Just looking for your comments/ideas. Thank you for any insights?
New primary school to be built from scratch.
2 new temporary buildings to be built first. First year 30 reception children , head teacher, teacher and receptionist in 2 temporary buildings. Must have sufficient IT to function, but keep costs low and maybe a bit of an IT WOW factor as well. Main school opening with permanent building after that at some point. Second year 60 children and so on….
Assumptions
The IT infrastructure in the first year either has to be temporary or be able to be adapted/upgraded for the permanent building
I don't think 3 staff, 3 laptops and 30 kids in a reception class will need a very fast connection for the first year. Reception students only access to IT will be by Smart board type equipment which should not have high internet usage.
Other nearby schools in the trust could be utilised for more advanced IT
Hardware
Phone line into office ( maybe multiple internal phone points in head teacher and teacher's classroom)
Broadband line, whether using voice phone line or 2nd line put in (the faster the broadband connectivity the more expensive it is and the more cost possibly to move by the 2nd year)
Router/Modem boxes (where internet comes in should be provided by broadband provider)
1 LAN switch (nothing fancy, but it would be nice to be able to be re-used in the 2nd year) just enough ports to connect router, printer(s) and any other devices other than the laptops that need internet connectivity, e.g. smartboard?
1 or 2 WIFI Access points (WAPs) with POE (no need for power cables as they get power via the LAN cables). So 3 laptops can connect internally without wires (sometimes the router/modem has this functionality built in. There has to be adequate coverage across the two buildings
Very little LAN cabling (CAT 5e or 6) is needed, just enough to connect the LAN switch to the router, printer(s) and 1 or 2 WAP points . Ideally the LAN cabling would be properly installed and concealed when the temporary buildings go in.
Telecoms cabinet for router/modem/LAN switch ( may not be necessary in the first year)
Head teacher, teacher, receptionist 3 laptops, portable, so can be moved. Maybe the receptionists laptop could instead be a physical server with hyper-V functionality for the future.
Networked Printer, black and white (and colour?)
No need for any server infrastructure at least initially. 3 laptops in a peer to peer workgroup.
Smartboard or the like in teaching classroom. This could be the WOW IT factor.
Smartboard table or the like (so e.g. 6 students can sit down around the table and interact with an interactive display). This could be the WOW IT factor.
Projector in teaching classroom if smartboard does not do the job.
Staff Software
Laptops run windows 10.
Staff use their internet browsers to access office 365 in the cloud. This provides email, file storage, file sharing, office applications (which can be downloaded), e.g. word, excel, ppt. All management and backup done remotely by MS or administering MS website
Management Software
SIMs and FMS is already used in the trust and the new school will want to use it
If they need a separate copy there is the option of Hosted SIMs and FMS.
"With Hosted SIMS and FMS both teaching and non-teaching staff can access SIMS from any internet connected device, letting you enjoy all the features and functionality of SIMS, wherever you are. Also no hardware needed onsite and all management done by Capita/Microsoft."
Might be cost implications in the long run and you are relying on a reliable broadband connection
Miscellaneous
None of the following needs hardware at the school:
School domain registered and DNS hosted ( copy what has been done at other schools in the trust)
School website ( copy what has been done at other schools in the trust)
Web filtering (could be provided by ISP) so no hardware needed.
