RTay

I have been discussing Netsupport DNA and Netsupport School with the helpful Netsupport sales team today as a possible alternative to a managed eSafety monitoring solution our SLT are interested in (Impero looks fantastic too). It looks a brilliant set of products. However if you can somehow make it possible to view iPad screens while the children work and capture keyword violations when we are not monitoring them, it would be a perfect product. I understand that you are unable to do this at the moment due to restrictions caused by the latest version of iOS. Are there any plans to create a special Netsupport browser so that we can monitor what the children are searching for? I know AB Tutor and Impero have something like this (but unsure if it will still work with the latest iOS restrictions). I know the monitoring will stop once the special browser app is closed but if I disable Safari they will be unable to get on anything inappropriate (as long as the installed apps we choose are safe and default messaging apps are restricted). I know apple have their own classroom solution for iOS but I was looking for one complete monitoring and screen viewing solution for Windows and iOS. Thanks. Rich.

Hi al5957 We are having the same problem at our school when we sign in Apple Configurator 2 using our VPP account. We have never used an MDM solution before, we have only used Apple Configurator 1. We used redeemable codes to purchase apps with Configurator 1 but have asked Apple to migrate these to a managed distribution for use with Configurator 2. Apple have done this for us but unfortunately this message still appears every time we sign in to Configurator 2. Apple have tried a couple of times to fix it using remote support but have had to escalate it with another department. I will post the solution as soon as they manage to fix it. In the meantime, if anyone has any other things we could try I would be grateful

We have been advised that some social networking or messenger apps could allow children to communicate with local strangers. In some cases the app uses the phones built in gps. It may be worth mentioning to parents, etc. Rich

Hi all, I was sent this email and think it was written by CEOP. It may be useful for your school if you haven't seen it already. Rich. --- On Monday 7 December, Channel 4 will broadcast the first of two documentaries examining the work of the National Crime Agency, including the CEOP Command. The first episode Hunting the Paedophiles - Inside the National Crime Agency follows Operation Perdition, an investigation led by the CEOP Command into the online blackmail and sexual abuse of boys by offenders using fake social media profiles. Law enforcement agencies identified and supported hundreds of victims in the UK. All the victims known to the CEOP Command have been identified and safeguarded, but it is possible that there are some victims who have not yet told anyone about what has happened. Watching the documentary may prompt them, or others who have been a victim of child sexual abuse, to make a disclosure. As a result, you may be approached by colleagues seeking help in supporting distressed children and families. Others may ask you for help around delivering preventative online safety education. You could also be the direct recipient of a disclosure yourself. There are a number of ways in which you can support anyone affected by the programme: · In case of a disclosure, follow your setting's safeguarding policy. Remember that any member of the public can report direct to CEOP by using the 'Report Abuse' button at www.ceop.police.uk/click-ceop. Ensure that young people in your setting know that if they are worried about anything that has happened online, it is not their fault and they should seek help. Help them identify a trusted adult and make sure they know who to talk to in your organisation. Encourage them to visit www.thinkuknow.co.uk, ensure they know how to use the CEOP 'Report Abuse' button, and remind them that they can call ChildLine in confidence on 0800 1111. · To deliver a session for young people on staying safe from online blackmail and abuse, download the Thinkuknow 'Webcam with Confidence' pack. This suite of resources was developed in response to the offences detailed in Monday's programme, and includes: o A fully scripted presentation for use as an assembly or lesson o A factsheet to handout to young people o A letter to send or email to parents encouraging them to talk to their children The pack can be downloaded from the Thinkuknow resources area at: www.thinkuknow.co.uk/teachers/resources. You will find it under the '11-16' tab. In responding to concerns from parents and carers, signpost them to the new Thinkuknow Parents and Carers website at www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents. The site contains a wealth of information, guidance and support for worried parents. Note that there is specific guidance for anyone who fears that their child has been a victim of online sexual exploitation or abuse here [www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents/article-repository/If-you-find-out-your-child-has-been-sexually-abused-or-exploited/] · The NSPCC helpline (0808 800 5000) is available at any time to victims and those offering support (including those supporting victims of historic abuse). Please remember to seek support yourself whenever necessary whilst working in this difficult and sensitive field.

Catshill Learning Partnerships (www.catshill.com) run E-Safety training for staff, parents and pupils. Brett, the gentleman from this company has given training to our school staff and is excellent.

Our problem was that you could not log on to Windows (even in safe mode). Just got a black screen with a cursor. I ran this using a Windows 7 OS install disc (Shift+F10 to open Command Prompt): dism /image:X:\ /remove-package /packagename:Package_for_KB3097877~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~6.1.1.1 /scratchdir:X:\temp (Note: No space after 31bf3856ad364e35 and ~amd64) X is directory of Windows. Mine was on D for example. I will need to install the revised KB3097877 later if they have fixed the problem. May need to adjust the code for x86/32 bit machines. I had an issue with the 'temp' folder so just leaving it as X:\ worked ok.

Our problem was that you could not log on to Windows (even in safe mode). Just got a black screen with a cursor. I ran this using a Windows 7 OS install disc (Shift+F10 to open Command Prompt): dism /image:X:\ /remove-package /packagename:Package_for_KB3097877~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~6.1.1.1 /scratchdir:X:\temp (Note: No space after 31bf3856ad364e35 and ~amd64) X is directory of Windows. Mine was on D for example. I will need to install the revised KB3097877 later if they have fixed the problem. May need to adjust the code for x86/32 bit machines. I had an issue with the 'temp' folder so just leaving it as X:\ worked ok.

Our problem was that you could not log on to Windows (even in safe mode). Just got a black screen with a cursor. I ran this using a Windows 7 OS install disc (Shift+F10 to open Command Prompt): dism /image:X:\ /remove-package /packagename:Package_for_KB3097877~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~6.1.1.1 /scratchdir:X:\temp (Note: No space after 31bf3856ad364e35 and ~amd64) X is directory of Windows. Mine was on D for example. I will need to install the revised KB3097877 later if it has fixed the problem. May need to adjust the code for x86/32 bit machines. I had an issue with the 'temp' folder so just leaving it as X:\ worked ok.

Our problem was that you could not log on to Windows (even in safe mode). Just got a black screen with a cursor. I ran this using a Windows 7 OS install disc (Shift+F10 to open Command Prompt): dism /image:X:\ /remove-package /packagename:Package_for_KB3097877~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~6.1.1.1 /scratchdir:X:\temp (Note: No space after 31bf3856ad364e35 and ~amd64) X is directory of Windows. Mine was on D for example. I will need to install the revised KB3097877 later if they have fixed the problem. May need to adjust the code for x86/32 bit machines. I had an issue with the 'temp' folder so just leaving it as X:\ worked ok.

Hi everyone, I wonder if you can help me please? We have lost our SIMS attendance data from September 2014 when our RAID array failed and so did our recovery systems (we have not had the best luck!) Anyway we have a Groupcall export spreadsheet file containing the attendance data up until the hardware failed. The file contains what appears to be a single cell for each pupil with a string of characters (/#\ ,etc.) representing their attendance. We need to transfer this information back to SIMS but it is going to take a long time to enter this information manually for all of the pupils, especially if we have to enter each pupil’s attendance for each day manually one at a time. Is there any way to import this attendance data into SIMS, even by using a third party tool/company? If it is not possible through the SIMS interface, could we copy and paste this string of attendance data for each pupil (or an edited version of it) directly into the SIMS database files somehow? Even if we had to do it for each pupil, it would still really help. If you have any other suggestions or comments I would be really grateful. The only other option is a RAID recovery company but this could be costly. Thank you in advanced for you help and time, it is greatly appreciated. Rich

Hey guys, firstly thank you for such an amazing forum, I am a new IT technician and I have learnt so much over the last couple of months from what I have read on here. I am really grateful. The school I work at is to purchase 15 desktops to replace staff machines and 25 laptops. We are using Windows Server 2008 on our curriculum server. Including these machines, we could have anything up to 100 desktops and laptops connected to our network at any time (including an IT suite of 30 machines). The existing computers are all all thick clients. I have only recently found out about thin clients. I was wondering if anyone would be kind enough to offer their opinions on whether you think it they would benefit us or if it would be best to stick to normal thick clients unless we were upgrading the whole network and most of the computers? My apologies for the beginner question but is possible to add a server on our network specifically to provide the computing power and software for the thin clients and still have our curriculum server controlling the whole network? Or could we have these thin clients actually utilising a part of the existing curriculum server (for their computing power and software) as well as maintaining the existing server roles? - I assume (without having our curriculum servers specification to hand) our existing server wouldn't be powerful enough to run all of these tasks if it even was possible. We do not need very powerful computers as they are only normally required for office applications, the internet, video playback, etc. This made me wonder if thin clients would be better due to the reduced hardware an electricity costs (although an extra thin client server may contradict these advantages, especially due to the small number of machines we are purchasing). We are using Microsoft EES so I don't know if this would cover licences for thin client software. If not then this may be a deciding factor. Even if it would not currently be cost effective do you think it could be if we replaced more of our 100 computers in the coming years with thin client alternatives (we have no plans to increase the number of computers in the future)? Or is a maximum of around 100 computers not enough to see any significant savings switching to thin clients? Thank you very much for any help or advice on this subject, I really appreciate it. Rich