ICT Services 4 Education

School ICT News Bulletin No. 305 - 07/12/2022

Published by ICT Solutions

eBulletin Items

  1. IMPORTANT INFORMATION: DfE Connect the Classroom programme 2022
  2. IMPORTANT INFORMATION: Arbor MIS support
  3. IMPORTANT INFORMATION: Service Desk opening hours over the Christmas period
  4. IMPORTANT INFORMATION: Change Freeze - December 16th 2022 to January 6th 2023
  5. IMPORTANT INFORMATION: Powering off core network equipment over the Christmas holiday period
  6. IMPORTANT INFORMATION: Microsoft 365 apps and services support for IE11 browser

1. IMPORTANT INFORMATION: DfE Connect the Classroom programme 2022

Connect the Classroom is a program funded by the Department for Education (DfE) that aims to help schools across the country to access an effective and comprehensive, education-focused wireless networking solution. This funding is designed to enable a modern and robust network infrastructure to enable connectivity for staff and students to deliver an improved learning experience. Norfolk, with Norwich in particular, is one of the counties that are seen as a priority area.

 

The Connect the Classroom programme is open to the following:

 

If you are eligible for this funding, your school will have received an email directly from the DfE, inviting you to jojn the programme and on next steps. Alternatively, if you have not received an invite and feel you meet the criteria, please email the DfE at ConnectTheClassroom.DfEICT@education.gov.uk

 

For further information about the programme, you may find it useful to attend one of the DfE webinars. Responsible Body/School webinars will take place on Tuesdays at 2pm over MS Teams. The webinar can be accessed via this link: RB/school webinar.

 

If you need any support for the process and deployment, ICT Solutions can provide advice and quotes via our trusted framework partners. Please contact us on 01603 475603 or email ict@norfolk.gov.uk

 

2. IMPORTANT INFORMATION: Arbor MIS support

We are delighted to advise that we are now accredited partners with the MIS provider, Arbor!

 

This means that moving forward, we will be able to offer MIS support to Primary Schools/Academies. We aim to host some webinars to showcase the Arbor MIS and more details will be available in the New Year.

 

If you would like to register interest now, please contact the Service Desk on 01603 475603 or ict@norfolk.gov.uk

 

3. IMPORTANT INFORMATION: Service Desk opening hours over the Christmas period

To reflect the reduced demand on the Service Desk over the Christmas holiday period, we will be changing the opening hours to reflect this.

 

Our opening hours will be as follows:

 

December 19th to 22nd - 08:30 to 16:00

December 23rd - 08:30 to 12:00

December 24th to January 2nd 2023 - Closed

 

Normal opening hours of 08:00 to 16:30 will resume on Tuesday, January 3rd 2023.

 

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

 

We would like to wish all our customers a Merry Christmas and a healthy and prosperous New Year!

 

 

4. IMPORTANT INFORMATION: Change Freeze - December 16th 2022 to January 6th 2023

As per previous years, there will be a Change Freeze taking place over the Christmas and New Year period (December 16th 2022 at 17:00 to January 6th 2023 at 17:00), to ensure the stability of systems and network for everyone.

 

Only changes deemed an emergency or if a change is necessary, because of a major outage, will be implemented. We would therefore advise you to submit any changes to Routers/Firewalls well in advance of December 16th to ensure they are completed.

 

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 Christmas holiday period

We would like to ask schools to refrain from turning off the power to the core networking equipment over the forthcoming Christmas 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:                                               16th December 2022 - 3rd January 2023

 

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: Microsoft 365 apps and services support for IE11 browser

Further to Microsoft's communication in August 2021 (MC278815), apps and services support for Internet Explorer 11 has ceased.

 

Beginning mid-January, 2023, access to SharePoint Online and OneDrive from Internet Explorer 11 will be hard blocked for all users. Users should access these services through a modern browser, such as Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, FireFox etc.

 

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

 

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