Student Laptop Requirements
Underdale High School has a vision for using innovative technologies in the teaching and learning programs of the school. We aim to promote engaging and interactive curriculum delivery and assessment which improve the educational outcomes for all students. The key aim of the integration of technology into the teaching and learning at Underdale High School is to ensure that all students can become competent, discriminating, and creative users of a range of technologies.
The focus on the use of technologies in the teaching and learning program means that it is necessary to establish appropriate policies and procedures. Whilst this focus provides opportunities to enhance and extend human interaction, empathy and understanding, students must be aware of the responsibilities of using information and communication technologies. Therefore, it is a requirement that all students and their caregivers read and abide by the school’s Learning Technologies User Rights and Responsibilities Agreement.
This policy provides direction to staff, students and parents/caregivers on procedures, responsibilities, and expectations regarding the Digital Learning Program.
Laptop Requirements
All students must have a laptop for daily use at school. It is a requirement that all newly enrolled students use the prescribed laptop nominated by the school. Parents / Caregivers can purchase these devices via the UHS Laptop Ordering Portal – Flexible finance options are available. For more information, visit the UHS Laptop Ordering Portal.
By standardising the technology that our students use at school, we will optimise the use of technology across all aspects of their learning. While the school recognises that some students may have a personal device, these devices will not be accepted as the student’s school device. A laptop purchased via the school’s portal is the only supported device for students at Underdale High School.
The program is a shared cost model, where parents fund the hardware, warranty and insurance for the device, and the school funds the software, onsite technical support, school-based network, and internet access.
Benefits of our Program
The rationale for this program is to provide a laptop which provides a consistent learning experience for our student. One consistent laptop ensures that all students have a device that connects efficiently to the school’s wireless network and can run all required software. The added benefit is that IT support is more efficient and aspects such as providing charging capabilities become seamless. Use of the same laptop also makes it more effective for teachers and students to work collaboratively.
The choice of laptop ensures access to cost effective technology which includes the features required in an interactive learning environment and includes a digital pen and touch interface. The device capacity has been chosen to cater to high-end needs of many subject areas.
Laptop Program Purchase Schedule
Students are required to maintain a well-functioning laptop during their enrolment period at Underdale High School. It is advised to plan for the purchase of a laptop in Year 7 and then a replacement in Year 10 to see your child through their senior years. School purchased laptops come with a 3 year warranty. At the end of the warranty period parents / caregivers may choose to extend the warranty, however it is advised to purchase a replacement device.
Laptops beyond their warranty period have an increased likelyhood of hardware failure and may struggle to run the required software. Repairs to out of warranty products are often more costly and time consuming than replacement of the device.
Laptop Charging
The school laptop has been chosen with long life battery for all day computing. The battery should provide a full day of charge under normal use and has a 3-year warranty to ensure this level of charge for use during school hours.
Students should charge their laptop each night at home and bring it to school fully charged for up to 8 hours of use. Battery life is affected by the type of use of the laptop, so it is common for a ‘Battery Power Profile’ to be used to try and save power by turning down the screen brightness, turning off sound and backlit keys and resting the hard drive. If a student is doing intensive work with programs such as image manipulation or video editing, then more power is used than with simple text editing.
CARING FOR YOUR LAPTOP
Packing away your laptop:
- Always store the laptop in a suitable carry case.
- Do not wrap the cord too tightly around the power adapter or the cord may become damaged.
- Be careful with the laptop while it is in the bag. Do not drop the bag. Always place the laptop bag gently down.
- Avoid putting anything heavy on the laptop and make sure it is switched off for travel to and from school.
Operating conditions:
Do not place objects on top of the laptop and never carry it around while it is turned on and in active mode. Avoid exposing the laptop to direct sunlight or sources of heat such as desk lamps, dust, dirt, rain, liquids or moisture, heavy shock or vibration.
LCD screens:
LCD screens are delicate – they don’t like being pushed or slammed. Never pick up the laptop by its screen. Don’t slam the screen closed and make sure that there are no objects on the laptop such as pens when closing the screen. It is strongly advised that all users are aware of the care required to look after the LCD screens. This is usually the most expensive part of the laptop to repair and the most damaged part.
To clean your LCD screen:
- Switch off the laptop
- Lightly dampen a non-abrasive cloth with water and gently wipe the screen in a circular motion
- Do not directly apply water or cleaner to the screen
- Avoid applying pressure to the screen.
AC adaptor:
- Only connect the supplied power adapter.
- Do not step on the power cord or place heavy objects on top of it. Keep the cord away from heavy traffic areas.
- When unplugging the power cord, pull on the plug itself, rather than the cord.
- Do not wrap the cord too tightly around the adapter box.
Personalising your Laptop
Students own the laptop so they can personalise the case and the laptop. It is certainly a good idea to personalise the case because having many identical laptops can be a problem. It is not recommended to engrave the laptop as this may cause warranty issues but using a black light pen is a sensible security issue. Stickers can also be useful.
Adding New Software To Your Laptop
Students have administrator rights to their laptop and can install new software. They should be prudent in what they choose to install as there are plenty of programs on the internet that can cause problems because they include older files which may over-write the newer files used by the operating system.
Guidelines for installing software:
Software that is added should be legally owned and should not be offensive, malicious or breach copyright laws.
Games, videos, music and other non-school applications:
The school does not object to the installation of non-school applications and files on the student laptops provided that the installed applications and files:
- Are appropriately licensed (i.e. they do not breach copyright and intellectual property laws – this includes video and music downloads)
- Are ethically and morally acceptable (including consideration of school appropriateness, age appropriate ratings and privacy issues)
- Do not affect the efficient functioning of the laptops for educational purposes (i.e. they do not interfere with the speed and storage capacity of the laptop or generate problems that might arise from increased battery use)
- Do not affect the school’s wireless network
- Do not interfere with the learning program (i.e. they may only be used in class under specific teacher direction).
While some games have educational benefits, other games have little educational merit and may affect network function. Therefore:
- The use of network games is banned
- No ad-hoc networks should be formed to play games unless directed to by staff for a clear educational purpose.
PROTECTION FOR YOUR LAPTOP
Insurance:
The Department for Education and the school do not have specific insurance policies to protect students’ and teachers’ personal property. Therefore, taking the Accidental Damage, Accidental Loss and Theft Protection Policy is strongly advised. This policy is an extra option available at purchase time for parents.
Virus protection:
All laptops running Windows 10 or 11 operating system have built in Anti-Virus protection. It is not necessary to purchase 3rd party Anti-Virus software…
Loan Devices
If a student must await the repair or replacement of their device, they may receive approval to loan a device for the duration of the repair/replacement period. The loaned device must be returned daily.
ICT Staff will
- Assist with contacting the vendor for repairs (in accordance with warranty conditions).
- Support students to connect to the school network.
- Support students with access to software required in the process of learning.
- Support students to access printing services within the school.
If you have any queries about purchasing your child’s laptop for school, please contact our ICT department 8301 8000, who will guide you through the process.