A Point Of View: "School Networks – No Longer Just A Man In A Cupboard…"

[GrumbleDook]

I did wonder who was going to be the first to say that i was betting Tony

Been a bit too busy to get into serious debate about this side of things today ... but Academies are organised slightly different from BSF, even those within BSF, with regards to how they identify the needs for technology. That, to me, is the biggest difference ... not whether they have a managed service or not.

I suppose we come back to what is regarded as a network manager in a school. The title means little as it is given to those supporting 300+ clients as well as 40. It ranges from those who have little 'management' to do through to someone managing a team of 6, with a budget of £300k a year and answerable only to the head honcho! The workload is different, the tasks are different, the responsibilities are different ... the stress is different too.

Each school has different needs though, so it is not the fault of the NM abotu what they do or don't do .. but we should recognise that some are pushed further and harder than others and deserve a different salary. Some people might not like me saying that but it is true.

However, it doesn't take into account educational outcomes (buzzword alert! buzzwod alert!) and the school might want to pay more for someone who makes a larger difference to the performance of the school. More hands-on work with teachers, helping them understand the applications better ... more how-to guides for students ... RnD work on content ... it varies.

The flexibility to give staff what they deserve can be really beneficial as long as manglement don't hide behind LA rules and regs ... but it relies on the senior leaders in the school having a true understanding about what you do.

To some extent I still want to look at standards of delivery of services and practices rather than just raw info on competency levels. Not so much what jobs can you do, but can you do them well and does it make a difference.

[tmcd35]

I suppose we come back to what is regarded as a network manager in a school. The title means little as it is given to those supporting 300+ clients as well as 40. It ranges from those who have little 'management' to do through to someone managing a team of 6, with a budget of £300k a year and answerable only to the head honcho! The workload is different, the tasks are different, the responsibilities are different ... the stress is different too.

I think this is a key point and is true in most areas of school life. No two schools are the same, we all have very different priorities and skill sets. What works and is right for one school will not necerssarilly work well for another school. This is main complaint on BSF forcing one-size fits all managed ICT services on schools. It's also, for me, the problem will using FITS as a bible rather than as guidelines.

The flexibility to give staff what they deserve can be really beneficial as long as manglement don't hide behind LA rules and regs ... but it relies on the senior leaders in the school having a true understanding about what you do.

And back nicely to the central theme of this thread. What is most important is SLT basic understanding and support for the job we do. Without that then perhaps we are little more than a manged service anyway.

To some extent I still want to look at standards of delivery of services and practices rather than just raw info on competency levels. Not so much what jobs can you do, but can you do them well and does it make a difference.

As much as I've said previously that we are the swiss-army knife of the IT industry, we can't be good at absolutely everything. If my school wanted a web designer or TA then something went wrong in thier selection process! We do need to recognise our limitations and know when outsourcing would give the best service to our schools, such as (in my case) cabling.

I suppose this is where it gets difficult for schools. How do you define a role that you don't understand and have little personal interest in? How do you make sure you hire someone with the right skill set you need for your school if you don't necersarily understand the skill sets? Maybe that's part of the thinking behind BSF and managed ICT? (not that I agree with that line of thinking)