RichCowell

We've set the date for the next North West meeting of the ANME - 19th March 2015... It'll be free for members as always (check out our website if you're interested in joining - Association of Network Managers in Education ANME - there's information and photos from the first two meetings on there too) Venue will be Park Hall Hotel again. Invitations will go out via EventBrite nearer the time. We'll keep all members posted about future developments - including a meeting we're organising at Sophos's headquarters in Oxfordshire!

I've set up Cobian Backup for a few people, though not used it myself... Seems quite reliable... Cobian Backup

Someone asked me about this a while ago, so I contacted o2 and spoke to more people than I can count, they all claimed that it doesn't use any ports, and that it just works on the internet... Not actually seen it to monitor what it accesses, but yet another reason I'm avoiding o2 lol...

Massive thanks to everyone who came yesterday, members and supporting companies! It was another huge success and a great day overall!! I'll be adding some photos to the website in the next few days, though I didn't manage to get as many as last time, I was too busy with the activities and networking! lol... Stay tuned for details of the next meeting soon!

Thanks! Don't think we had your EduGeek username listed, but guessing who you are from your name! lol... The last of the freebies have arrived this morning, so I think everything's set now

Thanks for letting us know, things happen, but we'll always be grateful for people letting us know before the day... Thanks

We do indeed! I'll email it out to members attending today... Still a few places left if anyone's interested - invitations will be emailed to new members once they've joined... Meeting 02 | Association of Network Managers in Education ANME

We'll keep you posted... We had people from Ellesmere Port and Cumbria last time, if we get more members from Liverpool we may look into organising car-pooling...

@witch - it bounced but I hadn't spotted the bounced email... just emailed him again...

I emailed at the time, but not heard back, I'll email again and make sure he received it... Thanks

Thanks -I'll copy your comments in an email to the person asking about it... Just one comment / thought though... if each pupil premium person is allocated £900ish to make certain provisions for that pupil, while the school can choose to spend it how they like, so long as it's making something advantageous available to the pupil in question, surely that's what matters at the end of the day? If it's the difference between them being able to access web based resources / educational sites at home, or having to make a 20 minute bus ride to the library to do their homework, surely no one would ask any questions about that? Not trying to be argumentative - it just happens to have become an actual need since I raised the issue... I must be psychic! lol...

That's a great idea, thanks! We can VPN directly into the Sophos UTM and do everything through that... Thanks again!

Hi All, Just wondering whether any schools have had to provide internet for students at home under the Pupil Premium scheme? If so, what options did you consider and what did you decide on? We've provided a few laptops, and while we've not had to think about internet yet, I'm sure it's a bridge we'll have to cross at some point... Obviously we'll have to ensure that it's filtered appropriately and not leave that up to parents, but I'd be keen to hear from anyone who's already done this at their school...

Invitations went out to members last week - still a few places left... More info on our website: Meeting 02 | Association of Network Managers in Education ANME I ordered the freebies on Monday too... All free for members!

We've been using it for several years now, and love it... myself and my technician both use it all the time for remote management and bulk actions over the network... The IT Teachers use it for monitoring etc. too We don't use all the features - only because we've not needed to so far, but what we have used has all been fantastic, I'm quite happy to sing its praises all day long... Their support is second to none too... they're always really helpful and get issues resolved quickly... I'd be happy to talk more about it and answer any questions you may still have... PM me if you do

It looked great in the webinar yesterday... I'm looking forward to getting it on our new iPads (once I get them set up! lol)

Congratulations, and good luck @Ric_!!

I could have done with this years ago when my eyes were sensitive and I had to wear tinted lenses, which were awkward with screens... not used it myself, but just Googled and found this - TintMy Screen | Software to improve your reading performance

We used Concrete5 before we moved the site to Schudio... I'd fiddled with WP a few times but it just didn't seem very logical in the back end to me... could just be me though! lol

I've used Sophos at my current school and previous school and never had a problem with it... Pricing's competitive, it's been reliable and robust... Always been happy to recommend it... I've PM'd you as well...

I hadn't spotted this mention, so only realised I'd won when my iKettle arrived yesterday!! Love it!! Thanks Luke!! :-)

We've got a few of their devices, one direct with them, the others with Lynbrook, another managed print company... I'd never consider going direct with Ricoh again... their service has been appalling, right from the start, and have claimed to not have any record of things discussed initially with the rep that saw us... The one we've got direct with them is the copier in the main school office, and they mucked up and left the office without toner for 2 days... luckily Lynbrook stepped in and lent us one in the mean time, but as a result of everything, I've nothing good to say about their service... Their devices have been great though...

Awesome, thanks @Dos_Box!

Thanks :-) things have gone really well up here in the north west so far, and we're keen to help promote it in new areas, definitely those farther afield, and do more in those areas too... it's not going to be a quick thing, but one we'll look forward to developing and growing as the members grow...

There aren't quite enough southern members yet, but we're working on it... We're hoping to get the next one organised in Oxford, which - although not exactly local still - it will be more central to the members in and around Birmingham, London and on the south coast... We're definitely planning on holding the meetings elsewhere, but need quite a lot of members before we've got enough to come to a meeting, and the numbers down south haven't changed much since the last map I sent you... We're working on it... it's going to be a watch this space thing for a bit yet though...