Fault reporting in Primary Schools

[Skinny]

I work in primaries and have tried to implement a standard way of fault reporting via a simple fault sheet in the staff room but different schools always want their own method, either in a book or as an online spreadsheet. I'm just wondering how other techs in Primary schools do it? What would you like to see compared to what you have currently got etc?

[soveryapt]

Well, I've tried to implement a book, a sheet, an online thing (Spiceworks) .. to be honest .. no matter what you put in place, they won't use it and will just find you when they know you're in .. lol ..

 

If you work in a few then I would suggest something like an online helpdesk if at all possible then you can say that you will use that to prioritise your work between your schools etc, which might actually get some response then ..

[TechSupp]

I work accross 4 primaries and when I started I thought about doing an online fault report sheet, was told "that will not work"...they were right, even trying them to fill in a fault report book does not work, best I've found so far is a white board and dry marker, so things can be just jotted down and I mark it off when its done. Know its not much diferent from a book but it just seesm to work. Other than that its the usual catch me in a corridor or a child is sent to report the problem and I mark it down. Can't see much point in being fussy over what works with staff, just rather get on with fixing the problems etc,,,thats what I'm paid to do after all and we all get along just fine as I'm allowed to manage the jobs myself no matter how they are reported.

[speckytecky]

SWGfL is currently rolling out Merlin - an online Portal. I'm currently struggling to gt to grips with finding anything that Merlin might be useful for and am left wondering if an online fault reporting this might be a function I could set up to run through it. On the other hand under the whelter of all other schemes being rolled out to teachers at present I'd be surprised if 5% of mine have mastered logging onto Merlin yet so that's probably a non starter:D

[AWicher]

I work at Garstang high as senior tech, but as part of my job I deal with primary schools in the area (about 30 on books, 15 regular use me) and I very quickly found dealing with the schools office staff and a simple book best.

 

Or get them to email me the problem they are having, add a note on google cal so i can prep b4 i go to the school.

Edited February 26, 2010 by AWicher

[SimpleSi]

no matter what you put in place, they won't use it and will just find you when they know you're in .

 

Amen

 

Its not a technology problem - its a human one

 

regards

 

Simon

(I look after 7 primaries at the moment but have worked in 13 and they are all the same )

[soveryapt]

Amen

 

Its not a technology problem - its a human one

 

regards

 

Simon

(I look after 7 primaries at the moment but have worked in 13 and they are all the same )

 

Indeedy .. as per my signature .. I find it's the CTK Interface .. lol ..

[Jamman960]

In my previous job a member of staff - usually the IT coordinator or head of IT at the schools I visited would gather a list togeather for me to carry out whenever I got there, many would also say take a look in the book if you get time etc - most of their list would have been sourced from the more important entrys in the book or whatever system they had internally.

 

I'm now working for one of the schools I used to support on a fortnightly basis, I tell staff to email me or it dosen't get done, this works well on our prep site but the staff at our pre prep still try to catch me whenever I'm there but I'm sure I'll manage to convert them at some point

[chrbb]

When I worked at 2 different schools, a fault book in the ict suite worked the best. But now I'm just at one school usually a child appears with a note or a tearful teacher appears or both:)

 

I've thought about an online reporting system, but as alot of staff's problems seem to be log on issues that would make it pointless:D

[SuRfee]

I work in 8 Primaries and i have an excel spreadsheet on the network, all staff have a shortcut to it on their desktops. it took some time to change habits but now they all use it and it works very well. i had to be quite tough for a while and not do any jobs that "were not" on the jobsheet - now they all use it.

[Skinny]

I've got 12 primaries mostly with an a4 fault sheet and that seems to work best for me. I go get it when I walk in then if staff stop me they have to put it on the log - saves soooo much stress and frustration. I put it in the staff room too cos if they're gonna have a moan that's where it'll be done, over a brew! I leave a note addressing each fault before I leave that way I don't have to interrupt teachers and they still get feedback

 

I have some books still in my stubborn schools and they're just a right mess, all scribbled out and torn pages it's difficult to even see what's what sometimes. I found the local spreadsheet thing ok but if the network share or something had gone down and everyone waits for me to fix it then I get backlogged. Nah I belive in the KISS method. We used to use an online fault log but it was taking ages to fill it in both for the bit the staff did and mine so we binned it.

 

Incidentally I know this is off topic but how many people work for other companies and how many are self employment in the primaries area? I'm pretty sure the contracts for a fortnightly are usually between 2k - 3k so just wondering about salaries etc for those with only a few schools.

[Jamman960]

I used to work for an external company visiting various types of school all over the country often on a weekly/fortnightly or monthly basis, I believe the cost to the school worked out to about £200 per visit for 6-7 hours a time.

[Skinny]

I believe the cost to the school worked out to about £200 per visit for 6-7 hours a time.

 

Sounds about right

[Skinny]

Sounds about right

 

Actually...thinking about it that's cheap! I think ours is about £200 for 3 hours

[SimpleSi]

i had to be quite tough for a while and not do any jobs that "were not" on the jobsheet

 

I think you may be deluding yourself (or your very very tough )

 

Just as an exercise and without doing anything different - do an actual tally of work done vs jobs on spreadsheets for a week.

 

And also count the number of incidents where they come up to you with a request and you've made them go and put it on the spreadsheet before your do it

 

And also note whether this person was the headteacher, the bursar or a member of the teaching staff

 

(or have you only been in the job since Christmas )

 

regards

 

Simon

[synaesthesia]

A book with a brightly coloured front cover is the most favoured one here. I've thought about implementing a spreadsheet with relevant shortcuts but if their computer doesn't work, it's fairly pointless

 

No system will ever work though, and every time I turn up to a school, before even getting to the fabled book to find what I need to do, there's usually 2 or 3 staff members come up "Ooh, I know I'm meant to right it in the book but as you're here..."

[contink]

Oh boy... my world in a nutshell...

 

I've got a zendesk account which I keep updated with information about visits, rescheduling, etc... but the problem, as noted already is the biological interface.

 

In each school I've instituted a book for reporting problems... Each is an A4 sheet with some basic information:

- name

- date/time

- class

- problem (computer, printer, software, account - circle one)

- error message if any

- etc...

 

At bare minimum this MUST get filled in, or nothing happens.. I got all the headteachers to sign off on this before I even bothered trying it out.

 

Beyond that I introduced a few key teachers and/or staff to the online helpdesk with the hope that they would pass on the details in the forms and/or report their own problems using the helpdesk.

 

It's had mixed results to be honest.

 

One school uses it religiously and I'll get a helpdesk ticket within a matter of hours, while another has more or less abandoned it to the "Ah, I've been looking for you!" approach because the head is not following through (meeting pending).

 

Either way, one thing to make clear with anything like this is that:

a) the sooner you know about the problem, the sooner you can fix it

b) the more detailed the problem, the more likely you'll fix it during the next visit

c) advance notice means the opportunity to order in replacement parts, etc...

 

Bottom line, communication = a quick fix... Waiting to grab me in the corridor = frustration for all concerned and a long wait.

 

 

It doesn't always work but I'm hitting about a 50% win/lose on this now so it's better than nought... and staff are catching on to the fact that recorded problems = working computers...

[witch]

One school has A4 fault sheets that are kept in a tray right next to my own tray. My boss started sending back any fault reports on bits of paper and now they do fill them in properly...but...most just catch me in the corridor. I keep a log of what I have done but no one has ever looked at it in 8 years.

In the other school, I instigated a fault sheet - but they don't use it.

However, both schools are beginning to use email to report faults, which is a big advance, so maybe we are going in the right direction:)

[benaus]

I have tried a few different things like online reporting and books but nothing beats a simple email to let me know of their troubles.

[RTi]

I know this is OT but.. how are you guys that work for multiple primaries employed?

 

been working for an EAZ for the past 9years covering upto 10 primaries.. but now looking at moving on.. and being employed directly by 4 schools.. i'll have a seperate contract with each one... but a single payslip.. i dunno.. just something bothering me about having 4 part-time jobs..

[itguy22]

We have a system that works in quite a few primarys we are at. A fault folder with sheets for name date and problem(also comuter ID) Then a space for technicians actions and also inital and date.

 

Hope this helps

[sparkeh]

I work for three primaries and have implemented an online helpdesk at each. Previously each used a book (complete nightmare).

 

I think that key to getting it to work is to get SMT on board by explaining the benefits. First up I pointed them to Becta FITS which specifies the use of a helpdesk and all the benefits. As all the schools are working toward the ICT Mark they were receptive to the idea. I then put out a simple to follow guide for the staff on how to use the helpdesk and outlining the benefits for them.

 

At two schools this worked well from the start, one is a work in progress and staff are quite resistant. People are coming round as they realise that jobs submitted to the helpdesk are dealt with more quickly than the ones that are shouted across a corridor full of noisey kids (that generally go out of my head as I am following up the properly submitted jobs).

 

Of course you need to retain some common sense; I just got grabbed by a member of staff whose projector wasn't working and was in a panic, I didn't insist he logged the job on the helpdesk before having a look

[LeMarchand]

"Base" school (which was originally my only school): they track me down . My other 3 schools: book that they are supposed to fill in, but ends up with odd bits of paper and "I haven't put it in the book..." requests. I generally put those on a low priority unless they are actually urgent and the staff are finally working that out.

 

I know this is OT but.. how are you guys that work for multiple primaries employed?

 

been working for an EAZ for the past 9years covering upto 10 primaries.. but now looking at moving on.. and being employed directly by 4 schools.. i'll have a seperate contract with each one... but a single payslip.. i dunno.. just something bothering me about having 4 part-time jobs..

 

3 primaries: same LEA so one payslip.

1 primary: same LEA, but much better pay so I have to do that as self employed.

 

Sounds like you're in the first category. I don't see anything to worry about as long as you're basically doing "full time" hours and are getting the same rate of benefits (pension, holidays etc).