Ben_Stanton

Thanks all, some good ideas. Looks like we need to suck it up and spend a little more to modernise. Cheers

Fully appreciate where you're coming from on weighing it up. However, we do any new installs in-house. We don't spend £300 on a projector either and lamp costs are negligible over life-span. It's a good general equation to work by though. - - - Updated - - - Thanks @Sagima, do you have rough ball-park costs for the Smart 6065 at all? Cheers

Thanks for the info. Any UK sales info for the above interactive projectors @localzuk? I think we paid £3500ish for the LCD a couple of years ago and they have come down in price i'm sure. But, smartboards are only £1000ish so may still be the most cost efficient solution. Ta

Hi all, Our smartboards are coming up to a good 8/9 years old and some are showing signs of imminent failure. So, we are possibly looking to replace them on a rolling basis. With the 'do they actually get used interactively or just as a glorified, overly expensive powerpoint clicker' argument aside, what are people using in todays 'modern' classroom as an equivalent? We have 1 CleverTouch display, but these are crazy expensive and even though it's super good looking and fully interactive, it still really doesn't get fully utilised (I appreciate this may be a staff training/education element here). Our current set-up is standard cieling-mounted projectors (not short-throw). Thanks in advance, Ben

We use DNA here, saves lots of hassle when it comes to ordering toner, submitting meter reads and scheduling maintenance etc. (as above, this doesn't include waste boxes or staples) - still a call/email job there). We have recently renewed with Danwood for another 3 years with a complete refresh on all hardware. I know they used to have a pretty bad rep, lots of dodgy 'ever green' contracts costing billions and never being released from it etc.. However, they have been taken over, stripped of deadwood and streamlined. I would have no problem recommending Danwood at all. I've not tried, but I'd guess if you did search, it would all be old news...nothing of the sort anytime recently (happy to be corrected on that). Feel free to get in contact if necessary... the old Danwood have gone, i'm fairly certain of it!

We are currently using Firefly and HIGHLY recommend. We went though all the 'major players' and these guys came up trumps (and keep coming up trumps). It also integrates with Office365 and Google...plus our MIS (WCBS PASS). I really cannot think of a negative. Cost wise, I think we pay about 3k a year (there are also some upfront 'setup' costs) which was in the same ball-park as Frog, mybigcampus and StudyWise.

Hi all, Are there any school in or around Hertfordshire that are currently using the External Exams module from WCBS? If so, could you send me a PM...have a favour to ask which would involve me sending somebody along for a chat with the person 'in charge' of that module (likely your exams officer). Thanks in advance, Ben

After filling the position with a great candidate, it is now available again (and quite urgently needs filling). This rather prompt exit is down to medical reasons. Please PM me if interested...

Just an update. The test run was successful. Generator on for 5 minutes to warm up UPS unplugged from the mains supply for 5 minutes to deplete a bit. Email received from UPS to say no longer on mains power. UPS plugged in to generator. Email received to say UPS is back on mains power and LED on unit indicate as such Bingo bango. Fingers crossed it carries on over a prolonged period (extra fuel on hand just in case)

Sorry, I should have made that clearer. Just ordered for delivery tomorrow, £100 per week (big saving on HSS) from a local firm MJHire - Home

Ok right, well this is exactly what I was going to do. Phew, I was doubting myself there (not unusual).

Maybe i've got this wrong then. I spoke to APC and they said the generator needs to provide 1.5 to 2 times the FLC. The FLC for that UPS is 4000w. The UPS is saying the current Load Power is 35.7 %Watts and the Apparent Load Power is 33.8 %VA. This is with 10 servers running plus some network gear.

The UPS max is 4000w so i've gone with this generator (1.5 - 2 times more)?!?

Super, ta.

@Geoff Would this spec work? It's the only thing I can get in time? I'm just worried about the frequency?!?

So I did, damn autocorrect.... Ben

Excrement, thank you Geoff. I think we'll just hire this time round (with a view to buy as we are very rural). I was worried about it being dirty power, but reading the interweb now I can see the Smart-UPS should be able to deal with the fluctuations better than a non-Smart. Fingers crossed... Ta

Hi guys, Late call from the power company saying they need to come in and cut the power to building for up to a 8 hours. The UPS will not last that long. Long story short, we cannot let one of the oldest servers go down (in fear of it not coming back up again...). So, I was wondering if anybody here has previously (and successfully) run the Smart-UPS 5000VA rack mount on a genie? If so, what did you get and where from? Ta in advance... Ben

Excellent, thank you clareq. Our workstation is 32bit so will have a tinker. I've got my finest engineer on the job...

Hi all, We have a problem with our eScience software (shock horror). Machines have been upgraded and it's not really playing ball. Nelson Thornes have been bought by Oxford University Press and no longer support this product. I have read that there was a v2 upgrade/patch available. What are the chances of anybody having that to hand? (slim...I know, I know). We are in the process of seeing if kerboodle has an equivalent...but in the meantime... anybody? Ta muchly

A teaching qualification ideally and/or relevant experience/proven track record... With regards to days, it's currently spread across the entire week, Monday being quite light on teaching commitments (so could fill with adminny stuff). Unlikely to be able to change that much.

417 views, but no interest? Boooo! We only have a few days to go...not looking great at the moment

Hi all, Bit of an odd, yet urgent request... We urgently need a teacher for the AQA ICT Full Course starting this September! It will be for the Year 11's, so they have already completed the first year. It is currently 5 lessons per week and is our primary focus, however, we can also offer 14 lessons of Computing at KS3 if that is not enough. If that still isn't worthwhile and you are willing, we could also find some more routine 'admin' type tasks to keep you busy. As you can appreciate, this is quite an urgent request. We are happy with somebody part-time or even 'borrowing' somebody from another school just to cover the GCSE element. Ideally, it would be for both the GCSE and Computing together (with extra bits thrown in if needed). We are a small school with only 200 students in total, so it will be extremely small class sizes with no real behavioural issues... it's a true delight to work here (free lunches too...) Please do get in touch if this sounds like you or you have any ideas on what/who we could approach so late in the day, Thanks in advance, Ben

Bingo bango. Thank you @mathewdowns

We don't have T6, we are just switching to Keith Johnson's Timetabler due to a change in staffing. I'm only being lazy and wanting to extract as much as possible from the 2014/15 draft timetable so I don't have to start from scratch in the new program. However, looking at how it has been done previously, it might be better off down that road...