GrumbleDook

In Wales they have stepped in ... it is England that is destroying things ... but part of that is brought on by schools demanding that they know best and they want to choose from the market, a distrust of previous solutions from LAs / RBCs and the politics around money for things seen as non-essential. If you want to hear a longer rant about how selfishness in schools is destroying schools feel free to drop me a line.

The guidance document can come across as technical but it is broken into sections. The important place to start is to look at the educational aims, then the functional requirements, then the technical specifications. The technical nature has made some of it easier for schools to spot companies trying to blag or massage the facts by using technical jargon when it is not needed. The document is released as Creative Commons so should members chose to create an LA/region agnostic version then that might be helpful in the future (just remember the attribution please).

I would also recommend you have a look at the guide about choosing broadband and services which is linked from the Northants CC site. Broadband connectivity and services - Northamptonshire County Council It is designed to help schools make an informed choice and had input from a number of members of EG who operate in Northants.

Determined to try to get to it, but still can't work out if I can due to workload.

In Northants it was usually worked that the sales folk didn't do a pitch, but one of the local schools did a walk through of what they used, why they chose it and the difference it made. If any school wanted to follow it up with a Sales drone afterwards then that was fine. This model is also used in a number of other places too now (and is similar to what can happen at Teachmeets too) ... Don't be scared to have sales folk around ... you just need to show them who is boss.

I have a feeling I won't make this one due to workload / family / recently moved house (moving tomorrow) It will be the first EG-led conference I have missed

Changing of jobs and upgrading them is a problem covered in many other threads ... Required training is a difficult one to pin down and must be consistently applied across all staff *in accordance with their contract*. If on the job spec there is a requirement to be trained in x but you got the job and that was missing in your CV (ie you got the job anyway) then it could be expected that you fill in that gap during your own time. It might be that the CPD structure of the school gives staff broken up training time and if people take that as a day off then you have to do the training in your own time. If it is a course that is required as part of your professional development and is link to improvements in your contract (ie if you upskill over and above the existing requirements then you might get a better grade) then again it is reasonable that you do the work in your own time. I would also say it depends on the CPD itself. Without knowing what it is then it is hard to say whether this is filling a gap you should already have to do the job or if this is an unexceptional request. Remember that many people need to complete courses as part of their work to remain qualified to do the work. I need to gain accreditation for PRINCE2 again but I know that as this is a requirement to do the job then it is up to me to do so. Some employers are relaxed about giving some or all the time to do this, but some point out that it is my contractual and professional requirement so it is my responsibility.

A comment from a friend who mainly works in primary (only lurks here for a variety of reasons) was why do Secondary NMs feel that they understand the primary arena which can have very different needs, be far more innovative and can also be better managed at a fraction of the cost. A strategic lead should be able to understand all areas they need to cover and from his experience there have been a few too many secondary schools (recent academy conversions) who are trying to persuade primary schools to sign up with them but who have no idea what makes a primary school tick. In the same way I have seen secondary heads take over an all-through school, do wonders with the secondary phase but make a massive mess of primary.

In 2006-7 I sat down with some folk in various Qangos, etc and we started to count how many "Director of IT" jobs there were out there being done by none-QTS for state schools, and how many were on SLT (either the core SLT of 4-5 people or the wide School Leadership group which might take in up to 12-15 people ... but not all HoDs, just folk with strategic roles in the schools) and we got to 22 (myself included). Across England! I am now seeing similar roles appearing in smaller Academy groups where there is a lead, strategic person who gives significant input to the other schools, but is still the IT Manager / Lead in one of the schools. A cynical person would laugh at how the role is quite similar to a shared IT lead such as you might see in a managed service part owned by the school, or even a BSF-role where it is partly customer services manager ... But we don't know that many cynical folk here.

My last home machine running it died the week before last (it was in work helping my wiped Cisco routers) and won't be replaced. If I really need it at some point I'll stick it on one of the old Mac minis instead.

Today is my last day at work at Northants County Council. It has been an interesting few years, with a number of interesting project and a chance to work with old friends and make plenty of new ones. There has been good and bad along the way, and I am grateful for the opportunities I have had there, but with the direction things are taking it is only right that I move on (to bigger and better) and enjoy the future with my wife and our daughter as we move down south. I only got involved with the LA because the school I was working at as Director of IT was a pretty vocal school. We had moved over the RBC for our internet connection as a political move to be closer to the inner workings of the LA to allow us to continue to bid for new buildings. We still ran most of our own services, we decided that the Standard Network Build was not a limiting bar but a platform to go well past (which we did on pretty much all occasions) and that we were happy to listen to the LA and RBC, but they had to listen to us too … and they did. Eventually we were told to put up or shut up … get involved with the changes or get what we were given. A working party for the procurement of the new RBC contract followed by similar for a Learning Platform, then a secondment for a day a week to help roll things out, then some extra days, then a year … and then a permanent post. I was allowed a fair bit of freedom to continue to get involved in other groups and work with different communities so I got the best of all worlds. We pump-primed many projects into schools and educational settings. The new RBC framework was designed to give flexibility and choice, and we helped schools by working with them on a decision-support toolkit … and whilst many moved away from the RBC they did so more informed … and they will make better decisions for it … and for some that will mean moving back to the RBC now they have realised what they had to start with and now they feel there is no political pressure about doing what the LA says. Some won’t but that is fine by me as long as they do what is in the best interests of their learners and other learners in the county. We worked to roll-out a county-wide learning platform … and many schools have come to realise that a blog is a blog, a wiki is a wiki, a discussion is a discussion and a document repository is just that. It is how you join it together, support the use in the classroom and collaborate within the school and between schools that makes the difference. Working with people that can do this makes all the difference. That is why I still look on with wonder at the work for Tom Rees and Peter Ford … their able recruits … because the work of NorthantsBLT is integral to this ethos and has improved so much of what goes on in our schools. The Mobile Tech Toolkit was an interesting way of getting schools sharing ideas and resources. However, working with the technical folk across the county has been my biggest pleasure. I am a geek at heart … even if I have gone to the dark side and become manglement … and then onto project management. Seeing schools getting staff trained in FITS, helping schools appoint new Network Managers, seeing the profile of support staff in schools grow so that they are recognised as valuable contributors to the school … that has been a pleasure. Working with them on Security Analysis of their systems, seeing the local NetworkNorthants community be taken over by the schools themselves … wonderful. Being able to ring a few up and point out that they have made stupid change requests is also fun, and I promise not to mention anyone by name when doing any after-dinner speaking later on in life. Most of you know who you are and have also laughed when I have told you the silly things I used to do when working in a school too. Thank you for your patience when dealing with someone who *isn’t* a hands-on techie anymore. I leave a team at the LA which is slowly going. LAs restructure all the time and they have to do so to reflect the needs of customers, the direction for central Govt and the available funds, no matter where they come from. I am sad to see such a thriving hive of ideas and expertise diminish … and have enjoyed working with pretty much everyone at the LA. Good luck to those still in LAs, who work closely with LAs and those who still rely on the essential services many LAs can (and do) give. I will be working for LearningPossibilities as of 1st April (no … don’t laugh), primarily on the Hwb project in Wales. It is another exciting project and the work I have done on it so far fills me with hope that people still see the benefit of collaboration, planning, thinking of others and actually considering tech as a tool to plan for, make use of and not as a magic bullet, getting all starry-eyed about the shiny!!! My blogging has been slow recently anyway and that is unlikely to change in the future. I will still talk about things that fill me with passion, and hopefully people will still read with equal interest. I will be fairly quiet on EG for a while whilst I get my head into the job full-time and also whilst I balance the day job with anything else I get involved in. Once again, a massive thank you to the Northants members (and ex-Northants members) and I hope to sort out a little gathering on the 12th April at The Brittannia in Northampton to wave Northants goodbye properly

I've yet to see if there is confirmation that Google will keep *all* data within the EEA. That is a major factor for some, otherwise you have to take into account the local laws of where the data is stored, not just US / UK / EU. For most, this is not an issue, but I have also yet to see a comprehensive risk assessment around it ... at least with the O365 ones I have. Also remember that it is not just where the data is stored that is something you have to consider, but what types of data is stored there too. You have to follow this up with good policies and good training. There is no point just rolling out a policy with no training. If something goes wrong it can be considered the same as if no policy was in place anyway.

Please have a detailed look at my article around Dropbox and the role of Safe Harbor with US companies. Also remember that in Education there are a number of instances of O365 including LGfL, Glow ... and I am presently working (supplier side) on rolling it out as part of Hwb in Wales. It is all about the risk assessment and policies.

You can view the page at http://www.edugeek.net/content.php?r=440-EduGeek-wins-its-first-award

With 2851, 1841, 1861, 800s, 1751s done .... and the only devices I am struggling with are 2950s. I am so out of practice with IOS it is scary, still ... all done for the moment and I can do my last week at the LA in peace.

Cisco kit ... aaarrgghhhhh ... Just finished wiping a heap of Cisco routers ... and never want to see them again!

It is not a hammer ... it is a percussive maintenance tool!

As most of you know I am not actively involved in this anymore (and soon won't even be remotely involved) and I haven't really seen anything around the HTTPS Cert until it appeared here ... However, I'm struggling to see what the question is? The service (it seems) is to ensure that any https traffic is passed via the webshield service, and part of this is by using an SSL cert so that if anyone tries to bypass the filter to access a HTTPS site it sticks 2 fingers up to them? The way that the service is being described (the REQUEST initiates the query on the filter about what category the site is in and does the user have rights to access sites within that category) is pretty straight forward. They don't touch the RESPONSE side (which is what MITM decrypts will do) so asking "what are they doing with it" is a bit of a red herring. Honest question here ... not intended to trip anyone up, but do folk know the difference between REQUEST and RESPONSE when it comes to filters / proxies? If this isn't made clear then it can cause confusion (heck, I spent 3 months hammering down what this meant when looking at filters, etc in 1999 ... at the same time as trying to get my head around DNS and BIND ...)

I didn't fancy hours in the car (I will not drive when tired) to go to Cardiff today so going via train instead. The car is parked at a station. It also means I can get work done too ... I hate dead time when I have so much on.

I've got a 4 1/2 hour journey (3 trains) with a little driving and some taxi too today... And the same to get back! For the EG conf it is worth only 2 hours.

Mac : Safari, Camino and FF ... depends on what I am doing. Windows : FF and IE ... I only use Chrome when I need to test something.

Booking my time off now ... Hope to bring more folk too.

It was mainly my EG badge that got scanned ... so all my spam goes to @Dos_Box ;-)

It will be my last one working for Northants CC and probably my last one unless I come up for a visit sometime

Tickets should not go on hold when you are waiting for a response from the service providers sub-contractors ... it is still a live issue that needs dealing with. You might want to agree for it to go on hold but only with an agreed schedule of how frequently it is going to be chased and also with an agreed escalation point for dealing with this. If someone with the service provider's team has said it is not a live risk / issue then it has to be escalated to someone who can make a decision about it. I would contact a) your LA eSafety Officer to highlight the risk and b) your LGfL rep from the LA. This needs to be done with the backing of your Child Protection Officer in the school (they *have* to highlight it as a risk for it to be dealt with) and your SLT.