Fitzharrys School network
The network is currently managed by the network manager who reports to a member of the school leadership team for both operational matters and strategic issues. The goal of the network manager is to minimise network downtime, maintain a high-functioning efficient network infrastructure, and to support all members of staff and students in making the best use of the hardware and software in the school.
The school has approximately 150 curriculum workstations and laptops available to students and each teacher is issued with a laptop which has Bitlocker and Direct Access set up, allowing seamless and secure access from home. The school network runs on a 1Gbps backbone with Fast Ethernet 100mbs and 1Gbps switches in each block. There is an Aerohive wireless setup positioned throughout the schoolfor staff, student and guest access to WiFi.
We have a mixture of Windows 10 with Office 365 and Windows 7 with Office 2010, with virtualised apps where necessary (App-V). The school uses Office 365 hybrid, with an Exchange server on site to support the VOIP phone systems (Skype for Business). All users are hosted on cloud Office 365.
There are twohypervisor servers (Windows Server 2012 R2)running a mixture of Microsoft Server 2008 R2 and 2012 R2 virtual servers.
There is a systematic policy of replacement and upgrading, not just of workstations and laptops, but of network infrastructure, which has enabled the network manager to maintain the network in a high state of readiness. IT also prides itself on its ability to keep older workstations and laptops running.
The network manager provides a range of applications, such as Microsoft applications, Adobe CS6 suite and a wide range of open source and subject specific software and is responsible for maintaining and upgrading these applications. IT is also responsible for a wide range of peripherals including data projectors, interactive boards, desktop printers etc.
The school has a learning platform based on Moodle and uses a range of internally developed and externally purchased software services to manage site requests, room bookings, house points and so on.
The key challenge of the role is to support colleagues and students, many of whom have quite limited ICT skills, and to enable them to make best use of the ICT facilities in which the school has invested. The role offers a great opportunity to demonstrate the skills necessary to support a wide range of users, and to gain experience of administering a medium sized network – skills which are easily transferrable to a non-education setting or to work in a similar role in a larger school.