Laptop and iPad information
With the Ministry of Education announcement of the compulsory implementation of the Digital Technologies curriculum and the continued evolution of other curriculum areas, as a staff we have spent some time considering how we can best serve our students in the classroom, and ensure they are future-ready, with regards to their learning and the use of devices.
With this in mind, to maximise the learning, students in Years 7 and 8 will use iPads for their learning and students in Years 9 – 13 will use laptops. Current St Hilda’s Year 8 students may continue to use their iPad through until the end of Year 9 if they choose to. We hope to keep costs for replacing devices to a minimum for our families, but also recognise that the new curriculum, with its focus on coding and web design, does require a high level of technological support, and that technology capability and demands are changing constantly.
The device requirements for St Hilda’s 2025 are:
- iPads for Year 7 and 8 students
- laptops for Year 9, 10 11, 12 and 13 students (current St Hilda’s Year 7 and 8 students may continue to use their iPad through until the end of Year 9)
St Hilda’s currently recommends Apple devices as they allow us to run an easily managed system with a strong focus on teaching and learning. The devices specified are high quality devices that have a long battery life and quality components.
Each year we arrange a ‘bundle’ purchase deal for computers that includes the computer or iPad, a protective sleeve, a backup drive for the computers and a warranty.
St Hilda’s partners with Cyclone Computers to provide IT support for our school, which extends to BYOD options. We have specially designed bundled options for our parents to take the stress out of purchasing a device for your daughter. Our new year 9 – 13 students require a MacBook for day to day school life at St Hilda’s. The baseline model of the M2 MacBook is perfect for this, and by purchasing as a bundle via the Cyclone BYOD portal, this device will arrive to you with the St Hilda’s software already downloaded, ready for your daughter to being school in 2025. The bundles also include options for insurance, a protective sleeve, and additional memory/storage.
Devices may be purchased directly from Cyclone. Follow the link and select St Hilda's Collegiate School: https://byod.cyclone.co.nz/computers-tablets
If you have any questions about what is required for your daughter, please contact Jonny Parish from Cyclone – jonny.parish@cyclone.co.nz / 0277566316.
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For current students who require tech support with their device, they may contact: Cyclone Tech Support: tech@shcs.co.nz
Internet at St Hildas
St Hilda’s Collegiate provides high speed internet access for learning.
The Internet connection is supplied by the Network for Learning (N4L) – a NZ Ministry of Education supported Service. This service has some web filtering as part of providing a safe internet connection.
On top of this St Hilda’s uses a service called Linewize which provides additional filtering and visibility for all users on the network.
Linewize requires all users to be registered before they can access the Internet and allows the school some control over what services are supplied to users. Linewize also lets the school provide a safe appropriate environment for educational purposes.
Linewize allows the school to filter the internet. Filtering decisions are based on what would be best for education. Some sites/Apps like Facebook and SnapChat are blocked during classroom time and available to users outside these times.
Filtering also prevents users from using technologies such as Virtual Private Networks (VPN) or Torrent Services (Peer to Peer) as these hide user activity and we need to keep within Ministry of Education Guidelines for maintaining a safe education environment.
Visibility on the school network means all users devices can be seen while connected – usually identified by a device Mac Address and the device username. Users Web traffic can also be looked at if the occasion arises. Linewize provides regular reports on overall and user use. This identifies what sites or Apps are used most, who is using them and how much data is used.
Some protection against virus/cyber security attacks is provided by our system but as our system is open as possible for users educationally, individual users still need to use caution and best practice while using the internet. Use of Apple Software (MacOS and iOS) helps reduce the risk.
St Hildas provides a Wireless Network for users devices. Students can join the network called SHCS using their supplied username and password. This also makes them visible on the network and ensures they have access to the services they need.
Software Install – Student computers at St Hilda’s are also required to have software installed to enable them to operate in the school environment. This gives them access to services such as printers and use of the school software package.
Software: currently the main software used at St Hilda’s is the G-Suite (the Google Applications Suite), Adobe CS6 (Photoshop/Illustrator/Indesign) and the Apple Software collection – (Pages/Keynote/iMovie/GarageBand). Some subjects require other specialist software eg Sibelius for music.
Digital Agreement – All users on the St Hilda’s network are required to sign a Digital Citizen agreement that gives guidelines for digital behaviour at school. Breaches of the agreement are followed up and could result in some sort of action.
St Hilda’s prefers an educative approach to cyber safety and students are encouraged to behave and make decisions in an appropriate manner as outlined in the Digital Citizen Agreement.
Printing services are provided to students via a service called PaperCut. Printing and photocopying are charged to student accounts. School printers and PaperCut need to be installed on the computer before it will print.
