There have been a number of questions posed by parents during the consultation period for BYOD. Here are some of the most common and our responses..

What is the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) Policy?

The Royal High School's vision for technology in education is that every learner and every educator, is able to use the most effective digital tools, wherever and whenever those tools are the best way of learning or teaching.

In order for us to achieve this we need to ensure that every pupil can be connected to the schools electronic resources throughout the school day, within school and beyond. For this to work effectively this means that each pupil has access to a device in every lesson. This approach is often referred to as a 1:1 approach..

We are implementing our 1:1 approach by requiring each pupil to bring their own, appropriate, mobile device. Hence the name Bring Your Own Device (or BYOD).

The key requirements for these devices is that they have:

  • The ability to connect to the school's WiFi network and the Internet
  • A keyboard or the ability to connect to one.
  • The ability to record photos, video and audio
  • The ability to access OneDrive for Business and other Microsoft Office suite tools such as OneNote, Word, Excel etc.
  • A battery life that will last the school day
  • A suitable size screen, between 10 - 14 inches is ideal.

Ideally the device will also have a touch screen interface to allow annotation of pictures and diagrams as well as to make it easier to input mathematical text.

Will my daughter be able to access inappropriate material in lessons?

All access to the internet by the girls using their devices will be via our secure wireless network. When the girls connect to this they will use their standard network credentials and will be subject to exactly the same filtering and monitoring policies as they currently are on any school owned machine. This means that they will not be able to access restricted or inappropriate content at school.

How will girls charge their device at school?

Girls will be expected to arrive at school with a fully charged device. However, we will have secure charging lockers for girls to use around the site. These will have code locks and allow girls to leave their device charging in a secure place during, lunch, break or a free period

These charging stations are for use when your daughter needs to leave her device in secure location and charge it.

In order to use other sockets around the school to charge her device we have to ensure we have checked that her charging cable is in an appropriate condition. We will be holding drop in sessions in Southside during break times at the start of the autumn term where the IT Support Team will be carrying out visual inspections of charging cables. Once this is done her charger will receive a 'Checked' label and will then be ready to be used in other sockets at school.

Any charger found to be being used that does not have a label will be confiscated.

Does my daughter need anything beyond her device?

There are a number things your daughter will need to have on her device or bring to school with her as part of the BYOD program. They are:

  • Anti-virus software (excluding iPad) 
  • The most up-to-date operating system that is compatible with the device
  • Free Office Suite Software (full instructions for downloading the software can be found here)
  • A protective case for her device
  • Headphones (Ideally, discrete earbud style)

What about personal safety and security beyond the school?

Are the students at increased risk carrying these devices to and from school?

We have considered the question of safety of students very carefully and in doing so we:

  • looked at many other schools that have 1:1 policies including GDST schools. This has shown no increased risk to pupils, even in more densely populated areas such as London
  • considered that our Sixth Form and many SEN students are already bringing devices in to school each day. Since we introduced laptops to the Sixth Form nearly ten years ago, no student has been targeted for carrying a laptop.
  • considered the general prevalence of technology carried by people across Bath
  • looked at the existing use of mobile phones by our students (many of which are worth as much as a laptop)

After considering all of these factors we took the assessment that to add a device to all students backpacks was not going to increase the likelihood of students being targeted. The assumption is that most people will be carrying some sort of electronic device and so it becomes more about behaviour and safety awareness as to whether an individual is targeted or not. This is not in any way to underestimate these issues. Indeed, issues of personal safety are routinely addressed with students and the school will add emphasis on the safety of carrying devices during the time following the BYOD launch.