rpain

Thanks just what I needed to know. Do you know off hand whether that also works with Inventry?

Hi - just wanted to resurrect this thread as it pretty much matches what we have (or will have) with a couple of exceptions. We will be having the InVentry system installed in a week or so, we have paxton in place although it will ONLY read Paxton net2 cards (not mifare etc) unless we replace all door locks (which won't happen). We also have Kyocera MFDs with currently no scanner/rfid unit. I understand that Mifare cards can work with all three with a bit of faff but does anyone know whether net2 cards can be made to work with any kind of papercut MFD scanner? If need be, can we get bar code scanners for the photocopiers? I expect we'll need some kind of bar code for InVentry. We're going to be spending lots of money on all this so I'd rather not mess it up. Thanks in advance as always. Richard

Thanks - since then, staff now have their own passwords (12 characters long) and two factor authentication is on the way, usb sticks blocked unless approved. All of our files are in onedrive and sharepoint so that should mitigate ransomware problems. Hopefully we should be covered for the moment - can never be complacent of course. Richard

I don’t believe counselling notes are stored here.

OK - and for a slightly more unusual situation. We have a member of staff with a child at the school. Would they have the automatic right to view documents stored in the MIS on their child or would an official data access request need to be made? Even for counselling notes (would these notes be counted as safeguarding if no discussions in the sessions cause safeguarding concerns)? Thanks again.

Thank you both - that's been enormously helpful.

Hi, I'm interested to find out whether under GDPR whether a parent would be entitled to access to documents such as parent meeting notes and references from previous schools which are stored in our MIS? I expect that safeguarding documents wouldn't be allowed for obvious reasons. Thanks, Richard

Hi - yes in the end we chose SchoolsBuddy and so far so good. It just looks very clean and, despite the very valid arguments of mobile web interfaces over native apps for phones/tablets (mainly easier to update), I still feel an app is more capable and easier for users to grasp the idea of. I've just entered all the activities and I'm looking to send the login instructions to parents just after half term. We're just starting out with the activities side of things but I don't see there being to many problems with the other facilities the system has to offer. Richard

OK - and for further security how do people deal with monitoring the monitor? We're looking at my colleague checking what I access once a week (through the office 365 audit logs) and us mutually signing a sheet saying everything is in order. Also, how do people manage screen sharing and control - free access to pupil machines but explicit 'click here to allow screen sharing' on all staff machines? The big deal there being what about if a member of staff is looking at something inappropriate? It's been a shamefully long time sorting this out but better late than never...

That's perfect - just what I needed to know. Thanks, Richard

Hi - can I ask what sort of power settings people have on their workstations and teacher machines? (lock times, hibernation, sleep etc.). Just double checking everything at the moment. Thanks, Richard

OK and going forward what are people's policies on two factor authentication? I have it enabled on all of my accounts but do people insist this is set up for other school users?

OK - thank you to all and points taken and understood. I'd like to put out the fire now, please.

This sort of scenario: A member of staff says to me "When I open Word and try to open "...." it comes up with a message "...". "It happens intermittently and I bet it won't do it when you're here. It's really interrupted my lessons and has happened with a few documents before etc etc." I take all of your points on board, though, and despite having a lovely team of staff, it's worth being more careful.

...but I'd made it clear when it was created that it was only for their school account.

...but surely then if Impero can unlock a machine then I could still upload a file onto that machine and not appear in the audit trail as it coming from myself...?

Mako - Point taken, That's one of the reasons this site is so useful.

Yes that would make sense. We're with Netsupport and I'm not sure the system allows me to do that. I'll contact them about it.

Hi, At our school we have office 365 and all files in the cloud. We have a policy saying that all files and emails must be work related. At the start of last term, I asked everyone to come up with a password that they only use at school and to let me also know it. I keep this list securely in 1password on my phone with 2 factor authentication etc.. The reason I have asked for the passwords is mainly convenience for helping teachers/admin staff if they have any computer issues. It means that I can log in as them or unlock their computers if they're away so it doesn't hold us up or interrupt lessons while they're entering their passwords in to unlock the machine for me. I can also advise them on whether their password is sensible or not... I have explained that office 365 allows onedrive access to global admins even without knowledge of a users password and that a mailbox could conceivably be access by changing it into a shared one but what do other people do? If people have documents they don't want me to have access to (which I have no particular interest in anyway) then they can be password protected. Thanks, Richard

Hi all, We've just got our head round isams and are delighted we made the move over the summer. I'm now looking to move our activity organisation beyond paper, spreadsheets, cheques etc. We have seen CHQ but I'm also reviewing Schoolsbuddy - does anyone have any experience of either? At the moment I'm seeing a cost difference and a different level of 'polish' but other than that they do both seem very similar. I saw Schoolsbuddy mentioned in this forum a couple of years ago but nothing since. Whatever system we use, I'd also like it to cover parents evenings and have close integration with isams. Thanks, Richard

Well we’re also looking to move ASAP and I spoke to them today to enquire about the notice we would have to give (got through nearly straight away...strange that). She said 90 days(!) and she then asked straight away whether their new ‘customer success’ department could give me a call! I’ve asked them to call on Monday but I don’t think I have music long enough for them to listen to while I make a cup of tea and have lunch. Our contract renews in 6 weeks so I think we may well just refuse to pay it. In the contract it does mention that the contract can be terminated if either side fails to fix a problem within 4 weeks. We have a huge email thread to prove that’s the case. Will let you know how we get on.

I guess as the last poster said, I think I just need a good tutorial... I’ve tried a few but I suppose I’m just unlucky.

Hi, All I want to do is to be able to make an image, capture it and deploy it to another identical machine(s). I've spent lots of time trying to set up task sequences and had an expensive engineer on site who also didn't really manage to get a perfectly workable solution and I'm just sick to death with it. Are there any 3rd party products that people could recommend that would perform a similar job? It seems that every time Microsoft bring out a new windows 10 version, new quirks come along which break things and I'm fed up with it! I've done some googling but figure that experience from real people is always better. Thanks for any advice... Richard

Hi - I'm going through a similar issue but the 'problem' is that getting inkjets and 3rd party cartridges works out a lot cheaper than the .44p per colour page (and scan!) it costs through our copiers. This is even factoring in throwing away 3 or 4 printers per year. We have until the end of next year before we can negotiate a different contract but this cost may be reasonable these days. I find it hard to justify paying .44p per colour page scanning, though. I disagree with this on both an environmental/waste basis but also on time spent attempting to fix but mostly replacing them which I could do without. Does anyone still use inkjets in classrooms based on this reason?

Just found out the solution (works for us anyhow). We use Meraki and can set a device to run in single app mode. It can then be locked in Meraki and when you then unlock it it sends you back to the home screen :-) Basically it seems that the mdm single app mode feature takes priority over the guided access lock. Hope that helps. Richard