http://www.tim-ballard.co.uk/ Personal web log (Blog) of a Suffolk ICT teacher - Tim Ballard Copyright 2008, Tim Ballard, all rights reserved. en tim@tim-ballard.co.uk Thu, 17 Apr 2008 00:00:01 00:00 http://www.tim-ballard.co.uk The credit crunch is the best thing that's happended to the housing market in the last 10 years. That's because prices have been increasing for the last 10 years and now they are starting to fall - it's about time! Of course I'm speaking from the view of a first time buyer who is completely priced out of the market at the moment, even with the recent falls. House prices have much further to fall, and I believe they will fall to a much more realistic level. http://www.tim-ballard.co.uk Since the start of the year, Shelter has, surprisingly, declined to recognise my fund raising attempt. Nevertheless, I will attempt to raise the 50,000 pound for my own house. The FirstHousePage.com website has since been revamped and it offers guides and tools for first time buyers, making the website much more interesting. A marketing campaign will follow shortly to raise the profile of the website - fingers crossed that all goes well. http://www.tim-ballard.co.uk Happy new year! And with a new year comes a new project - I am hoping to raise 50,000 pound for Shelter (the housing and homelessness charity) and raise some funds for a house of my own at the same time. See www.FirstHousePage.com and get a space while you still can! http://www.tim-ballard.co.uk Teaching is going extremely well. Not long now till the Christmas break. I used this half-term to catch up with some fellow teachers that qualified the same time as me. Also, I had a look at the property market, which looks to have stagnated so I'm holding off for a few months to see if prices start falling, and to save more cash of course. The contact form has been modified so that I no longer receive automated spam - The 'captcha' is a dynamically generated PHP image. http://www.tim-ballard.co.uk/ I have updated my CV and I am now offering a personal tutoring service to pupils in the Ipswich area. In addition, the tim-ballard.co.uk RSS feed is now available. http://www.tim-ballard.co.uk/ I have now finished my PGCE at Anglia Ruskin and I am looking forward to starting a new position at Holywells High School. http://www.tim-ballard.co.uk/ The Virtual Learning Environment for year 7 is now open. However, please note that it is still under development. http://www.tim-ballard.co.uk/ My Internet connection just came back online (again) a week since BT switched it off. Let's hope it's back permanently this time. I cannot wait to hear BT's explanation for this. http://www.tim-ballard.co.uk/ Unbelievably, I lost my Internet Access on Saturday afternoon and I am still without it. After talks with my ISP, it is suspected that there is a fault with my BT line – BT is now investigating. Until then, I have no choice but to resume my limited ... http://www.tim-ballard.co.uk/ Yesterday I had a car crash on the way to school, which was not my fault, but I am okay. Nevertheless, it created enough additional work to keep me busy for the rest of the day. Today, however, I am putting all my effort into replying to every ... http://www.tim-ballard.co.uk/ The broadband on my new telephone line has now been activated, which means that I can begin to catch up with recent enquiries by clients and otherwise. Thank you for your patience. http://www.tim-ballard.co.uk/ Notification of disruption to services: From the 22nd of February there may be disruption to services that I provide (for up to two weeks) while I am moving house. The telephone line where I am moving requires broadband activation, hence the delay. ... http://www.tim-ballard.co.uk/ I am building my own Virtual Learning Environment (or VLE, see left) to provide my pupils with a detailed summary of the knowledge that they should be learning in their lessons. The VLE will also expand on the curriculum, allowing pupils to explore ... http://www.tim-ballard.co.uk/ I have joined the British Computer Society (see bcs.org) to show my commitment to the IT industry. As a professional member, I have exclusive access to news on technology trends and the support of fellow professionals. http://www.tim-ballard.co.uk/ The Byiast Driving Academy has expanded its online presence by acquiring the following website addresses: www.aditrainingessex.me.uk and www.drivinginstructortrainingessex.me.uk http://www.tim-ballard.co.uk/ The last three months in review: http://www.tim-ballard.co.uk/ I now have a new website with information on where to get a Playstation 3 (PS3) and how you can get a free PS3 - PS3offer.co.uk. http://www.tim-ballard.co.uk/ I am now freelancing full-time but I am looking for another full-time position. If I do not have any success in that, I will follow through with my application to train to become a teacher. http://www.tim-ballard.co.uk/ Today is the 22nd of June and there are now only 22 days before I will be full-time self employed. I have finished the PgCert in Management Studies course that I started in September 2005. I do not know the results yet though (fingers crossed I've ... http://www.tim-ballard.co.uk/ I have launched a special offer for Schools in association with this year's Walk 2 Live event. http://www.tim-ballard.co.uk/ Due to an increasing amount of clients, I can no longer offer completely free technical support as of 01/04/2006. All new websites are still covered by a 3-month warranty and my new company SME 24 Ltd will offer a form of website insurance, when it ... http://www.tim-ballard.co.uk/ Long time no blogging. This is a posting to give everyone an update on what has been happening in my life since the new year. My last employer, that will remain un-named for legal reasons, has not paid me for three months last year. As a result, I ... http://www.tim-ballard.co.uk/ Happy new year to all my family, friends and clients. This new year will see me taking more pro-active steps to becoming full-time self-employed as Managing Director for SME24 Ltd. I have booked a meeting to see a business advisor and hopefully ... http://www.tim-ballard.co.uk/ Finally, I will be moving to a 3-day week following the successful sign-off of a project for my existing employer later on this week. http://www.tim-ballard.co.uk/ Project delays in my existing employment mean that I am delaying taking more time off to set up my company SME24 Ltd. It is looking more likely that the launch of SME 24 will be put back to February. http://www.tim-ballard.co.uk/ I learned about intellectual capital on my course today... so when I show a business plan to a potential investor I can say that my company is worth millions of pounds already - you just cannot see it :-) For those that don't know - Intellectual ... http://www.tim-ballard.co.uk/ An interesting twist of events. Following the completion of a project for a client (E. Davies and Sons Ltd.) while at AAA Communications SEC Ltd, I have been kept-on by the client's Managing Director to support the new IT system and assigned the ... http://www.tim-ballard.co.uk/ I had my induction weekend over the past few days and found that management is a far reaching subject - it reaches people with very different goals, in different careers and at different times of their lives. I also got the opportunity to take a ... http://www.tim-ballard.co.uk/ I start my PgCert Management Studies course next Friday. My first challenge will be to manage the combination of work and study while leaving a little time for social activity. I've accepted that my holiday to Magaluf was my last proper break ...