Yandeyarra Community
Welcome to our first WATSSA newsletter for 2022
What a crazy start to the year 2022 has been. COVID's in and the border is open. I hope everyone enjoyed their holidays over January, though I think the Term One break might be a little different.
Poor old DAM took a hit in the first two weeks of term, with anyone trying to reset a password in Week One probably realising how hit and miss it was. Despite being temperamental in the beginning stages of the year, it seems to be happier again which is a relief!
In our last newsletter, I mentioned there had been some great steps taken in the SAML trial and getting schools a SSO option. Unfortunately, over the break CSC fell into a number of problems and the DoE-supported SAML/SSO option has ground to a halt. I was very disappointed with the outcome, but we at WATSSA have not stopped trying to find an alternative. Thanks to some of our great techs and Integrators, we have been able to push forward with another solution. Read below to find out more.
We've continued meeting with the project team at Central and the CSC regarding the new Standard Networking Environment (SNE). Based on your feedback and recommendations, we provided a list for the project team to investigate. We will keep you updated with the process. Remember, if you still want to add your two cents, log it for us here: SNE/SOE redesign
We've locked in a date and venue for this year's WATSSA ICT in Schools conference. I am excited to say our event will be at Crown this year, on the 23rd and 24th of November. The team and I are working on an outstanding itinerary and hope to have some great guest speakers and valuable workshops. We'll have some early bird ticket sales starting in Term Two so save that date! I'd love to see everyone there for the two-day event.
I hope you all have a safe and wonderful Easter break. The WATSSA team and I look forward to seeing you all again this year. Thank you for your support.
Regards, Michael Raymond.
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2021 DoE ICT Recognition Awards
Congratulations to Shaun Barnett.
He was nominated for providing frank and honest feedback as to what schools need regarding ICT services and support.
Shaun’s advocacy for ICT innovation, particularly within the SOE to meet school needs, led to a review of how ICT can support schools using E-Sports. These contributions have worked to enhance student resilience, engagement and participation in the educational programs at his school.
He actively works to provide all schools in his networks with an enriched ICT learning environment that meets the needs of the school, teachers and students.
Shaun has provided insight to school communities, helped develop personal networks with local ICT school leaders. This has allowed us to collectively listen to the voices of what schools need.
Shaun’s has demonstrated amazing commitment to the creation of the new Aspirant Network Administrators course. His passionate approach has resulted in a course designed to help school-base technical support staff (and others in education) have a better understanding of the knowledge, roles and requirements of the upper level JDFs in ICT.
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An update from ClickView
We notified schools in October of last year that ADI support would not continue beyond April 30th 2022.
The reasons behind this include:
• ClickView is committed to providing our customers with peace of mind as we work towards ISO27001 Information Security Management accreditation.
• ADI is one of the few remaining pieces of infrastructure that doesn’t support HTTPS. As part of ClickView’s commitment to keeping users’ data safe, we no longer support insecure connection methods.
We have been working behind the scenes to ensure that your transition from ADI, is a smooth one. To continue seamless access to ClickView, we are notifying customers of two options below. Our team is here to help you every step of the way.
Option 1: A SAML based SSO alternative - Keycloak
- WATSSA, in conjunction with Solutions IT, will provide schools with an optional package to help move to a SAML-based Single Sign-On alternative, called Keycloak. Keycloak has been successfully implemented across a small number of schools in WA, and the package will provide customers with initial implementation and ongoing maintenance.
Option 2: Switching to the use of local (manual) user accounts within ClickView.
- The switch to local accounts is painless for users as it will be taken care of by the ClickView Product Support team. Should you opt for this option, users will receive an automated email asking for a password to be set, and once done, will access ClickView as they currently do.
To discuss and get information on the best option for your school, please book a time to speak with one our Product Support Specialists here. Alternatively, please email our Product Support team on support@clickview.com.au.
Kind Regards,
ClickView Product Support Team
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SAML/SSO
Some of you might be asking what SAML and SSO mean. We've been talking about it for a while now so here's some information to help fill in the gaps:
SAML is an acronym for Security Assertion Markup Language. Its central function is to enable users to access applications using SSO.
SSO stands for Single Sign-On which allows a user to log in with a single ID to any website or program that supports it. For our schools, that means staff and students only need to use their DoE ID to log into websites like ClickView or Adobe Creative Cloud (plus many more).
Our friends at Solutions IT are doing as their name suggests and helping schools find solutions.
Solutions IT Single-Sign-On Solution provides schools with an on-premise VM based server to provide SSO for a variety of commonly used applications. Below are a list of applications that are currently support along with a list of integrations that we are currently testing.
For additional integrations please contact us on 08 6241 2550 or email sales@solutionsit.com.au to discuss your requirements.
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Industrial Relations Advice: 5/2022 CPSU/CSA: Special IT Union Meeting
The Community and Public Sector Union/Civil Service Association will be holding a paid union meeting, specific to roles with a primary focus on ICT. This includes the following positions in schools:
- ICT Officers/Coordinators/Managers
- Network Administrators
- Technical Support Officers
- Technical Officers
- Manager Corporate Services (Limited to schools without an IT position)
Microsoft Teams meeting
Join on your computer or mobile app
Click here to join the meeting
Wednesday 6th April, 2:30pm
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MCAFEE EMAIL GATEWAY (MEG) RELAY SERVICE WITHDRAWL
As many of you would be aware, the McAfee Email Gateway (MEG) relay service must be decommissioned and the service withdrawn. In Phase One, ICT has contacted and worked with identified schools to move from the MEG to a cloud-based service.
ICT technical teams have identified additional traffic that uses the Department's MEG relay service from locally managed (Tier 3) servers, applications and devices. This post is designed to raise further awareness and give you time to investigate if the service is still required at your school.
We aim to have this work completed throughout Term One, 2022. During Phase Two, ICT will again contact identified schools with definitive dates and ask that they take the appropriate action to move off the MEG.
Further investigation of the Department's infrastructure has identified the following DNS records using the MEG:
- mx-schools.det.wa.edu.au
- mx-unmanaged.det.wa.edu.au
- mx0.int.det.wa.edu.au
- mx1.int.det.wa.edu.au
- mx2.int.det.wa.edu.au
- mx3.int.det.wa.edu.au
- mx4.int.det.wa.edu.au
- mx-curric.int.det.wa.edu.au
- mx-dmz.int.det.wa.edu.au
- mx-legacy.int.det.wa.edu.au
- mx-lwict.int.det.wa.edu.au
- mx-OCS.int.det.wa.edu.au
- mx-schools.int.det.wa.edu.au
- mx-SOTARename.int.det.wa.edu.au
- 10.1.85.10
- e7359avnai003.int.det.wa.edu.au
- e7359avnai004.int.det.wa.edu.au
DNS records that point to the MEG will cease to function once decommissioned, and services will be lost. Furthermore, schools should only use an '@schooldomain' email address and not an '@education' email address. Doing this will reduce the likelihood of being tagged as 'SPAM' or the service potentially not working at all.
The school holiday may present an opportunity to investigate the configuration of applications or services that use the MEG for outgoing traffic. These would include, but are not limited to: locally managed Learning Management Systems, locally managed PaperCut, local Helpdesk ticketing systems and local ICT system monitoring.
As previously discussed on ICT Collab, schools must now plan towards transitioning to a cloud-based service if an identified locally managed service is still required.
Department of Education - CRM Team
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Cyber Security Advice for Schools
For cyber security guidance and other support services, please contact the Customer Support Centre through the ICT Self-service Hub.
The Cyber Security Team - Department of Education
RANSOMEWARE 2.0
The global pandemic has seen the rapid evolution of the traditional working environment, with more people working from their home office, and an increase to the number of online meetings rather than the standard board room meeting. Similarly, the evolution of ransomware to what is now being considered 'Ransomware 2.0', has businesses and individuals scrambling to secure their data. Ransomware 2.0 is a relatively new concept and employs a double extortion model where a ransom must be paid to prevent both data loss and data leakage. The new model has supplemented the ever-emerging Ransomware as a Service (RaaS) model where even non-technically-minded cyber-criminals can launch cyber-attacks on systems. New and improved state of the art detection techniques that have been developed for traditional ransomware could serve beneficial in the new ever-changing threat landscape that now includes Ransomware 2.0. Tools such as EldeRan, RansomWalland RansHunt possess features and capabilities that are essential in the early identification and eradication of ransomware.
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Yandeyarra Remote Community School
Yandeyarra Community is located 142kms South East from Port Hedland, located off the Great Northern Highway. The school is in the heart of Mugarinya Community, on Yandeyarra Station. Yandeyarra School has a 100 per cent Aboriginal student population, in three form groups. The school caters for students from Kindergarten to Year 12, with student enrolment at approximately 35 students.
Yandeyarra School is situated in a town site founded around the original homestead of Yandeyarra Station, which was established in 1896. Yandeyarra is on a large Aboriginal Reserve (229 512 hectares) and was gazetted in 1972. Most community members are descendants of the Aboriginal people who settled in the location during the Pastoral Workers Strike of 1946 through to 1949.
For more than 40 years, the school has enjoyed a rich traditional and contemporary history. The traditional owners are the Kariyarra people and the three major language groups are Kariyarra, Nyamal and Nyangumarta.
Yandeyarra School is located in the centre of the community and consists of three classrooms, a demountable computer lab, Kindergarten, Art room, Home Economics room, and a multi-purpose class.
The school grounds are well kept with grass and shady trees. Students have access to a playground, covered basketball courts and several grassed areas for recess and lunch breaks.
In 2011, a new undercover assembly area was built as part of the Building the Education Revolution (BER) program. It is a great facility with lights and sound system. A basketball hoop with a painted half court and bench seating make it a multi-function area. The undercover court is a great shaded area for students and is open for community members to use after school hours.
The students enjoy sporting and training activities along with playgroup, camps, excursions and incursions. We also have strong links with nearby schools including South Hedland Primary School, Cassia Primary School and Hedland Senior High School.
The school receives some support from local mining companies which fund various programs for all ages and have provided some work experience opportunities to the upper secondary students.
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Some new updated features in Fastvue Reporter
The update will be available in the upcoming release.
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Before we go!
Head over to the new 'Past Events' page on our website. You can download past programs and keynote slides from DoE and WATSSA. Also have a look through the photo gallery.
We have WATSSA shirts available in a range of sizes and colours. Show your support and grab a shirt! Head on over the the WATSSA website for all the information and to purchase.