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Link: Konnie Huq launches free climate crisis ebook for UK primary schools | Books | The Guardian

Hi, First time user of edugeek - would really appreciate any help and advice. My new school has a wireless solution in place which has 12 AP's and is controlled by a wireless controller (thinking netgear). The school is an old three storey double sided victorian building. The school has 60 netbooks and 30 laptops all accessing the wireless network at different times during the day. The server is running Microsoft Server 2003 and the server is approximately 6 -7 years old. The pupils/staff log onto the the network via roaming profiles and all have individual log ons. The school is located in London and has recently switched from synetrix broadband services to VMB services via LGFL 2.0 connection. The problems: Classes of children can take up to 20 minutes to access the network. This is far from ideal when you are teaching as you want instantaneous access. Staff members have long waits before logging on via netbooks/laptops What can be done to improve the time take for pupils logging on to network via wireless device? How can the signal strength be improved across the school? What reliable companies geared at providing wireless solutions can do carry out this work? Thank you ICTteach

Harrap ICT provides high quality support to primary schools across Hampshire. The majority of our work is done on-site at the schools but we also provide remote assistance over the phone or via the Internet. Job Description The company is expanding and has a vacancy for a bright experienced IT Technician. We are looking for an intelligent and self-motivated individual to work with the support teams ensuring that all customers receive a high quality, reliable and secure service. Essential attributes for a successful candidate: A desire to impress colleagues and customers Using initiative to deliver impressive results Eagerness to learn and develop tech skills Flexibility, team spirit and adaptability Excellent communication skills Friendly, confident, smart and personable Enthusiastic, tenacious and hard working You must thrive on a challenge and have the experience and ability to work to deadlines. The role involves working as part of a small team and as an individual to support school staff on routine and ad hoc visits including helping and advising on issues, repairing machines or troubleshooting faults. The role primarily focuses on providing support and development for schools, there will be wide exposure to all activities undertaken by Harrap ICT including project/R&D based work. The job will largely involve travelling directly from home to schools across Hampshire to provide support and development during their recurrent weekly or fortnightly visits. Plus regular visits to head office in Winchester. A full driving license is essential. You will report to the Support and Operations Managers. Taking ownership of issues, tracking calls and communicating with customers and colleagues is the key to being successful in this role. There will be opportunities for advancement for the right candidate. Key Responsibilities To provide 1st, 2nd line onsite and remote support; including telephone support Managing and tracking support issues effectively and communicating progress to customers Assist with and implement IT solutions (hardware and software) Maximise and promote system utilisation by all users, providing relevant training where necessary Maintain documentation for all systems (hardware and software). To include all applications installed and network topology. Assist with software licensing to ensure legality Undertake system monitoring, including disk space maintenance to ensure system integrity, and minimisation of down time Undertake network cabling adjustments as and when requested to ensure all PC’s and peripheral devices are connected and accessible Working with team members to meet deadlines Using initiative to learn and be up to date with the latest technologies Key Skills Experience of IT in the education sector IT hardware knowledge is desirable; experience of working with/ building computers Some windows server experience is essential. This includes Active Directory, Group Policy, Powershell, Batch Files, Print Configuration and Management. Networking experience is desirable as there will be exposure to cabling, switches and cabinets. Other desirable technical experience: Apple Configurator/ OSX Server, Linux command line (mainly Ubuntu). School based hardware such as projectors and interactive panels. You should also have: A natural affinity for technology A logical approach to troubleshooting problems The ability to work independently and within a team environment Additional Information Salary range £23,000-£35,000 dependent on experience, pro rata for part time/term-time only. We will consider applicants looking for a full-time or part-time role and this can be based on all-year or term-time only. Our standard week is 37.5 hours to fit around customer requirements, with 30 minutes of daily breaks. Travel is not included. This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Criminal Records Bureau to check for any previous criminal convictions. On that basis we require that applicants reveal all criminal convictions, cautions, reprimands and warnings, both spent and unspent. If you are successful with this application, any failure to disclose such information could result in dismissal or disciplinary action. To apply please submit your CV and a covering letter to [email protected]. Your covering letter should outline your skills and how they meet our needs. There is no specific end date for applications. Applicants will be reviewed on a first come, first seen basis. If you do not hear from us, please assume your application has been unsuccessful on this occasion. NO RECRUITMENT AGENCIES OR JOBS BOARDS PLEASE www.harrap.it **APPROVED**

The school wants to set up a partnership with our feeder primary schools and I was hoping tthat someone had already gone down this route successfully. The starting point was creating them each a site on our VLE but every time we asked our IT provider they said we would need a Sharepoint Internet licence because they were not in our Active Directory - these cost £10K. Clearly this is beyond the finances of any primary so the cost would fall on us - unless some sponsor could be found. I also pointed out that this would only give them access to anything that was on their site, I think they were labouring under the idea that this would allow them access to their school account through our network. The school has reserved a URL for the partnership but I have said that this would require someone to monitor and moderate the site and there would be problems with who was allowed to change and upload content on such an open platform as the Internet. My experience of 'extranets' is very limited but is anything I have said wrong or am I making something more complicated than it needs be? The success of this would accrue countless smartie points but I'm not counting them just yet.

Am looking for thoughts, experiences and comments on a proposal from our Schools Service to push Raspberry Pi's as a replacement for desktop PCs. They'll be running an office suite, be used for surfing the internet and accessing Office 365 on a daily basis in primary schools. I do have my views on this which I will share but wanted to see if my views were in-tune with other IT professionals working in schools? Look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Hi, I'm an ICT Manager at a Primary School. We're due to have a raft of laptops being replaced in the next 6 to 8 months, and I'm looking at netbooks as a possible alternative to cheaper laptops to replace them. I'm personally looking at the Dell Inspiron Mini 12 as the replacement. The only problem being that I'd want to have Windows XP Professional / Windows Vista Business on the machine. Are Dell likely to respond to any requests, or am I going to have to buy seperate Vista Business licenses to do this? Does anyone have any recommendations on netbooks the kids might find handy?

Hi All, My school is looking to purchase asset management tool. We just have demo with sg world that is basically parago. Does any of you use parago? Would you recommend this product? Maybe you use different tool that you could recommend to us? I appreciate your advise Thank you M

Hi All I guess this has come up before but has anyone started there own business supporting schools? just wondered how it has worked out and is it worth it?