Northern Grid has signed a 5 year contract with BT and will be providing new, fast, affordable and robust broadband connections to schools across the North East of England. The update reports are intended to keep you informed about what to expect during the installation process and the services that will be included.

To Our Customers:

Please note that there will be a change freeze activated on the 1st June 2012. No further firewall changes will be accepted after the 31st May 2012. This change freeze will stay in place until the end of the current contract with Easynet which is the 31st July. On the 1st August firewall rule changes will be managed by BT and the new process will be sent out to you before that date.

Thank you

Northern Grid has signed a 5 year contract with BT and will be providing new, fast, affordable and robust broadband connections to schools across the North East of England. The update reports are intended to keep you informed about what to expect during the installation process and the services that will be included.

A guide for ICT Team Leaders

Cloud Storage - is it safe to use?

Cloud based storage and online synchronisation offers individuals many benefits, one of which is removing the need to carry flash pens and portable disks around. The question that needs to be asked is what issues are raised by this increasingly popular and free service.

Google Apps and Live@Edu have storage space available as part of their email offering. An increasingly popular trend is synchronising online storage. Dropbox and SugarSync are currently two of the more popular. The services mentioned are all available at no charge but with limits be it limited storage, non-existent Service level agreements or limited control over the functionality or how it changes.

The main concern with Dropbox is the significant risk of breaching the Data Protection Act. Staff wishing to store personal information should not use a service that does not comply with the EU Safe Harbor agreement....

On the rare occasions that there are problems with the Northern Grid network we want to ensure that we are able to keep users informed. We have just launched a notification system that will be used when we have important announcements about service affecting issues. Examples of this would be a disruption of service or notification of an upgrade. It will not be used for day to day announcements about content or events; these will continue to be circulated through our mailing list.

The alert system is able to send SMS messages to mobile phones, send emails and call land lines. In order to benefit from this system you will need to send us contact details for all relevant members of staff. Please complete and return the attached spread sheet.

This information will not be shared with any other organisation and you will be able to unsubscribe to the service by emailing

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How to check that your CachePilot web filtering is correctly configured

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Northern Grid - Services Guide 2011

UPDATE: Northern Grid has a new Service Provider - BT. The following services will be changing soon. Stay tuned to this page. Find out more about the New Service Provider   If your school purchases broadband from Northern Grid make sure you are... Continue...    Also labeled: eSafety, eSecurity, Filtering, Learning Platform, NG Services, Northern Grid Created, Publications, Support E-Security: A Practitioner's Toolkit   02 December 2010   Why use the E-Security practitioner’s toolkit? The security toolkit provides clear and relevant practical advice to schools to ensure the safety of network users and protection for the network itself.  The toolkit addresses those topics that are key to any sound security and risk management strategy. The content will be maintained and updated to ensure that it remains current and reflects the needs of the school sector.   Target Audience Network Manager & Technicians responsible for deploying school network solutions IT Managers and Coordinators, who manage, administrate and maintain IT solutions School SMT responsible for the schools IT strategy, policies and procedures.   Continue...    Also labeled: eSafety, Guidance, Networking, NG Services, Northern Grid Created, Teachers Northern Grid is an accredited internet services supplier   26 November 2010 Northern Grid's accreditation from Becta has been renewed. The Becta Accreditation of Internet Services enables schools and other establishments to make an informed choice of a managed internet service provider or web content filtering solution. Accredited products and services must meet and maintain specific standards in web content filtering and service performance. The standards of assessment have been developed in consultation with partners in education and industry to ensure the provision of reliable and relevant information. The scheme re-launched during Safer Internet Week in February 2009, following a review. The scope of the accreditation has been extended to include a wider range of standalone products designed to protect internet users not just in the school environment, but which can also be employed in other... Continue...    Also labeled: Becta, News, NG Services Minimum Requirements of Email   22 November 2010 As part of Northern Grid’s fully, accredited manage service, the Email provision delivered to users should provide the following as a minimum set of requirements to meet Accreditation standards. At least one mailbox per person within the end user organisation Mailbox size has to be a minimum of 20 MB Attachment size has to be a minimum of 5 MB Address Anonymity has to be available [e.g., full names and year details should NOT be used. Example: j.bloggs@school.org.uk is fine but joe.bloggs@year1.school.org.uk is unacceptable Incoming and Outgoing emails messages with inappropriate words in either the subject and the message body must be filtered Email Messages sent internally with inappropriate words in either the subject and the message body must be filtered The Inappropriate words list must have the capability of being updated as and when its required either centrally or locally Emails infected... Continue...    Also labeled: Documentation, eSafety, Filtering, Governors, Guidance, Head Teachers, NG Services Portfolio of Northern Grid E-Safety Services   12 October 2010 Northern Grid can offer a range of e safety services to its partner and non-partner schools as well as the independent sector. Northern Grid for Learning has a national reputation for its range of support and materials. Resources are available for organisations with a responsibility to care for and protect children and young people. Northern Grid has worked extensively with national bodies including Becta and DfE to develop policies and documentation to support schools. Northern Grid officers regularly speak at regional and national conferences held by the National Education Network, LSCBs and Becta. Download our portfolio of E-Safety services below. Not a Northern Grid member? Have a look at our Continue...    Also labeled: Documentation, eSafety, NG Services, Publications, Support Smoothwall Filtering - Frequently Asked Questions   08 October 2010 Northern Grid has produced this document to assist you in checking that your CachePilot is configured correctly. It contains a list of sites with instructions on how to test your configuration settings correctly and any actions that should be taken from performing these tests; in addition to these test instructions it also contains a list of FAQs to help answer any questions you may have about the CachePilot system. Further information available in the document below.     Continue...    Also labeled: Filtering, Networking, News, NG Services, Northern Grid Created, Publications School Broadband Requirements   29 September 2010 What features do schools require of a broadband supplier? A local or regional authority may be considering a public service network serving schools as well as other partners. A school may ask if a commercial provider could provide appropriate educational broadband services. This paper provides an overview of areas that need to be considered when designing broadband networks. This paper is intentionally short. For further information, please contact admin@northerngrid.org     Continue...    Also labeled: News, Publications Technical Service Review   17 September 2010 The Technical Service Review is a combination of a remote diagnostic network assessment, the completion of a five minute electronic questionnaire followed by an onsite visit to carry out network audit. The onsite visit also allows discussion on any support related issues or technical questions the school may have. The audit and discussion is designed to ensure that the school is maximizing their existing broadband connection and the additional services delivered by Northern Grid. The onsite visit is expected to take approximately two hours but this is negotiable and dependent on the results of the remote diagnostic assessment. Prior to the visit a two page questionnaire will be emailed to the technical contact to identify key information this will... Continue...    Also labeled: News, Head Teachers, Networking, NG Services, Northern Grid Created, eSecurity Invitations to Quote   22 July 2010 Northern Grid wishes to engage consultants to support the next procurement of their regional broadband network. Documents below detail the consultancies for the required technical and legal services.     Continue...    Also labeled: Documentation, News << Start < Prev 1 2 3 Next > End >>

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