ITBlacksmith

Thanks for all your advice so far. There is definitely a lot of food for thought. In response to some questions (and to fill out a few gaps in information)... We have 1/2 day support every 2 weeks from the county ICT provider for what we have already. The server is a similar age to the desktops (2006) - running windows server 2003 (I think). Our MIS is county standard too which we also subscribe to for extended support. The school layout is 6 rooms basically along a long lateral corridor from one end to the other in a single storey. We have exceptionally poor rural broadband speeds (don't we all!) I like the principle of maybe keeping the old desktops and supplementing them with newer portable machines. I worry about spending resources adding more hard wiring into an old concrete 1950s building. All in all it's a real tough call.... You really want to do right not just for the kids at school now but to try and make sure the next intake also have exciting, relevant curriculum experiences too! Thanks again for all your thoughts and keep them coming (if you can!)

I am a school governor (no booing please! ;o)) looking at the future of ICT in our small rural primary school. We have 13 desktops in a suite and they are all getting on a bit - to say the least. All still functional but running XP and way out of warranty. We have 1 or 2 desktops in each classroom and and fairly old laptops connected to a whiteboard for the teachers in each class. We have 4 classes and 125 pupils. We have some money earmarked to replace them but the whole process got me thinking that perhaps the days of 2 pupils to 1 desktop or 3-1 our larger classes in a suite once or twice a week are over. I used to work for a university supporting teachers teaching other teachers ICT (back in the day) so I have some experience of ICT in schools (way out of date now). What do you think we should be looking at to try and future proof our schools ICT provision? I was looking at a trolly of netbooks or even tablets (android or mac - I don't mind which) so we can get the kids to have unrestricted uce of ICT when they are using it. I wonder whether a decent wireless network with flexible devices would make more sense than a hardwired desktop room. Do you have advice or experience that might help illuminate the situation? How would you go about evaluating the options? It is a lot of money and a big decision, and I'm keen to look at it from as broad a perspective as possible. Thanks James