Overview

How do you handle boarding pupils using their own mobile data in boarding houses? Do you have policies that say it should not be used or if Parents providing a mobile device with a Data package that they are responsible for it?

Im returning to an old problem - what about YouTube?

Hi there, I know this is an old post but I was wonderng what your situation is with this at the moment? We are also thinking of doing the same and I was wondering if anyone had any experience.

Hi all, I have been asked by SLT if I can arrange to go and see an Independent School that uses ISAMS with some colleageues (from Admin, Finance and Curriculum). We are thinking of getting this product but before we do we would like to hear some experiences of it from another school that use it across the board. We are based in Kingston, Surrey so would be looking for a school that is not too far away. It needs to be an independent school (up to 13 only) that uses ISAMS. Is there anyone that would be willing to take us for a couple of hours? We would also need to see your Finance department and Admissions / Admin, as well as speak to your Director of Studies or someone else high up on the curriculum side. Many thanks.

Hi all, I am looking to send my technician out on a school visit for a day as he does not have much experience of seeing other schools in an ICT environment and I think he will benefit from a bit of real experience! He has been an IT Tech here for a few years but then I came along(!) as IT Manager and moved all the systems over from RM to Vanilla. He has never had any experience of this and is used to just calling up RM whenever something goes wrong, so as you can imagine he can struggle at times with certain things. I just want him to be able to see another school who are similar to us, see the way they work and how they prioritise jobs and get things done. He lacks in being proactive so if there is anyone out there who feels proud of their hard working IT department and would like to show them off a bit, then I would be grateful if you would offer to have him shadow one of your technicians for the day. In return I am happy to have one of your technicians on another day. It's all good for the CPD! They type of school I am looking for would meet the following criteria: A department of two or more IT staff Server 2008 preferably Non-RM network A large amount of daily support jobs coming in In Surrey (or even Kent as that is where he lives) Fairly large school (about 400 or more students) If anyone thinks they might be able to help I would really aprpeciate it. Thanks.

Hello, Is anyone here using iPads with live@edu? Im interesting in knowing how well the office web apps work with an iPad.

Thought I'd join Ind Sch Techs. But it is a bit quiet in here. I find the various threads/blogs etc my first port of call for many IT problems, often edugeek comes up high on Google searches. Plus I find the MS Tech solutions mostly over complex or off target. Colin (8¬)>

I was pretty shocked the first time I gave a purchase order to the Bursar for about £20,000 so he could have someone higher up sign it off, and he handed it back without a glance saying "No, that's fine, just fax it through"!

I'm in a similar, but much smaller, boat to AT... I report to the Bursar, and that's fine. I have regular meetings with SLT and the bursar and I know my contribution is valued by them. Whilst not a member of SLT, I do get treated like one of them and my opinion is regularly sought on matters way out of the direct scope of my job. I don't have direct control over my budget, but then the Bursar only has £500 signing authority!!! (Everything major has to be authorised by the the trust which is a pain) I can however sign off purchase orders (once God has granted permission!) and the only others that can do this are the Bursar and school secretary. I do feel my contribution is valued by the Bursar and HT... it's the signing authority limit that's a pain and having to run alll decisions through the trust.

I think it depends a little on how senior your Bursar is, but much more on how ICT is viewed regardless of organisational seniority. I'm in the same boat as elsiegee40 from a hierarchical standpoint. Everyone at my school ultimately reports to the Bursar or HT, who each report directly to the Board of Governors with equivalent levels of 'power'. I report directly to the Bursar, so while I am not officially senior management there is only 1 step between me and the Governors. You could argue that on the org chart, I am a similar seniority to the Deputy Head. I don't feel that I need to be any higher up the food chain than that. Ultimately though, what I think you're really getting at is not where you sit in the org chart, but whether your position is respected. Mine is. I have strong support from SMT and the vast majority of the staff; I could probably only pick out 1 or 2 in the entire school who have ever seen me as someone who is just there to service them (ooer missus) and in those cases their attitude is widely derided by other staff. I meet with SMT on a 1-to-1 basis regularly (with the exception of the Head as he's simply too busy) and meet with them as a group on a termly basis to discuss ICT policy. I have almost complete operational independence, and direct control of one of the largest cost centres in the school (it's worth noting than I am one of only two people who can sign off purchase orders - literally everyone else has to have the Bursar sign it off). I don't think any of that that has to do with who I report to, but it speaks volumes about how seriously my contribution is valued. In summary, some schools do value their IT staff. Those that don't will suffer because of it, on all sides, but it's by no means a universal attitude.

The 'board of directors' equivalent at our school is the trust (school governing body) and every major financial decision (i.e. IT) has to go through them. The HT and the Bursar are the only direct reports to the trust. As for the rest of the school staff, we all report to either the HT or the Bursar; none of us reports to the trust.

Couldn't agree more. I have been working as an IT Manager in an Independent School wince September. Before that I worked in state schools working my way up from a technician to Deputy Network Manager. The work that I do here is never ending and absolutely vital for the school. Aside from me there is one IT Technician and he is part time so I end up doing a lot of the support work, therefore neglecting all the bigger things and future planning. It's absolutely crazy. The strange thing is that beore my arrival they did not have an IT Manager - just the technician. He would relay all IT problems to external support companies (or RM!!!) to come in and sort out. I was thinking just yesterday that the IT in schools is just as important as the money - therefore shouldn't it make sense to have someone with IT knowledge and capabilities on the SMT? And the obvious choice is the IT Manager as no-one else has the know how on the SMT. I am fed up of being thought of as a technician and a bit of support. Considering how much IT has moved on it is absolutely ridiculous how it is still thought of with such a low opinion when in fact it is one of the most essential parts of running a school!

How does your ICT structure work in your independent school? Typically in business, ICT would sit high up on the board (ie CIO). Many schools dont have CIO's, Directors of ICT and only have IT Managers (with the work being almost identical) or Network Managers (depending on the size of the school). With ICT being increasingly required 24/7 (email, staff parent and pupil portals, websites), ICT is becoming arguably the most important service in a school. If ICT were to be withdrawn from schools, teaching would still continue - the hardest hit (IMO) would be the business side - yet ICT is still looked upon a solely a support service for teaching. Will attitudes change? Can a direct line to the top (or puting your ICT Director/CIO on the SMT) help? Or will the position be resigned to work for the Bursar or an academic? thoughts

WE are about the same except for the pupils facebook and the like are banned during the daytime and prep time. After that and during the weekends it is mostly whatever they want to do, except for the usual "Black Sites"

I used to work in one but don't anymore. The access was no different between day and night but only because every time I tried to talk to the management about it we never got anywhere. However as ALL the students were boarders it is easily justifiable to have the same access all day long. If you work in a school where some of the students are day students but you do not have terminal services or some sort of remote access from home then they are at a disadvantage with regards to accessing their work etc. With regards to Internet access, I think this should stay the same all day (although you may want to block access to something like hotmail / gmail etc during the day and allow it in the evenings)

Hi, was wondering if anyone here works for a boarding school? I do and I was wondering if I could talk to you about what your schools allow boarding pupils to access when the school day has ended. Thanks

Hi all, I am an IT Manager at an Independent School in Kingston. (370 pupils aged 4-13) I have been to look at a couple of other similars schools to see how they run their IT department, what MIS they use, what other systems they use etc. I would like to be able to arrange more of these visits and wondered if anyone was happy to show me round their IT dept and have a chat and exchange some ideas. My school is quite 'behind the times' with IT and I have major plans for the future. If anyone is happy to 'invite me round', I would really appreciate it. Ideally I am looking for Independent Schools, using Sims or ISAMS, that are located in Surrey. Visits would be afternoons.

State or Independant there's not too much difference. Little quirks on each side of the fence make the other side look brighter. But the over riding maxim is :- Them that can - DO. Them's that can't - TEACH !!

I'm begining to hate working in education. Too many teacher/lecturers that think they know it all because they surf the net until midnight reading about how to snaffle videos from youtube. "Copyright? It's ok - we're a school" "But why can't I download from iPlayer and burn it to DVD?" *sigh* A little knowledge (too little!) is a dangerous thing. Very grateful to have found some like-minded IT folks!

I worked in two state schools, and I don't think I will go back into state again.

Strangely this is somehow reminding me of school! Look at poor little Technophobe sat in the corner. Outcast and wandering lonely as an orphan in a Dickensian novel. Kept at bay by the big boys with no friends, no-one to talk to. Nobody cares, I'm nobody's child. Poor poor me. I may not have the same job as you but... we are connected like it or not. And I'm not the enemy. Or am I? Is that how you see suppliers? Let me know. Please!

Have to say I don't think I will go back into state, I may have a smaller budget but I work alone and have full control. Think I am relatively well paid too :) Just a shame the teaching staff think they are still in state.... I get sick of telling them 'if you want to be paid as much as state... then **** of and work in a state school, oh wait.... you can't handle it' Man... I started off being nice and slipped into mardy arse mode again Pub lunch day tomo though

Hello lads & lasses, I'm I allowed in the gang if I'm not strictly a tech. I have just started working for an ISP that specialises in education. I'm not very technically advanced. But if I promise not to try and sell you anything I'd like to just hang out and see if I can learn anything that may benefit me at work. What it is that you specifically want from an ISP? How you've been let down, Support. No names need be given. I think you get the gist. Promise I won't babble so much in future! Cheers guys.

Agree huxham some nice things bout independent schools but does defo have its -ives

Isn't it just grand working in private education, no threat of the BSF initiative, no LEA's corrupting our QoS, however lack of Union, pay scaling, pension schemes (albeit I have a private one) etc do have their downfalls.