Maaster

Hey everyone, I'm extremely curious what software you guys have installed for children. We are currently using 2Simple and a few other bits of not-so-new stuff. Any recommendations on the software your school utilises? Cheers.

@Simon. It's my wife's fault. She mentioned there were IT issues at her school and could I come and have a quick look. Luckily (if that is the correct description) I'm self employed and currently contracts are sparse. It's good to know some of their setup is utilised elsewhere. Confirmation is a blessing in disguise Much appreciated as always Steve.

Afternoon y'all I know it seems mundane doing diagrams but having a visual representation of the network clears up a few things. For example, one classroom is entirely connected through a wireless access point. Also, half the laptops are set to one wireless AP, the other half are set to another. If someone wanders with a laptop it's common to lose connection. I didn't know that either. I've seen somewhere instructions on updating virus definitions via the server, but I'm prioritising that as low until I find my way around. It's good to know it's a fairly easy process. Thank you. No inventory take unfortunately. Another job added to the to-do list. You know, I can quite safely say this is one of the most helpful forums I've ever come across. Go ahead and pat yourselves on the back hehe

Hey Licensing is all up to date as far as I can tell, the technician seems to understand that necessity. Sophos anti-virus is also up to date on all machines now (weirdly, or expectedly they update each client manually).

Thank you guys. Some excellent advice and quick as well I realise I'm getting ahead of myself with the children's login, but I just couldn't fathom out why they reverted back to a class login. Some very helpful discussion points anyway. Just to answer a few questions from above: The contractor doesn't necessarily 'keep' rebuilding the server. Just when required such as in December when the school upgraded to Server 2008, then again in January when unknown issues arose. I don't have any other details unfortunately except that there is a new server being purchased because of hardware issues with the current on. I do know the contractor hasn't made a clean install, so all the current policies and settings were set in Server 2003. The contractor comes in for 2 hours per week but I haven't had chance to see him yet. The technician is full time but lacks any in-depth knowledge of a network, especially administration. For example, he had no idea there was supposed to be documentation and doesn't see a need for it. D'oh! I guess we (the school and I) start from the beginning, commencing with documenting. Baby steps and all that Well, I have most of the layer 1 diagram done so I best get back to it. In the now famous words of an Austrian......I'll be back! Cheers everyone.

I just realised there is a ICT Manager Learning thread. Apologies, please move if inappropriate. Thanks.

Hey everyone, Firstly, I'm new in the ICT field, with only an 8 year old IT degree to fall back on. I'm also learning Server 2008 from a VM at home, not perfect I know. So I'm just trying to find my feet on where to start at the school I'm working for. Yes, I realise their first port of call would be to employ someone who knows what they are doing, but I'm volunteering my time to try help where I can School Info: Junior, infants and nursery school 600 children 150 staff 200+ laptops One ICT suite with around 40 PC's 15+ Smart Boards Server running x64 Server 2008 This school has had no previous ICT manager, just one technician, and as you can imagine the whole of IT is in a bit of a mess. Their only 'expertise' derives from a contractor who comes in when necessary to rebuild the server and sort out anything that the technician can't. My first question is where would you start? Nothing exists in terms of documentation, policies or otherwise, if I remember correctly this is the place to start. Any advice here? Next up are user groups. Currently all teachers have admin rights, and children use a classroom login. Apparently children did have separate logins last year but they kept forgetting their passwords (among other issues). I know this can't be right as the classroom shared folder is a mess and data is freely deleted or edited from each other's separate folder. Reading on here a little it seems some of you still have that issue lol. Do you guys have separate logins for the children, if so, what does your file structure look like? With this information, I can then talk to the contractor when he comes in and discuss the current/future setup. Right, I best get back to figuring out why power settings keep resetting for most of the computers. Try save them a few quid on electric if nothing else. Many thanks in advance for any help you could throw my way to an absolute beginner practically doing an ICT manager's job Steve.