Hunters Hill High School complies with the Department of Education's policy on student use of digital devices and online services.
Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) is a policy that was introduced in 2019 at Hunters Hill High School as part of a process of improving the digital literacy of students and provide them with life-long skills for future study and employment. Students are expected to bring their own personal laptop to school which will enable them to access the curriculum which is being taught at Hunters Hill High School.
The use of laptops at school will deepen learning, will be personalised and student-centred, and will assist in meeting the expectations of teachers, students, parents, and caregivers. BYOD will enable staff to provide students with a range of learning opportunities which can be individually tailored to each subject area and provide students with a range of electronic resources which would not be available through traditional classroom methods.
In addition, students will learn how to organise their work electronically as they transition into high school life.
The BYOD program is mandatory for all students in all years.
If a family is looking at purchasing a new laptop for their child, they should consider a Windows 11 laptop with the following minimum specifications: 8GB RAM, a Solid State Drive (SSD) no smaller than 256GB, dual-band WiFi, and a padded carry bag/sleeve. We recommend a laptop with a touch screen. Smartphones and tablets such as iPads are not suitable devices. Not all laptops in retail computer shops support dual-band WiFi.
Although 8GB of RAM is sufficient for most software at present, students are able to access the Adobe Creative Cloud software for free via the DET student portal. For that reason, it is recommended that you consider selecting a device with 16GB RAM. The extra RAM will make the laptop able to cope with increasing software demand over the years your child is at school.
Students are also able to download Microsoft Office software from the Education portal for free, so you don’t need to buy this software. Most student work is undertaken using either Google software or Microsoft software.
We are pleased to advise that Hewlett Packard (HP) has set up a special portal for Hunters Hill High School for your consideration at the following link:
www.hp.com.au/BYOD and then enter the school code HuntersHHS
On this portal, parents have a choice of multiple devices of varying power and price. All pricing on each BYOD device through HP includes 3 Years Onsite ActiveCare. That is a form of warranty. In addition, most devices on the HP portal come with the option for parents to purchase Accidental Damage Protection (ADP). This is usually offered a few days after purchase to enable you to consider. We recommend the ADP purchase as we have seen a small number of laptops that were accidentally damaged. Those that were covered by ADP have been promptly and fully repaired by HP onsite at the school.
Please note, you do not have to buy direct from HP but it is an option to consider, as you are buying directly from the company and you can save money. You can buy other brands that suit your needs but the laptop you purchase must meet the above specifications.
Be careful if buying elsewhere as many retails stores will try to offload their stock of laptops that have older conventional hard drives. The SSD is a very important feature as laptops are in frequent motion in backpacks.
It is important to understand the school takes no responsibility for damage to or loss of a student's laptop.
To support families who need initial assistance with the BYOD requirement, we may be able to make available laptops for one-term loans through the Library. We ask families who anticipate needing this support to contact the Relieving Head Teacher Teaching and Learning, Ms Austin, so that we can assess and manage device availability. Ms Austin will ask you to complete a Device Request Form. Ms Austin can be contacted via email at huntershd-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au
As part of the school enrolment process there are two documents that need to be read and signed by students and parents/carers. These documents describe:
1. The conditions of use of the school computer resources and network
2. Behaviour and usage standards for students using their BYOD laptop
For further information or advice about device selection, please contact Mr John Range, Technology Support Teacher, via the school email (huntershd-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au).