No computers to use in school

[crazycatgal]

I've just started a schools direct PGCE and will be in school pretty much full time. There are no computers for staff to use in planning time. Each class has a class laptop that the teacher is able to take home and use.

What am I supposed to work on in school?

School budgets are being stretched beyond belief, many can’t afford pens, paper or enough staff, so laptops for placement students come a very long way down the list unfortunately.

If you’re worried about your own laptop being stolen, leave it in the school office while you’re not using it.

@Katnisnevergreen After a previous poster commented about GDPR I checked our policy and in my update said that my policy states that I can't use my own computer anyway. I don't see how wanting access to a computer is demanding sorry.

What do the children use?

@Ginxed I know that unfortunately budgets are very stretched but I've now read our GDPR policy and I'm not allowed to do anything related to school on my personal computer. If this is their policy then they need to provide something that I can work on.

@leccybill I'm not sure because as I said I've been there less than a week. There is no computer suite so I'm guessing that there is a laptop trolley that classes can use.

They need to provide you with a laptop to work on. The fact you haven't been given one yet is unacceptable. Speak to the person in charge of ITT in the school and ask them what the policy is.

It doesn’t bode well that you are this demanding of a school one week into your first placement
Seriously - i wouldn't say that was demanding. If they want you to work for them then they need to provide suitable equipment. Not all schools would provide a laptop for student teachers but we always had a few stand along computers they could use.

Jesus you are not being demanding, you are treating it as you should. It's a job, they should provide the materials you need. Far too many teachers are taken for mugs and end up spending huge amounts of their own money on school supplies.

You need a computer to work on. The GDPR rules probably don’t apply to lesson planning and making resources, just anything involving the processing of student data. You should be able to make PowerPoints and worksheets at home but not take home data spreadsheets and pupil tracking. In school they need to provide you with a computer to work on. Student teachers are working for the school (and paying for the privilege!). If a school doesn’t have the resources for them to be able to do the job properly then they shouldn’t be taking on student teachers (and the funding they bring with them) in the first place.

Have you actually asked?
Yes you haven’t been given one automatically but that might just be an oversight.

You can't do direct school stuff on your laptop but I think you must be able to do planning and research that isn't related to the pupils? Planning a lesson wouldn't touch on GDPR.

You can do all your work in your laptop as it is not related to school data. I am a mentor for trainees and they are allowed to use their own laptops but not have access to SIMS etc. on them. This will be the same for you - you will not house pupil data on it and in your reflections and planning should not be naming pupils anyway

I used to be IT manager at a junior school working three full days a week. When I retired last year I wasn’t replaced, so the stuff I did now has to be done by a TA in between her work in class - this is likely to be the case in more and more schools as the cuts bite.

When we had student teachers, I would give them access to one of the student laptops from the class set, and a login to the school system, plus any online sites their mentor thought they should be able to access.

I would do this as soon as possible after they arrived, but ‘as soon as possible’ was a variable that depended on how many teachers had had problems with their laptops during the holidays, how much help the office staff needed with getting the new pupils on SIMS, the online payments system, and any other online sites they needed, and whether any other problems had arisen during the holidays (almost always)so I might well not get around to the student teacher until they asked me for access. And that was with working 22 hours a week, so it’s not surprising nothing’s happened if the IT support is being done by a class TA in their ‘spare time’. Ask your mentor, or in the office who deals with IT support, or have a look at the staff list if you’ve been given one to see if additional roles are listed.

In some schools they may not even have any internal IT support, it may be done by an external company who may only visit once a month or so unless otherwise contacted.

Basically, you need to ask, rather than wait for someone to tell you.

Also what concerns me is you think the pupils and their parents might damage your stuff as you are training in a rough area. To be a teacher you need to have a bit more trust

Pieceofpurplesky
I agree.
And an external hard drive that's encrypted so it's password protected entry only makes double sure.

Ask the school, but it's not the norm for schools to provide laptops automatically for trainees to use during PPA. Some do. Others don't.

It doesn’t bode well that you are this demanding of a school one week into your first placement

Do not listen to this person. School needs to provide you with resources to complete your job.

It sounds like you are expecting things to be given to you and information to fall into your lap. Go and ask your mentor how you can access a laptop for use in school and or at home. Go and look properly round the school and see what resources they have.

Pp are right, you are going to have to be assertive. Not staff are helpful and kind if you ask politely for what you need but they have their own jobs to do too.

SelinaMyers
It's not a job. It is a training placement.

Trainees are there to learn and be trained. They aren't paying to be given QTS. They (usually) aren't doing a job. They are extra capacity (and often take more time from staff than they pick up as teaching hours). Sometimes schools have IT access. Sometimes the trainees use their own laptop for planning but with no pupil data. Sometimes the ITT provider has a stack of laptops they sign out.

It's worth a chat to the mentor or IT lead in school to find out how they want things to happen regarding IT.

I’ve been teaching for a decade thank you and know about schools. You CAN work on your own laptop for planning etc and I would recommend an encrypted USB to get your work to school and onto the school laptops.
You should not be accessing student data on a non school laptop or st the very least without the correct clearance. This can be set up for you by your mentor and will be fine when you need it.
As a trainee you are there to watch and learn at the start and then begin to plan. All schools are struggling at the moment and you will have to get used to this. It is difficult but that is the education situation at the moment.
I suggest you do not moan/complain too much and try to do the best you can. Use your own laptop and carry it with you. Put it down next to you in the classroom if you are that concerned. I have to say that worrying that your will get robbed is not the attitude ina school and you should check this.

Planning on your own laptop is fine.
There is nothing about children on there.
If you need to refer to a child then use initials.

You need to use one. You need to ask school. If not get your tutor to sort out for you.

I haven't expressed my worries about anything happening to my laptop to anyone, it's just something I've worried about privately. I have anxiety and worry excessively about things like this, I check that my car is locked and secure several times before I leave it in a car park.

I have asked about the computer situation and nobody is sure what I can use atm, I have been told that someone will find out for me.

When I did my pgce we all took our own laptops

I hope you can manage your anxiety enough to survive what is a very tough training year (and career beyond).

All those saying schools are safe ... I had my iPhone stolen from my handbag under my teachers desk while I was down the classroom helping a student with a maths question. I didn't see a thing he was so ninja quick!

Ask your mentor what you are expected to work on?