Dance Instructors and Embedded Computing Technology Distributors. Andy's blog can be found at Andy Poulton Blog. The workshop came at a great time for Sarsen Technology as we work towards the launch of our new web site in September 2010.

Sarsen Technology Update - June 2010

The June 2010 Sarsen Technology Update is now online. This months's newsletter features the VersaLogic Komodo Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Embedded Single Board Computer, Extreme Engineering Solutions XCalibur4331 - Intel® Core™i7 Processor-Based 6U Conduction-Cooled or Air-Cooled VME Module, the EVOC Rugged 15" LCD Portable Computer with Intel® Pentium / Core 2 Duo / Core 2 Quad Platform and BittWare's ATLANTiS FrameWork that simplifies FPGA Integration and Implementation.

Counterfeit Capacitor?

I guess you would have to question this device's heritage.

Trenton Technology - PCI Express 1.1, 2.0, 2.1, 3.0 – What’s Happening & Why Do I Care?

It’s pretty clear to me that given the number of PCI Express plug-in cards available on the market today that PCI Express has won the high-bandwidth, serial interconnect wars of a few years ago. No doubt, there are specific application niches were InfiniBand, RapidIO or HyperTransport work the best. However, given the ever-expanding volume and types of PCI Express COTS boards available, you have to admit that PCI Express is the clear victor. Maybe you disagree, but next time you’re searching on-line or in your local Fry’s for a plug-in board let me know how many non-PCI Express high-bandwidth, serial interconnect boards you manage to find. I’m guessing that the number will be very small. Read more...

EVOC Exhibit at Computex Taipei 2010

EVOC recently exhibited at Computex in Taipei. The show attracted over one hundred thousand visitors from all over the world. EVOC exhibited a number of new embedded computing solutions including rugged laptops and low power fanless industrial PCs: Computex Taipei 2010

Re-inventing the DSP Block - Altera Changes the Game

FPGA & Programmable Logic Journal has a feature on Altera's complete re-design of the DSP block for their upcoming 28-nm Stratix-V FPGA line: Re-inventing the DSP Block

Oxygen Electronics - Atlantic Design & Manufacturing Show

Oxygen Electronics recently exhibited at the Atlantic Design & Manufacturing Show at the Javits Convention Center in New York.

Sarsen Technology Update - May 2010

The May 2010 Sarsen Technology Update newsletter is now on line at Sarsen Technology Update. This month's newsletter features new stories of new product introductions from BittWare, EVOC, Extreme Engineering Solutions and General Standards.

Webcast: The Intel Core i7 microprocessor in aerospace and defence applications

Ben Klam, Vice President Engineering, of Extreme Engineering Solutions is one of the presenters for the Military & Aerospace Electronics Webcast on Wednesday May 19th. The topic of the webcast is "The Intel Core i7 microprocessor in aerospace and defence applications".

The Intel Core i7 microprocessor is taking the aerospace and defense embedding computing industry by storm, largely do to the floating-point processing capability of the i7 device. While Intel is incorporating floating-point processing in the Core i7 to enable desktop and laptop computers to handle video faster and more efficiently, the military embedded computing community looks to floating point for digital signal processing (DSP) to crunch the complex and fast-moving data streams from radar, sonar, electronic warfare, and signals intelligence systems, as well as for advanced video processing. This Webcast features presentations from prominent embedded computing companies using the Core i7 processor that outline the most promising aerospace and defense applications for the chip, as well as from Intel, the designer and manufacturer of the Core i7.

You can register for this webcast at: Intel Core i7 Webcast

Business Link: The Magic of Web Marketing Seminar

Nigel attended the Business Link South West "Magic of Web Marketing" seminar presented by Alan Poulton at the Cricklade Hotel & Country Club in Wiltshire this morning. A well attended event with over 60 in the audience from a very broad range of industries. This was the second web marketing event that Nigel had attended and it was a very useful review of the current web world. Alan did a great job and Google seemed to be in every second sentence!

VersaLogic Wildcat Intel Core 2 Duo PC/104 SBC

Details of the new VersaLogic Wildcat PC/104 Single Board Computer have been added to the press release section of our web site:

Sarsen Technology Press Releases

The Wildcat is a high performance PC/104 format SBC based on the 2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU.

iPhone - The 4G Version?

Gizmodo claim to have found the next version of the Apple iPhone in a bar in Redwood City, Cailfornia. They have lots of photos of your next birthday present on their site:


Gizmodo

Altera announces next-generation 28-nm Stratix V FPGA family

Altera today announced its next-generation 28-nm Stratix V FPGA family, the industry's highest bandwidth FPGA. Offering up to 1.6 Tbps of serial switching capability, Stratix V FPGAs leverage a myriad of new technologies and a leading-edge 28-nm process to reduce the cost and power of high-bandwidth applications.

Manufactured on TSMC's 28-nm High-Performance (HP) process, the Stratix V FPGA family provides up to 1.1 million logic elements (LEs), 53-Mbits embedded memory, 3,680 18x18 multipliers and integrated transceivers operating up to an industry-leading 28 Gbps. The devices also incorporate the industry's highest level of application-targeted hard intellectual property (IP) for increased system integration and performance without the cost and power penalty. The family includes four variants that address a broad range of applications in the wireless/wireline communications, military, broadcast, computer and storage, test and medical markets.

These variants include:

Stratix V GT FPGA - Industry's only FPGA with integrated 28-Gbps transceivers targeting 100G systems and beyond

Stratix V GX FPGA - Supports a wide range of applications with 600-Mbps to 12.5-Gbps transceivers

Stratix V GS FPGA - Optimised for high-performance digital signal processing (DSP) applications with 600-Mbps to 12.5-Gbps transceivers

Stratix V E FPGA - Highest density FPGA ideal for ASIC prototyping, emulation or high-performance computing applications

"The innovations we made in our fifth-generation Stratix family dramatically improve the density and I/O performance of our high-end devices, further strengthening the FPGAs' competitive position versus ASICs and ASSPs," said Vince Hu, vice president of product and corporate marketing at Altera Corporation. "Altera remains committed to solving the challenge of increasing bandwidth while staying within designer's cost and power requirements. From the core to the I/O, we touched all aspects of Stratix V FPGAs to ensure they deliver the highest level of performance, density and integration."

An array of white papers, videos and technical documentation highlighting how Stratix V FPGAs help solve today's most demanding design challenges are available for viewing on Altera's website. To access these materials and a variety of other information on Stratix V FPGAs, visit Altera Stratix V Documentation

Embedded Live - 20-21 October 2010 - Earls Court London

Looking into exhibiting and/or presenting a paper at Embedded Live in October 2010 at Earls Court. Sarsen Technology used to regularly exhibit at the Embedded Systems Show but we have not done so for the past three years. We would be interested to hear feedback from clients and colleagues.

Trenton Technology Video Demos

Trenton Technology has started to create video demonstrations for new product releases. Trenton plans on uploading them to You Tube as they become available and they are excited to show existing and prospective users the new items they are releasing.

From the new PCI Express Gen 2 products to the latest and greatest long-life Intel Jasper Forest processors and Nehalem chipsets, these videos will be designed to show you what Trenton Technology hast to offer. So drop by, watch a video and leave a comment. Trenton would love to hear your feedback.

You Tube - Trenton Technology Channel

Sarsen Technology Update - March 2010

The March 2010 Sarsen Technology Update Newsletter is now available and features:

Trenton Technology's WTM7026 Featuring Two Six-Core Intel® Xeon® Series E5600 Processors

BittWare's Integrated System Framework Implemented in Altera FPGAs

The EVOC PCI/104-E Intel Core 2 Duo CPU Single Board Computer

Extreme Engineering Solution's XPedite7301 - Intel® Core™ i7 Processor-Based XMC Module

Follow this link for the March 2010 Newsletter

BittWare exhibiting at the RTS Embedded Systems Exhibition & Conference - Paris

Visit BittWare and EMG2 at the RTS Embedded Systems Exhibition & Conference - Porte de Versailles Paris - stand B16 and explore BittWare's signal processing products:

FPGA-computing and hybrid (FPGA+DSP) digital signal processing board-level solutions based on Altera's Stratix family of FPGAs

• Rugged (conduction cooled) and commercial (convection cooled) COTS compliant VPX, VME/VXS and CompactPCI boards ideal for military solutions in radar, sonar, SigInt and electronic warfare
• Commercial (convection cooled) AdvancedMCs combining the inherent flexibility of MicroTCA with a variety of VITA-57 FMCs (FPGA Mezzanine Cards) for processing and I/O expansion, encouraging hardware reuse and extending product lifecycles for communications solutions in wireless base stations, wireless network test equipment and Software Defined Radio (SDR) systems

Drastically saving development time and risk for FPGA application designers, BittWare's ATLANTiS™ FrameWork for FPGAs provides physical interfaces to I/O and memory, data moving engines, and resource arbitrators along with standard data flow and control fabrics that allow everything to be easily connected and controlled - easing implementation of complex signal processing solutions on FPGAs.

Oxygen Electronics on the BBC World News

On March 11th, 2010 President Barack Obama, at the annual Export-Import Bank's annual conference, reiterated his goal of doubling exports over the next 5 years. Oxygen Electronics, a time proven exporter, was interviewed and profiled on the BBC in response to this goal: BBC World News Report

Oxygen Electronics on the BBC World News

Oxygen Electronics' White Plains facilities were filmed this morning by the BBC as part of producing a piece to be aired on the BBC World on Thursday March 10th. The BBC is exploring President Obama's initative to double exports over the next 5 years through the eyes of Oxygen Electronics, an active exporter. Sarsen Technology is Oxygen's UK representative and more details can be found on the Oxygen Electronics Blog.

Embedded World 2010 - Nuremberg

Three of the manufacturers that Sarsen Technology represents in the UK are exhibiting at Embedded World 2010 in Nuremberg, Germany this week.

BittWare bittware.com is demonstrating it's range of Altera FPGA computing COTS hardware and software on Altera's stand in Hall 9 on Stand 259. If visiting, please ask to speak with Burkhard Jour, BittWare's European Director of Business Development.

Al Clark of Danville Signal Processing danvillesignal.com can be found on the Analog Devices stand 322 in Hall 12. Al would be happy to discuss the new Analog Devices ADSP-21469 SHARC DSP COTS hardware that Danville has just announced.

EVOC evoc.com has an impressive stand in Hall 9 (Stand 135). EVOC designs and manufactures a very wide range of embedded computing products including COM Express Modules, ETX Modules, PC/104 SBCs, Full Size CPU Cards, EPIC SBCs, Mini-ITX SBCs, Micro-ATX SBCs, Rugged Laptops, PanelPCs, Flat Panel Monitors, Industrial Rackmount PCs and many other embedded computing solutions. Please ask to speak with David Lee when you visit the EVOC stand.

Full details of Embedded World 2010 can be found at this web site: embedded-world.de

Visit to St. John's School & Community College in Marlborough

A number of the Sarsen Technology team visited the new St. John's School & Community College in Marlborough to meet the school staff and view the physics laboratory that Sarsen Technology has sponsored. Details of the brand new school & community college buildings and facilities can be found on the St. John's web site http://www.stjohns.wilts.sch.uk Pictured above are Dr. Patrick Hazelwood (Headteacher) , Mr. Luke Henderson (Science Teacher), Nigel Norman (Sarsen Technology MD), Lynn Scholefield (Sarsen Technology Office Manager), James Rickwood (Sarsen Technology Sales), Angela Boyce (Sarsen Technology Marketing Director) and Tim Norris (Sarsen Technology Sales).

Gary Lock Joins Sarsen Technology Sales Team

Sarsen Technology, the UK industry-leading distributor of embedded COTS hardware & software solutions, has appointed Gary Lock as its Sales Account Manager.

Lock brings 15 years’ experience of selling Rugged & Industrial Computer solutions to a number of vertical markets where reliable operation is essential in the most demanding of environments. He has specific experience in supplying COTS and modified COTS solutions for mission critical applications in Defence, Transport and the Oil & Gas industries. Lock will be growing business with key target accounts selling Sarsen’s high technology range of Industrial and Embedded PC range including solutions from manufacturers Trenton Systems, VersaLogic & EVOC.

“With the development of faster, smaller and low-powered processing technology, we are beginning to see processors in an ever-increasing range of new and exciting applications” says Lock. “I am very familiar with the market and am looking forward to introducing Sarsen’s superb range of COTS solutions to my contacts in the industry,” he added. “Sarsen represent only the best high technology manufacturers with tested and trusted solutions that are demanded in the applications where reliability is vital in the toughest of environments. I am looking forward to showing customers the benefits of selecting quality products at the initial design phase and through the life of a project.”

Nigel Norman, Managing Director of Sarsen Technology Limited, comments “with a growing range of technological solutions to offer our customer, and Gary’s knowledge of the market, we are looking forward to our second consecutive year of rapid growth in 2010.”

Sarsen Technology sponsors St John’s College science room

Sarsen Technology sponsors St John’s College science room

A Marlborough-based company whose technological solutions include sonar equipment to survey the polar ice cap, next-generation mobile phone systems, and controls for wave-energy machines has sponsored one of the two physics laboratories at the new St John’s School, which opens in 6 weeks’ time.

Nigel Norman, Managing Director of Sarsen Technology, says the company wanted to show its support for the school as it needs extra funding to put the finishing touches to its state-of–the-art science department.

“We have children at the school, and I can’t think of a better way of putting something back into our local community at this moment in time” said Mr Norman. “ Moreover, I firmly believe that the UK’s future as a successful economy lies in its ability stay ahead in the global technology race by continuing to turn out highly-skilled and extremely knowledgeable scientists and engineers.”

Sarsen Technology Limited is an industry-leading distributor of embedded hardware and software, supplying some of Europe’s leading players in the telecommunications, security, instrumentation, research and aerospace industries.
“Sarsen is a specialist provider at the cutting edge of technology solutions working with some of the UK’s leading scientists and engineers” explained Mr Norman “so it seems appropriate that the funding should be directed at this area of education”.

The science department in the new St John’s school is based in the northern end of the new building, overlooking the town. The laboratories and classrooms have been carefully designed to make learning an exciting experience for the school’s 1,600 students. St John’s has been raising funds for almost two years to buy furniture & equipment for the new school building, and a number of classrooms have already been sponsored by businesses and by private individuals. The Sarsen Technology room is the second science room to have been sponsored and will have a plaque fitted to recognise the company’s support.

Headteacher Dr Patrick Hazlewood met Nigel Norman to thank him for his support and to explain how important corporate sponsorship is to the new school. “I am delighted that Sarsen Technology has sponsored one of the state-of-the-art science rooms in our new school. It has been a great boost to us to be able to meet and thank so many people who have given donations to help make our new school a reality. We are all looking forward to opening the doors to students on 7th December and being able to give them the benefit of such a marvellous new building.”

St John’s School & Community College in Marlborough has a catchment area of over 250 square miles from a primarily rural area of Wiltshire, and has more than 1,500 students age 11-18. In 2009 73% of students achieved five or more A* to C grade GCSEs placing St John’s as one of the top performing state schools in the county. The ALPS (Advanced Level Performance Systems) data for 2009 ranks St Johns as Outstanding, placed in the top 10% of schools, based on the progress made by students from GCSE to A-level and the quality of teaching& learning.
Currently based on two 1960s sites in the town, 50% of students are being taught in ageing “temporary” classrooms, some of which have been in place for over 30 years. Following a Turf-cutting ceremony performed by England football legend Stuart Pearce in May 08 building work on a new single-site school commenced and the new building will open to students in December 2009.
Uniquely, the school has funded the development itself by selling land for development, preferring this route to waiting another decade for government funding to become available. The new St John’s is a single-site, purpose-built school with excellent facilities that will give students, as well as the wider community, a place to be proud of.

Sarsen Technology Celebrates 10 Years

Sarsen Technology is ten years old today!