mthomas08

I was a bit late catching your post to reply but yes this works. We have one that we plan on using to image come next week and send that off to the company to pre-built the units.

Just joining the Teacher App thread. We get this at no cost which is good in regards to keeping SLG. Currently got an issue which is logged with Capita, when loading the App we sign in with our Office 365 live ID and it looks like it goes through okay. Upon loading the App "A Server error has occurred" there has been a problem when trying to get the users detail. Have tried checking the SIMs server, SSM, adding the iPad to bypass Web Filtering. All updated as well including some patches Solus 3 wanted to deploy. On the moan about BETT, as much as it is a sales heaven its also a customer service. It's not always about a single product AKA Capita or any company, it's about creating that relationship with the customer. Hi I'm Dave, will you be my friend, look at my nice new product, look at what else I have to offer, how can I help you. BETT isn't just about showing new products, it's about current/future products, it's about meeting current customers and potential customers. At least what sales reps are constantly telling me. For Capita, as much as I have been heavily critical of them, Solus 3 and their recent updates have greatly improved. Our last Spring update was the least troublesome Update in existence for me (doing SIMs for 10 Years now I think). As for the Teacher App, it is relatively new and wasn't going to be problem free like most things. It relies on connecting to your SIMs data and also linking in to a SSO system (for us Office 365). I just we get it working quickly, because I really do see a huge benefit in it. The main reason why Staff carry around their laptops is for SIMs, if we can scrap that idea and let them use the Tablets some have... perfect.

Likewise on Papercut. We used to have Pcounter and have found that the GUI is more fluid and simple to use for Printers. There are also additional settings you can do with Paper Cut. Our old system now gone since August 2014, not looked back. Although it probably doesn't help that Pcounter originally wasn't setup right and a lack of effort from all involved. I am hearing more nice things about Papercut than Pcounter though and does seem to be the preferred choice.

Aye, here's hoping they do.

Spot on @Dos_Box I used to enjoy it like many shows on the BEEB but like nearly everyone in my family (all age ranges) our BBC viewing has been cut down to almost zero...

Think this is very School based - something I say often. At my last job: Staff were confident they could be independent Staff were confident that IT worked At my current job in the first 6 months: Staff were not confident that they could be independent or that IT worked. Now this has greatly improved, Staff feel some what confident and that IT works. They still require us to do the occasional checks but this is more the "Old Fashioned" Staff who don't actually use IT often. I personally feel that confidence in IT reliability will always be based on how good the IT system is. It's also going to take time for Staff to improve their feeling.

I didn't vote because again I multi choice. Use IE as preferred one but I do sometimes use FireFox/Chrome, I rarely have any issues on IE.

Lenovo Yoga 11e, good quality and spec. Essentially a Netbook with a laptop spec. Previously we have used Lenovo X131e which again were good quality and spec. If you want the next size up Lenovo M30-70 which is a very nice 13 inch size with good spec. They are also very light weight and give that MacBook "pretty" feel. Chromebook versions of the Yoga are also available, they are a bit cheaper than the Windows versions but as others mentioned all about what infrastructure you have. Summary Lenovo Yoga 11e (10 inch) Lenovo Chromebook 11e (10 inch) M30-70 13 inch

Human nature to react, OMG you admitted that??!!! Joking Do not blame you at all, some times I use the horn to signal - I AM HERE!

School BM trying to save a few ££ by sacrificing IT? Never!!!

Work that requires downtime of any system or updating: May is a small work list - good because we have four days. - Replace an All in one Projector system with a standard projector while leaving the IWB intact. This requires pulling off the entire mounting kit, placing a new power socket, trunking, cables @ Projector. When finished it will look tidy and safe which at the moment its barely tidy and just about safe. This requires my team, caretakers and electrician. - ICT Suite check - every holiday we do this. - SIMs updates if any (nearly every half term, requires all PCS turned on - allows a smoother upgrade) - MFD Printer check and paper stock - Server Updates - PC Suite imaging refresh, this keeps 5+ Year old machines alive and fast enough to use - Wi-Fi Active Survey (requires site access and an entire day) - LEA is sorting out some cable work with BT - downtime up to an hour of internet - block any empty network sockets Summer the big one - Asset tag all new equipment about 240 devices and assign to correct users - Arrange equipment for 3 new classrooms (projector, IWB, PC, cabling etc - all done tidy and properly) this will be new interactive projectors so will require testing and training the Staff in these rooms. I plan on switching these two rooms to network projectors. - Arrange equipment for new offices - SIMs SQL upgrade - I am not looking forward to this. - IP change over - I am CERTAINLY not looking forward to this, every networked piece of kit will require changing. - Remove ICT equipment setup from one room which is being torn apart - Print relevant information with new kit coming for September (also make sure the docs look good, updated etc) - Arrange Plasma screen movements - Remove ICT equipment from 3 other offices - New SSC area setup with ICT equipment The Summer work coming is already enough to keep us all busy (including those that take holiday time off) if anything else gets added to our list we will simply struggle. I get the question often by friends/family - what do you do during the holidays. This goes back to the fact they are clueless, my response is what does a car mechanic do all day every day. Regardless if its a bank holiday weekend where the roads are busy than most days.

So far it seems to be working in making sure they carry on further up the road. Also, by speeding up don't assume I mean an extra 50 miles an hour. It simply is an extra 5-10 just enough for them to think they need to go further. Also what I admitted to is perfectly legal, I am well within my right to increase my speed as long as I am not overtaking in the 1st lane - or breaking the speed limit. If you want me to be more specific in detail, by along side me I mean by they are not actually dead next to me. If you don't read between the lines of what I am trying to say, I cant be bothered to explain it further

It is but only enough which forces them to go more forward, what happens is they seem to check their mirror at the exact spot where they are along side me. They wait literally 2 seconds then turn in, where I speed up it's so when they look at their mirror they will need a lot more than 2 seconds to carry on. Just forces them to move more up the road which means they are not cutting me up, instead there is 2 car lengths in front of me when they do turn in. As much as they think they own the road they still don't want to scratch their shiny shiny car. I am even in the process of looking at a dash cam which means I will have to make sure my driving is safe a lot more than normal, I at least can report dangerous driving to the police.

This is spot on in the highway code. Some roundabouts are slightly different but tend to be marked, the OP sounds like he is essentially being cut up. Some times I wished I didn't care about the hassle of some one crashing in to me, sadly that yet again is Morons of todays society. I have been cut up 90% of the time by Audi, VW Golf, Beemers and Merc drivers. I tend to spot them coming, breaking the speed limit, no one else on the road but still waiting till they are right up my arse before overtaking on a DUAL carriageway. They then cut me up - this is where I have begun increasing my speed when they are along side me. If they turn and clip me - its their fault and it will be shown by witnesses behind that he turned in.

I've heard a lot of excuses over the years, kind of get used to it. In all honesty if the HT is happy to spend a few grand every year constantly replacing damages then so be it. At the end if you physically don't have the time to check IT suites because Staff can't do their job right then tough luck on the more important jobs. That's what I've been involved in many Years ago and frankly its a ridiculous. Checking IT suites after every lesson is not something you should be doing. You don't have cleaners constantly walking through every corridor at the end of every lesson to see who is throwing rubbish on the floors. It's a waste of money and man power when you should be doing your actual jobs you get paid to do. Having done plenty of classes over the Years with Students it's not difficult to check at the start/end of the lesson. A lot of ICT Staff have learnt to do this over the years. You can get a cheap Web Cam that records to a server location which will help monitor the room.

Think your last line sums it up, what you describe for Private is what I would call Education. As mentioned in another post of mine and yours, it really is situational. For Schools it boils down to who the LM is, what kind of power they have and SLT. If they are open minded and willing to listen I find that's a good start. If they are quick to panic, blame IT instead of looking at the problems and how to fix them.. well.. enough said?

Had a friendly one from KCC - EIS once a few Year back. It was more like to help the Schools with Backup procedures, security, filtering. All the kind of stuff any NM really should know/have.

Not according to the Teachers/Deputy and Heads I've worked with for the last 10+ Years. If lessons are planned around IT and several lessons a week fail as a result, that's Student learning time lost that isn't made back. With Ofsted and grades becoming much tighter, every minute of downtime matters. This has been mentioned before regarding some Schools having to look more like a business in the sense that IT uptime has to be 99.99% because of the heavy reliance on IT. Not all Lessons are planned on IT though but many are here. Every room has a Projector which is used to show pre-made Lesson Plans e.g. Powerpoints, Youtube, videos and work. IWBs are planned in Lessons e.g. Maths interaction. Don’t forget the Software e.g. Word processing, CAT, Art, Music, Film. Even our Geography/History/Science and a few other subjects have walked away from Paper Text Books and switched to an Online system so they don’t have to buy new books every Year. That also requires them to be accessible from home. Without the Internet entire departments will lose a whole lesson worth if that went down for 1 hour. With so much work/material being planned through IT (as much as it does frustrate me) it would be serious presumption to believe that Teachers can teach without IT especially in a School like ours. You also have to remember that Schools have gone from On Site access only to everything remotely accessible from home and not just for Staff but for Students too. Schools are not about making £££ like a business but instead it’s measured in grades/Ofsted reports and if you are a School that rely heavily on IT, you can essentially cause massive problems if it fails often. Especially on critical days. As mentioned by other people it is Type of School based, I have never worked in a School that doesn't heavily rely on IT but I can only guess how they are run. I know young people (one particularly comes to mind) who go to those Schools and how they revise, learn every day is a bit different. Projectors/IWBs are not used, laptops, Netbooks, Tablets and even PCs are not/barely used. Sad truth in my years, Teachers can't teach without IT. We recently did a survey and 99% of Staff said IT working is a must for their lessons. Only one person actually said scrap everything IT and return to pen/paper. Which in all honesty is another discussion Remember just because your School or your experience says one thing, may find other Schools are very different. Every classroom here has an important piece of IT equipment which must be working and only a small % can get away with not having it.

What I do, is based upon weather and money status. If Sunshine: Beach, parks, beer gardens and generally out door plus holidays (which tends to have more sunshine). Night life: Although severely cut down from the clubs, bars and pubs lately now it's the occasional Friday night out to bars/pubs. Watch football which takes up a lot of time, brings stress and happy times.. bit like work. Also watch F1. I still play games occasionally, ones that last more than a night. People who get to know me tend to call me the "non stereo typical techie" which I take as a compliment and an insult to my job.... Have been pondering a new hobby and it could be hitting the gym but not sure....

I'm surprised at all the good IT stuff I keep spotting, I like attractive technology but did they just throw money at IT and hope for the best...

Hi and yes welcome to EduGeek! We have two Schemes from different companies come September for the Year 7 Mobile Device Scheme we do. Think the major difference between Scheme providers will be A) Costs, B) Call of Duty. Some of them will be willing to go to high lengths to help your School and provide not just the product but the actual Scheme. Don't believe they are selling a product with insurance etc, I believe they are selling the entire Scheme where they help the School throughout the period. Could probably type up pages if I was honest from the good and bad (certainly have done in previous posts). Can PM you if you want more info.

Remember the old jokes "If Microsoft made a car, you would have to turn it off and turn it on again". I guess for Apple products it's a question of "Find a Wi-Fi Connection and hope for the best"

@AliB Others have raised some good points. Have you considered a mobile device Scheme? although for Primaries it may look unattractive but does depend on your School. With families spending money on gadgets and Schools having budgets squeezed it may be an option you consider. Netbooks - There are a lot of choices but depends on a lot of factors: Type of software you are using, how long you want them to last, Students good with IT equipment (abuse etc), Windows based or cheaper options (Chrome), Managed. We currently do a Scheme and I have spent a lot of time working out what good devices there are and what exactly we do with them. We have tried netbooks/tablets and considered other options. If you want a lot more detail drop me a PM, I have several reports I have done over the last two years I could send you a copy. There are a lot of pros/cons when heading to mobile devices even ones on trolleys. The possible future costs, work and even support involved can be higher down the months then what some people expect.

Good luck and enjoy the new job.

Good experience, as others have said @witch is good on the CV side of things and I would add more details. I like to see what's been accomplished through you being the manager. I would also like to see more details in your IT knowledge and what kind of systems you have developed. It's one thing I have been complimented a lot on my CV which even the technical side of things is worded in a way that non IT literate people can understand. Come to think of it, I should review my own - its been about 18 months.