ICT Solutions News Desk

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

Please can we also kindly ask those schools who house LoRaWAN gateways to leave these powered on over the holidays, as they serve the community as a whole. 

If there is no alternative to powering off the equipment, because of planned work, for example, please advise us in advance.

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

We are aware that some schools/academies have been receiving emails, like the one shown below.

Subject: You’re no longer eligible for academic pricing

You’re no longer eligible for academic pricing on Microsoft subscriptions

Because ___________ is no longer a Microsoft Qualified Academic Institution, you’re no longer eligible for academic prices. As a result, your current academic subscriptions will expire at the end of the subscription period and you won’t be able to renew them at academic prices.

To continue using your products, buy new subscriptions at regular pricing in the Microsoft 365 admin portal.

If you have received such an email and ICT Solutions are your Microsoft license provider, please inform us at ict@norfolk.gov.uk so we can investigate the issue on your behalf. 

From next Tuesday (1st April), ICT Solutions will be using a new call logging system. This subsequently means that the reference numbers you’ll be receiving from us will be changing format. Once embedded, we will be offering a customer portal so you can log/update your own tickets and requests. More details will follow over the coming months ahead, but we believe that this will enhance the service we provide customers.  

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

The ICT for Education Conference programme is returning to Carrow Road Stadium, Norwich on Friday, 09 May 2025.

There is no charge to delegates, and places are available on a first-come-first-served basis so please register to secure your places.

Aimed at those tasked with delivering the Computing curriculum in the classroom and at those responsible for ensuring an effective technology framework in schools, ICT for Education conferences are designed to inform and inspire the teaching of Computing and to encourage best practice in the use of ICT across the curriculum and throughout the school.

Confirmed speakers include: 

• Miles Berry, Professor of Computing Education at the University of Roehampton
• Adam Gibson, Head of Computer Science at Neatherd High School in Dereham
• John Greenwood, Cyber Protect Co-ordinator for the Eastern Region Special Operations Unit (ERSOU)
• Jordan Smithson, Trust IT Services Manager for the Peterborough Keys Academy Trust 
• Tig Williams, CAS Master Teacher, Teacher Trainer and IT Professional

Come and hear sessions on: 'An update on AI'; designing a Computing curriculum fit for purpose with AI in mind; 'Cyber Security in Schools'; 1:1 learning and digital technology; the transformative power of EdTech for SEND pupils; free resources available to teachers to inspire and motivate students… and much more!!

Soak up a wealth of new information to take back to school to use straight away in your teaching. Meet and spend quality time with other teachers to learn and share ideas.

Meet leading suppliers of technology for schools and see their products put to the test.

EVENT DETAILS

When: Friday, 09 May 2025.

Where: Carrow Road Stadium, Norwich, NR1 3JE.

What time: Registration from 07:30. Sessions start 08:30. Conference ends 12:40.

Delegates are welcome to come and go as their schedule permits and according to which sessions are of interest.

Cost: Nothing - and refreshments will be included.

Please REGISTER HERE.

From April 7^th, the way that users log into Anycomms Plus will be changing to make things more secure. Moving forward, email two factor authentication will be implemented, meaning once the user’s username and password has been input, it will generate a six-digit code to the associated email address, which will need to be input to complete the sign in process.

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

We have been notified of the following by Microsoft and only affects Outlook for Mac users.

After October 2025, Microsoft 365 subscriptions associated with a Microsoft 365 account (personal, work, or school) will no longer be able to use legacy Microsoft Outlook for Mac. This transition marks a significant step towards a more robust, feature-rich, and secure email experience for all users.

The latest version of Outlook for Mac has been part of the Microsoft 365 suite for the last four years. More than 95% of Microsoft 365 users have already moved from legacy Outlook for Mac to the new version.

Users will no longer be able to switch back to legacy Outlook for Mac after this change is implemented.

Police Eastern Region Special Operations Unit (ERSOU) are running a series of free to attend education sector webinars for School Leaders, Governors, School staff and Parents. Details and more information are below: 

1) Cyber Security and introduction to Cyber Choices session for UK Education Staff

This is a 1 hour webinar repeated six times until Jan 2026, this session would be useful for anyone working with / in schools or with young people who have not seen one of the cyber inputs previously or want a refresh.

The session will:

• Highlight current trends and provide actionable steps that attendees can take.
• Highlight nationally approved resources like those created for the education sector by the National Cyber Security Centre.
• Introduce the National Crime Agency's Cyber Choices Programme.
• Highlight free local and national Police resources that can support the school further in this area.

This event is free, and tickets can be book directly via:

2) Cyber Security Awareness Session for UK School Governors / Senior Leaders

This is a 2 hour webinar focusing on highlighting the need for cyber resilience in schools it is aimed at school’s governors/leaders and will be repeated six times until Jan 2026. This has had significant changes from our previous offering, and we would suggest that attendees attend the one-hour staff awareness session prior to this.

The session will:

• Highlight cyber security threats that the education sector face
• Raise awareness of the schools' duties around cyber security
• Inform the attendees around the questions to ask to ensure schools are fulfilling their duties.
• Highlight free local and national Police resources that can support the school further in this area.

The event is free, and tickets can be book directly via:

3) Parents / Carers Cyber Choices and Online Safety Events

Please note there are two parts to the parent events, and you will need to register for each independently. Each session will be repeated 8 times until December 2025. Both are 1 hour sessions and are suitable for parents/carers of children in Year 5 (age 9) and above. This is an opportunity to learn and ask questions regarding your child’s online world.

Parents Event – Part 1 - Introduction to Cyber Choices and Online Risks

This session will introduce you to the Cyber Choices programme and will provide:

• An overview to parents and carers on what cybercrime is. 
• What the risks to young people are.
• How the Cyber Choices programme supports at-risk individuals. 
• How you can refer a young person into Cyber Choices.
   

You will also receive an overview of:

• Some of the potential risks that children and young people may experience online.
• Advice to support parents to make informed decisions and keep their children safer online. 

The event is free, and tickets can be book directly via:

Parents Event – Part 2 - Tools and techniques to improve the cyber security of your family

This session will:

• Provide advice on how to improve your personal cyber security.
• Help you to identify and protect your (and your children's) key accounts.
• Identify threats and techniques that cyber criminals may use to target you / your family.
• Highlight the benefits of family accounts.
• Identify parental controls on your router.
• Signposting to useful resources.
   

Advice and guidance from the session will be in line with the Government's Stop! Think Fraud and the National Cyber Security Centres CyberAware campaign.

The event is free, and tickets can be book directly via:

Support for Office 2016 and Office 2019 will end on October 14th, 2025. After that date, no further updates, security fixes, or technical support will be available for these versions of Office. While the applications may continue to function, using unsupported software could lead to potential security risks and other issues. Because migrations can take time, we recommend starting to upgrade any remaining devices your organization has running Office 2016 or Office 2019 to a supported version as soon as possible.

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

After October 14th, 2025, Microsoft will no longer provide security updates or technical support for Windows 10.  Without regular updates, your device will be more susceptible to malware, viruses, and other cyber threats.

Staying on an unsupported OS (Operating System) may lead to compliance issues with industry standards and regulations. Some applications may also no longer work due to the increased security risk.

Plan your upgrade to Windows 11 today! More details can be found at the following link - Windows 11 upgrade information