Ambleside C.E. Primary School has received numerous request for details of our approach to ICT. We have put together this page to share some answers to common questions.

Hardware | Internet Provider | Windows | Security | Webpage Making

Hardware:

Through N.G.F.L. funding, we have equipped the school with a 6 station high speed peer to peer network in KS.2. and two standalone machines in K.S.1. Each class in school now has a CD-ROM equipped machine, with full network access to the internet via an I.S.D.N. router in the Juniors. By using a local supplier, K.T.D in Kendal, to supply basic computers and cabling at a fraction of the cost of the usual school supppliers, we were able to dramatically reduce the cost of the hardware installation. Thus freeing a substantial amount of money for software, extra machines and video conferencing equipment.

One successful strategy we settled on, was to equip the computers with a very cheap TV/Video card - this allows us to send a picture to a TV screen for class teaching as well as allowing us to create our own digital video or watch TV on the computer. The value of this cannot be underestimated. We can class teach using CD-ROMs and the Internet as easily as using the blackboard, or demonstrate IT skills easily to large numbers of children without the cost and hassle of a projection system.

We chose our own LANTECH 'router' rather than a 'terminal adaptor' for Internet acccess, since it acts both as an effective security firewall and Network Address Translator - effectively allowing us to attach up to 18 machines to one single user I.S.D.N. account. (Note: many ISPs and providers to schools offer to install a pre-configured router for network access. If they do, you must ascertain if you are actually getting a true multi-user account with individual IP addresses for each machine, or simply a single user account configured to send data to the different machines on the network. Beware, you might be ripped off - paying more money for exactly the same service - Remember one ISDN line can only carry data at 64K - regardless of the number of machines attached!)

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Internet provider:

Our fast and reliable Internet access is currently provided by 'Schoolzone' who offer a very cost effective service - The 25 MEGS of webspace they offer is huge, but despite the Ambleside website being a whopping 40MEG+ in size at the time of writing, they have not stopped our rapid expansion!

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Windows issues:

Our computers use Windows 95. The issues of Y2K compliance are minor and our testing has shown no problems with the curriculum software.

We have 'Winlock' and 'Cat Flap' Windows security software, but have found that the children in KS.2 need to be able to transfer and create folders and files across the network in order to manage their own webpages, so this software is currently disabled in the Junior Dept.. Any crucial programs such as FTP clients are placed in a teacher's only folder that the children do not need to touch.

We can report that after a year of extremely intensive use by children - we have never had a single problem with missing files or deleted programs on our curriculum computers. It is clear from our experience that children have a greater respect for the technology if they feel they are trusted to use it without over the top security. In fact, much of what we have achieved would not be possible with high security software in place.

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Security:

Security on the Internet at Ambleside is tackled in several different ways:

• Copies of Internet Explorer at Ambleside have been configured to route through Schoolzone's' proxy server in London, which prevents access to a huge number of undesirable websites at source. Teachers can add sites to the filter list from school.
• The address bar on the Browser is usually disabled, in order to prevent children typing in address that they may have brought from home. The Intranet pages are designed to provide all the tools necessary to search the web safely.
• Children are not permitted to use Search Engines other than those that provide Safe links - See our Internet Page and Our Rules for more info. For example, we will never use 'Yahoo' with children since it is unmoderated.
• Certain areas of the website that involve interaction between children on the web are protected by passwords only known to the children at Ambleside.
• All E-mail is moderated by a classteacher and this will remain so despite the Government's dubious plans to see children with individual addresses.
• Most importantly, teachers are aware of the dangers and monitor and plan for how children use the Internet.

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Web page making:

We use 'Netscape Composer' & 'Frontpage Express' to add 10 to 20 pages a week. Both are available for free and work exactly like a word-processor. Many of the pages on this website are made by the children and because they are using appropriate software, they can look very professional.

By using a "WYSIWYG" web editor, a classteacher can ensure any child who can type can make a webpage! Children even in Year 1 used "Netscape Composer" to write their own pages for the website.

Able pupils are encouraged to use Industry Standard software such as Dreamweaver 3, Fireworks and FLASH to produce high quality content.

Our most successful strategy has been to replace the use of word processors with web editors for general report writing and text work, since the operation is virtually identical in terms of curriculum skills. In this way children are creating webpages on our Intranet on a daily basis.

The image handling facility is also vastly simpler on a web editor than on a DTP program or a word processor. 'Netscape Composer' and "Microsoft Word" even save all the images and graphics in the same folder when the child saves the page - ideal for directly uploading to the web.

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Any comments? E-mail me: mark@mountains.freeserve.co.uk