Ditto

Big jump in 1st vaccine numbers today - whether that's schools roll out, 12-18 service outside schools or a data quirk I have no idea.

Welcome - I have a feeling you are going to fit in very well here!

I had an aborted 1st attempt at getting a booster jab a few weeks ago, but due to an inefficient system of booking, where because a roll-up is running at the same venue, the booking time is pointless and could lead to a 1 - 2 hour wait. So I went for a pharmacy that was 30 minutes away. What a contrast! In and out in 20 minutes. Pleasant cheerful staff and volunteers, zero queue, 15 minutes post jab wait and all done! I made a point of thanking the volunteers for donating their time. They were so appreciative - just shows you how a little "Thank you" goes a long way.

See http://www.edugeek.net/forums/windows-11/224799-microsoft-announces-windows-11-se-new-chrome-os-competitor.html for a wider discussion.

I see in the video (at about 16-17 seconds) it says, "Easy to repair with common tools". That would be a plus but to what extent is that true? I'd be interest to know the cost of replacing a screen, a keyboard, a track pad on the Surface Laptop SE given it's low target price.

Hmm, our HR and SLT reiterated the need to follow precautions, in quite strong terms and said if you can work from home do so. Has there been some kind of communication to organisations that hasn't reached us minions by other means?

Maybe this should be in Cool thing thread, but we had a blue tit happily flying around indoors upstairs yesterday. Unfortunately no photos, but we calmly opened the window and it managed to fly out without drama - or leaving 'deposits' as far as I can tell! I'm not entirely sure where it got in, but can only imagine it squeezed through a partially open fan light!

They really are working through the list of nebulous excuses!

Some helpful comments in the replies, some missing the point I suspect, but thanks for the replies. I'm not directly involved in the current project, but when I see the SLT heading down a less than convincing route, I stick my oar in and ask questions and ultimately they realise I have a lot of experience and appreciate the input. As a couple of examples of the issues I am aware with the current provider. Asset register - they haven't got a clue what IT hardware they have provided, what it is or where it is. They provide new staff with laptops and every experience is different - all are variants of you can't just turn on, log in and use. Neither of these issues should exist even if we were on a 'bronze' level of service, so whilst 'feel' is deliberately non-specific, there are of course specifics behind it. Another example is WiFi - one of our leadership team is having a very poor connectivity and slow speeds using WiFi. The suggested solution of plugging in a physical cable doesn't seem to help. The situation in the office has not changed - if anything it usage has reduced due to increased remote working. The providers solution is to spend more money, but they haven't visited the site or investigated the underlying cause. For all I know, in spite of plugging in a cable connection, the laptop could still using the WiFi. I agree SLA's are important, but in practice, I've never seen one where there is an attached penalty for failing to meet the SLA. So whilst it can help to put pressure on the supplier, unless it has a financial impact on the supplier, it has limitations. What we really want is a company that has such a positive pro-active approach, along with the relevant expertise, that SLAs shouldn't need to be referred too - perhaps that's unrealistic, but aiming high and falling just short is better than aiming low and achieving low. Thanks for the digitalexchange link - I have referred that to that before and it is worth us checking the provider is getting the best deal, but I know like so many others, MS licensing is part science, part mystical magic. What is difficult for a charity like ours, is they don't have the expertise or experience needed to really go through a thorough procurement and to do all the hard slog of documenting all their needs. Ultimately I think they have to bite the bullet on this, but they rely on finding a provider that has a cultural fit with what the charity is doing and is supportive of that. We do get a proportion or pro-bono work done for us, but I think ICT (including tele-comms) is too core to expect that so it is an expense we have to manage.

I'll try to avoid the OMG aspect, as I know of schools on non-SIMS platforms that got moved to SIMS as a result of joining a MAT and being forced to be in line. Do have partner schools to confirm the way you are doing things is the most effective? What about support, who do you have access to? You might find registering and posting this question on https://adme.me.uk/ might help as it is something some school's Data Managers are more familiar with. One other thought, I know some schools use Edulink One from Overnet Data and are very positive about it. You might like to pose your issue to them and see where it leads, but it would of course have cost if you went that route, but many have for wider benefits.

The CPC link looks interesting. I posted this morning elsewhere about whole ICT tendering, but it includes photocopiers, so hopefully still on topic! Is this service tied to educational institutions because we are a charity and although we work within schools, we wouldn't qualify as a school.

We are a rapidly growing charity supporting young people with emotional well-being and mental health. We have staff based permanently in schools, we support youth clubs, we have a large contract with NHS taking on a work for what was CAMHS. We have a contract with a local ICT Services company, but there has been on-going dissatisfaction for some time with them. We are supposed to getting their 'gold' service but feel we aren't. The provider wants to increase our costs, partly due to our growth, but we feel every time we ask them to resolve issues, they just want more money or to sell us something. So, we are looking at alternative suppliers. Here is a brief outline of the services we need provided and supported. A cluster of PC's in the office with wired and wireless connectivity. Internet connectivity with virus protection, phishing and the usual security services. I guess we need filtering, monitoring etc. but unlike a school environment, we don't provide child internet access as a rule, but we would want 'guest' network. A small amount of printing/scanning on-site. Support for a significant number of remote workers, with work provided laptops. We are fully Microsoft 365 users, so we need licensing covered, ensuring any non-profit/charity discounts are fully achieved. Provision and support for a number of staff to have secure managed mobile phones. Full data security and DPA compliance. Ideally I'd like to see us achieve Cyber Essentials certification within 12 months. Probably a bit more that I've not thought of or not been made aware of. So, what process should we go through and what questions should we be asking to ensure we get the best provider and value for money (not necessarily the cheapest!). As a related question, our SLT have approached a company based in Bracknell that offer IT services, so if you work with a provider in Bracknell, I'm happy to PM who they are to see if they are the same to get some insight. One final thought, I'm wondering if we should consider employing our own IT person and bringing it all in house. It would take a lot of work to convince the leadership, would require someone with broad and deep experience, but it is a good place to work and from other posts I suspect quite a few Edugeekers would be qualified. As a rule, we compete well or can exceed school salaries, but of course almost all staff are here for reasons beyond money, but the charity knows we all have bills to pay.

That made me laugh out loud! Police did well to avoid a collision, looks like a near miss!

Cleverer than some 'owners' around here who don't seem capable of doing the reverse!

Wow, shows how effective the vaccine is. I recall this so that's a massive impact. Anecdotally, with local outbreaks, it hadn't been that good, but it has varied with some households 100% and others at nearer 25%. The severity of infection between the two adults in the households also varied enormously and no sign of gender bias, from barely noticeable to 10 days confined to bed and very unpleasant. Fortunately no hospitalisations amongst the people I know.

I understand there is modelling to suggest dropping cases based on a national level of immunity of catching it leading to severe symptoms or hospitalisation, so not full immunity. But like you, I'm not seeing evidence of this with C19 at the moment. Additionally, unlike flu, it's not looking strongly seasonal at present. Interesting point on new vaccines. With the mRNA versions, we have been told it would be quick to build new ones compared to the first version. Whilst the current ones retain good efficacy, it has dropped with variants. Yet, I don't see much commentary on updated vaccines.

I think virus requires a living host to survive - one of those in the photo has eyes shut, and perhaps.... Seriously though, on the masks I agree, I recently went to an upholsters and the chap wasn't wearing a mask. I asked if he wanted me to wear a mask as we were discussing the repair outside, but I continue to wear a mask in shops etc. Increasingly I feel in the minority on this front and the recent dropping case numbers are rising again. It's been very mild to date and I know from a hospital worker that flu season hasn't started yet and beds are already full. I'm increasingly unconvinced herd immunity is around the corner enough to bring numbers down, so more mask wearing seems a minor inconvenience for the potential benefit.

Not personally, but when I was a development manager our major product made excellent use of SQLite, but not via powershell but I sure it's possible. Have a look at SQLite and PowerShell – Rambling Cookie Monster, it might be a pointer in the right direction.

Not a movie, but I've tuned into Missions, the French Sci-Fi drama on iPlayer - it has me hooked. Any movie where yoyu forget you are reading subtitles is a positive sign in my view. I've just watched Series 1 Episode 7 and it follows on from a chance encounter into a emotional Dignitas discussion on radio today that was deeply emotional so it's a heightened experience given current focus on assisted dying going through the Lords and parliament currently. That aside, is anyone else watching this? Oddly, I find the theme tune so hypnotic, I'd tune in for that alone!

4-legged emus anyone?

My last role, where I did a tiny amount of timetabling (as a Data Manager) was about 90% ChromeOS. A couple of things forced us to use Windows, one was timetabling software, another was that software that processes EDI files for exams stuff (can't remember it's name).

I hope the implication isn't that high maintenance software is good to stick with to keep people in a job - history shows that never ends well! Yes, reduce IT staff support workload to allow them the time to do the stuff that really enhances the educational experience for the pupils in school.

I don't think it is everyone thinking that, especially not here. I suspect there are some leadership staff who may slip in to that thought process, but several very large MATS have moved to cloud based MIS following vigorous decision making processes and for good reasons. Is timetabling different? Well, yes in some ways, but in many other ways, no. I disagree there 'is no advantage in cloud computing' for timetabling software. I think you are underestimating the value to a school of having software releases and updates managed for them, having the appropriate security in place, having a strong reliable backup process and built in redundancy, scalability, access anywhere you have an internet connection and more. To achieve those things, you need a well architected cloud based solution of course, but very few schools can compete with the infrastructure and expertise of a well run cloud bases software implementation. Whilst overall I agree Cloud based software isn't always the best option, equally, just because legacy ways of working still work, doesn't mean new ways can't be better.

Massive respect! Performance under pressure! Q2 really had me thinking hard. Let's see what others can do!

A bit of fun - an Autumnwatch hedgehog quiz https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/12c50t33bdsRygMxMfYhTNT/the-hedgehog-quiz Anything less than 100% from someone ( ) would be disappointing! I was a middling 5 out of 8!