Sharp minds and witty networks. Extreme powers the Connected Classroom for Harrogate Grammar School

17 December 2020

Shaping young minds is as demanding as it is responsible. So when the connectivity needs of your school start to outgrow the capabilities of your IT network and the budget is tight, it’s important to keep your wits about you and be smart about the modernization project. The story of Harrogate Grammar School proves that with the right solution, it is more than possible to achieve exceptional network performance while keeping the costs down!

If one could describe Harrogate Grammar School with only one word, it should definitely be ‘excellence’. Based in North Yorkshire, the largest county in United Kingdom, the school is a second home to 2,000 pupils. In addition to a strong culture of respect, excellence, adventure, commitment, and honesty, Harrogate Grammar School is committed to providing the best possible learning experience through a curriculum that is both broad, balanced and well sequenced. The goal is to allow students to know more and do more.

As part of this vision, the school has adopted a progressive 1:1 learning approach, which provides each pupil with an iPad to use as their core learning tool, both inside and outside of the classroom. This technology-focused approach to teaching, provides pupils with a more engaged learning experience and reduces the workload for its teachers.

The challenge

Realizing this vision required a network infrastructure capable of hosting over 2,500, simultaneously-connected devices. But the connectivity needs of Harrogate Grammar School were at the point of outgrowing the capabilities of its existing network. Eventually, the school’s IT infrastructure called for an upgrade to provide robust and resilient network for all connected devices, enabling seamless and reliable connectivity that elevates the student experience.

An additional challenge Harrogate Grammar School was facing was the growing number of IT support requests that came as a result of the network struggling to cope with demand. With the team facing tight budgets and minimal resources, managing the school’s network was becoming ever-more challenging. To resolve this, the IT staff needed a centralized management solution that would streamline service delivery and network maintenance. Network’s ability to autonomously optimize its performance would be the most welcome upgrade, too.

To meet all these challenges, Red Kite Learning Trust, a group of 13 schools including Harrogate Grammar School, turned to NETprotocol and Extreme Networks.

Providing a 1:1 learning environment, inclusive to all, that helps optimize student potential is integral to what we do. We needed a consistent and reliable network connection to provide continuous access to education resources. Unfortunately, with our existing network, staff and students started to face disruption to their learning due to connectivity issues. Using Extreme Networks and NETprotocol has allowed us to completely upend our solution and deliver a seamless learning experience.

Iain Hails, Network Services Manager, Harrogate Grammar School

The solution

To help Harrogate Grammar School realize their connected classroom aspirations, NETprotocol and Extreme Networks joined forces to deploy ExtremeWireless high-density Wi-Fi 6 access points and ExtremeCloud IQ, an advanced cloud management platform, and offer an end-to-end network management and operations solution.

The deployment of ExtremeCloud IQ offered end-to-end network management and operations from one centralized portal that is accessible from anywhere - enabling a step change in distributed connectivity, security, and flexibility. ExtremeCloud IQ ensured that staff, students, and guests could seamlessly operate. It allowed for more than 2,500 devices to connect at any one time, throughout the campus, including BYOD, guest on-boarding, and internal mobile devices.

Having supported Academic Trusts and Education clients for many years, we were delighted when the Red Kite Learning Trust contacted us to resolve their networking challenges. Harrogate Grammar School has led the way from a digital learning and technology perspective for many years, which gradually brought them ongoing frustrations with regards network access and reliability. Our focus was to initially understand the layout of the building so we could design a solution that would effortlessly meet future needs and they could continue to uphold their reputation for providing the world-class educational environment they are recognized for. Extreme’s Cloud IQ technology was by far the most simple, cost effective and reliable way of doing this.

Paul Rylett, Technical Lead, NETprotocol

In addition, with 30+ devices per classroom, ExtremeWireless™ AP 305C/CX and ExtremeWireless™ AP 510C/CX access points were added to create coverage cells for specific classrooms, minimizing cross-channel interference with other rooms. The scalability, security and simplicity offered by this solution has further helped futureproof the school’s infrastructure to power a new connected and interactive learning experience for students and staff today, meet the educational technology needs of tomorrow.

ExtremeCloud IQ was designed to streamline networking from deployment through to maintenance and it has achieved just that. The cloud-driven network technology has provided the IT team with a centralized network management protocol, a highly secure infrastructure, and enabled it to move its access points and routers seamlessly and securely without a drop in network uptime. Furthermore, with the usual budget constrictions in education, Extreme’s flexible solution has adapted to the organization's needs to keep costs down while offering peak performance.

The result

The benefits of the solution deployed by NETprotocol and Extreme Networks include:

Enhanced connectivity for all users: the solution provided by Extreme Networks has enabled staff, students and guests to operate more than 2,500 devices throughout the school at any given time. It provides a reliable and scalable network structure capable of catering for any future growth in the number of devices.
Full control and visibility to IT staff: the cloud-driven network technology has provided the IT team with a secure and centralized network management solution. It enables the team to move access points and routers without any disruption to network connectivity.
Eliminated network access issues and delays: with the deployment of the new network students and staff are able to access any given resource without delay anywhere on the site and at any time.

As a result, the Red Kite Learning Trust has decided to use this project as a blueprint for rolling out the solution to the group’s other 12 schools within the next two years. By encompassing all schools, the rollout will enable 1:1 learning to be delivered without limitations, but will also deliver economies of scale, maximize staff time productivity, and increase technology ROI.

At Harrogate Grammar School, we wanted students and staff to be able to effortlessly access any given resource within 30 seconds of entering a classroom, anywhere on the site and at any time - no mean feat within a densely populated wireless environment. But, with the deployment of ExtremeCloud IQ, from Extreme Networks and NETprotocol, we have achieved this. Our advanced network is now capable of coping with anything we throw at it, with lessons now delivered uninterrupted and without falter, and support requests have reduced to zero, saving valuable IT time and resources.

David Burns, Trust IT Manager, Red Kite Learning Trust

Wish to learn more about Extreme networking solutions for the Education sector? Watch our free, online session on Smart Classroom and advance your school with class!

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