The three-week mid-year break was initially mooted by Perth school leaders who had families wanting to travel to Europe and other far-flung destinations without the constraints of hurrying back for classes within 14 days of break-up.
The 21-day gap now gives everyone enough time to see the Sistine Chapel, Westminster Abbey or even the dolphins at Exmouth on the way to Coral Bay in WA’s sunny northern corner.
For our ICT team, the concept of 21 days without staff and students on site to completely upgrade the ICT infrastructure was too good to be true!
The recently inked deal with Cisco meant that boxes and boxes of ICT equipment were waiting to be configured, tested and patched into our systems, with the ICT Support team working all hours of the day to ensure that the new equipment was ready for Day 1 of Term 3.
Mr Paul Michael, SCEA’s Network Support Officer:
“The new phones allow us to go to a four-digit system, and this ensures that SCEA’s staff numbers are well-catered for – now and into the future.”
Up at Northshore, Mr Jon-Paul Bullard (Security, Infrastructure & Operations Manager – SCEA) donned the cold-weather attire to ensure that he was in optimal shape to test all of the new equipment.
“We are long overdue for this new infrastructure, and once all of this work is completed, we will have up-to-date ICT equipment that can serve our operational and teaching staff in their roles across the schools and the SCEA Head Office.”
Back at the SCEA Head Office, SCEA’s Head of ICT, Mr Wayne Fewster, continued to marshal his troops from the Padbury Terrace address.
“If you don’t notice any changes to your daily operations, that means that the transition has been seamless and the team have done a great job at upgrading these changes. If there are any issues, the ICT reps at each site are available to troubleshoot any issues.”
The mood among SCEA staff on the first day of the term was jubilant!
“I have a great tan from my trip up north, and I don’t have to dial zero to get an outside line! How good is that?” commented one young teacher from Beechboro Christian School.
With so many SCEA sites to install equipment at, it is inevitable that some early issues will arise with the new phones. Additionally, some SCEA sites have not yet seen new infrastructure.
“We are making great progress,” said Mr Long Nguyen, SCEA’s Applications Specialist, while at Northshore Christian Grammar School (NCGS) this week.
“However, my main message to staff would be to exercise as much patience as possible in these early stages of the transition process.”
NCGS’s Principal, Mr Stuart Chisholm, came across from his office to see the ICT team working hard on the installation process this week.
“We have new buildings coming online very soon, and this work will ensure that our entire College is connected. Now I need to use my new phone to ask about the progress of my new school oval!”
