Andycat

IF we ever get the invite to register etc, then I'm thinking image too, with Direct Access. We're getting very few routers compared to Laptops.

Most support staff called back in from June 1st at our school, us included.

Has anyone actually been able to order anything yet?

Anyone had the email yet?

Not had mine yet

We stopped Governors using school email addresses, they have their own managed system in place. They aren't employed by us, and some work for other schools. Any emails to All Staff were going to them, possibly allowing data breaches so they sit separately now.

At least the oil prices will go back eh? I'm sure that's an unintended consequence and coincidence...

Yes, rolling out now.

I've been told we are due to get 15. We've opted for the Windows Laptops, but equally we've already provisioned most students with an iPad anyway.

Found some of these quite recently, small notebooks with a flippable screen. Terrible!

I didn't notice whilst I had Virgin, but since moving to back Sky (after the usual haggle/cancel) it feels a lot faster and more reliable than Virgin. Absolutely no data to back this up though :-)

Sky Broadband Superfast, around 60mb. No throttling (Virgin was allegedly 200mb but throttled a lot at peak times). Sky seems far better at the moment so far.

This is the updated email sent today: "Dear Colleague, On Sunday 19 April, the Government announced support for vulnerable and disadvantaged children and young people who do not have access to a digital device during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. Laptops and tablets will be supplied to support remote education and help children and young people stay in touch with social care services. We have today written to Responsible Bodies (for example, local authorities and academy trusts) explaining who is eligible and how they can request a device and get it to those who need it. Schools will not order devices directly and you should contact your Responsible Body for further information. If you have moved Responsible Body since October 2019, you should contact your current and former Responsible Body to discuss who will allocate devices to eligible children who you are responsible for. Who is eligible? Laptops and tablets are available for the most disadvantaged children who would otherwise not have access and are: Care leavers Children with a social worker (including pre-school children) Children in Year 10, ahead of GCSEs next year Responsible Bodies will be given a fixed number of laptops and tablets to support children and young people in these groups. Care leavers and children with a social worker Local authorities will be responsible for ordering devices for care leavers and children with a social worker who they are responsible for. We have asked local authorities to work with schools to identify care leavers and children with a social worker who need devices. All devices for care leavers and children with a social worker will be allocated and delivered to local authorities. Local authorities are responsible for managing distribution to children and young people, liaising with schools where appropriate. Year 10 pupils Academy trusts and local authorities are responsible for ordering devices for Year 10 pupils who do not have a social worker and do not have the means to access a laptop or tablet. We have asked them to work with you to identify these children. These devices will be delivered directly to schools where you will be responsible for distributing these to identified families and children. You should liaise directly with your academy trust or local authority to manage this delivery. Delivery, set up and distribution of devices Laptops and tablets will have settings to make sure they are safe and secure online. You can also apply your own settings and software to match the education resources you use and to fit with your own policies. Once the devices are set up and ready to go, you are responsible for getting the laptops or tablets to children, for example arranging for them to be collected by families from your school (with a social worker present where relevant) or organising for them to be sent to children’s and care leavers’ homes. This should be done in accordance with social distancing guidelines. Find information about social distancing in education settings at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-implementing-social-distancing-in-education-and-childcare-settings/coronavirus-covid-19-implementing-social-distancing-in-education-and-childcare-settings 16-19 education 16 to 19-year-olds without a suitable device will be eligible for support via the 16-19 Bursary Fund. If you are funded for 16-19 provision, including sixth form and further education provision, you should already have a 16-19 Bursary Fund allocation. If your Bursary Fund is already committed and you need additional resources to support disadvantaged sixth form students to access education remotely, you will be able to put a business case to the Education and Skills Funding Agency. Equipment for students aged 16-19 should be purchased by the education provider directly. Find more information about the 16-19 bursary fund at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/16-to-19-bursary-fund-guide-2019-to-2020-academic-year What other support is available? You can apply for Government-funded support to get set up on one of two free-to-use digital education platforms: G Suite for Education or Office 365 Education. You can apply through The Key for School Leaders at https://covid19.thekeysupport.com/remote-learning/ The Key has provided information to help you choose an online education platform. The Department has also published a list of education resources which include materials on wellbeing and on teaching children with special educational needs and disabilities. We will regularly update this list with further resources. You can access this list of resources at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-online-education-resources/coronavirus-covid-19-list-of-online-education-resources-for-home-education The Oak National Academy launched on Monday 20 April. It will provide 180 video lessons for free each week, across a broad range of subjects, for every year group from Reception through to Year 10. It will continue to offer new lessons and resources each week at least until schools are able to re-open. You can visit the Oak National Academy site at: https://www.thenational.academy The BBC has also launched its own education package across TV and online to help children keep learning. If you have any questions, please email [email protected] for more information. Regards, The Digital Infrastructure Team Department for Education"

Has one of you got symptoms?

A lot more companies are getting people back to work after implementing new procedures. A neighbour is back in this week at BAe after a few weeks off, they're all back to work unless office based, doing their normal (in his case, building planes) jobs. I think many other companies are doing the same.

For once in my life, I'd like an option for Apple.

A friend has just posted this, his wife is a nurse so he got tested: "Today, I have tested Positive for Covid-19. However, I haven't had a bad cough. I haven't had a temperature. I haven't had any shortness of breath. I've had a mildly sore throat, itchy eyes, a bit of a headache, and one day I felt a bit queasy. To be honest, I thought it may have been slight hayfever. If my company was still open, I'd have 100% been going to work every day, because I feel fine. How many lucky a******s like me could be out there, not realising they have Coronavirus, but still going about their daily lives? Still visiting friends and family? Still going to the shops (I would have probably gone to get some DIY stuff today, as I'm part-way through a patio project...)? What I'm trying to say, is that the only way to stop this virus is to stay at home. You don't know who has the virus, as they're probably not going to be coughing everywhere, sweating profusely, and rasping for breath in the supermarket aisles. I certainly wasn't."

The list is pretty exclusive. Yr 10 and 12 who are Vulnerable, recent Care Leavers or with a Social worker. That's not too many really.

My finger is very itchy on there!

Zoom changed a few things yesterday, and we had a (family) zoom last night and I had to admit each member through the waiting room rather than them just joining, even with the meeting password. That, at least, is an improvement.

Message trace in Admin cetre

I know there a re a few other brass banders on here, but obviously we can't meet to rehearse at the moment, so we did a virtual performance! A lot of editing due to all the different devices and formats lockdowners used. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=519784752299833

We'll just remote onto the ones desperate. Most teachers have the Teacher App on an ipad too.

For us on DA, not VPN, SIMS told us we have to install the exe individually yesterday. We lock out the network settings for teachers, they're built as domain stations like in school. Big job ahead over many random bad home internet remote sessions!

Sorry to resurrect this, but there will be a SIMS update required soon for the exam results data, yet all our staff are remote on Direct Access (not VPN). Was it concluded that VPN was the only way to update? Our staff are only rota'd in once every 4 weeks, so this will be a major headache!