Starting new job ICT systems Manager & Facilitator November 5th

[-sweet-]

Hi everyone new here!! ,

 

So i went to an interview yesterday for a job as ICT systems Manager & Facilitator, i havent looked round the school and at the state of the network yet but i will be looking into it hopefully next week!

 

Heres my job description:

 

 

• Maintain and update the school website, including weekly awards and work.
  
• To maintain a good knowledge of school ICT systems and procedures.
  
• Troubleshoot in cases where ICT is not functioning and it is within your capabilities.
  
• Access and liaise with support partners.
  
• Liaise with ICT subject leader.
  
• Provide support to teachers and children in ICT lessons (4 afternoons a week).
  
• Produce DVDs and still photos of school events when required for display, use in publicity, etc.
  
• Data insertion into Target Tracker when required.
  
• Support for teaching staff and TAs when problems occur with accessing data.
  
• Troubleshoot technical problems in school office.
  
• Backup of assessment data for transition to KS3.
  
• Procurement and purchasing of new desktops and laptops for students and staff.
  
• Acting as a point of contact for ICT related contractors who are working onsite.
  
• Maintaining and upgrading physical network infrastructure, including cabling and patch panels.
  
• Ensure that the disposal of ICT related equipment complies with the WEEE directive.
  
• Keep detailed records of school licensing information to ensure legal compliance.
  
• Produce E-Safety resources for parents.
  
• Develop hardware, software and the network solutions throughout the school, to meet curriculum and administrative needs.
  
• Develop, implement and monitor the schools practices for data protection, internet use, e-mail, security and ICT resource management.
  
• Plan and budget for ICT systems development and routine expenditure.
  
• Develop curriculum resources to facilitate the use of ICT within the school.
  
• Develop the use of a virtual learning environment with the school’s stakeholders
  
• The duties above are neither exclusive or exhaustive and the post holder may be required by the Headteacher to carry out appropriate duties within the context of the job, skills and grade.
  

 

 

Anyway few questions-

 

Firstly - I know that they use CC4 RM so do i ask them to send me on a training course for that asap?

Second - once i have the budget, how do i plan it? im only 20 and planning budgets is a first for me?

Third - What sort of things do i put in a E-saftey poster/leaflet? any good websites?

Fourth - Whats the best virtual learning enivoronment?

 

 

Thanks in advance, i look to be a active member on here so look foward to meeting some now people!!!

[Domino]

Budget planning - book a meeting with the finance team once you're reasonably settled, and talk to them about what you're expected to include. Your top priorities should be reoccurring costs (make sure they're covered), making sure any hardware refreshes are accounted for, and ensuring that you're getting the best value on the items that are included.

 

Maybe ask for course options?

 

Esafety posters etc, have a look in the esafety forum: I know the smoothwall guys quite often provide good advice/resources along these lines.

 

VLEs being 'best' is very subjective - really you want to look at what they want to get from it, and balance that with your own skillset, as you'll obviously need to administer/support it.

 

Anyway, good luck, and hope you get a lot of value from being an edugeek member :-)

[-sweet-]

Okay Cool! so like printers, general ware and tear all need to be accounted for?

 

Okay ill ask about courses

 

ill give the esaftey thread a look

 

again i havent had a look yet so dont know what sort of thing is needed.

 

Thanks alot!! will be good to track my progress on here

[DSapseid]

With my budget i split it into 4 areas. Consumables, Licence Agreements, Maintenance, Development. Ask to look at past invoices if you can to try and see what was spent last year so you can have a rough idea of what you should be spending this year. Once you can cut down the consumables you can increase the development pot! In my 7 years here my consumables spend has gone from £14k to £4.5!!

 

I also keep a photocopy of every invoice that i pay for as the finance teams have a habit of putting the it teaching invoices on my budget so when i get print offs of my reaming budget every couple of months i can check that all the invoices are mine!!

 

I was 18 when i took over running my network and supporting 3 primary schools as well. I know there are a fair few people on here who also ran schools at a young age.

[sparkeh]

Firstly - I know that they use CC4 RM so do i ask them to send me on a training course for that asap?

Yes, that is a very good idea.

Although you can read the manual and pick up how it works, the RM course is well worth attending.

[witch]

Speak to @elsiegee40 re e-safety. She is a guru about these things and can really help you.

There are also numerous examples of AUPs, policies, informal agreements etc on use of IT on here too which will be of help.

What size school is it? Can you visit other local schools to see how VLE's work and which one might suit you best?

Edited October 1, 2012 by witch

[Ketlane]

On e-safety it'll be well worth having a discussion with the school's Child Protection officer (who might or might not be the Head Teacher) and also with the Personal and Social Education/Citizenship leader.

[elsiegee40]

With regard to e-Safety... don't try to do it on your own; there's no point reinventing wheels. There is plenty of stuff out there. Our own eSafety forum has a loads of resources on it. Ask on here if there's anything specific you need... someone will probably already have something that you can use as a template

 

Register with ThinkUknow as a teacher to get hold of CEOP eSafety materials. Try to get yourself on a ThinkUKnow course as soon as possible. It will give you a valuable insight into the school's role in eSafety and what you can do to help the school with safeguarding... They also teach you how to present eSafety to the young people! Your LA may have someone who can help, or you can book a course through the ThinkUKnow website.

[-sweet-]

Thanks for all the replies!! going into the school in half term to get introduced to the network etc! Anything i should sort of do over the first week?? Like specific things? Thanks!!

[Dos_Box]

Locate all the install media and lock them away in a place only you (and senior management) have access too!

[elsiegee40]

First week: Make sure you go in the staff room for a coffee every break and lunch time. Introduce yourself to EVERYONE. Go and have a gossip at regular intervals with the admin staff when they're not bogged down with kids, teachers and phone calls. Be friendly and listen to what they're saying.

 

Make people know who you are, what you do, when you do it and how to contact you. DO NOT give them your personal email and/or phone/mobile number. If there's no help desk system, implement one immediately and insist that you cannot work without people logging jobs through it.

 

There will be clues to what you need to do from what they talk about... it might be as basic as training on how to operate a mains electricity switch

 

Find the paperwork, find the CDs/DVDs and install media on the network. Find out where the toners and projector bulbs are. Find out how you go about ordering supplies... what will make your finance officer happy, not 'the way it was always done'.

 

DO NOT do anything even slightly major, unless you have to, for a good 3 months... i.e. when you've had chance to get to understand the foibles of what you've inherited .

Edited October 1, 2012 by elsiegee40

[Dos_Box]

Oh yes, as Elsie said. Do NOT touch or change anything for the first few weeks until you know how everything ties together. Some networks can be like a house of cards. Take one bit away and the whole lot may fall in.

You can use this time to map and document the network if there is currently no such information available.

[samba_man]

Welcome to Edugeek!

I started off as a part time IT Tech at the secondary school when I was 17, still working there now five years later alongside two primaries who offered me jobs. I must be doing something right!

It's a very rewarding experience, you will learn at least one new thing every day. Make sure you write each one down in either a book or a private blog.

[-sweet-]

Brillaint thanks for the advice! Cant wait to start!!

 

Could someone Compile me a list of things i should do bullet pointing them so i can add to it and take it with me on the first day and keep it in my office?

 

Thanks Guys!!

Edited October 2, 2012 by -sweet-

[Ephelyon]

Inside Government - E-Safety

 

This might be good to learn about current developments in the UK e-Safety world at the moment, if you can get the funding. Costs about 275 quid I think.

[psydii]

Once you've internalised the advice so far, here are some next steps:

 

1. Backups - know how they work, how to restore from them and ensure that the school can get its data back even if they lose you and the building.
   
2. Backups, check them daily, fix them with your highest priority.
   
3. Backups, make sure your maintenance and support contract for your backup software is valid.
   
4. Teaching and Learning - delivery in classroom is the what schools (almost without exception) are all about. IT problems in classrooms affecting T+L should have your highest priority. Get issues fixed or worked-around to restore T+L asap. Return to move the quick-fix to a permanent solution, at a point that does not interrupt T+L.
   
5. Remember the point of technology - it is to make it easier to do more work. In classroom this might be the teacher being more effective thanks to automated admin tasks, or more engaging teaching and learning tools, for the students it may be learning how to use the technology to create pieces of work, or it may be engaging with actual e-learning packages. Remember why and for whom your role exists.
   
6. Be SMART in all that you do. It works from customer interaction (tech support / budget planning) right down to troubleshooting kernel dumps.
   
7. Always be punctual, lessons are short and critical, those 30 seconds add up.
   
8. Communication keep people in the loop, make sure your manager is aware of problems that are re-occurring or stacking up, make sure the users are kept informed with the progress of your work (if it stretches over a few days). Remember: The end user (generally) does not care about the technicalities.
   
9. Read these books:
   
   • Time Management for System Administrators
     
   • Window 7 Resource Kit (It's huge, user data chapter, and event logging are the chapters I keep referring to)
     
   • Inside Windows NT (1st edition - it introduces the fundamentals in a way that the 6th does not, but be wary - a lot has changed since 1992. Buy it second hand.)
     
   • Windows Internals 6th Edition Volume 1 + 2 (skim read most of it, but pay attention to the chapter on networking)
     
   • The Practice of System Administration (the authors are quite unix focused, but if you've got the Windows Resource Kits you can easily transfer the more Unix oriented) There is a chapter in there specifically for your Non-Techinical Manager.
     

[*]Look into getting FITS certified. It is an implementation of ITIL which is a very transferable set of skills/tools to have. RM used to run a course.

 

 

And to address the question you asked but no-one has responded to: The Best VLE is one that the Senior and Middle Management have completely bought into and that the teachers find useful. VLE's succeed or fail mostly through the engagement of the whole school. There will always be doubters and the disgruntled. If their voice is allowed to poison the well, no VLE can succeed. If you've got access to one via your RBC you might find the greatest level of support and implementation experience in buying in through that.

Edited October 2, 2012 by psydii

[-sweet-]

Wow brilliant, Just found out because i havent seen my serve room etc, but i only have a desk in the staff room as my base.... maybe look into getting a office/room to do some work in permenantly?

[Ephelyon]

I think psydii's points above are very comprehensive, but can I add that in some schools the core administrative processes are completely tied into the IT facilities. If the financial management package is down on the day that the monthly salary claims are due to be processed, whereas elsewhere in the school there is a classroom computer not working and certain lessons can't be delivered... the teacher can wait. I'd imagine scenarios of this nature are less likely to occur in a primary school (I work in a secondary), but it's a possibility.

[-sweet-]

Right okay, Also... looking at MCSE or Cisco course... can i not be funded for these?

[Steve21]

Only a personal opinion, but I wouldn't be too focused with trying to instantly go on 9million courses as soon as you enter the door. Obviously it's good to plan for future learning, knowledge etc, but wouldn't want it to sound like you need major training before being able to manage the network.

 

As I said, not trying to have a go, just saying

 

Steve

[Ephelyon]

As Steve21 says, if you ask for training immediately it looks as if you don't think you can do the job. I'd leave it till you've had an opportunity to identify your own more specific areas for development, then find a way to link them to the school development plan or a teaching and learning outcome (I really don't think we should have to do the latter, but we often do), then take it to your line manager or senior management (if they're not the same thing).

[DSapseid]

Only a personal opinion, but I wouldn't be too focused with trying to instantly go on 9million courses as soon as you enter the door. Obviously it's good to plan for future learning, knowledge etc, but wouldn't want it to sound like you need major training before being able to manage the network.

 

As I said, not trying to have a go, just saying

 

Steve

 

I would agree with this.

 

Ive been here just over years and am going on my first course at half term. Its an apple course and thats only because we have just done our first suite of macs this summer!!

 

You could wait till your first performance management meeting and bring it up then (assuming its after a year or so and youve got yourself sorted!)

[-sweet-]

Okay cool maybe im being a bit quick! haha! got a VMware system running on a sepreate PC in my bedroom practiceing etc so looking good

[tb2571989]

Playing devils advocate here - are you sure you're cut out/confident with this? I'm 23 and have been working in schools for the best part of 5 years and while I would be happy moving to senior technician I don't think I could manage Network Manager till at least 25 - my technical skills are fine but I coudln't "manage" anybody - what's the size of the team there? It sounds quite small as, even as a network manager, you're expected to do everything. I guess it also depends on what systems and devices you've got.

[Ephelyon]

It does vary on the person and the school; I became an NM at 23, only managing one technician though (who was an apprentice first), though this was more a confluence of circumstances than a position I actively applied for. I expect the school will have been fully aware of -sweet-'s age/experience when they hired him. Managing all of this on your own can be quite daunting (which only becomes apparent when you've done it for a time), but as long as the SMT has a support package on stand-by if there are any issues, and the EduGeek community responds as we've done before, he ought to get through it.

 

I think it's valid devil's advocation, but if -sweet- leaves at e.g. 24 with a CV that speaks of full budgetary control, line management and significant skills in maintaining and developing IT facilities, it could set him up quite well for a job in a larger school or in industry.