muppet

I work most Saturday mornings, but this is by choice!!! I encountered some child care issues when my son was born and I approached the Head with the suggestion that I don't work Mondays but would come in on Saturday mornings instead, thankfully he was very supportive. I have to admit that I probably achieve more on Saturdays than I do on 1 or 1 1/2 normal working days as I have full access to everywhere whenever I need it and I dont get disturbed by staff or pupils. No problems with the caretaking staff as they are also in for the half day, but if I needed to I can gain access to the school at any time as I have keys for virtually everywhere and I am on the master controller list for the alarm system. This is probably not everyones ideal working scenario, but for the time being it suits me down to the ground. As for remote access, at the moment I use LogMeIn, but this is only because the county have tied all ports down tightly and you have to jump through hoops to try and get one open or get authorisation to tunnel through existing ones!!

I had a similar, but not exactly the same, problem with 10 or so PC's when my Host A listings somehow became corrupt. I removed the offending ones from the list, rebooted the PC's and hey presto they were added back to the list with the correct ip address. Don't know if you've already checked this but it might be worth a look.

If there are any left I wouldn't say no. Even if it's just to annoy the Head that I've modded my case with yet another sticker!!! P.S. Great to see the Staff at BETT and put faces to names.

6 x Servers 275 x Windows clients 5 x Macs 175 x Laptops 56 x Data projectors (fixed) 8 x Data projectors (mobile) 9 x Promethean Boards 27 x SMART boards 54 x Printers (dont ask!!!) All AV All IT related H&S Basic PAT testing Heating system Multimedia lecture theatre Whole school IT development Video distribution system Plus further expansion planned!! 1250(ish) students 160+ staff all looked after by 1NM & 1Tech (P/T)

Ok lets get this into perspective for the majority of Techs / NM's. Never mind that teachers get paid a lot more than us, never mind that it is or isn't in their job descrptions.........There just aren't enough of us per school to carry out extra duties such as those mentioned. Currently my department runs at 1.5 manning, if I was to take on the extra responsibilities what should I drop from my daily tasking? I already know what the answer would be if I was to mention more funding for extra Tech hours!!! As GrumbleDook mentioned we should be expected to train staff on new software (not specialist departmental stuff), hardware and procedures, but who trains us? We have just moved to a new VLE and guess who is expected to train the staff!?! More importantly guess what was said when I mentioned factoring in training for key staff when costing it!?! Let alone trying to get funding for a course of any real value, and I'm really sorry but I already spend enough of my own personal time reading up on how to do things and move the school and department forward...just ask my wife and kids! I think it is about time that schools were made to realise that funding training for us will in the long run be of benefit to them and the staff.....how you go about that is another matter. Plus if I am confident in the use of new/specific sw/hw then I can be more productive when imparting my knowledge to staff. This is obviously just my opinion, but I hope that it reflects the position a lot of us are in.

If only I didn't live so far away from Leicestershire. I'm really tempted, it's nearly double my current salary!!! I'd be interested to know how many applicants they get.

I agree with the comments that under BSF teaching staff will almost be expected to carry out basic fault diagnosis and repair themselves. They may even be asked to carry out further checks by the helpdesk, as Dell etc. do. Now this may be a little niaive of me but hasn't the workforce remodelling that we have recently gone through precluded teaching staff from doing Admin roles? And aren't our jobs classed as being Admin? I'd love to know if this topic has been discussed with the NUT etc. And if so what their response was!! I mentioned this to a few friends within the teaching staff and they all stated that Satan would have to ice skate to work before they did anything other than check the equipment was plugged in or report the problem to a help desk!! Incidentally they all expect their problems to be resolved within 24 hours at the most!! Interesting times ahead when BSF really kicks in.

Hi All, I know this issue has probably been raised before....but I couldn't find it!! What I would like is peoples opinions on printer toners......Originals, refurbished or compatible. What's your preference? And is there any real saving to be made?

No one has to put up with this "inane drivel". I don't have to put up with Eastenders, I just don't watch it!! Anyway back to the drivel......how about this for a sad geeky tattoo?

I coach junior tag-rugby every Sunday to the under 6's and 7's (it's like herding cats!!). I coach the adult rugby team every other Sunday, and I play for the adult team on the Sundays we don't train......... but I get the most exercise from tidying up after my 3 kids!!!!

Acer have had a data projector of mine for 9 weeks now. Contacted them today and was told that they were waiting for parts before they could fix it. I asked for a timescale on the fix, but they had no idea!!!! I requested to speak to the guys supervisor and told her that if I did not have it back next week I would be renting a replacement and sending them the bill. Strangely she has promised that it will be back by Wednesday, but I wont hold my breath!!!

I got 'Village Idiot'!!!!! Ironically it's on a higher pay grade than my current one!

Midget...... It's not £20k for an IT monkey!! The £20k is very dependant on the skills you bring with you. I have not yet ratified the JD, which leaves it open for the right individual to take on a bigger role and more responsibility should they want to, or more importantly should they be able to. palmer_eldritch...... Bill retired just over 16 months ago, it was sad to see him go, but his replacement is good to work with. He is very proactive in the use of IT within the school, and is prepared to invest in the development of the network. He does, however, like to get his money's worth. Webman..... Tell them if they want an informal chat to PM me and I will give them a contact number to ring.

A part time (2 to 3 days per week), short term contract (6 to 12 months) for an IT Tech has become available at my school near Oxford. It is more ideally suited to someone starting out in this field, but more experienced individuals wishing to work reduced hours are extremely welcome to apply. The role will cover basic PC fix, printer maintenance, account creation, password changes, software installation, basic network fault diagnosis and fix. Dependant on experience, server support, updates, RANGER support, Back-Up etc, will also be included in the JD. Pay scale ranges from £15k to £20K (pro rata) dependant on experience. For further details or to express an interest please contact me at: [email protected] or PM me. Regards Jase

Try FlashBay, they are very competative on price and will match or beat any quote you get. I just bought 50 plain 512Mb pens for £5.90 each inc VAT!!! Didn't get the school name embossed on but it was an option. Regards Muppet

Right then...... do I take it that a few of you have not had a good experience of NS then!?! Thanks for all the advice, I think I will use them as a 3rd tender option. To tell you the truth, Dell came in above them on price, but only just, so I think I am likely to offer the contract to them. Once again thanks for all the advice......ever had the feeling you shouldn't have asked something!!!!

Hi all, I have just received a qoute for tender back from 5 companies, one of which was NS Optimum. I was recommended them from a collegue in another school, but wanted to know if anyone else has used them, and if so what do you think of them? I am looking at purchasing 87 desktops, 60 hardend TFT screens and 27 normal TFT's. Any info anyone can provide will be gratefully received. Many thanks, Muppet