Middle Years Laptop Program

The laptops assigned to Year 7 students are owned by the College. By maintaining ownership, we can ensure the necessary security measures and controls are in place, to protect both our student’s online activities and the College’s ICT infrastructure, from a variety of cyber threats. In addition, ownership of these devices is essential to meet our software licensing requirements and to provide a consistent learning experience for students.

At the end of Year 9, ownership of the laptop is transferred to the family. At that time, the laptop is reset to ‘factory settings’ and will no longer be managed or maintained by the College ICT team.

Laptops issued to Year 7 students in 2024 are intended solely for educational use. The laptops are not to be used for games or any other activity that may interfere with students learning. Therefore, there are restrictions in place that may stop some software (like games) from being installed or accessed. This is largely to ensure the security of both the device and the College ICT network. Often software downloaded from the internet can contain malicious or unwanted content that presents a risk to the cyber-safety of all involved. Students’ activity on College-owned devices is monitored and any security concerns are promptly followed up by ICT staff.

The College ICT team will have mechanisms in place to temporarily allow access for families to install certain software. For example, the need to install a printer driver to allow students to use a printer that they may have at home.

Yes, a suitable laptop bag is supplied as part of the Middle Years Laptop Program. The chosen bag provides adequate protection for the laptop, but will still fit inside the school bag, providing extra padding for trips to and from the College. It is lightweight and has handles to assist students carrying books, a pencil case plus a laptop while moving between classes. We acknowledge that students may wish to purchase a different style of bag or case, as long as it provides suitable protection and can withstand minor bumps, drops or knocks.

In short – no.

Students are expected to bring the laptop fully charged to the College each day. Given the considerable battery life of the supplied laptop, the instances of the laptop running flat during the school day will be rare. If a student brings their laptop to the College with a flat battery, they will be directed to the library where they can borrow an older device for that particular day. In exceptional circumstances and with a valid reason for a laptop being flat, a loan laptop can be used for a lesson while ICT staff charge the student’s own laptop.

Yes, all laptop program devices have anti-virus/security (Endpoint Detection and Response) software installed, which is fully managed and regularly updated by the College ICT team. The College maintains comprehensive cybersecurity systems to help protect students and staff from online threats.

The Dell device assigned to Year 7 students has a 3 Year on-site warranty and 3 Year Accidental Damage Protection (ADP). Any faults and subsequent repairs with the unit are facilitated and resolved via the College ICT team in conjunction with the manufacturer.

Accidental damage or breakages are generally covered by the Accidental Damage Protection (ADP) provided through the manufacturer, which allows 1x repair for each year of use. This covers damage done to the laptop via accidental means including drops, bumps or knocks and liquid damage. Malicious damage to the laptop by throwing, striking, pushing etc is not covered, nor is cosmetic damage to the laptop such as scratches to the outer plastic casing.

If a laptop repair is required and it is either not covered by the ADP, or limits of the cover have been reached, the cost of repair will be payable by the family. This amount will be the lesser figure of either:

• the actual cost price of repairs/replacement parts;
• or an insurance excess of $500.00.

Families are always contacted before any ‘out of pocket’ repairs are arranged for laptop program devices.

Yes, students’ internet access while on-site at the College and at home or elsewhere (off-site) is restricted or ‘filtered’. Categories of websites and types of content that are blocked include the following:

Occasionally legitimate, safe websites can be inadvertently blocked by the web filter and in these cases students and parents are welcome to email the ICT department at eHelp@faith.sa.edu.au with a link to the site in question and the team will review the site and unblock as appropriate.

The College will be offering a series of dates and times in January, where the laptop and case can be collected from the Middle Senior School. Further details will be communicated to families closer to the time.