RichCowell

I've looked at that in the past as that's what I wanted to use, but couldn't quite get my head round it lol... #fail (though I admit I didn't try for long)

We've used Devizes School Booking System for several years now - it's basic, and it's internal (but you could make it accessible externally)... We've never had any problems with it, so I've recommended it a few times...

I realise I'm probably in the minority with the area I'm in & type of kids we have here - we get little damage and vandalism, but have had a lot of issues with mice & keyboards being unplugged / moved, but as you mentioned - we just use cable ties to tie the mouse & keyboard cables to the others... a couple per machine - it stopped them removing them overnight... (not that they used to do it overnight of course!) The recent PCs we've got have been Dells on stands with enclosures to fix to the back of the PC and lock in place - that's helped loads too, and it looks far tidier - but obviously not just a consideration when replacing them, rather than a quick fix...

I'm on the hunt for someone to do the minutes at the moment Not forgotten you - I'm hoping to get something in the post by the end of the week... Yes - we're going to do as much as we can to promote it elsewhere - if you have a look at the ANME Group on here ANME - EduGeek.net - I've posted some maps showing member locations so you can see where we're at - sadly you're the only one in your area... we'll need a lot more before we can do a similar meeting down there (there's a problem with those two images in the group so I'll email you them)

We have it blocked for students, but allowed for staff... but unblock it for students if requested by the teacher - done easily as and when needed on a room by room basis via Impero... We looked at YouTube for schools too, but definitely too restrictive... I think if there was an option for more than one account to have permission to add videos for student viewing it wouldn't be too bad... We've even got a rule in the Sophos UTM so the music department PCs can access YouTube off YouTube for Schools if we enable it, but didn't bother at all in the end... I hope they improve it as it'd be one less thing to manage if that worked like it should/could...

Exactly... if you don't get that right, you're doomed!

I've got the 50" version of that and can't recommend it highly enough...

Not used them but spoken to them recently - Network Connect - Communication Excellence

After Effects

No I'm not sure about AC yet, I was only confirming the quoted post about that... if you're not looking at BYOD in the next few years you may be okay without it... but it sounds like AC will future proof it more... depends what budget's available I guess...

Meru were at the EduGeek EDIT conference talking about AC and said almost exactly that... We've had various issues with channels interfering with each other on our HP wireless system that we've had for a few years, so the single cell feature of Meru is definitely something I'm going to try to opt for when we need to replace them...

Firefox just crashed and updated as I restarted it on my PC, then EduGeek loaded like that too... thought it was just me... or Firefox!

We've been using it for a while - we've not looked into disabling any local updates, but if you have them checking regularly, that shouldn't be a problem as it should update them before they start prompting... certainly hasn't been here for us that I'm aware of... or if it has, it's been updated within a week and no one's said anything.

I'd always worn plain black polo-shirts until recently... now I have them with the ANME logo on - didn't ask, but no one seems to mind... got them done at the same place the school gets their printing & PE branded stuff done - Galaxyprint

We've been using the Sophos UTM for just over 2 years now and have found it to be a great piece of kit... I'd definitely recommend it...

The first school I worked at I had to wear a suit, but since the second school I've worn smart trousers, polo shirt, and safety boots (personal preference)... no rules in the holidays, so just jeans, polo shirt & trainers... Always black trousers and a black polo shirt - saves thinking about what to wear!! I tend to wear the same polo shirts out of work too (I've got better things to spend my money on than clothes lol)...

Always interested in a chance of winning... especially some of those prizes, count me in, thanks!

The online form's now live! It's even easier to join... (glad to see the back of the PDFs!) Still a few places available for the meeting on the 26th at Park Hall Hotel, just off the M6 at Charnock Richard... Free to join, free to attend... check out ANME Association of Network Managers in Education for more info! :-)

p.s. School Asset Manager will be at the ANME meeting on the 26th June - free to attend by all members - http://www.anme.co.uk

We moved from an old spreadsheet to School Asset Manager last year and have been very happy with it so far, especially since their prices dropped dramatically since the first time we had a demo a year or so before... More than happy to talk more about it if you want to PM me...

We've used Survey Monkey for this type of thing... started with a free account but have a paid account now and use it quite often... does exactly what you said...

Agreed about it being too fussy... I added something to the login script at my last school that stopped students logging on to staff machines by checking to see if the username began with a 00/01/02 etc. then logged them off automatically... worked really well, but not had chance to faff about and do the same thing here (after nearly 7 years! lol) Once you'd got it right though, that would be far easier to manage than the GPO I would imagine... either way you'd need one GPO or script per member of staff...

I meant if anyone wants to use them for anything other than AirPlay...

haha maybe not then... They wouldn't dare here

Sounds like it's going to be a nightmare to manage with any option this way... You're bound to get loads of requests to let other staff log on to their laptops - when others forget their laptops... If they're staff laptops - surely they're responsible enough to look after their own laptops and not let other people log onto them...