Middle Senior Laptop Program
The Middle Senior Laptop Program has been developed to ensure our students are equipped with the right technology to succeed in their learning.
In 2027 the program expands to include Year 10 students and by the year 2029 the Middle Senior Laptop Program will include all students from Year 7 to 12. The introduction of College-owned devices in Year 10 will strengthen the College's cybersecurity since personally owned (BYO) devices present an increased risk to the security of our IT environment. This results in two three-year laptop cycles – one for Years 7, 8 and 9 and a second for Years 10, 11 and 12.
New Middle School students commencing in Year 7 and students entering Year 10 are issued a brand-new College-owned device, exclusively for their educational use. In 2027, students will be issued a Lenovo 2-in-1 touchscreen device which is supported, secured, and maintained by the College ICT team. To accommodate the Middle Senior Laptop Program, an annual ICT Levy is charged to families. The ICT Levy is set annually and despite significant increases in laptop prices recently, driven by higher component costs and global supply chain pressures, the College has chosen to retain the ICT levy at $640 per annum. The levy has remained unchanged since the program was introduced three years ago.
The Lenovo 2-in-1 touchscreen device issued to students in 2027 has a 3-Year on-site warranty, as well as Accidental Damage Protection (ADP) at no additional cost to families. This allows for a limited number of repairs for accidental breakages at no ‘out of pocket’ cost, over the duration of the three-year cycle. Repeated breakages once the ADP coverage is exhausted, may incur a cost to families. All warranty claims and repairs must be facilitated by the College ICT team.
Middle Senior Laptop Program devices are loaded with software that supports the College curriculum, which includes Windows 11 Education edition, Microsoft Office, Adobe Creative Cloud Suite plus other subject-specific programs. As the laptop is intended solely for educational purposes, student’s ability to install additional software (such as games) is intentionally restricted. In addition, comprehensive cybersecurity systems are in place on all devices.
Yes. To ensure equity and a ‘level playing field’ for all students, the program is compulsory. The laptop must be brought to the College each day fully charged and taken to every class, unless instructed otherwise by class teachers. We ask that students do not bring another device as a “substitute" to the unit provided by the College, as we firmly believe that the chosen device will be the best available option to complement student learning and provide consistency in the classroom.
The laptops assigned to Year 7 and Year 10 students are owned by the College for the duration of the three-year cycle. 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 and again at the end of Year 12, once all three instalments of the ICT levy are paid for that cycle, 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. Families are then free to use the laptop within the home or dispose of it as they see fit. Students advancing from Year 9 into Year 10 are issued a new device ready for use in the senior years, where the ICT levy will continue for a further three-year cycle.
Laptops issued to students 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 or wellbeing concerns are promptly followed up by the appropriate staff.
The College ICT team 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 case is supplied in Year 7 and again in Year 10. 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, case or sleeve as long as it provides adequate protection from bumps, drops, knocks etc.
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 Lenovo device assigned to Year 7 and Year 10 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 typically covered by the Accidental Damage Protection (ADP) provided through the manufacturer. 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 minor 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. Families are always contacted when any ADP repairs take place and before any ‘out of pocket’ repairs are arranged for laptop program devices.
Yes, students’ internet access while on-site at the College and connected to the College Wi-Fi networks, is restricted or ‘filtered’. Categories of websites and types of content that are blocked include the following:
Pornography and Adult content |
Hacking, Piracy and Copyright theft |
Gambling |
Social Media |
Drugs and Criminal activity |
Video & Computer games |
Violence and Self-harm |
Sites known to host viruses & malicious software |
Occasionally legitimate, safe websites can be inadvertently blocked by the web filter and in these cases students or teachers can contact our ICT team to review these sites.
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.
If there are any questions regarding the Middle Senior Laptop Program, please contact the College ICT team, preferably via email, at eHelp@faith.sa.edu.au.