The main aim of the Computer Services Department is to deliver a prompt and effective IT support service via a single point of contact for both staff and students. In addition to providing first level support the department is tasked with maintaining the schools computer network and all associated computer equipment.

The Computer Services Department was established during the first quarter of 1997. During the first 6 months significant changes to the network infrastructure were made. These changes were made in order to improve reliability, accommodate growth without compromising performance, and also to allow for effective network management.

Originally the school had 13 fileservers with a mixture of operating systems including Netware 3.11, 4.1 and Windows NT.

These servers proved unreliable and difficult to support due to the age and specification of the equipment. As a result the number of fileservers was reduced and a ‘server farm’ was established within the Computer Services Department. The primary network operating system is Novell Netware 6.5 and Windows XP is the current client operating system. This is complimented by a number of Windows 2000 Advanced servers and Windows 2003 Server. Category 5e cabling and switching technology was installed throughout the school and the fibre backbone was upgraded from 10mbps to 100/1000mbps. A 3Com CoreBuilder 9000 is installed at the core, providing Gigabit connections to all edge switches.

The School has a significant Internet presence with 2 permanent connections at Telford, hosting multiple dedicated web servers running both Apache Web Server and Windows IIS. Our online content server is also mirrored at a datacenter based in the heart of London. This facility offers 100Mbps connection to the Internet, hosting all online content, including Thomas Telford School’s Online Curriculum. Our content now reaches a million students nationally, with over 1,000 schools subscribing to our online content. All servers are managed and maintained by the Computer Services staff.

Furthermore, the School operates an Extranet, which is a private network, accessible to Students and Staff from anywhere in the world via our own homepage. This virtual office environment allows both Staff and Students to transfer work to and from school and it also enables Staff and Students to send and receive email. Only staff and students with current user IDs and passwords are able to make use of this facility.

Watchguard products are used for firewall services, which restrict unauthorised access to the School’s private network, and in addition, Surfcontrol performs content filtering which helps to protect our Staff and Students from those undesirable parts of the Internet.

Network maintenance and system monitoring is managed centrally. All PCs have remote management capability, which enables the system administrator to monitor, and if required, take control of any PC where a student may be having difficulties.

There are 393 computers and 59 electronic whiteboards (Smartboards) connected to the network, all of which have Internet access.

Electronic whiteboards are situated throughout the School and can be found in all subject areas. These have been well received by both staff and students. As part of the Department's commitment to the community, we have also installed a further 20 Electronic Smartboards into local Primary and Secondary Schools. In some instances we also provide Internet access to these sites via our Remote Access Server.

Embedded audio and video features extensively within our Online Curriculum and to facilitate the creation and editing of this content, the School has a professional video-editing suite.

This includes the latest AVID Adrenalin editing equipment. In addition, a broadband video network allows live and pre-recorded events to be broadcast to all parts of the School.

Within the Computer Services Department there is a continued desire to move the existing technology forward and maintain Thomas Telford's position as a leading City Technology College both academically and technically. To this end we intend to research new technologies that will complement the delivery of the curriculum. We believe that we are in a position to make available a range of exciting tools that will make the learning experience for our students both effective and enjoyable.