SCHOOL ICT NEWS BULLETIN No 140 - 23/01/2009

Published by Children’s Services

Advance warning of changes to the Access Denied Page

The Access Denied message that appears when a page is filtering on the schools proxy service is shortly to be replaced with a more informative page that will explain under what category the page was found. This page will also provide a form that will streamline the process of requesting access to blocked pages. A sample page can be viewed online.

Author: Jay Zelos

DNS Redirections

If we contacted you in December 2008 about a DNS redirection for your school’s website, these changes have now been confirmed for the 3^rd February 2009. An email providing more information about these changes will be sent to the office@ account at your school if you are affected.

Author: Amanda Carr

Training/support Day 3 notification for schools due to ‘go live’ between 23 April 2009 and 9 July 2009

Dear Schools,

As you will be aware following the issue of ICT Solutions eBulletin no.139 (issued 09/01/09), there is now a third e¹ training/support day for schools to attend, around 2–4 working weeks after e¹ training Day 1 & 2 (schools ‘go live’ on e¹ in school after Day 2 of training).

Schools with ‘go live’ dates up to 2 April 2009 should have already received notification of when their third training/support day is scheduled, in a formal email that includes further detail on training and data file submissions. All schools receive this email on a rolling basis according to where they are sat in the rollout (soonest schools to train and migrate receive this email first).

We are taking this opportunity to advise schools due to go live between 23 April 2009 and 9 July 2009, of when there third training/ support day is due to take place. If any schools are totally unable to attend on the date identified for their training/ support Day 3, please contact the e¹ Project Team who will do their best to move people around:

Author: Michael Bettell

Norfolk Secondary Schools ICT Network Managers Workshop: Fax Number Correction.

Please be advised that the fax number included on the recent mailing inviting Network Managers to attend the next workshop on 5^th February was incorrect.

The correct number is 01603 475624 and NOT 01603 475660. Could any staff who have responded by fax please advise Shirley Fuller (shirley.fuller@norfolk.gov.uk) or Tim Webb (tim.webb@norfolk.gov.uk) that they wish to attend the next event on 5^th February.

Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience caused.

Author: Jenny Tallent

ICT in Schools Conference 2009

The Role of ICT in Delivering Transformation: Opportunities and Challenges

Dates: 11th or 12th March 2009 Venue: JOHN INNES CENTRE, NORWICH

The publication of BECTA’s Harnessing Technology: Next Generation Learning 2008–14 launches the next phase of the ICT development strategy for schools: the development of systems to exploit the benefits of technology for learning, deliver tangible and measurable improvements in outcomes for pupils.

The objective of this year’s conference picks up this theme, and aims to share with schools some of the ICT challenges and personalised learning opportunities involved in deeper learning, higher–order skills and competencies. The one–day conference will be run on two alternative dates, and will assist schools in making better use of the capabilities of their existing infrastructure, and in actively developing good practice in the use of information and communication technologies.

National keynote speakers will set the scene, while suppliers and hands–on workshops will demonstrate and enable delegates to explore:

• Personalised learning

• Engaging and empowering learners

• Building the e–confident system

• Obtaining joined–up technology infrastructure

• Engaging family and informal learning

• Innovative use of ICT

The conference will be a valuable opportunity for headteachers, governors and teachers to update their understanding of the ICT ‘landscape’ through the keynote presentations, take part in breakout workshops, meet and discuss with suppliers, and obtain updates on ICT strategy, current developments and initiatives from Advisory and ICT solutions staff, by attending surgery appointments.

We would like to take this opportunity to invite you to attend one of the above days. Registration and coffee will be from 09:00 hours, with the conference beginning at 09:30 hours. Lunch will be provided. The programme of events is the same on both days, and details can be viewed on the Conference Website which can be accessed from the ICT Solutions website homepage: http://eficts.norfolk.gov.uk/

Bookings must be received by ICT Solutions before 13^th February 2009.

If you have questions, or need further information, please contact Judy Houghton on 0845 303 3003.

Author: Judy Houghton

Data Cleansing of Gold prior to migration to e¹

All schools about to migrate to e¹ are reminded that once their training dates have been agreed, they will receive an email confirming the training dates. Attached to this email is a document giving information on the data cleansing that is required to be done prior to migration. It is important that schools allocate time to complete this data cleansing. Please do not leave this until the last minute. In the past one or two schools have asked to change their migration dates as they had not completed data cleansing. This will be more difficult as we approach the end of the project with training dates filling up.

PLEASE PLAN your DATA CLEANSING in order to allow ample time for its completion.

Author: Carole Barwell

E-Safety Toolkit

E–Safety Policy, Guidance and Tools for Consultation with Norfolk’s Schools

We are very pleased to announce the release, for consultation with schools, the eagerly awaited final draft Norfolk E–Safety Toolkit!

The E–Safety Toolkit has been developed in consultation with the Joint Consultative Committee, unions and representatives with expertise in teaching and learning, Safeguarding Children, HR and ICT.

The E–Safety Toolkit includes policy and guidance on the use of ICT in teaching and learning in school and the extended school, through to home and mobile access. The guidance covers a broad range of ICT applications from the traditional PC, to mobile devices, learning platforms and social networking. We have also included some useful tools to help you assess where your school is now in terms of E–Safety and guidance to support you in developing local policies.

We need you!

Every school has a different approach to the use of ICT in teaching and learning. For example, some schools will encourage the use of personal devices in the classroom, or filtering that permits social networking for some groups. We have developed the E–Safety Toolkit with this in mind, but you are the experts and we need you to tell us if this toolkit will work for your school!

Consultation

The E–Safety Toolkit is available for consultation until the 20^th February 2009. Visit http://www.eficts.norfolk.gov.uk/esafety for more information and to access the E–Safety Toolkit.

Feedback

Please send all feedback to sharon.knight@norfolk.gov.uk.

Author: Michael Pickett

Antivirus and anti-threat requirements for Norfolk schools: Audience: All

It has come to Children’s Services attention that there are a number of schools that are not sufficiently protecting their users, equipment and data from threats such as viruses, trojans and spyware. In most cases these schools are supported by 3rd party external ICT providers, in–house or a high school technician. Some of these schools have good protection for their curriculum network but inadequate protection for office and staff desktop PCs and laptops.

Although the risk of being attacked from an Internet borne threat is quite low due to the high security of the Norfolk Schools Broadband Network, there are still significant risks from infected emails, CDs, USB keys and school laptops that are used at home and school.

All schools must have a minimum level of anti–threat software installed on all applicable computers and devices that connect to the Norfolk School Broadband Network. This is part of the agreement to the Code of Connection to be connected to the Norfolk Schools Broadband Network. It is also recommended that all antivirus / anti–threats systems are installed as a server and client system for ease of management and are updated once a day for the latest pattern / definition files if available.

It should be noted that most of the ‘free’ antivirus products do not give a sufficient level of protection and in some instances they are only licensed to be used for personal use and are therefore illegal to use on school / NCC owned equipment or business use.

If a school is unprotected it can cause disruption to its own ICT services, including loss of data or data theft, and it can also place the rest of the Norfolk Broadband Network at risk which could seriously impair network access speed for other Norfolk schools.

If a school is found to have insufficient protection or if a virus outbreak occurs at a school Children’s Services may disconnect the school from the Broadband network and will not reconnect them until the situation is resolved.

All schools that have a contract which covers managed antivirus updates from ICT Solutions (all contracts except small schools pack and bespoke contracts) and have current licences for Symantec Antivirus will be receiving updates from ICT Solutions, and also being monitored to ensure any security threat to the school network is dealt with immediately upon detection.

ICT Solutions is also in the process of upgrading these schools to Symantec Endpoint Protection, which gives even greater protection from threats than Symantec’s previous antivirus products.

If you are uncertain of your current level of protection for antivirus / anti–threat software we strongly recommend you contact ICT Solutions or your IT support organisation to ensure you are correctly protected on all school computers.

ICT Solutions are happy to help and advise if you are unsure of your current protection level or require further assistance.

Author: Stewart Parvin

Removal of the Exchange 2007 Quarantine Mailbox

The quarantine mailbox has now been removed.

Any emails that were previously captured in the quarantine@nsix.org.uk will no longer be delivered and will be returned to the sender. This only relates to the generic email accounts like Office@ @head@ etc. that are on MS Exchange 2007

If you have any emails that are rejected and you think they should have been allowed to be sent to your inbox, then please use the instructions on how to add a sender to your safe senders list. Add to safe senders list

Author: Graham Cullender