PhoenixJP.info

Hello, using GPO we redirect the users desktop folders from a share to keep it tidy and distribute shortcuts. Although we can add shortcuts to Intune managed devices using scripts, it does not support redirected folders like GPO, so students can create x hundred shortcuts on their desktop and and Onedrive by default will move it with them. So, has had anyone had any success (or pushback from users) with turning off OneDrive desktop folder sync, setting permisisons on the desktop folder or getting rid of ALL desktop icons and just controlling the start menu icons. Maybe something else..? Thanks for any ideas.

iPhone staff user being constantly signed out of M365 mail

Fri, 15 May 2026 07:09:55 +0000

We've had a member of staff report the following: I’m not sure who to speak to about this but I am having great difficulty using my e-mail address as it logs me out so quickly and then it keeps flashing up on my laptop all the time that I need to re-input the password even if I’m not using that email it gets in the way of other work. Logging in is also time consuming as the password is long and I have to look it up plus I then have to do two stage verification with my phone. Both of those ar understandable but not when I have to do it 10 to 15 times a day! I don’t have this problem with the other e-mail accounts. Is there any way the settings can be adjusted so it doesn’t log me out so often? Could it at least give me 2 or 3 hours before logging me out if not more? followed up with: I’m just trying to access my email account via the Apple mail app or outlook app - not in a browser. It’s a real problem for me as I get kicked out and then get no notifications of incoming mail until I log back in again. That means I’m missing some urgent emails. followed up with: I don’t think this is anything to do with my phone. The problem happens on my desktop too and it happens using both the Apple mail app and the Outlook app. Basically I get logged out of my School email account really quickly. It doesn’t happen with my accounts or any other of my several email accounts. I just asked ChatGPT what might be causing the problem. Does any of the following sound like something you might be able to fix?

Laptop Trolley Booking system

Fri, 15 May 2026 06:54:26 +0000

Hi What I am looking for is a free Laptop sort of Trolley booking system at the moment we can sort of book Laptops in our sort of website Calendar and this works well as can make Calendar events available to groups so normal things showing on the Calendar for Parents\Carers all etc but booking of equipment Laptop Trollies just visible to staff but we are moving websites and doesn't look this will work on the new Website Calendar only shows events to all. We have four Laptop Trollies at the moment and these are sort of booked in pairs so class has a full set so White and Green or Blue and Red booked together. We are though looking at moving to eight Laptop trollies possibly so 4 Class sets. Obviously could look at Outlook Calendar but not sure this would work the best could look at creating something in Microsoft Access or Excel but just wondered if anyone had any other ideas or did this a different way or knew of any free software that was easy to set up and use to do this done a bit of Google searching and on the Forum but can't see anything, any help or ideas would be appreciated. Many thanks

Home Brother printer

Fri, 15 May 2026 06:33:32 +0000

I am looking for a home Brother printer to replace my HP Smart Tank Plus 559 that has blocked print head? I had Epsom, Canon and Samsung printers next year we go into GCSE for my son so I assume more printing will be done. I might try clearing the heads buy it is an ink tank style printer and I am sick of it.

Class Charts off-roll students suddenly reappeared this week

Thu, 14 May 2026 19:08:00 +0000

Hi, Has anyone else using Class Charts suddenly have their off-rolled students reappear this week? We've had mid-year leavers as well as our year 11 leavers for 2025 and 2024 reappear on Wednesday morning. We've also had mid-year pre-admissions show up, even though they have a future admission date. Class Charts support have confirmed that this is effecting multiple schools, but I've had no detail on the problem or an eta to fix. We're unable to safely use announcements because a lot of our groups now contain off-roll students. I'm interested to know if anyone else is seeing the same issues? We use Bromcom, and I wonder if this is a Bromcom, or Class Charts problem? Thanks!

TeamViewer - risk or not?

Thu, 14 May 2026 12:19:28 +0000

An admin staff member has asked if I can install TeamViewer on her work desktop as it's ofen used by 3rd party companies the school uses for remote support. I'm reluctant as I feel it's opening a vulnerabilty to our systems. The alternative is she uses Teams and does a screen share, which I feel is at least a controlled method. Thoughts?

Hall AV Installers

Thu, 14 May 2026 11:08:28 +0000

Hi, Can anyone recommend a hall AV installer? There is already a good setup in place at a secondary school I support, including a projector, screen, and sound desk, but the system hasn’t been maintained for some time. I’m looking for someone who can review the existing installation, identify any issues, and provide recommendations to get everything fully operational again. Bucks area

Our main admin shared mailbox M365 now inaccessible

Thu, 14 May 2026 10:12:10 +0000

Anyone else withi M365 issues today? None or our admins can access some of our shared mailboxes 😕 Chaos in reception!

Exam scribe / dictation software solutions following Pearson guidelines.

Thu, 14 May 2026 09:13:30 +0000

Hi all, I've suddenly been asked to provide a solution for our Pearson exams in July. The student has visual impairements and needs a Voice Dictation software and the ability to Read and Edit what has been written. The software needs to have auto-correct/spelling/grammer turned off and per-Pearson's requirements has no active internet connection. We also need this to work with LibreOffice as we aren't using Office. Is the only way to do this the ExamWritePad solution? Or is there a free way that won't involve me spending too much time in regedit. Thanks all

ICT Technician - Gloucestershire Actual annual salary £23,191 - £24,325 C/D 4/6/26

Thu, 14 May 2026 09:03:44 +0000

https://www.eteach.com/job/ict-technician-1552994 ICT Technician (32.5 hours per week) Grade 4 Points 7 - 10 £26,403 - £27,694 per annum, pro rata Actual annual salary £23,191 - £24,325 32.5 hours a week, all year round Closing date: Thursday 4 June 2026 Start date: Monday 3 August 2026

Unifi Travel Router

Thu, 14 May 2026 08:09:31 +0000

Anyone here use the Unifi Travel Router? I picked one up to see what it could do and am quite impressed. Yes, it is only Wifi5, but that will not be a problem for me. More info here: https://eu.store.ui.com/eu/en/products/utr I've currently used it in a few different ways... 1) Joined a public wifi network at the airport, and then all my devices joined instantly to the router so no need to put in connection for each device, and if you only have one device paid connection, this lets you add more. 2) As it creates a seperate network, currently got it connected by wi-fi to my main work network whilst I am testing a new server build and doing updates, etc on the seperate isolated network. 3) I supports teleport, a VPN back to your home network. I'm going to take it on holiday in the summer and then all my devices, kids devices are already linked to it, and I have the added protection of being on a secure isolated network, not directly on the holiday resorts network.

Outlook IOS Calanders not synching/blank

Thu, 14 May 2026 07:26:23 +0000

We have a bunch of iPads (11th gen) managed by Mosyle with the MS apps installed. Our users sign in to their Outlook app with their school account and that works fine for email etc. However we've noticed the calendars aren't populating and no events are shown They can see the calendars for their account when they go into the settings to pick the default (such as Tiemtable, Calendar etc) but whatever they pick the calendar ends up showing nothing We have a pretty light policy applied to these in Mosyle and the only setting I can possibly think is an issue is the one we enabled to prevent them signing in with their Apple ID which we can't switch off - and surely this wouldn't affect the Outlook app? So it seems Outlook will only pull down the personal Calendar and not any additional calendars associated with that account, even though it shows them in the selection list?

Cellular Boosters 5G 4G etc

Wed, 13 May 2026 17:40:40 +0000

Hi Everyone, I have been asked to improve the 4G and 5G signals in one of our buildings, a recently constructed sports centre. The sports centre is used by both the school and the public. The building kills 99% of all cellular signal as soon as you enter it, presumably due to the materials used during its construction. There looks to be a number of systems available however I have zero experience in this area and am concerned that I will be over or under sold a product. Currently I am looking at this device with 2 additional internal antenna's the sports centre is about 40mx25mx20m Next-gen NS-2000-Smart+5G amplifier Does anyone have any experience with this sort of technology? I would really appreciate any info or gotcha's when making these kinds of purchase Thanks

CtC and PFI

Wed, 13 May 2026 17:31:08 +0000

Hello All, Has anyone had a CTC completed in a PFI school? one of our schools has recieved an email from the DfE stating we are entitled to it, but our understanding is we arent.

MS 365 A1 for Faculty- No Out of Office/Signatures - am I going insane?

Wed, 13 May 2026 15:29:07 +0000

Hello, Just having a bit of back and forth with our friends at Microsoft support. For a little while now, our staff haven't been able to set Out of Office, or signatures via OWA. The relatively new account settings pane, where these features have moved to is completely blank. I've done plenty of checks - mailbox policies aren't getting in the way, and CAS and OWA features are all enabled as they out to be. Setting OOO via powershell or admin centre does work, so the functionality is there on the backend. I spoke to support, and they are basically giving me a LLM generated response telling me to upgrade from Microsoft 365 A1 for Faculty to A3, because having these settings in OWA is apparently a "premium" feature. This can't be right can it?! Does anyone else see the same behaviour? Thanks in advance!

Technology Support Technician- East Midlands - £29,541.00 - £31,525.00

Wed, 13 May 2026 13:54:31 +0000

Technology plays a vital role in removing barriers, supporting inclusion, and ensuring every child and every member of staff can access the digital tools they need to succeed. This role goes beyond fixing issues. It’s about enabling great teaching and learning every day. Based at one of our secondary schools, you’ll be part of our central IT team, supporting colleagues across the trust through a modern, cloud-first approach. You’ll provide high-quality frontline support, build strong relationships with staff, and help deliver the One Spencer Plan in line with our values of Aspiration, Partnership, and Responsibility. 📍 Central team role based at Heanor Gate Spencer 💼 Permanent. Full-time 💷 £29,541.00 - £31,525.00 📅 Closing date. Midday, Fri 22nd May, 2026 If you’re passionate about education, enjoy solving problems, and want your work to make a real difference to young people, we’d love to hear from you. 👉 Apply here: Technology Support Technician at Heanor Gate Spencer Academy, Heanor, Derbyshire | MyNewTerm

Epson Heat Free Printing?

Wed, 13 May 2026 12:48:36 +0000

Wanted to ask if anyone has used epson heat free printers at all as We have an upgrade shortly and will need to shop around. Looks good and eco friendly on paper but whats it like real world? Would be keen to hear your feedback.

NOVA-T XML files

Wed, 13 May 2026 11:49:10 +0000

Hi Everyone, I’m looking for a bit of clarity and would appreciate your thoughts and experience on the below. I’ve recently heard from an LA that they are reluctant to let a 3rd party partner to have copies of use the XML files exported from NOVA-T to help build and test timetables within their new timetable software as part of their migration from SIMS to a new MIS. Their concern appears to be that using these export files for migration/testing purposes may breach ParentPay’s IP. My understanding was that schools and MATs have been using NOVA-T export files in this way for a number of years, so I was a little surprised by the concern. I also spoke informally with a former contact at ParentPay who suggested that, provided the LA holds a valid licence, using the export files in this way should be acceptable. Before responding further, I just wanted to sense-check this with the wider group and understand if anyone has had similar conversations, received formal guidance, or has a different interpretation. Any thoughts or experiences would be greatly appreciated. Thanks everyone Nick

SIMS Discover log file location?

Wed, 13 May 2026 11:08:59 +0000

I started a manual transfer using the Discover administration utility, and it's taking forever to complete so guessing it's failed. I can't find the log files anywhere, any idea?

Sanity check my WSUS GPO settings please

Wed, 13 May 2026 11:07:12 +0000

I've been advised a PC has shutdown in the middle of an exam and was told this was because it was doing an update! Can you sanity check the image of my WSUS GPO and confirm these would not cause a PC to restart just because a pending update was applied in the background whilst a user was working. Ta.

Arbor issues today (13/05) or is it just us?

Wed, 13 May 2026 10:43:13 +0000

Anyone else get errors such as "This page isn't working" "HTTP ERROR 500" when accessing Arbor, or is it just us?

Setting up SDS with SIMS ID oneroster

Wed, 13 May 2026 08:21:52 +0000

Hi all I am wanting to import our SIMS classes from SIMS ID/NG to SDS via the oneroster API . I have tried to follow the documentation on the SIMS ID support site but its woeful. Can anyone point me to a proper process of how to set this up?

Primary - Booking Lunches - Best Practices

Wed, 13 May 2026 08:05:33 +0000

I'm relatively new to the primary school side of education, with my whole career experience being in secondary with cashless catering and students choosing their own meals from the menus for that day. In this primary (and I assume like most primaries), parents pay for meals cashless via School Money, where they are presented with set menus "Red" (meat), "Blue" (fish) and "Green" (veggie). There is a three week rota of daily meals, which parents book in advance. We have an issue that is two fold; At the start of the academic year, the person responsible for managing the bookings opened up the whole academic year to parents to book in advance The catering company often needs to change the meals due to stock issues et al Changes to menus may also occur due to say, cultural heritage days, etc I am looking at moving away from School Money and integrating everything into Bromcom, which we started using in April. I would like to know how other schools are managing meals in primaries and if anyone could share any best practices. For example: How far in advance do you usually allow parents to book? How many weeks menus do you have? We have 3, so 15 days worth of individual meals Do you repeat the same meals every week, or 10 days, etc? How are you presenting menu options to parents? Do you list all individual meal types for the whole three week rota? Do you just list "Red", "Blue", "Green" on the app and refer parents to the school website that can be updated as needed? How are you managing communication to parents when it comes to unexpected menu changes due to stock issues? How are you managing existing booked meals that are no longer available when it comes to unexpected menu changes due to stock issues?

SIMS ID Lost Credentials

Tue, 12 May 2026 16:55:26 +0000

I have just started at a school as data manager and asked the IT Team for a SIMS ID login for the Parent App. However they tell me they don't have access either, nor do SBS who support SIMS in the school. The school's SIMS is on-premise and have MS365 and GoogleClassroom, I think they are migrating over to MS365 and I think the Network Manager is also new. I remember setting up SIMS ID when the parent app first came out in a previous school when I was Network manager, and I remember messing round in MS365 and setting up the tennant (along with a lot of swearing!), but that was a loooooong time ago. Is anyone able to point me in the right direction so I can help my IT Team? Cheers

Office Sign In Breaking

Tue, 12 May 2026 15:27:45 +0000

Hi All, We’ve got a recurring issue with Office 365 on a handful of classroom PCs. Students open an office app e.g. Word, click on the “sign in” box, and rather than being prompted for credentials it takes them to the app but shows an activation bar. It still isn’t possible to sign in, and closing and reopening the app on any user account has the same behaviour. Reinstalling Office doesn’t fix it, so the solution for the moment is rebuilding the laptop with MEMCM. Anyone else had this? I’m not 100% convinced the students aren’t causing it because it’s recurred with some laptops used by the same students. The students aren’t being forthcoming if they are causing it. A more elegant fix than rebuilding would be ideal! 😊 Thanks