C2k Help
General => General Discussion => Topic started by: Paul on January 26, 2006, 10:01:05 AM
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hi people , great site here,
Few points i would like to put across to you, i dont know what happens in your schools, but i seem to be given all the tasks which are rebounded around the school, the c2k manager is actually doing alot of tasks that I had control off, i would be grateful if you could list out your daily routines, so i can compare with my own.
Contract
Is it legal not to give a contract to an employee????
Pay
when are we going to get paid properly!!! most of the caretaking staff have been given there pay increases.
Union
Do you belong to any union??? if so which one??
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Hi Paul,
You may not have a written contract but from the moment you are employed you do have a contract. Employment law is a minefield but in general you are entitled to be given a written contract within a "reasonable" period of time from when you commenced employment.
I'm in NIPSA. It's a VERY good idea to be in a union. In fact working in schools I'd say it's VITAL just for your own protection.
Where are you based ? I'm on the Branch C'ttee of our Union (Branch 519 NEELB).
Send me a PM if you need some advice. If I don't know I'll find a man who does :lol:
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Hi Paul,
first of welcome to the forum. Hope you'll find it useful.
We have 2 managers but I do all the tasks that they have access to (use one of their logins). My daily rountine involves doing everything from managing the network (within the boundaries) to taking photos and setting up AV equipment.
The contract I'm not sure about. I have one but I think some of the longer serving support staff don't. I'm not in a union at the minute - never even thought of it to be honest.
I'm employed by a voluntary grammar school and not by the Board. I'm on a points scale that increments by 1 every January. I still have a few points to go :) and I get a basic cost of living rise in September.
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TUT TUT casper. Logging on as somebody else ! If C2k/Northgate find out ! :lol:
I'm one of the Authorised users so I do all that stuff. It's not so much tech as admin now really. Still give software advice/support, classroom support and maintenance of old equipment tho' there ain't so much of it left now.
Seriously tho' folks ........ get yourselves into a Union !
There are changes coming and the only way we can have any influence is to be unionised.
That's not to say that they'll listen to a thing but as individuals we have NO chance.
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thanks for the reponse guys, im based Magherafelt, im here about 5 years now, and browned off,
I think it is time for a change, its very hard to get any pay rise outta this place, i got up a few points last year, but when i went this year, well, i still havent received it.
Teachers should not be allowed to do ADMIN tasks, Stick to Teaching!!!!!!!!!!!
im in no union yet, should i be looking for one???
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Hi Paul,
My call gave you this site :lol: so we've already met.
I got a notion our branch covers your area. I'll check and let you know.
What point are you on ?
And yes, I'll say it again. Get into a union. Kids now know all about their rights but nothing about their responsibilities. You work in a school. You're as open to allegations as teachers. If nothing else being in the union gets you free legal advice and representation.
More mundanely, the union can speak for you to heads about your issues.
It's the union which has negotiated the pay increases and re-evaluations, the 52-week contracts instead of the iniquitous term-time system.
If it hadn't been for the union we'd all be on minimum pay ! You know this ! Get organised !
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thanks mate,
:D
ive got the point that , im looking for something else, but theres nothing much out there!!?
so NIPSA is the best Union then???
seriously enough, do u think ours jobs are secure with the introduction of all this C2k gear, i can see the time when we will not be needed, remote support etc,
to be quite honest Nortgate/C2k or whatever they are called are taking over!!!!!
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The support of the system possibly but there's always the software support. C2k can't tell a student how to do something in Office and managers won't want to be puked by students who need more space or can't remember their passwords. C2k can't create or maintain your school website etc. I think there are still alot of things that will keep me busy, OK it's not everything that I did before C2k arrived on the scene but it keeps me busy.
Are you term-time of full-time?
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Yes it is a worry Paul, but I think casper's right. There's still lots that C2k/Northgate CAN'T do. Our problem may be that they revamp our job descriptions and pay scales though they shouldn't be able to disadvantage us on that.
managers won't want to be puked by students who need more space
riddle me this casper ... we can give them more space ? I've missed something here :shock:
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im FT since i started here, but have very little control now, after my line manager fell ill, and and i have a new one, who (excuse the language) licks the Heads arse, and is never out of the office. grabs all equipment and is always on my back!!!
i cant really do anything without permission,
helping kids in a classroom environment is a Classsroom assistants job, not a Technicians job.
I think all technicians Job descriptions will have to be reviewed in the near future.
they gave me a list of performance indicators last year :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
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riddle me this casper ... we can give them more space ? I've missed something here
Sorry what I meant was that the kids would go to the manager looking more space, he would then have to contact C2k to have this done. I don't think they would be too happy doing this
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I didn't think that C2k would contemplate it at all so any, and there haven't been too many, who have run out of space just get told to make room by backing up and deleting stuff from their area.
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You can ring C2k and ask them to give extra space to a user, but, and this is a big but, you have to take the space of another user.
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I always found the best way of getting a pupil more space is dont be too eager to get last year's leavers deleted. When it comes to the time that someone needs more room then tell Northgate to take it of one of last years leavers.
On the subject of what I do with my working day:- working on the new intranet and internet school sites, Simms and C2K on site manager (although a teacher gets the money for the Simms bit), this would include resolving any problem anyone has with hardware/ software - from replacing toner to dicussing why a pupils ASP files arent working online. I recently downloaded a room booking system from Devize's School that I have put on our intranet so teachers can book rooms without coming near me. The system isnt bad it uses javascript and a database and is free, I am thinking of modifying it so that I can include the year group in the timetable. Although my pet hatred is trying to explain something to someone who doesnt even understand the question they just asked.
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Stephen you won't have the URL to that booking form script?
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Stephen, I'd also be interested in the address. I use an online booking system here but it's setup to run within Learning Resources. It was done this way to try and get teachers used to the idea of how Learning Resources actually worked. I would love to see someone else's approach to it as although I thought ours was so easy to use it's hard to believe how someone can turn a two minute task into a siege.
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I just use a word document in the Learning Resources. It has a table setup as a timetable for my room and the teachers just put their name in the periods that they want to book.
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We have given more space to our IT and Art students since C2K arrived. Send an email to C2K help desk with user names and year groups and tell them what you want. The first time I asked for this I was given a bit of a runaround and told that space would need to be taken from one area in order to move it to another - but now it's not a problem.
As for who does what in this wonderful network. I work for a Voluntary Grammar where the academics get the points and I do the work. We are just starting the job evaluation process through the Union (Unison). This is long overdue and I live in hope that I might get paid a decent salary at the end of it. 8)
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Well guys I'm playing catch up with the site. Told you Micheal you had a great idea with the site well done have you got in touch with the lads at Lismore I tried phoning a few times as I don't have their email address.
Anyway I am only an advanced user we have 2 managers so when the teachers have a problem they come to me I get the details pass it on the manager/teacher as our other manager is the principal, manager/teacher does all sims stuff. i do all the phoning to c2k, and any pupil problems which is all i can access with my profile. We also have a new stand alone network with 24 pcs which I maintain, we felt we needed a network of our own as c2k are so restrictive :twisted: . I am also involved with the gcse media studies taking pupils out filming helping with editing etc.., outside projects like film making and macromedia flash, after school clubs, taking classes some times to run through word publisher etc.. and now they want me to run a course after school for 6 weeks for teachers starting with powerpoint, plus all the normal itc support stuff all makes my day interesting and definately not monotinous but I am finding it difficult to fit everything in.
Have any of yous heard the c2k system was tried in England but was eventually scrapped as it was too restrictive and became too expensive so they have reverted back to running their own network.
As for c2k doing away with technician jobs no way they still need a skivey in each school to runaround to try out the basics like "try a new power cable, try a new network cable then try it in another network point, can you get another user to log on to see if they have the same problems" etc... etc... etc... :x
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I really don' t have a lot to do myself. edit: I was only given non-teaching rights on the C2k network not admin , so I have even less to do than I should have. :(
I make calls to C2K helpdesk, I reset passwords, give more printer credits to pupils, I repair and improve the legacy network ( which I changed from the awful RM network to Linux over the summer). I do the back-ups every night, and do any research for the IT teachers. The teachers here at Lurgan College can keep me pretty busy as most of them have the computer literacy of a goldfish.
I end up setting up the Assembly Hall or other rooms for presentations with data projectors. The school, in its wisdom, has decided to send me on a course and do the Portable Applicance Testing for the school, which is as interesting as it sounds.
But basically, when things are going smoothly, I don't have a whole lot to do. I usually end up looking at forums like this one :)
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The address for the booking system I use is http://folders.devizes.wilts.sch.uk/download/bookingsystem/2.3.asp
I found that while checking out the forum at http://icttechnician.com/
There are a few others suggested on the icttechnician site, just do a search in the forum for the word booking