Meeting digital and technology standards in schools and colleges

[Jaymate]

Not sure if this has been shared before but couldn't see it.

 

Not sure if right Forum so feel free to move but covers Switches, Broadband & WiFi and the DFE's attempt to help schools meet some standards in schools.

 

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/meeting-digital-and-technology-standards-in-schools-and-colleges

 

Thanks

[DrCheese]

Aye, some of it made me chuckle - That we should have a centrally managed (eg single pane of glass) switching network with dual, separately routed 10gb fibre links to each coms cab & then 40gb interconnects in a stack.

 

Sure - I've wanted that for years... but I can't do it without funding DFE...

 

We have stand-alone switch stacks, connected with dual 1gb links (Down the same route) and then HDMI stacking (Dell). My switches are over 10 years old.

[paulkerton]

Aye, some of it made me chuckle - That we should have a centrally managed (eg single pane of glass) switching network with dual, separately routed 10gb fibre links to each coms cab & then 40gb interconnects in a stack.

 

Sure - I've wanted that for years... but I can't do it without funding DFE...

 

We have stand-alone switch stacks, connected with dual 1gb links (Down the same route) and then HDMI stacking (Dell). My switches are over 10 years old.

 

I think the idea is that you take this to your management and say "Look the DfE are telling us we have to have this". Of course they're not going to make sure you're properly funded for it they're expecting schools to find it out of the existing budget. No doubt they've been influenced by very well funded Mega-MATs for this and assume everyone can do it from existing budgets.

 

Of course, if there is no one actually checking whether you do it, so it's all probably a moot point.

[Scifigirl]

so many "Should" words....

 

"Should statements typically only make you feel more hopeless about your situation and further diminish your sense of self-esteem. Become aware of your should, oughts, and musts and try to replace them with more encouraging thoughts."

 

can you tell i have been put in therapy.......

Edited March 31, 2022 by Scifigirl

[BKGarry]

I'll just take it to the PFI company and go, hey, the DfE want you to replace all the cabling around the building (they are responsible for the cables from the cab to the wall-plate). Oh and all the cable runs have been fire sealed so they would all have to be broken and resealed as well.

 

But yes, it is a lot of should on it rather than must, it is when you replace when it isn't working rather than you must upgrade to this now.

[jthompson]

I don't think there's anything particularly surprising in that. Ultimately, it comes down to funding and prioritisation, doesn't it. I should be driving a Porsche to work.

[mavhc]

And then use all those 40Gb links to only access the internet.

[EssentialRug]

Was part of fairly recent new build of a school where they were going cloud based and only using mobile devices on site, no desktops. DfE insisted on installing 10 million data ports throughout the school AND patching them all in when they will most likely never be used. WHY

[mavhc]

Because thinking is hard, why not just repeat what you did last time forever.

 

Although when we get to wifi 15 you'll probably need an AP every 2m.

[Rackenford]

One of the rural primary schools I am working at gets 2Mbps down on a good day, with the wind blowing in the right direction. I have just emailed RM/SWGfL with this statement. And they will inform me, "they can do it, for £20k."

So I will go to the school, with its 80-90 children and inform them to fire a teacher so I can fund their broadband. And then I will start on the CAT6, switches and access points. Oh dear, the goes another teacher.

[Michael]

I'd interpret DfE guidelines as 'best case scenario' or 'money no object' for new implementations.

 

I agree in principle with most what's being recommended/suggested, but there is a caveat to all this in regards to switching speeds. Given that there's a huge shift to cloud services and ultimately the gold standard is 1Gbps out to the internet, I really question the need/requirement for 40Gbps DACs.

 

10Gbps DACs would still suffice, given the cloud destination is being throttled by your 1Gbps connection out, when it'll probably only accept or need a fraction of bandwidth per connected device anyway. Cloud services are generally far more efficient than local or legacy services.

 

The DfE also need to move away from Primary vs Secondary models - similar to funding, it's all done on pupil numbers. This directly influences the total number of devices, but more crucially, the number of concurrently used devices.

[DrCheese]

I think the idea is that you take this to your management and say "Look the DfE are telling us we have to have this". Of course they're not going to make sure you're properly funded for it they're expecting schools to find it out of the existing budget. No doubt they've been influenced by very well funded Mega-MATs for this and assume everyone can do it from existing budgets.

 

Of course, if there is no one actually checking whether you do it, so it's all probably a moot point.

 

oh yes of course, it's more to throw at management as justification for why you need X - eg it mentions that you need a decent backup internet connection - We currently only have a 34mb/4mb backup line as it would cost £2k extra to go a 100mb/100mb backup line via virgin media, which I've struggled to justify the cost of before - This now gives me a bit of ammo to get that through

[mavhc]

On the plus side 40Gb networking gear is cheap because it's an abandoned tech, everyone switched to 10/25/50/100