Information Technology Update – September 6, 2018

September 5, 2018

Care of Device -“ Avoid Water Damage in School Bag

With spring upon us it can mean rain and showers can occur, particularly in Ballarat. Moreover, often Murphy’s Law will apply – “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong” and the rain or showers will occur just as the boys are going to or leaving school. This can potentially mean trouble as often schoolbags can inadvertently be exposed to the rain, which can then leak inside the school bag and potentially cause damage. Added to the potential of rain and showers is the simple leaking of a water bottle inside a schoolbag which is also a common event.- While iPads and Laptops can take a certain amount of vibration and knocking inside a schoolbag, they do not tolerate water leaking into their internal workings. Usually the water damage to the device can be permanent and irreparable. To prevent water damage to their 1:1 device, we need to make sure all boys put in place preventative measures to ensure it does not happen to them. Some of the measures they could take include:

  • Wrap the device in a plastic bag and tie the plastic bag up

  • Make sure all compartments of the bag are securely closed and zipped up

  • In heavy rain the boys seek shelter out of the rain until it has cleared thus not exposing the schoolbag to the rain

  • Transport the water bottle to and from school separate to the school bag

  • Ensure the lid of the water bottle is water tight (replace the water bottle with a more secure one if need be)

  • Wrap the water bottle in a plastic bag and tie the plastic bag up

Essentially, when coming to and from school, all boys need to have taken steps to prevent water from leaking into their schoolbag and keeping their 1:1 device as dry as possible. I have raised this issue with all students in the morning notices at the College so reinforcing this message from you at home would be most valuable. I hope that by highlighting this with our students we can help them avoid suffering any permanent water to their 1:1 device.

Microsoft Office for home for free!

As part of the College’s membership to Office 365, all students are allowed to download the Microsoft Office suite for free on up to five home computers. This can be done quite easily by following the instructions on the ICT Devices Parent Support page here:

http://ipads.stpats.vic.edu.au/installing-office-365-at-home.html

The important thing to remember that when the Office suite has been downloaded that the student logs in to the application and registers their ST Patrick’s College email and password to authenticate the download. After this has been done, the Office applications can be used by anyone. Please let me know if you have any questions about this.

Can you see your son’s diary? – App4 Parent Login

App4 is the official College diary and is used by teachers and students across the different year levels. You are able to access your son’s diary online to see homework and information from his teachers in a couple few ways:

To login to view your son’s diary you will need to create a password or access code. Instructions on how to do this and other instruction manuals on App4 can be found on the ICT Devices Parent Support website here: http://ipads.stpats.vic.edu.au/app4.html

Please note, the Parent or Student ID is your son’s 5 character St Patrick’s Student ID. The school identifier is -‘stpats’ (iPad/iPhone app only)

App4 Parent Login:

  • Parent or Student ID: Your son’s St Patrick’s 5 character student ID #####

  • School Identifier: stpats (iPhone/iPad app only)

  • Pasword or Access Code: password

If you have any problems accessing your son’s diary, please don’t hesitate to contact me on mholland@stpats.vic.edu.au

Mark Holland

Director of ICT