IanN

So the answer to my problem was DHCP settings. We needed to get DHCP working for PXE booting over UEFI, we found the answer here: https://www.coryfiala.com/using-dhcp-to-boot-wds-sccm-bios-and-uefi/

Yes, we regenerated the boot images. - - - Updated - - - It was captured from a non-UEFI physical PC.

We've updated to Windows ADK 1803 but it has still not fixed the issue. We have forced the creation of the UEFI partitions by disabling the Task Format and Partition for BIOS and removing the IsUEFI check for the Task Format and Partition for UEFI but it is not adding the bootx64.efi into the partition. Do we need to have built and captured a Windows 10 UEFI machine first?

Just had a conversation with Dell Technical Support, they are saying that MDT is currently incompatible with motherboards which take 7th and 8th gen processors. Not sure whether that is true but if it is why I cannot find anything on the wider internet saying that is the case.

Yes, there is a task for Formating and Partitioning for UEFI in the task sequence

We have recently purchased a number of Dell Optiplex 3060 which are UEFI boot only devices for internal storage. We are using MDT 8450 with ADK (for Win10) v1607 The image is pulled down to the new PC but for some reason the relevant UEFI partitions are not being created. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get this working? Thanks

Hi, I'd be interested to know if anyone uses helpdesk software that understands Incident, Problem and Change Management on top of the requirements mentioned at the start of this thread. We currently use multiple installs of Spiceworks but it cannot report against targets such as a 70% of unknown problems becoming known problems within 2 days. Thanks

Another option I have been told about is Behaviour Watch, which covers not just behaviour but also first aid for students.

One product we are currently looking at is Medical Tracker (https://www.medicaltracker.co.uk) but we are interested in what other software solutions are out there.

Yes, we use SIMS but this information in addition to what can be held as standard in SIMS. For example: Where it happened, what year group, when it happened, how it happened, has year group been contacted, have parents been contacted, what actions have been carried out by first aider. Regards, Ian

Hi, At the moment we have a combination of Excel spreadsheets and paper records but we are looking if there is a better way of doing things. Do any other schools use any software solutions to record, track and manage student health information? If so, what and how well do they work? What issues have you found? Thanks in advance, Ian

Two schools in the trust: One has classroom desktops and some specific staff (head of year / department) with laptops Other has a majority of classrooms with desktops but most teachers have notebooks too. There are issues with both on management of data and connectivity (network / video). Another concern is the use of laptops for non-work activities at home but we are looking at options for addressing that.

Fortunately the RM1599 Lot 2 framework does have that flexibility and adaptability - upgrades, downgrades, replacements and removals. For us it has to be an operating lease.

We are just in the process of procuring a new lease agreement for printers and MFDs (about 50 devices across 2 sites) via RM1599 and I was interested in finding out whether other schools / trusts have gone down the 3 or 5 year agreement route. So my question is: How many devices and was it 3 or 5 year? Thanks for your time. Ian

Off the top of my head, other potential things to consider are: Do you need email filtering / monitoring? Is cloud application monitoring required? Do you want a single appliance for everything (e.g. UTM) or a number of appliances and/or cloud services? Do you want a "one stop shop" or happy to have two/three suppliers? Is the driver reducing cost or more functionality for the same cost? Is VPN access required? What systems do you have that require internet access and are they compatible with the proxy / firewall solution? What pain points do you currently have? What workarounds / extra services can be decommissioned once the new service is up and running? Do you do a like for like or have an in-depth review of existing filters / rules?

We have recently put in CensorNet's USS product and, so far, we are pleased with how it is performing. Initially we did a like for like implementation on web filtering. Our next steps are to start using its email filtering capabilities and work with our safeguarding teams to make use of its cloud application monitoring / control functionality. Prior to CensorNet, the schools had Smoothwall (provided in a variety of ways, owned at some locations and LEA shared service at others). Inevitably this meant some web sites were differently categorised, but the installation and switchover was relatively straightforward. We did opt to check the existing allow and block lists rather than just importing them, as there was no documentation kept about the entries in those lists. CensorNet have been very quick in responding to technical queries. For our circumstances, CensorNet was in the same ball park costwise as Lightspeed and Smoothwall but had more functionality (as mentioned earlier) that we would want to make use of in the medium term.

Reading the comments after that blog I would argue that potentially this is still not fixed.

Hi, We are trying to update the absence details for a number of staff and it seems to take an age for a save to happen each time the save button is pressed (up to about 3 minutes). We have spoken to our support provider in the past about speed and there default response is that because it is virtualised. Is any one else experiencing similar issues with updating staff absence details or speed of SIMS in a virtualised environment? TIA, Ian

Hi, Does anyone know of any UK/EU Survey Cloud-based services? We were looking for something similar to SurveyMonkey but is headquarter in the UK or EU due to the recent judgement on "safe harbor" agreements. TIA, Ian

Hi, As a fairly newly formed MAT one of things we will be soon turning our attention to is looking for an HR solution that can be used across the schools in the trust as well as at trust level. What do other trusts use for HR and which HR solutions can interface with SIMS? Is there a list somewhere? TIA Ian

What is the exact error message and is it the same for both FF and Chrome? What versions of IE, FF and Chrome are you using? Might also be useful to know what Firewall/Web Filtering/AV Software you have?