M365 and young children EYFS and Key Stage 1

[sraper]

One of the schools we support is wanting to "migrate" to the cloud and based on the advice from one of their governors they are insisting on M365!

At present the shcool are using "generic" class logins by year group eg all year 1 kids use a "year 1" login with a very simple password.

 

The school is a member of the LGfL and are signed upto the the USO Sync service so there is an individual login available for every child - the school just dont want to use them.  We have tried (and failed) to convince of them of using the individual logins for safguarding reasons.

 

Just wondering what other Primary schools do - especially with the younger children - how do you get them to sign in

[icttech1981]

I work in an inner city primary school, we are in the top 3 deprived areas of the UK.

 

Over the past few years we've found that the majority of children coming into KS1 haven't even seen a laptop, never mind used one. As you can imagine expecting them to logon using their actual name is pretty much a non starter. We still use a generic logon for year 1 but have terms dedicated to digital literacy, using keyboards (They all have capital letters which is another hurdle, most don't recognise anything other than lowercase letters) and spending time on learning games like tux type.

 

When they move to year 2 we implement actual named logons. 

 

While this would be frowned upon I think you have to take each school in isolation and decide what works for them. If the children are at a level where logging in using their name causes more problems than it solves then why push it? For me, doing that causes more harm than good and will make the experience of using a laptop frustrating for a child and long term affect their ability to use one well. 

Edited February 19 by icttech1981

[sraper]

Indeed - we try to encourage schools to use individual logins where possible - but ultimately its their choice if not.

However wondering if its worth considering using Clever Badges or Wonde (My Login or Magic Badge?) and how easy are either of those to intergate with ActiveDirectory or maybe Hybrid Joined devices

Edited February 19 by sraper

[pete]

Currently?  They don't get M365 logins (or email) until secondary school.  "Login to a computer" logins are generic until Y3, then named with individual passwords.

 

If pupils really need M365 logins for T&L (ours typically use shared iPads, with occasional laptop use for CS), consider using "school owned device (Entra joined/hybrid joined)+ school IP range(s)" as second factors in a conditional access filter to avoid the "generic/terrible login accessible from the Internet" problem.

 

 

[DavR]

We have our students logging on to Chromebooks using their Google accounts from Year 3 upwards. Year 1 and 2 do ICT/Computing through iPads and BeeBots so don't really need a login.

 

Much like the OP, we make use of LGfL USO accounts, which are sync'd to Google Workspace to create said Google accounts. I agree that the LGfL USO accounts are clunky, but, they do the job, just about.

 

If governors are insisting on M365 accounts for each child, there are tools that will sync LGfL USO accounts to Active Directory or Entra ID. Makes your life as an admin easier, as these will all be generated from your MIS data.

 

The question is, what are your children logging onto most - Microsoft or Google devices? My approach would be to sync your children's LGfL USO accounts with the directory that best corresponds with the technology in use. Whatever way you go, you'll need management support to push away from the generic year group logins. 

[sigma]

Some years ago, I supported a primary Y1 teacher who made a laminated card for each pupil with their lower case login name which she dished out and collected back at the end of the lesson.  We didn’t introduce passwords until the pupils could confidently logon without the cards.  Initially I set the password to their name.  Mostly, they could all manage this by the time they went up to Y2 where they could set their own (short) passwords. Some reception pupils managed this too. 
I used to suggest https://www.dinopass.com/  for helping the young ones choose passwords.

[sraper]

On 19/02/2026 at 17:33, DavR said:

We have our students logging on to Chromebooks using their Google accounts from Year 3 upwards. Year 1 and 2 do ICT/Computing through iPads and BeeBots so don't really need a login.

 

Much like the OP, we make use of LGfL USO accounts, which are sync'd to Google Workspace to create said Google accounts. I agree that the LGfL USO accounts are clunky, but, they do the job, just about.

 

If governors are insisting on M365 accounts for each child, there are tools that will sync LGfL USO accounts to Active Directory or Entra ID. Makes your life as an admin easier, as these will all be generated from your MIS data.

 

The question is, what are your children logging onto most - Microsoft or Google devices? My approach would be to sync your children's LGfL USO accounts with the directory that best corresponds with the technology in use. Whatever way you go, you'll need management support to push away from the generic year group logins. 

All the syncs are in place from LGfL to AD to Entra

 

Just need something simpler to use such as QR codes or icon based logins etc  something that works with AD as well as Entra

[TwistedHelixis]

All the primary schools I look after, the pupils login from year 1 using their own account and password. The IT coordinator and the first school I know that did this, who is also a year 1 teacher said its probably the most important thing to teach the pupils at that age. If they can use a username and password they are set for everything that follows. This also means any websites they have logged into while logged into their own Chromebook account, will always have their own settings, which ends up making everything so much esiser in the long run for the teachers. No more having to log a pupil into MyMaths every lesson etc.

 

The year 1 teacher, just keeps going over and over how they should log in, until they are all logging in.

[DavR]

58 minutes ago, sraper said:

All the syncs are in place from LGfL to AD to Entra

 

Just need something simpler to use such as QR codes or icon based logins etc  something that works with AD as well as Entra

 

If your users are based in Entra, you can enable QR logins natively - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/entra/identity/authentication/how-to-authentication-qr-code. The snags are, it requires certain M365 licensing, and also a PIN number tied to the QR code.

 

I know some people are using QR logins with Google accounts, although I think this requires a third party tool such as Clever Badges or Wonde.

 

Not tried either of the above myself, though.

[Planehazza]

Hi all, thread bump.

 

This topic is one that's been a concern of mine for a long time. Lack of funding and interest elsewhere has made progressing this impossible, but I've been given a potential go ahead to source solutions. It seems a lot of places are in the same boat, and I empathise with their concerns. KS1 kids are too young to log into devices with their individual accounts, yet I believe this is now mandated or at least set from DfE? Either way, teachers logging in Chromebooks with their accounts for kids is NOT a solution and we witness this daily with no consequence 😅🤷

 

Tomorrow I am tech demonstrating Shared iPad mode for student iPads and I expect this to go down like a lead balloon. I'm trying to sell it down the safeguarding path. especially given just how many lightspeed alerts we get daily.  I've got a meeting today with Wonde to discuss MyLogin, and I want to speak again with Clever.

 

Just wondering what you guys are doing with iPads and simple logins for KS1? I feel for the teachers, but we've got to keep students safe so I'm going to be pushing Shared iPad mode hard. We use Google so would be looking to federate either solution against that, but we are also looking to Federate Google against M365 down the line too for Intune etc. It's getting complicated quickly!