ATTENDANCE.
Pentti Kouri- Andy, Rina
Morgannwg- Aria
Powys- Rhys
Gwynedd- Juan
Whitaker- Albert, Marlene
Tice- Solveig, Miriam
Sunley- Diego, Eliza
Others
Nick Lush
Adrian Disney
Tristian Stobie
David Hills
AGENDA
- IT update from David Hills
- Online teaching platform
- ACT
- Water in the Castle
- Glassroom Events
- Tidiness in Houses
- Dorm System
- Tidiness in Globe Lounge
DISCUSSION.
“We could have brought new terminals in our houses twice over if equipment was better looked after.”– David Hills on treatment of the House computers and equipment.
Inconsistency of House computers. This is because they are terminals and not computers- they are connected to a main system through the telephone connection. This is the cause of many of the House computer problems and the reason printers are not possible in the Houses.
USB ports in the Houses. David Hills will ensure that there is at least one USB port that works in every House over the Summer. However, some USB sticks may still not be compatible with the ports.
3 year plan. There is no definite plan- projects are formed from feedback from the Administration, Staff and Student Council etc. As the computer server has recently tripled in size, it is important to modernise and work on this before expanding further. Internet will hopefully be three times faster next term. All of the main server equipment will be replaced and upgraded this summer. The summer work will cost the College over 200,000 pounds.
Laptops for August 2012. It seems likely that Students would receive laptops which they could also keep after AC. Hopefully, the laptops would have some sort of phone system such as Skype and there would be WiFi at least in the teaching/ study areas. Depending on whether there is WiFi in the houses, there may not be a need for computer terminals in the Houses anymore. There needs to be several places where WiFi is available in order for the System to be good enough.
Computers in the houses. The Summer software upgrade should mean that they will be better and new computers are not required. High speed network links, Windows 7, upgraded Flash player and the latest Internet Explorer are all scheduled updates.
Apple computers. The school is looking for Computer sponsorship at the moment but this is still in early stages. The Apple computers will definitely continue and the summer upgrade will see £5000 be invested into them.
Printing credits. We are getting twice as many credits as 2004 and being charged half as much for colour print as 2004. The costs of printing have gone up by 2/3 in recent years yet the price same for us. There is not much leeway for increasing printing credits any further. Over summer there will be better printing management software i.e. Students won’t lose credits at end of term. The IT department will also work on giving more credits to certain subjects i.e. DT and Art. This can be done if teachers request it to IT. Adrian said that he would photocopy pages needed for activities. More syllabuses should be available on the internal because Staff are also if not more so, wasteful with printing as they don’t have restrictions which affect them the same.
Partitioning inboxes. This would not be possible and therefore Students need to pay attention to warnings when their account is too full.
Online teaching platform. The current work-sharing system isn’t particularly effective so the School are looking into upgrading the System to a more complex one. This platform would contain portfolios for students to organise work and send to teachers so it could be marked online. It also offers calendars, discussion forums, various teaching resources as well as file sharing so that students could have the option of more self-paced learning. It could be linked up with email accounts etc to make one centralised learning and communicating system.
ACT.At the moment those taking the ACT will still have to travel to an outside centre. A shift from the school offering the SAT to the ACT in the future is a possibility but currently the needs of the majority are met by the SAT.
Water in the Castle.There seems to be no obvious short term solution but this will continue to be discussed. The suggested solutions were moving the water fountain from the Social Centre but this may not be feasible because of plumbing needs. The Kitchen Staff are uncomfortable leaving the Drinks area in the Castle open.
Glassroom Events.There still hasn’t been an ideal time and date found. This will be discussed in the Houses and at the Student Council/ Houseparents meeting and when the events have been set they will be put onto the Calendar officially.
Tidiness in houses. It was discussed that there should be a System throughout the Houses to ensure that roles are being fulfilled.The various Reps in Houses could have greater roles. This will be discussed further at the Student Council/ Houseparent meeting.
Dorm System. There have been differences in opinion regarding the Dorm System next year among the Staff and Student alike. There are positives and negatives linked to changing it (in some form) or keeping all the Dorms the same. Student Council will have a meeting with the Houseparents to discuss the arrangements.
Tidiness in Globe Lounge. There have been some complaints from Cleaning Staff that Globe Lounge is not well respected, particularly the Kitchen area which is often left in disarray. Students are to be reminded that Globe Lounge can be closed if it is not respected.
