It's very helpful if you can do some setup of the device before your daughter brings it to school for the first time.
- Ensure that the laptop is fully charged
- Go through the Windows setup process
- Install anti-virus software
- Ensure that if you have used parental controls, that your daughter has the right permissions to install software (just for the first week of term)
- If you are using Microsoft Family, read our information on allowing use of the school Wi-Fi (see the E-safety page)
You don't need to do anything about purchasing Microsoft Office. Your daughter will have access to all the software she needs at school and we will help her download the essential apps.
We also recommend setting up Find My Device in Windows, in case the laptop is mislaid at school. Click here for guidance.
All access to the internet by the girls using
their devices will be via our secure wireless network. When the girls connect
to this they will use their standard network credentials and will be subject to
exactly the same filtering and monitoring policies as they currently are on any
school owned machine. This means that they will not be able to access
restricted or inappropriate content at school.
Students could - in theory - access material not filtered by the school if they hotspot from a smartphone which itself has no family controls in place. This is a breach of the ICT Acceptable Use Agreement and is a disciplinary matter.
We take seriously the responsibility of introducing this technology into your homes and your daughter’s life. We deliver excellent PSHE lessons on all things digital, and constantly address not only the critical aspects of e-safety such as awareness of the risks of online grooming, but also topics such as screentime and managing the pressures of social media in terms of body image, perfectionism, unrealistic expectations and so on. Our strong relationships with the RAP Project and Digital Awareness UK are also a feature of many excellent PSHE and workshop sessions on this topic.
All the students sign the GDST IT Acceptable Use Policy and an extended Bring Your Own Device Policy which sets out our rules and expectations. We provide parents with these documents too and ask for your agreement about BYOD.
On an everyday basis the students are reminded about our Digital Golden Rules (copies in classrooms and in every student’s planner or journal) and also our Tech Etiquette, the most important rule being: Pay more attention to the other humans in the room than the technology.
We offer guidance to parents in using digital solutions for managing their daughter’s device via our Firefly school website. You can find a link to this in this BYOD section for parents.
We expect the girls to use their devices responsibly and sensibly at all times around the school. Girls in the younger year groups are not permitted to use their devices at breaktime and lunchtime. As the girls move up through the school we allow them more freedom to use their devices outside lessons, but only in specific areas of the school.
In lessons we teach the students 'Tech Etiquette' to ensure that everyone remains on task - rules include starting the lesson with laptop lids closed, and only using the device when instructed to do so.
Girls are expected to arrive at
school with a fully charged device. We have secure charging lockers for girls to use around the site. These have code locks and allow girls to leave their device charging in a secure place during, lunch, break or a free period.
Charging lockers are located in:
- School Library
- Sixth Form Common Room
- Some locker rooms
These charging stations are for use when your daughter needs to leave her device in secure location and charge it.
In order to use other sockets around the school to charge her device we have to ensure we have checked that her charging cable is in an appropriate condition. We hold drop in sessions in at the start of the autumn term where the IT Support Team carry out visual inspections of charging cables.
There are a number things your daughter will need to have on her device or bring to school with her as part of the BYOD program. They are:
- Anti-virus software we recommend Avast as an excellent free option
- A case for her device to protect it
- Headphones (these should be discreet, in the ear, style headphones, not large over the ear style)
- A stylus
Students will not take devices to Nursery Road for timetabled lessons. They will be expected to lock their devices into their lockers during these lessons.
For after school fixtures or training the changing rooms in the Pavilion will be used to store pupils bags and they will be locked for the duration of the sessions. The changing room will be opened once in between sessions, but only when there is a staff member present to oversee the change-over.
Are the students at increased risk carrying these devices to and from school?
We have considered the question of
safety of students very carefully and in doing so we:
- looked at many of our competitor schools and their approaches. As you are probably aware many local schools are already running one to one programs in different guises. For example Surbiton High run an iPad program where all students carry an iPad to and from school each day
- considered the general prevalence of technology carried across the general public in south west London
- looked at the existing use of mobile phones by our students (many of which are worth as much as a laptop)
After considering all of these
factors we took the assessment that to add a device to all students backpacks
was not going to increase the likelihood of students being targeted by muggers.
The assumption is that most people will be carrying some sort of electronic
device and so it becomes more about behaviour and safety awareness as to
whether an individual is targeted or not. This is not in any way to underestimate these issues. Indeed, issues of personal safety are routinely addressed with students.