IT in an Alternative Provision environment - what things wouldn't I expect?

[pete]

We may (LA/DfE agreeing) be creating an Alternative Provision facility (secondary age pupils) within our trust in the near-ish to medium future.

 

If you / your team provide IT support to a similar facility, what things do I need to consider that are on your "Oh, I didn't think we'd have to develop a solution for that....." list?

 

Tell me the things that you only learn about after you've been involved with one for a while.

 

cheers

 

Pete

[synaesthesia]

Starting from scratch effectively will make it easier for you as long as you have at least half an environment ready to go. Usually with AP units it's a cluster of random hardware built locally, no servers or proper deployment systems, sometimes an MDM if you're lucky. Ground up it'll be far easier - intune or Google, windows or chromebook, on the assumption that your MIS isn't SIMS.

Shouldn't be too different otherwise - more focus on external providers for education so companies like Academy21, colleges and other establishments which may also have their own systems to log into, and some of them can be about as different as they come - for instance round here some of them involve the students learning to farm! So no huge surprise if a device comes back clogged with manure

A likely higher rate of devices "going missing" for students if they're on a 1:1 basis, likely higher safeguarding issues and scenarios which may involve further investigation or input from IT.

A lot depends on the staff too - I was always lucky enough not to have to hand-hold anyone as they were generally more switched on out of necessity.

Very vague I know, but I think that can also describe AP in a nutshell

[Oaktech]

Our ALP we used our cast off PCs and ebay monitors and treated them as disposable. We bought stainless vandal proof keyboards with built in trackballs and attached them to the desks. Laptops were only for staff and were not to be taken out of the offices. Tablets were £80 off aliexpress in otterbox style cases and again, were essentially disposable. Initially everything was attached to our main school domain but eventually we spun them off into their own intune domain where they could mess with each others work without affecting the main school. Heavy use of Impero in that unit.

[PotNoodleTech]

Start with the basics - you need very good gate and door access and guest sign in system linked to the fire alarm and preferably inked in to CCTV systems. Controlling who goes where and auditing who did what and when, is going to be high on the list of essentials.

 

Equipment wise I would go down the road of good quality tier 1 manufacturer refurbished equipment if you think theres likely to be a high level of vandalism. Buying new is pointless in that scenario as all your doing is spending more and getting a warranty which you can never use as they're not gonna fix a laptop that's had 20 keys ripped off it and been engraved with a house key.

 

Try and buy equipment you know you can get third party spares from e.g. if you buy a lenovo 100e chromebook you can get a screen for 20 or 25 quid and fix it same day - if you buy a 300e then you can't get third party screens and a lenovo one is gonna be over £150 quid so that device is written off.

[mavhc]

Assign everyone their own equipment: oh, you broke your computer? here's a pen and paper, get on with it

[Andycat]

We've got older kit in ours. Mag locks on every door. CCTV in every room. So far this year we've replaced 4 PC's, had a hole punched in a wall, a radiator ripped off , and a mag lock bent.

 

And 3 staff left.

 

IT is the least of your issues.....

[pete]

^ It's less the physical damage (we get that to some extent at all our schools, some more than others depending on particular children), it's more the unusual things you wouldn't expect.

 

An example from one our other other schools:

 

A Logitech subwoofer has an open port. If you put an M&M in that port, get the placement right and the speaker is on for long enough, the M&M melts enough to short out something inside the subwoofer, resulting in an angry squealing noises (think personal attack alarm being set off) if it's powered on. If you're on a ladder troubleshooting said subwoofer, this may have consequences if the report of the problem doesn't mention how it's not working.

 

So we don't buy anything student-accessible with open ports now.

[mikes]

^ It's less the physical damage (we get that to some extent at all our schools, some more than others depending on particular children), it's more the unusual things you wouldn't expect.

 

An example from one our other other schools:

 

A Logitech subwoofer has an open port. If you put an M&M in that port, get the placement right and the speaker is on for long enough, the M&M melts enough to short out something inside the subwoofer, resulting in an angry squealing noises (think personal attack alarm being set off) if it's powered on. If you're on a ladder troubleshooting said subwoofer, this may have consequences if the report of the problem doesn't mention how it's not working.

 

So we don't buy anything student-accessible with open ports now.

 

We are given a list from our LEA instead of a budget now with equipment we pick for IT. We needed some speakers for classrooms so we chose some. They ship us speakers that have Bluetooth enabled, can't be turned off, with no password, enabling anybody to connect and play anything they want. Brilliant

[mavhc]

We are given a list from our LEA instead of a budget now with equipment we pick for IT. We needed some speakers for classrooms so we chose some. They ship us speakers that have Bluetooth enabled, can't be turned off, with no password, enabling anybody to connect and play anything they want. Brilliant

 

LEA approved item lists are usually terrible, last time I could only buy battery chargers that didn't turn off when the battery was full, so much winning. Not as if they have any technical people picking this stuff