CyberNerd

Civ V was released on Linux and VI support was announced too. I'd very much doubt DX12 has anything to do with any improvements.

Good. I'm pretty sure that's the only new law that affects ICT with respect to extremism et. al.

It's called Prevent https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/protecting-children-from-radicalisation-the-prevent-duty

Yes we do have some specialist (legacy) machines. For almost every situation there is an alternative. Our Music and Tech departments are fully on board for KS3 but we still have some difficulties with KS4 and KS5 (Autodesk Inventor). Most of the robotics/microcontroller programming stuff can be done on Chromebooks (see picaxe blockly). The teachers tend to prefer to find apps that run in a browser and can be deployed to home machines because it means they and students don't need to work on it in school. This tends to increase student engagement as 'lessons' become hobbies. We use this method to ditch the old legacy "in school, windows only" apps.

Smoothwall.

That's hardware support only, AP320's are end of life. Fortinet Knowledge Base - View Document You might want to check what they think they are selling you.

We still use it in admin and a handful of computers in the staffroom. The irony is that I spoke to another school who's admin team loved it and couldn't wait to ditch office ( remember it's 99% about the people). We don't need Access because Edexcel sends csv files which can be used with Mysql Tools. Most SIMS exports will work with csv but some of the assessment stuff is a pain, tools like SISRA and 4Matrix help here. The biggest problem is transitioning staff and it is really important to get rid of the old tools because they won't change unless they need to. Consider that If you are not paying for Office licenses, and you buy any windows licenses with the PC then, you 're in a great place to move to fewer perpetual licenses and stop paying the annual EES. Here is the link for Google reference schools near you: https://edudirectory.withgoogle.com/en

Any tips you would like to share? Join GEG UK (on G+) Visit a Google Reference School How did you approach it to ensure good uptake? 1) Told staff we are doing it. 2) Transfer interim apps to RDP/Citrix 3) Remove MS Office Do you have any documents of plans, strategy etc you would be willing to share. It is *99%* about the people and 1% about the technology Training is important. Install Synergyse. Google publish a strategy/plan to "go Google". Use it. How has it gone? I would say successfully. Have you got chromebooks? If so any particular brand? 1200 Lenovo's. The Acer also looks quite good. Do parents have logins? Not to Google, but they could conceivably to a linked domain Have you got it linked to your MIS to create groups, accounts etc? Yes. See SalamanderSoft or Wizzkids. Wizzkids might be better for you as you are starting out because they are a "google" company. Salamander are cheaper but offer less services.

You need an ERA+ license, which I understand the DfE bought for all schools. The terms (off the top of my head) are that the recordings must be labelled with date and channel that they were aired on, they must only be available in UK and only to your users. I think the only slightly sticky point is whether they are available to students when they are on holiday in foreign countries.

Sysadmins might realise they don't need windows servers.

Indeed. I see W10 preview will run Docker images natively now: Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 14361 for PC and Mobile now available in the Fast ring which begs the question about why anyone would develop for windows anymore if you can develop for a (linux) Docker container and run it in Linux,OSX, Windows ?

Google Drive for Governors here too.

Yes absolutely we've been doing this for a number of years. Very simple with GAFE, just whitelist the external school: https://support.google.com/a/answer/6160020?hl=en

Kids built this. (yes it works, no it's not passed PAT)

dry brushing. General Info about Drybrushing Part 1 | Scale Model Guide