Information Technology Update – April 27, 2017

April 26, 2017

Protecting Devices in wet weather

We are now entering the colder months of the year and with that the threat of rain increases. With all students at the College now having 1:1 devices, it is important students have in place a strategy to prevent their device from being damaged by water if they are vulnerable to wet weather while on their way to and from school. As a result, the College recommends all students comply with the following steps:

  1. The first thing students must do is make sure their device (particularly the HP Spectre laptop) is shut down when transiting from to and from school.

  2. Students need to make sure the device is safely secured inside the sleeve, inside the protective case the College has provided in the case of laptops, or recommended in the case of iPads. Unfortunately, while the sleeves and cases provide the device with a high level of security from physical damage, on their own they are not waterproof and offer only limited protection against any water getting inside the backpack.

  3. As an added level of security against possible water damage, it is recommended students always have in their school bag a spare, unused garbage bag (preferably with a drawstring). If/when the weather looks threatening, before the student leaves home or school, they should place the device case inside the garbage bag, inside their backpack which will provide an added level of protection against any water damage.

  4. The backpack should be zipped up to prevent any rain from getting inside the bag.

  5. If the device looks like it has been in contact with water or liquid, it should be turned off or should remain off and put in a cool dry place (not in front of a heater).

  6. Devices should be taken up to the IT Hub if there is any concern about water damage.

The College will inform all students of this recommended strategy and hopefully will help avoid any student getting water damage to their device.

Parent Access to App4

App4 has been the official College diary now for several years. It is an online diary that allows teachers to enter Homework, Assignments, Notes and Calendar dates that will automatically appear in the student’s diary. Students are also able to manually add any events. One of the great strengths of the App4 online diary is that teachers, students access to

Recently I assisted several parents in accessing their son’s App4 online diary. Parents are able to access their son’s App4 online diary in three ways:

  1. By looking at the App4 app directly on your son’s iPad

  2. By downloading the App4 Parent app on to your iPhone or iPad and logging in

  3. By accessing App4 through the parent portal

To be able to do access the diary through your own app or through the parent portal, you will first need to create a Parent Access Account. You will need to do by creating it in the App4 app on your son’s iPad. This is a fairly straight forward process and I have provided instructions on how to do this on the Parent Support web site here: http://ipads.stpats.vic.edu.au/app4.html

If you have any difficulty creating the Parent Access Code don’t hesitate to contact me at the College where I can assist you with this.

App4 Login Details

To login to App4 you will need to supply three things:

School Identifier: stpats

Username: Student ID Number

Password: Parent Access Code/Password

You will need to know the ID of your son which is the username for their App4 eDiary. The school identifier is always -‘stpats’ for all students and parents.

Switching App4 for multiple Sons

You are able to use App4 to check on all of your children at the College. You will need to create a Parent Access Code/password for each son so that you can switch between your son’s diaries. It is a good idea to perhaps use the same Parent Access Code/password for each son for ease of switching. You will also need to know the College ID for each of your sons to enter at the login screen.

Pages, Keynote and Numbers apps now free!

Apple has decided to no longer charge for iMovie, GarageBand, Pages, Numbers and Keynote on iOS and macOS.

Some students found in the past that if they wanted to download any of these apps from the iTunes store on to their iPad they were being asked to pay. Any of these apps can now be downloaded for free.

Pages, Numbers and Keynote are part of the iWork productivity suite. Apple Pages is a word processor app that competes against Microsoft Word and Google Docs. Numbers is a spreadsheet app that competes against Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets. And Keynote is a presentation app that competes against Microsoft PowerPoint and Google Slides. Files stored on these apps sync across macOS, iOS and the iCloud.com website.

Neoprene Sleeves distributed Friday 3rd February

On Friday 3rd of February nearly 100 students received neoprene sleeves they had ordered online from CompNow after a delay in supply. CompNow have agreed to replace the incorrect sized neoprene sleeves and have now come up with a replacement sleeve that has met with the College’s approval. However, the sleeves the College have decided on do need to be manufactured so supply time of the 100 odd sleeves is likely to see them delivered to the College around mid May. I will notify parents and students as soon as the replacement sleeves arrive at the College.

Mr Mark Holland

Director of ICT