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bring your own device (BYOD) Policy

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BYOD Policy at St Andrews Bangkok

For many years now, we have operated a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) programme for High School and Year 6 students. Having taken time to collect feedback from students, teachers and parents on the impact of the programme, we’ve found that the overall message is very positive. Students enjoy having their own device which they can personalise and which is always available. They say it has enabled more group work and led to more efficient use of their time in lessons. They also value the environmental benefits, with less paper being consumed. 

 

We have purposefully kept the device specifications as broad as possible. This is in recognition of the fact that different students prefer different devices and also to enable the use of devices that families already have; we don’t want parents to purchase a new device for the BYOD programme.


Year 6

We ask Year 6 students to bring a tablet-style device, ideally an iPad. Whilst an Android tablet is an acceptable alternative, bringing an iPad has many advantages. The teachers use iPads so students can more easily follow along with any demonstrations on the whiteboard. Other students will use iPads so that group work will be more effective. Since we use iPads lower down in school, your child will be most familiar with the iPad as a device used in the context of a lesson. Finally, we can offer full device management, including installation of apps (with the school covering the cost of any paid apps), content filtering and safeguarding controls for iPads that apply to use at school and home.

 

For Y6 tablets, we’ve kept the requirements broad so that, hopefully, there should be no need to purchase a new device. Note that any Y6 device will be suitable for use at school until at least Year 9 (see full High School BYOD details below). Suitable iPad models include:

 


High School - Hybrid devices

We’ve noticed that some of the most effective uses of technology have been demonstrated by students who use devices that allow stylus input and keyboard typing. Examples include the Microsoft Surface, the iPad Pro or stylus-capable iPad, and the Android equivalents. For such devices, our minimum system requirements are:

 


High School - Windows laptops

 As a school, we almost exclusively use Windows PCs on the High School campus, and this would be a natural choice for a laptop to be used in lessons. For Windows devices, our minimum system requirements are:

 

High School - Apple MacBooks

We understand that some students may already own a MacBook or MacBook Air, an acceptable BYOD option. Please note that for certain technical subjects (e.g. DT or Computer Science), the students may be required to use a dual-boot option to install Windows-specific software on a MacBook. For Macs, our minimum system requirements are:

 

High School - Tablet devices (iPads and equivalents) for Year 9 and below

For students in Key Stage 3 (Years 7 to 9), a tablet-style device such as an iPad would make a sensible BYOD choice, given the low weight and long battery life advantages. We require a laptop or hybrid device (see above) rather than a tablet for older students who will spend more time on extended writing tasks.


High School - Chromebooks for Key Stage 3
Chromebooks are acceptable for students in Key Stage 3. They provide the advantages of quick boot-up times and relatively low weight.

Software

The school will provide all students with a full Microsoft Office 365 licence (Word, Excel, etc.), including desktop apps, and full access to Google Workspace applications.