Unit 4 P6Operational

IssueHow this is currently met Suggested Improvements

Security of information

Currently all of the members of staff have access to network resources through the use of passwords. There are different passwords for email and e-portal. The servers that contain all of the important information are kept secure behind locked doors for security.

To increase the security of information the school could introduce new methods of access; fingerprint sensors, face recognition, speech recognition as well as passwords but this may come at a cost.

Data backup Currently there are regular backups made of the servers and this is done each night, for security reasons this is done offsite. The hard drives containing the backup data are kept in a room separate to the servers.

Backing up the data offsite is a good and bad thing, backing up onsite puts both the sources in the same place but backing up offsite makes it difficult to monitor what happens. It could be useful to back up the data onsite in a secure location.

Health and safety issues using computers

The school follows certain policies such as the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. Each workstation needs to contain the right equipment and has to meet the regulations for safety. There is training for staff such as fire awareness to help during a fire drill, similar to this is evacuation training. There is also training for health and safety such as preventing hazards by carrying out risk assessments. There are clearly labelled fire doors, there are also set rally points that the different year groups go to in the event of a fire.

To increase the health and safety, there could be a list that is set stating the correct equipment to be at each workstation. Regular training would increase performance in a real situation so more training would make the school safer.

Organisational policies

The school has several policies that they follow, one of these is the data protection act, and this means that they cannot distribute information about their students; however the parents can obtain the information on the students if they wish. The school also follows the computer misuse act. There are policies that only the staff use such as the policy stating how they are to mark students work and a policy stating when and how much homework is set. There is an internet code of conduct for both staff and students. The school also has policies such as no smoking on the site and no food or drink allowed in computer rooms.

The school could introduce new policies, for example as the school is littered they could introduce punishments. People that litter could be given detentions and exclusions which would prevent people from littering; CCTV systems would help monitor the policy. The school could also introduce policies that prevent students from not going to lesson, registers help monitor this.

Costs There are certain costs that have to be made to ensure that the technology is kept up to date; therefore it is essential that new computers and projectors are bought to keep up with the increasing technology that other schools use. There are new sophisticated computer systems that are used such as projectors and the staff have laptops so they are not tied to teaching in one room. Regular updates cost the school money whereas not updating gives other local schools the advantage. As well as initial costs of new equipment, there are also costs for training the staff to use the equipment.

The school does not need to get new smart boards but projectors are essential to teach large classes on a visible screen. Cost effective developments can be made through the internet, many programs are free and would help to teach and train, therefore costs are not necessary. Using websites such as YouTube can also help; this would be more beneficial than buying an informational DVD.

Lewis Appleton Miss Johnston