Our new buildings are becoming very ‘real’. We will have a new computer lab in each building that will house Windows-based machines. 

These computers will be used by classes that need high-spec software that is not available in our BYOD devices. We are a BYOD School and for 2018 Years 9, 10 and 11 are expected to bring a laptop to school.

I have had some parents contact me about what type of laptop they should be considering as their child enters the senior school and the NCEA qualification. Their child has been using their original device since they entered our school in Year 9 and are considering updating. We do expect laptops to have a life of two to three years. For NCEA purposes, students and their families do need to consider the ability for students to save their work. Students need to save their work in three different places. We, as a school, provide two of these places – our school network and the online Google platform. Students can then save on a pen or flash drive and/or on their own device. 

When considering a laptop purchase while in the senior school, I would recommend a BYOD device that has an internal memory of at least 128GB. There is no requirement to buy a new device at all if the current device is working fine, however I would recommend that a pen drive is purchased (and named!) and used as a further place to save work.

We do not have a specific laptop that we recommend, nor do we have a specific provider. Our minimum specifications for a laptop are found on our website and are listed below:

Screen size: 11 inch or greater

Processor: Dual Core (Quad core recommended)

RAM: 4GB

Built-in wireless

Protective hard shell carry case

Battery life of at least 7 hours. We do not provide charging stations.

Antivirus software: Free is okay

Kim van Vuuren, Assistant Principal