School Profile
Turnditch Primary School is a primary school in the heart of the Amber Valley in Derbyshire. It was first opened as one classroom in 1846 as a “National Society School for the education of children and adults or children only of the laboring, manufacturing and other poorer classes in the Chapelry aforesaid and the neighborhood and for no other purposes.”
Since then, the school has been extended and now accommodates classrooms, a music room, library and a kitchen for 85 children.
The school is one of the many schools within the Derby Diocesan Academy Trust. Link ICT Services also provides IT support for several other schools within the trust as well as the DDAT Central Team which is based in Bakewell, Derbyshire.
Services Provided
Our appointment to provide outsourced IT support services began in May 2022 and since then a dedicated IT technician has been onsite for half a day once a fortnight. The package also includes unlimited remote IT support during the working week.
Our technicians have worked closely with the school to understand their needs and what is important to them. This knowledge and trust have enabled us to work with school management to develop an IT strategy which will create the necessary IT infrastructure to support these requirements.
These IT reviews also help identify other changes or upgrades that need to be considered to ensure IT systems meet appropriate standards.
One of the infrastructure standards the school wished to introduce was an iPad management system which and a desire to increase the number of teachers and pupils with access to an iPad.
Outcomes
We have helped the school introduce management of the iPads including the configuration of Apple School Manager so that educational apps can be easily deployed to all registered iPads, which includes configuration of Intune for Cloud management.
Link ICT has partnership arrangements in place with most hardware manufacturers and leveraged our bulk buying ability to negotiate the best prices with our suppliers. We were therefore able to procure the additional Apple products and ensure that our discounts were passed on to Turnditch so that the school IT budget was used cost-effectively.
We have also installed a replacement battery for their uninterruptible power supply (UPS). Having a UPS in place means that should a power cut occur, there is power can be more easily restored within an acceptable timeframe as well as the ability to proactively turn off IT systems during prolonged power failures.
In summary,
Technician Quote
“Turnditch School now has an IT infrastructure that supports users’ everyday needs, dedicated on-site IT support, access to experts to resolve any queries that arise, a clear IT strategy and greater access to IPads has enhanced the teaching and learning experience. Now that there is an IT plan in place we will be better equipped to recommend and implement further technological improvements that will empower staff and pupils to get the best from IT.”
Mark Berridge, Network Manager, Link ICT
