So, how's your Summer going

[FragglePete]

We're at about the half way point now; how's your preperation for September coming along?

So far, my network infrastructure upgrades are still going on, 2 weeks late, but end in sight on Thursday then I can move the servers to their new home. Won't use that contractor again.

New server for CSE.NET in place and working well, roll out to the School going well although slow as I'm checking each one by one in an attempt to sort out our AD once and for all and get rid of all the orphaned objects.

Installation of various AV in 9 classrooms going very well, definately use that contractor again!

Air Conditioning installation in 4 ICT suites going extremely well also, again another contrator we will use again in the future!

Haven't even looked at tweaking WiFi yet or set up the 7 x Asus EEE-PC's ready for Electronic Registration. Got a working test unit all prepared with SIMS, just need to image that.

Not panicing just yet! Can only get a chance to look on here in the evenings at home as spending no time at my desk!

Pete

[maniac]

Well so far;

We've completed re-imaging of all our laptops (340 or so machines) just got to replace the power cords on some of the cabinets where they've been badly pulled, and PAT test them all and they can go into their respective classrooms. Network infrastructure improvements have gone well, contractor took exactly the length of time they quoted for, and did a few other odd jobs for me while they were on site, which was good of them!

CCTV improvements also complete. New staff laptop image created, and new GPOs written and tested for staff machines (which took me longer than expected.)

I've also setup an ICT helpdesk system, some new library software which is web accessible all over the site and is very good, you'd hardly know it's web based it runs that well! I've also established a staff and student intranet to give a good starting point for internet use, built all our new office furniture , currently setting up 2 new workstations for video editing use in IT.

I've also renamed most of our student accounts to make the naming convention more consistant, archived all the old YR11 work and removed the accounts, done some housekeeping on the servers, moved student home areas around a bit to make better use of our server space etc.

Still to go:

• New SIMS server has arrived and is being installed by the LEA next week
• Gonna have some fun with printers getting them all where they need to be
• Couple of small cabling jobs to be done
• Desktop PCs to be setup in English once the premises team have built the worktop for it.
• Couple of bits of new software that arrived on my desk last week, would have been nice to have had them before the holidays!
• Revise our backup procedures as it's overly complecated at the moment!
• Clear out and tidy up our store room
• Turn the old SIMS server into a WSUS server (or something else equally as useful)
• Lots of other little jobs!

Mike.

[SteveB_NI]

Well, I'm just back after just over 2 weeks holiday, so playing catch up at the mo. Got a good bit of my list done in July (and also had a full week off then too!) so it's not too bad.

Progress has been hindered though due to cleaners stripping + re-varnishing floors in the labs + classrooms

So far got the following done:

• 2 laptop trolleys + contents checked, cleaned, profiles deleted, images created + restored as appropriate
• Old computers removed from areas throughout the school & stockpiled for disposal
• Wireless access points located throughout school to reduce need to connect laptop trolleys in certain classrooms
• Additional 40 laptops set up & fully updated & awaiting allocation into laptop trolleys
• Technology department computers (inc. croc. clips & pro. desktop etc) set up & printers allocated
• Web design work started for a partner primary school

Still got to finish up sorting out laptop trolleys etc before I start on my fun project... setting up a technician support system for myself including inventory management (got the barcode scanner etc ready for go!) and an ordering system for toners + other consumables. Want to teach myself some more Flash + PHP as well.

Teachers in this week for A-level results day too lol!

[Oops_my_bad]

No end in sight, teachers have already started coming in asking for this that and the other and I've already got one complaining she broke the screen on her laptop stupid c*w

[Gatt]

No end in sight for me either..

• Out of about 8 ICT Suites I have 3 that work!
• 3 of the 5 main ICT Suites are inaccessibly as all the benching, etc have been removed to allow the old carpets to be repalced.. this was done the day after the kids broke up (25th July!) and are still in that state today..
• I have imaged a grand total of... 60 PCs! out of approx 160!..
• It takes about 3 days to paint, lay carpet (lift, screed, tackify and lay) and to get the benching back in...
• So by a week thursday they will prob be done... which is also results day! and I go on holiday that day at 12PM for 2 weeks!
• On top of that I got threatened with an "Official Warning" due to some b*t*h thinking i was leaving early and starting late (this from the one who swans in at 9am then buggers off at 2pm on a regular basis!)
• I still have servers to build - 3 of which i cant cos of furniture blocking my access!
• I have had to move almost all Admin staff! on my own - after site management ripped the PCs out and dumped them in a tangled pile!
• I have not been givien a list of the new Year 7's so cant add them to AD yet
• I need to create - Profiles, Home Drives, Pupil Intranet, Terminal Server for new ICT suite..

School re-opens on teh 3rd of september - and im off that week - my tech is in Mexico..

Chances of having a workng IT system by then....

Who's gonna get the blame?

[Oops_my_bad]

I can fully sympathise with you

We have a right bunch of c*w's for cleaners - it's been impossible to get anywhere because they're constantly stripping the floors with polish stripper and god knows what else, without leaving alternative access routes!

Same story every summer.. every holiday even!

Year 7's havent been accepted onto SIMS yet so I cant create accounts etc.. no doubt that will get done first day back along with the other hundreds of jobs that will no doubt need doing

If I was you keep a record of the times she is coming and going, and also the work you do at home in the evenings etc that you should be getting overtime for.. we can all be just as petty when we want to be

Jeez maybe I should've posted in FFS

[dave.81]

None whats so ever of any end, or even the middle. We rent our campus out to french students for the full 8 weeks of the summer so out of the 6 weeks i'm working i spend most of that being nurse maid to them. One of the biggest problems is them using the classrooms i need to be in working, this means only have 3 hours a day to get around them to work.

[Gatt]

I used to do a fair bit at home but stopped that now as I was getting no thanks when asked about the OT was, effectively, told no!

As for the member of staff (who happens to be part of SMT) I will be keeping an eye on this... They claim to regularly do 40hrs plus at work - as justification for their late/early finishes - yet my work at home doesn't count for anything ???

Just had a walk around with the head hilighting my concerns of the ICT Suites and he didnt seem impressed himself.. I have 1 week to get things ready - I dont see it as its going to be at least that to get the rooms into a state where I can go in to setup the PCs and image them

Looks like my tech is going to have a long list of jobs - and that I'll get the blame for it all..

Oh and they wont give me any more Techs..

**but will build a "Board Room" with kitchen, en-suite shower, plush leather chairs... **

[SteveB_NI]

Originally Posted by dave.81

None whats so ever of any end, or even the middle. We rent our campus out to french students for the full 8 weeks of the summer so out of the 6 weeks i'm working i spend most of that being nurse maid to them. One of the biggest problems is them using the classrooms i need to be in working, this means only have 3 hours a day to get around them to work.

That would drive me completely mad. I HATE being restricted from areas of the school during 1 of the few times I actually get a chance to sort out things.

[Gatt]

My main issue with whats being done here was not being consulted first!#
That way I could have arranged for me to go in first and image the PCs, label them and disconnect them, let everyone in to decorate - least then all that would have been needed was for us to go back and reconnect everything!

But.. No... they didnt.. so come Sept 3rd.. half the kids IT Systems (and suites) wont work!

[martynbez]

well lets get you up to date!

we had new L3 cisco switch's installed which ment that all the other cisco switch had to be re-config (around 20 around the school)

222 new dell's to install

170 new network points (they have just started)

New patch room!

So all going well! lol

[Jake]

We've completed most of our bigger jobs, just got some smaller stuff left to do. Stacks and stacks of time left to do it, so large portions of time at the moment are used by simply sitting around doing nothing. Which is handy as I am finding that I have ALOT less enthusiasm or desire to do anything this summer for some reason.

Maybe its boredom, maybe its the belief that anything done wont be appreciated anyway, maybe its because they will probably break or not use at all anything we've implemented, maybe its the shadow of BSF. Not really sure, but finding that I am not really giving a toss this year

[russdev]

Originally Posted by Jake

We've completed most of our bigger jobs, just got some smaller stuff left to do. Stacks and stacks of time left to do it, so large portions of time at the moment are used by simply sitting around doing nothing. Which is handy as I am finding that I have ALOT less enthusiasm or desire to do anything this summer for some reason.

Maybe its boredom, maybe its the belief that anything done wont be appreciated anyway, maybe its because they will probably break or not use at all anything we've implemented, maybe its the shadow of BSF. Not really sure, but finding that I am not really giving a toss this year

Don't ask two weeks left and lots of things left to...

Russ

[richard.thomas]

Our imaging is coming along nicely now. Still got a few rooms tho!
One ICT room we cant access as asbestos has been found in there (oops!)!
We're waiting on loads of VGA cables to complete the machines that we've installed in every teaching room (~50!).
We still have a suite of iDesks to sort out (if anyone has any im sure they understand why thats an issue :P).
We've still got some laptops that need collecting by new staff- but they're ready to be collected so not too much of a biggy.
I've still got to write up bits of documentation as I leave at the end of August.

So i reckon we have 7 rooms left to image/repair and 6 rooms that have <10 machines in. Also need to update audits

[wizzard]

Spent most of the summer in an office admin job, still trying to break into IT properly and now I'm unemployed, short term agency contracts are a right royal pain