ICT Services 4 Education

School ICT News Bulletin No. 294 - 19/07/2021

Published by ICT Solutions

eBulletin Items

  1. IMPORTANT INFORMATION: NCSC cyber security training package available
  2. IMPORTANT INFORMATION: Planned infrastructure work over the Summer holiday period
  3. IMPORTANT INFORMATION: Academy contract renewals for 2021-22
  4. IMPORTANT INFORMATION: Service Desk opening hours over the forthcoming Summer holiday period
  5. IMPORTANT INFORMATION: Powering Off Core Network Equipment Over The Summer Holiday Period
  6. IMPORTANT INFORMATION: Forthcoming changes to Google Drive files from September 2021
  7. IMPORTANT INFORMATION: Reminder for schools using Groupcall xporter

1. IMPORTANT INFORMATION: NCSC cyber security training package available

If you are planning on holding any inset days in the near future or before you return in September, this is a reminder that the NCSC (National Cyber Security Centre) have made a free cyber security training package available and it can be accessed here

 

With cyber security threats faced by Educational establishments on the increase, this will help raise staff awareness and help deal with such threats.

 

For more information please contact the Service Desk on 01603 475603 or ict@norfolk.gov.uk

2. IMPORTANT INFORMATION: Planned infrastructure work over the Summer holiday period

We would like to inform you of some planned infrastructure work that will be taking place over the Summer holiday period. 

 

9th August – 12th August

The impact of the work will mean that during this period, no new NSIX accounts will be created. You will however be able to use your NSIX account as normal during this time. 

 

23rd August – 27th August

This work will impact access to our support website - https://icteducation.norfolk.gov.uk/ and mean that the website will be unavailable for a period of time.

 

In both instances, the dates shown above are for guidance. We are hopeful that the work will be completed before the end dates shown and apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. 

 

For more information please contact the Service Desk on 01603 475603 or ict@norfolk.gov.uk

 

3. IMPORTANT INFORMATION: Academy contract renewals for 2021-22

As a reminder, Academy contracts expire 31/08/2021, so please ensure that you have logged on to SLA Online and renewed them. These include items such as –

 

  • Technician support
  • NSIX accounts 
  • O365 accounts 
  • Chromebook management
  • Anti-Virus
  • Back-up solutions

 

Thank you to everyone who has renewed their contracts already, as well as those who have joined us, and we look forward to providing our services/supporting you in the coming year.

4. IMPORTANT INFORMATION: Service Desk opening hours over the forthcoming Summer holiday period

To reflect the reduced demand on the Service Desk over the forthcoming Summer holiday period, we will be changing the hours of the Service Desk accordingly.

 

From 26th July to 31st August, the hours will be as follows -

 

09:00 to 16:00. 

 

Normal opening hours of 08:00 to 16:30 will resume on Wednesday, 1st September

 

For more information please contact the Service Desk on 01603 475603 or ict@norfolk.gov.uk

5. IMPORTANT INFORMATION: Powering Off Core Network Equipment Over The Summer Holiday Period

We would like to ask schools to refrain from turning off the power to the core networking equipment over the forthcoming Summer holiday period. Core networking equipment includes routers, switches and servers, often in a wall or floor cabinet. These devices are monitored by ourselves and Updata and turning off the power results in false alarms. This could potentially result in your school incurring a charge for an engineer visit.

 

Services Affected:                           Schools Internet, email and any service accessed via the internet

 

Services Not Affected:                    All other school systems which do not access the internet

 

When:                                               22nd July 2021 - 5th September 2021

 

What You Need To Do:

If there is no alternative to powering off the communications cabinet and core equipment then please contact the Service Desk to advise us in advance

 

For More Information:

Please contact the Service Desk on 01603 475603 or ict@norfolk.gov.uk

6. IMPORTANT INFORMATION: Forthcoming changes to Google Drive files from September 2021

We are aware of a forthcoming change being made by Google which will impact users of NSIX accounts. Between September 13th - 30th 2021, updates will be carried out to make file sharing more secure in Google Drive.  

 

If you currently share files with others in Google Drive their access may be lost. If this happens, you may need to share a new link to the file with them and therefore you may receive file access request from users who previously had access.

 

Other than the above, users will not be required to take any action and if you do not share files that way it will have no impact. 

 

For more information please contact the Service Desk on 01603 475603 or ict@norfolk.gov.uk

 

 

7. IMPORTANT INFORMATION: Reminder for schools using Groupcall xporter

** The below only applies to schools using Groupcall xporter (typically installed on the server), not those schools who send in tab files for generating/updating their NSIX accounts **

 

Groupcall continually monitor the data feed connection between your school’s MIS and their central servers.

 

With the Summer break approaching we would like to advise that if you are looking to undertake any maintenance work on your network that might impact the connectivity between your MIS database and their central servers could you please inform us before the Summer holiday period. Such maintenance work might include:

 

  • Changing Internet Service Provider (ISP)
  • Upgrading or replacing your existing server
  • Changing MIS provider

 

For more information, please contact the Service Desk on 01603 475603 or ict@norfolk.gov.uk

 

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