Knowledge is Power for Bursars in Independent Schools

With technology now intrinsically embedded in pretty much every element of school life, both inside and outside the classroom, the ability to make empowered decisions about the strategic use of ICT within the school has never been more important.

The Bursar frequently has the unenviable job of ensuring that the school ICT system simultaneously delivers:

• The best possible learning experience to pupils
• Provides for the smooth running of the administrative side of the school
• Safeguards the pupils
• Complies with all relevant legislation
• Serves to attract new pupils to the school

And he or she also needs to achieve all of this within the confines of a limited budget!

This is where Sir Francis Bacon's famous adage "Knowledge is Power" really comes into its own.

Because without good information the Bursar and the rest of the school's Senior Leadership Team can be left in a precarious position, as they don't have the knowledge needed to make informed decisions over the strategic use or direction of technology within the school. Whether you love or loathe technology, the reality is that ICT is now interwoven into the framework of the school and its successful strategic use is critical to the ongoing success of the school.

With technology, and associated security threats, ever-changing, this is an area where no school can afford to stand still.

So it may be worth considering the questions below, to make sure you have the information you need to make empowered decisions over the strategic use of technology in your school:-

• Do you know what technology you have got and what value it adds to your school?

• Do you understand how your ICT systems, in conjunction with your procedures, policies and pupil/staff education plan, safeguard children?

• Has the resilience and disaster recovery provision of your systems kept pace with the changing use of ICT in Independent schools?

• How cost-effective is your ICT system? Are you overspending or under spending compared with other independent schools? Could your ICT budget be deployed more effectively?

• Is the SLT kept abreast of the ever-changing cyber security threat landscape, and have you implemented the necessary technologies, policies and staff training to mitigate the risks? Is this reviewed and updated on a regular basis in light of technological advances and new threats?

• Do you know which technologies other local independent schools have deployed or are considering implementing and how that will impact on your competitiveness in attracting new pupils?

• Do you have a clear understanding of how future proof your ICT systems are? If they have a limited lifespan (and let's face it, most things in ICT do!), have you considered when you will replace them, and what with?

  • Are you clear about the benefits and risks of Cloud Computing in independent schools?

• Do you understand what technology and procedures you have in place to prevent data leakage and/or loss?

• Are you aware of the ways you can leverage your ICT systems to generate further income for the school or fulfil its charitable status obligations?

In the digital world in which we now live, making the right ICT choices is integral to success.

And that all starts with having the right information.

Web Access in Independent Schools - Protect or Educate?

One of the common themes I get asked about when I visit Independent Schools, is that of web access.

It's one of those areas where many schools find it difficult to get the fine balance right between safeguarding and usability.

In most cases - and for all the right reasons - the internet has been locked down very tightly, to ensure pupils can't access inappropriate websites. Often though, the policies set also preclude the staff from being able to access online resources which are needed, or would be useful, to carry out their job.

In other cases the system has grown organically over the years, and now has such a complicated set of algorithms behind it, that it is difficult to unravel or make changes, and indeed may seem to give inconsistent results over what can be accessed and by whom on any given day.

Neither of these situations is beneficial for any school, and when I am approached by schools who find themselves in these scenarios I normally suggest that we sit down and redefine the web access policy from scratch. Let's bear in mind that times have changed from the early days of Internet connectivity, and whatever controls we implement on the school's firewall to restrict access via Wi-Fi or school computers, pupils can, if they wish, circumvent, using 4G on their smart phone. Many schools feel this changes the onus from one of blocking everything possible, to one of educating youngsters in the safe and effective use of the Internet nowadays. Now please don't think I am proposing unrestricted Internet access for all, as that is absolutely not the case. Certain types of websites will always need to be blocked. I am just saying that schools’ responsibilities around safeguarding are complex, involving not just age appropriate access policies, but also around equipping pupils for later life by educating them in safe and effective use of the Internet, whilst also providing staff with monitoring and reporting facilities so they have visibility of what sites pupil are visiting.

Luckily, modern web filtering products have moved on apace and many now offer powerful reporting capabilities, along with the ability to set up multi-layered security policies, so that specific subsets of people such as staff or different year groups can have differing levels of access. Whilst most schools prefer to get in a specialist IT company to ensure the systems and policies are initially setup correctly, the beauty is that these systems are then largely self-managing, with automatic security updates being applied and a relatively straightforward management and reporting interface.