JazzFlute

Shocking management which has ultimately affected hundreds of good staff and thousands of pupils. Majority of schools in trust are primaries too and they thought it would be good to have 1:1 iPads? The cost will probably be huge too when the schools move to other trusts as imagine all the unpicking that needs to be done when moving to a new trust and maybe different ways of working like new MIS, online resources, M365/Google change to note a few. Transition period will affect everyone and pupils/staff obviously suffer the most just because of a few high paid staff who probably have earnt there money out the trust made bad decisions and left with a good pay-packet or at the very least a good few years on a high salary

Some top notch management here https://schoolsweek.co.uk/troubled-trust-with-8m-deficit-to-be-broken-up/

After upgrading from Windows 11 23H2 to Windows 11 25H2 the touchscreen no longer works on the CTouch Smartboard and shows it as a sensor in Device Manager (Exclamation mark) rather than a HID-compliant touch screen (Human Interface Devices). Anyone had this and any quick fix?

Yes all depends on motherboard/GPU. 3 monitors work on spec below. Motherboard: Asus Prime H610M-A Graphics: Intel UHD Graphics 770 Outputs HDMI to HDMI (Smartboard) VGA - VGA - (Monitor 1) DP - HDMI - (Monitor 2)

Windows 11 Quick Assist is also a good inbuilt option (Microsoft Store App as well) which i use from time to time as can do the basic like request control etc. Nice and quick for basic support. Do need to be logged in with School account though.

All Good here to using an A1 License as just checked. Could it be browser related?

Yes a 2 monitor setup+board is what i will achieve also so the freeze isn't really a problem then as well as mirroring videos as they will always have one screen to carry on working on privately.

Messaged you

Yes good features to have an ideally what i need to but those screens are £150 more and just haven't got the budget, sad times.

Yeah that's definitely a negative as i know teachers will moan about that even though using the menu probably only takes a couple of seconds but not a deal breaker if we cant afford better models.

Are those C-Series?

thanks but going to try the Newline 👍🏻

Deffo worth a try for the price i think and give it 2 months and evaluate then to see if its worth buying anymore if needed. I know from colleagues from other schools who have Newline boards and had problems with them but those were older boards so hopefully the 2025 C-Series may be better.

I received an email as someone has 50% off the C-Series so they are £595 which is £1,000 less than a CTouch/i3 Connect I've got site wise. Not my first choice but you can only afford what you can afford 🤷🏻‍♂️

Same as me but budget this year is so tight I'm going to have to go low budget this year and make do.

Do you have any of the Newline C Series as looking at these currently.

Not me, been ok and stable since the major problems a few weeks back but below is the latest update on their status page but touch wood its not affecting me. System Status Update Virgin: Status changed to Advisory Author: Euan Davies 2026-05-12 12:04:12 Traffic levels are now beginning to stabilise on the affected NNI following the earlier period of elevated utilisation. Monitoring will continue to ensure service performance returns to and remains at normal operating levels. Thank you for your continued patience. Author: Euan Davies 2026-05-12 12:04:12 System Status Update Virgin: Status changed to Service Degraded Author: Euan Davies 2026-05-12 09:03:50 We are aware that the NNI has again reached maximum capacity, which may result in degraded performance and reduced speeds for users. Work is currently underway to migrate sites away from the affected NNI in order to reduce utilisation and restore normal service levels. Thank you for your continued patience while this work is carried out. Author: Euan Davies 2026-05-12 09:03:50

Hi, I’m looking for a mid-range 65" classroom interactive display. I’m not too concerned about the built-in software, as it will mainly be used to mirror the classroom PC and for basic interactive use. It does need to include built-in speakers (rather than relying on a soundbar). We previously used CTOUCH panels, but their replacement (i3CONNECT) is significantly more expensive. The screen will be used in a classroom environment, so it also needs toughened glass / durable build quality and ideally but not essential built in miracast or mirror app as cannot get the Microsoft display adaptors anymore that teachers are used to so simpler the better. Has anyone got any recommendations?

They have an overall strategy and will have already costed decisions out. In many cases, this leads to what they believe is better value for money, along with—rightly or wrongly—a preferred/better way of working or set of systems. Even if an individual school is running perfectly with zero downtime, they may still implement changes, even where those changes don’t necessarily improve the way that school operates At the end of the day, whether you agree with it or not, the main driver is likely to be cost and affordability for the Trust as a whole, rather than the needs of an individual school. Top slicing also plays a role, and this isn’t always equal across all schools for various reasons so they may need to underfund one school for a period of time to help another school/s. Ultimately, in my opinion, trusts are run as businesses—rightly or wrongly—and that reflects the academy model. They obviously 100% want to do well in all their schools but i doubt every decision made does that for all schools as i know for a fact it doesn't and they probably make some decisions on what is positive for the trust and majority of schools. I'm not sure how many trusts let their schools run "independently" even if identified as a well run school IT wise and there's bound to be changes implemented from the top where you scratch your head and think "why"?

same not looking at others but had to tick something to submit the vote.

I've had this on newish HP Laptops too and some DFE Lenovo, I always put a bit of Loctite on the tips and screw then back in.

Voted but I believe these decisions moving MIS will be made at trust level and techs/NM etc. won’t have a say. I remember advising an academy a while back to go with someone and at the last minute it was knocked on the head as the trust’s plan/vision was to go with the same MIS provider for all schools in the trust for various reasons. I think unless you are a LA school then MIS decisions will be made by someone higher up other than those who support them.

Looking for some free driver back up software, haven't used any for a while and a link is below I think for the top 5, anyone use/recommend any of them. Only looking to backup main ones (Graphics etc.) to include in an image. Free Driver Backup & Restore software for Windows 11

Yes i agree its expensive and maybe worth bringing up at the start of outsourcing IT support with an MSP so they can factor in that option as the MSP might not have/want the current job role in their current or future plans as I know of a school who went from a NM and 2 techs to just 1 tech when an Academy took them over. There's not always the same job available once an Academy takes over as they have their own central team and ways of working as the jobs you may think are important and fill your working week up now become centralised and what you personally think the school cant do without all of a sudden can although things take longer and are different but its all in the trusts plans and not the individual schools anymore.

Not sure of your length of service or age, but could redundancy be an option? This could be considered either as a business decision, or if they attempt to change terms and conditions (such as location). If you are over 55 and made redundant, you may be able to draw your LGPS without penalties. Combined with a redundancy payment, this might be enough to support you for a while. You could also still apply for other roles, including within the new MSP, if they offer you a different/lesser (and acceptable) position which in the long run could save them money so might be viable to them being as they have a central IT Team.