IT services for schools and academies

These services include supporting and training for Education Software Solutions (ESS), SIMS, Public Sector Network (PSN) compliant broadband circuits and secure cloud based remote backup services. We also work with partners to develop and deliver quality services tailored for education needs and budgets.

ESS SIMS

Basic and enhanced support and training services for ESS School Information Management System (SIMS) for schools, academies and multi-academy trusts. SIMS.net and FMS licensing and support for LA maintained schools.

SIMS service description

SIMS FAQs

Schools broadband circuits

Suffolk County Council has also been working with the Department for Education and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to obtain funding for Suffolk schools for full fibre 1Gb capable broadband connections. In these locations CityFibre dedicated fibre to the premise circuits are available throughout 2020/21 with no installation costs. Find out more about the Suffolk Cloud Network.

Broadband service description and FAQs

Smoothwall web filtering

Suffolk schools’ broadband circuits include a managed firewall and Smoothwall web filtering service. The Smoothwall filtering service is designed to ensure that schools can meet their on-line safeguarding duties and legal mandates set out under the Prevent Duty and Keeping Children Safe Online.

Smoothwall service description and FAQs

Office 365 schools’ mailbox

This service delivers a managed O365 mailbox solution which provisions schools with a .suffolk.sch.uk email address using Microsoft A1 faculty licensing. To opt in to this service and request a quote, contact the IT Service Desk on 01473 265555 or send an email to schoolsitservices@suffolk.gov.uk.

Once you have completed your form please email it to ITServicedesk@suffolk.gov.uk

Suffolk schools’ cyber security

Cyber security is an ever-increasing challenge for all organisations with threats constantly evolving. It is important that we understand these threats and use technology effectively to ensure that children, staff and systems are protected.

Suffolk County Council is committed to help Suffolk schools with advice and resources to support them with the challenges of dealing with the growing cyber threats they face.

Redstor remote backup service

Suffolk County Council offers a fully managed backup service, where we monitor and resolve any issues with your Redstor backup. With this service we manage the amount of space you use and send alerts where you are getting close to the storage capacity you have purchased.

We also provide, through Redstor, services to schools and multi-academy trusts who wish to manage their own backups.

Withdrawing from RBUSS

This service is purchased annually on a 12-month rolling contract. To withdraw, you must inform us in writing via email to schoolsitservices@suffolk.sch.uk no less than 90 days before the renewal date:

1 April for Local Authority Schools
1 September for Academies.

For LA schools, notice must be given by the end of December and for Academies by the end of May.

If no notification to cease has been received, the service will continue and the school/academy will be charged for the full year.

If you have any questions about Redstor service or another IT service, contact the IT Service Desk on 01473 265555 or email ITServicedesk@suffolk.gov.uk.

IT Procurement services

We offer two procurement services, one for Local Authority (LA) Maintained schools that buy an Enhanced SIMS service and a second obtaining quotes on behalf of Schools/Academies.

IT Procurement service descriptions and FAQ’s

Contact us and service updates

Call IT Service Desk on 01473 265555 or email ITServicedesk@suffolk.gov.uk about our services.

Dear Colleagues (16 December 2021)

Following our communication dated 30 November 2021 regarding ESS – Clarity for the future, we stated we would hope to be able to confirm further this week, so here is an update as promised.

Suffolk County Council are not opposed to change and support the development of services that benefit schools in Suffolk. We do however have a responsibility to technically assure services that schools purchase through Suffolk County Council. We also need to consider any implications where these systems integrate with statutory services and be a source of impartial advice. Consequently, we need to ensure that we have completed all due diligence around services, which will then enable us to sign-off on our technical assurance and be able to offer advice to schools.

The timescale being proposed by ESS does not enable us to achieve this and therefore we propose the following:

Suffolk County Council will work with ESS to arrange, promote, and run a series of stakeholder engagement workshops with all schools impacted by the contractual change. These workshops will enable schools to question ESS directly and for ESS to demonstrate Next Gen services and SIMs connected.
After these workshops we will survey all participants to obtain their views on the proposed changes. These responses will then enable us to confirm whether schools are happy to progress with the contractual change.
Parallel to this we will commence a project to technically assure the SIMS connected service for schools in Suffolk. This will include but is not limited to the completion of a DPIA, cloud assurance, assessment of impact on other services. Although committed to doing this, it seems important to not conflate the contractual change with the SIMs connected offering, as this is an additional service that schools can choose to take.

Given the time required to complete the above, we do not believe that we will be able to agree to the new proposal from ESS at this time. However, we are prepared to review that decision prior to the 2023 renewals subject to the satisfactory completion of the above actions.

We will be in touch in the spring term with further information on the stakeholder engagement process.

Dear colleagues (29 November 2021)

We are aware that some of you may have seen on social media or via other MIS providers of the proposed changes from ESS asking schools to sign a 3-year contract directly with themselves, rather than via the LA for the SIMS.net and FMS licences.

We are currently in discussions with ESS to fully understand the new proposal and are working together to try and make an informed decision that ensures our Suffolk schools are still getting best value for money.

At the moment, Suffolk County Council currently have a contract in place with them until 31 March 2025, but as an LA maintained school we ask you continue to renew via us on a yearly basis.

We will be in contact as soon as we can with further details. Kindest Regards, Schools IT Team

New service - Suffolk schools bronze cyber security

12 November 2021

Suffolk County Council has launched the first of our new cyber security services for Suffolk Schools. This new service will be provided at no cost for the first 12 months for all schools who purchase a broadband service from Suffolk County Council.

The new service has four security and information management features, which we have grouped together to help protect schools and educate staff. The services included are:

NCSC CiSP - Cyber advice and forum sign up referral
NCSC - Early Warning System reports, Webcheck & Mailcheck
Weekly Cyber News, including latest threats and vulnerabilities
Information Management training.

You can find full details of this service on the Suffolk schools bronze cyber security page.

Capita's webinar programme

2 June 2020

The Capita SIMS and Capita Reading Cloud Customer Success Team run regular webinar sessions. These cover a range of SIMS, Reading Cloud and education related topics.

Read the latest schedule and how to register or check out previous webinars at support.capitasoftware.com.

To access recordings of previous webinars instantly, you'll need to provide your name and some school details. These will not be shared or used for marketing purposes.