Assessment 3 – Research & Report Writing
Instructions:
Using the information outlined in the Windsor valley Preparatory School project (see detail in Appendix-A) you will be required to prepare a number of reports in this assessment as a project manager. You can visit the websites mentioned below in Appendix-B to get some ideas and templates to prepare the reports.
Duration:
Trainer will set the duration of the assessment.
Evidence required:
Tasks Evidence Submission
Task ? A Vision Statement
? A project requirements document
? List of project management tools and techniques appropriate for the project
? A detailed project management plan including
? Project & Organisation Overview
? Project Management Process Plans
? Project-Specific Process Plans
? Project-Supporting Process Plans
? Additional Plans
? Project Plan Sign Off
? A detailed project budget layout on a spreadsheet
? A Detailed Plan and a Report on project follow-up activities and continuous improvements
? A ‘lessons learned’ report In printing
Windsor Valley Roll-out (Upgrade) Project
Assume the role of the project manager for the Windsor Valley Preparatory School roll-out (upgrade) project.
Your company has been awarded the contract with the school to upgrade the computer systems within the school and to ensure that good educational software is installed and that provision is made for systems administration.
You undertake to provide a more detailed requirements document that will identify what problems the project will solve.
The headmaster has asked that if at all possible all the work or at least the most important parts and those parts that would be likely to be disruptive to the normal functioning of the school are carried out during the school’s summer holidays.
You agree to provide him with a project plan, which will show the breakdown of the works that will be carried out by your team, together with milestones that mark the delivery or completion of significant parts of the project. He says he and key staff members are quite willing to make themselves available for any meetings during the holiday.
He reminds you that they would like to see some sort of demonstration of how you will provide systems administration/support when the new systems are in place.
Your tasks:
1. Create a Vision Statement for the project so that the client is able to understand the project and its outcomes.
2. Detailed project requirements for the client that is clear and consistent outlying the issues the project is aiming to resolve.
3. List project management tools and techniques that will be used in the project.
4. A detailed project management plan showing the following:
a. Project Overview
i. Purpose, Scope and Objectives
ii. Assumptions, Constraints and Risks
iii. Project Deliverables iv. Schedule and Budget Summary
v. Evolution of the Plan
vi. Definitions and Acronyms
b. Project Organisation
i. External interfaces
ii. Internal structure
iii. Role and responsibilities
c. Project Management Process Plans
i. Project Initiation
1. Project Charter
2. Initial Project Scope ii. Project Planning
1. Initial Project Estimates
2. Initial Project Team Staffing
3. Resource Acquisition
4. Project Staff Training iii. Project Execution
1. Work breakdown schedule
2. Project Schedule and Time Management
3. Resource Allocation
4. Project Human Resource Management
5. Project Procurement Management & Budget Allocation iv. Project Monitoring & Control
1. Requirements Management
2. Project Scope and Schedule Management
3. Project Budget and Cost Management
4. Project Quality Management considering energy conservation
5. Project Communications Plan
6. Project Performance Management
7. Project Risk Management
8. Project Change Management
9. Project Issue Management
v. Project Closure
d. Project-Specific Process Plans
i. Project Specific Processes
ii. Method, Tools and Techniques
iii. Infrastructure
iv. Project and Work Product Acceptance against quality control metrics
e. Project-Supporting Process Plans
i. Configuration Management
ii. Verification and Validation
iii. Documentation
iv. Work Product Quality Assurance
v. Project Reviews and Audits
vi. Problem Resolution
vii. Subcontractor Management
f. Additional Plans
i. Conflict Resolution
g. Project Plan Sign Off
5. A detailed project budget layout on a spreadsheet
6. A Detailed Plan and a Report on how systems administration/support will be performed when the project hardware and software are fully operational. Also including formal practices, such as total quality management or continuous improvement of the computer system, improvement by less formal processes which enhance both the product quality and processes of the project, for example client surveys to determine client satisfaction with project team performance.
7. A ‘lessons learned’ report with answers for a series of questions about the project
Appendix A – Windsor Valley Preparatory School
The School
Windsor Valley Preparatory School was established as the result of a bequest in 1998. The school is located in an outer suburb and has generous buildings. However it was specifically established to service families of limited means and fees are low.
The school is well staffed by a headmaster and 18 teachers. Non-teaching staff comprises a school secretary and her assistant, a gardener and maintenance man who doubles as the gardener’s assistant when required. There is a well-run library with a librarian and librarian’s assistant.
There are approximately 350 students between the ages of 5 and 12.
School Building Layout
Dimensions not to scale 40m x 25m approximately
School Building Layout
Key Staff
Dr Arnold the head master. Dr. Arnold is an excellent headmaster who although not particularly interested in computers and information technology understands their importance in modern education. He often relies on the maths teacher Frederick Hoyle for advice on information technology. Dr. Arnold is well respected in the local community and held in high regard by the parents.
Pamela White the school secretary. Pamela is very efficient and responsible for all the school’s administration functions. These include student fees, salaries and entitlements, day to day correspondence. Pamela is proficient with her office computer and software.
Jane Wilson the librarian. Jane has great rapport with the students and loves to provide assistance where she can. Her one bugbear is some of the annoying tricks that some of the older students get up to with the computers in the library. She is good at trouble shooting problems with the library equipment but feels that a lot of the problems are caused unnecessarily.
Susan Armstrong the assistant librarian. Susan has plans to become a doctor or medical researcher and is studying part-time for a degree in biochemistry, which she hopes, will ultimately get her a place in a medical school.
Frederick Hoyle the mathematics teacher. Fred is very enthusiastic and proactive. One of his outside interests is as a volunteer software developer on an open source project. Fred knows a lot about software development but his knowledge and experience of hardware and networking is limited to maintaining his own computer.
Tom Brown the art teacher. Tom is very interested in using computers for creative and artistic projects and has introduced several innovative ideas that have been very successful with his students. Tom’s enthusiasm and his exciting student projects have been responsible for many of the young students achieving high standards of computer literacy.
Network Infrastructure
The school buildings were cabled with a full Cat5e cabling system during renovations several years ago. A small workroom next to the library was used as the main communications point with two Cat5e cables run to each classroom, the main hall, library, administration office, headmaster’s office, and to each teacher office. These cables terminate in a patch panel located in a small communications cabinet mounted on the wall in the workroom.
Two 3Com 24 port switches, also mounted in the communications cabinet, are used to create two school wide networks. One of these switches currently connects the classrooms and the main hall, while the other connects the headmaster’s office, the library and the staff offices. The administration office is not connected to either network.
Internet connectivity is provided by a NetComm broadband router/modem situated next to the communications cabinet. Currently only the switch connecting the headmaster’s office, library and staff offices is connected to the router. There is no Internet connection available to computers in the classrooms or the main hall.
Computers
Approximately 12 months ago the school upgraded its computer systems through a grant and bulk purchased enough machines to equip the administration office, classrooms (12 machines) and the library (6 machines).
The specification of the purchased machines was:
Dell Vostro 200 Slim Tower Desktop with:
? Intel Celeron processor 420
? 1 GB DDR2 Memory shared with graphics
? 80GB Hard Drive with NCQ
? 17’’ Widescreen flat panel monitor
? Intel Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator 3100
? Windows XP and Microsoft Office 2003
Library - The library network consists of 5 student machines and one for the librarian. A manual booking system maintained by the librarian keeps track of student use and reasonable use of the computers. The computers are networked using Cat5e cabling to a hub in the librarian’s office. This hub is connected through the school cabling system to the communications cabinet and to the Internet.
The PCs are running Windows XP and Microsoft Office 2003. Other educational software, mostly small shareware programs are also used on these machines.
A small laser printer is connected to the librarian’s machine. Occasionally the library assistant will agree to print some information from a web site, but she does not want this to become too frequent.
The library PCs are allowed to access the Internet through the school’s broadband connection. Each machine has been loaded with Filterpak content filtering software obtained through the government NetAlert Internet safety program. This software is individually installed on each PC. Administration of the user profiles and filtering levels is controlled by Fred Hoyle, as part of his administration role, by logging into the Filterpak vendor server through the Web.
Currently the library does not use a software system to control library acquisitions and loans.
Administration Office – The office machine is not connected to the network at the moment. A small laser printer is attached to this machine.
Teacher Offices – Some teacher offices are equipped with older machines that were in use in the classrooms prior to the upgrade to the Dell machines. These are mostly Pentium II or Pentium IV machines running Windows 98 and older versions of Microsoft Works.
Classrooms – Each classroom has one new Dell computer located near the front of the room. These computers are usually used to deliver information using data projectors that are moved from room to room as required. Students may also use the machines to access databases and encyclopaedias loaded onto them. There is currently no access to the Internet from the classrooms and no ability to print.
Main Hall – Currently equipped with an old machine used only for displaying audio-visual material sourced from local drives or from the audio-visual network.
Audio-visual Network
The school has recently purchased a system for delivering audio-visual materials from a central location across the school cabling network. The system, from Exterity, uses TV-over-IP technology consisting of specialized hardware in the school communications room that can send the audio-visual data streams over the school Cat5e network, and receivers in the classrooms to decode the data streams. The information can then be displayed on TV screens or projected using a data projector. If a PC is available, as in the classrooms, the PC can be used to receive the data stream and display the information on the screen or project it through an attached data projector.
The audio-visual data streams can be sourced from a television receiver, satellite receiver, or a DVD player located in the school communications room. These are currently looked after by the library assistant.
Current Changes and Plans
In partnership with the local community college board, the school has applied for a grant to upgrade their computing facilities. This involves the conversion of one of their general classrooms to a computer room housing 15 new Dell Vostro computers. These machines will have the following specification:
Dell Vostro 200 Slim Tower Desktop with:
? Intel Core 2 Duo processor E4500
? Windows Vista Business
? 3GB DDR2 Memory shared with graphics
? 250GB Hard drive with
? 20” widescreen flat panel monitor
? Intel Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator 3100
? 16x Max DVD+/-RW Combination Drive with double layer write capability
This room will be shared with the community college and so will need to be flexible in its software configurations. Fred Hoyle plans to run some Linux classes in the evenings and wants to be able to quickly change operating systems, then restore the machines to the standard configuration for the next school day.
The parent’s association has raised $30,000 to provide all the teachers with laptops. The planned specification for the laptops is:
Dell Vostro 1400 with:
? Intel Celeron M processor 540
? Windows Vista Business
? 512MB DDR2 Memory shared with graphics
? 80GB SATA Hard Drive
? Intel Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator X3100
? Integrated Wireless Adaptor
Staff Member Comments
Dr. Arnold:
“We have a good chance of getting some funding for a computer lab. I believe the government is going to make funds available, particularly where we can share facilities with other local organisations.”
“If we are going to do this properly I think we must enlist some expert advice from outside. I don’t mean to denigrate the teachers but this does seem rather more complicated than anything we have been involved in, although of course Fred Hoyle and Tom Brown have some great ideas about using computers in education.”
“While we’re undergoing this shake-up I’m going to ask Pamela to have a good look at the management of our school records with a particular eye to ensuring that we can meet all the necessary privacy provisions. I’m also not sure if our records are secure and regularly backed up”
“With the addition of the new computer lab and an increase in users, including some from outside the school, I am also increasingly concerned that we control access to the Internet to block inappropriate material as part of our duty of care”.
Pamela White:
“This is all very exciting. Perhaps I might get the chance to get a better program to manage the school accounts. Fred keeps telling me there are better ways than doing everything on spreadsheets”.
“I am sometimes concerned that the school records are held on one PC, and teachers need to ask me if they need any information. It would be useful if the office administration was part of the network with limited access for teachers to student records and school policy documents. I’m also concerned that we have no method of regularly backing up this data”
“One thing I don’t want though, when I’m on the network, is all the teachers using my printer, I have enough trouble with it myself when the paper jams.”
Jane Wilson:
“Ideally we need to keep all the computers in the library set-up the same way. If we could stop the older students from fiddling with some of the machine settings and software that would be a great help. I wonder if there is some way we can stop students from saving unnecessary stuff to the hard drive?”
“I would like the students to be able to print small amounts of information from the library machines, but we must have effective controls on how much is printed and see if there is a way we can charge for the amount printed.”
Susan Armstrong:
“We could do with a library administration system. I was at a librarian conference recently and someone was talking about Koha. I wasn’t paying much attention but I gathered it was free.”
“I’ve also been asked to help out with the new school website. I know a little about how websites work but will have to talk to Fred about how we set up a web server. We’ve even talked about setting up the server to enable students to log in and access resources or upload their assignments from home. Fred mentioned that free software called Moodle was available to do this”.
Fred Hoyle:
“We really need to get moving on making more effective use of computers in our school. We should have a computer lab with access to a wide range of educational software. I would also like to be able to reconfigure the computer lab quickly to allow a range of courses to be taught there, while being able to restore it quickly to standard school configuration”
“The office needs to have a proper suite of office software and a financial package like MYOB. I wonder if there is an open systems equivalent? I think we should get a consultant in, form a user group to help him identify our requirements. I’d be the first to put my hand up.”
“One thing that bothers me though is if we go through with this we will need someone to do systems administration. Perhaps we should be looking at a solution that lends itself to remote administration with only occasional onsite visits.”
“I’m also concerned that maintaining the Internet filter is taking up a lot of my time and this will continue, particularly with the new computer room. I would prefer a centralised content filter that can control all the school computers from one point. I’ve seen some good open source products such as Endian that are freely available. I would also like to see students and staff required to log in to a proxy server to access the Internet to ensure we can control the access for different groups.”
Tom Brown:
“I’m very excited by what is happening. There is some great free educational software out there. Celestia, Stellarium, TuxMath, TuxPaint, Scratch, Audacity and dozens of others. I think we can really make good use of these programs with our children.”
“Currently there is no way for the teachers to connect to the school network. Assuming that the teachers all get laptops of their own it would be great to be able to connect to the school network to exchange email and lesson material. Later on we could even be able to logon to the school network from home”.
“I would also like to be able to print from my computer while at the school, preferably to a printer located near the staff offices.”
Summary of School System Requirements/Challenges
Administration Office:
? School management software to be installed.
? Administration system to be available on the network to allow limited access for teachers to retrieve information. Student machines should not be able to see the administration machines on the network.
? School server required to provide for file sharing amongst staff and control of shared printers in staff rooms.
Library:
? Students should not be able to change system settings on the library computers or save information to the hard drives.
? A shared printer to be made available with control over what is printed and with the ability to charge for the amount printed.
? Library management software to be installed – preferably the freely available Koha software. This will require setting up a local web server to run the software (Perl script).
New Computer Lab:
? Computers to be set up to allow rapid re-configuration and restoration to standard configuration, including change of operating system. This may require the implementation of a server to hold images or virtual machine images for the lab.
? Suitable cabling will need to be installed in the lab and a switch installed for connecting the lab computers to the school network.
Internet Connection:
? A centralised content filter to be implemented on a new gateway server to be installed in the school communications room. This server should also provide a firewall and anti-virus protection.
? The gateway computer should also include a proxy which can authenticate users and control Internet access. Authentication should be through centralised accounts control (active directory).
Teacher Computers:
? Ability to connect to the school network from the staff offices using wireless with centralised authentication
? Preferable to have staff and student machines on different networks to make it harder for students to access staff or administration machines
? Ability to connect to the school network from outside the school
? Security of data being transferred or stored on laptops (school records, etc.) – particularly when laptops are outside the school.
School Website:
? Choice of internal or external hosting (external most likely)
? Ability to create and maintain the site from within the school network – working through the school proxy server.
Security:
? Centralised control of user accounts so they can be controlled and security policies enforced – e.g.
password complexity and change frequency, etc. Could use a domain/active directory
? User accounts and groups need to be set up to allow control access to shared files, printers, etc. ? Secure remote administration of the servers in the school.
School Vision and Mission
The school aims to achieve the following:
? Develop students' perceptions in order to enable them to further his knowledge and meet modern life challenges
? Students with knowledge, patience and good manners
? Prepare students who are self-confident and with positive values ? Open minded and tolerant of different cultures.
Our mission will be realized through:
? Student centred curricula
? Enriching programs and activities that meet students' needs
? Instructional and educational environment that encourages creativity and students mental development
? Providing students with social, psychological and academic support
? Using technology and modern means of communication and employment of data to serve teaching and learning process and interacting with the society
? Enhancing all aspects of the student’s personality to achieve the school objectives ? Competent, well-experienced, creative and co-operative administrative and teaching staff ? Continuous professional development for all the school staff.
Windsor Valley Preparatory School Strategic Plan 2009-2012
Endorsement by
School Principal
SIGNED………………………………………. NAME………………………………………….
DATE……………………………………………
Endorsement by
School Council
SIGNED………………………………………. NAME………………………………………….
DATE……………………………………………
School Council President signs indicating that the School Strategic Plan has been endorsed by School Council
School Profile
Purpose Windsor Valley will:
? Strive to develop a school culture that supports and respects individual students while allowing for a balanced life. Students learn best in an atmosphere that balances high academic expectations within a caring and supportive environment by providing developmentally appropriate academic and extra-curricular programs reinforced with a strong advising and counselling program and leadership opportunities.
? Pursue academic excellence, educate within a supportive, caring community, develop students with character, expand educational
opportunities on its campus year-round, be progressive in its use of technology, attend to the mental and physical wellbeing of its students, and seek greater diversity in its program and people.
? Attract and retain high quality faculty members and administrators who reflect the diversity of the local area and who excel at teaching, counselling, and inspiring students.
? Provide support for high quality teaching through professional development, attention to personal well-being, and additional time and resources for faculty to plan, collaborate and explore.
? Seek to expand, establish, or maintain programs that involve the school in the larger community.
? Continue sound financial policies that support the educational program in all of its facets while ensuring adequate examination of strategic initiatives in light of limited financial resources.
? Develop an appropriate administrative structure to meet the school's present and future needs.
Values Our key values are:
? Responsibility o Being accountable for your behaviour in all situations, doing your best, personal excellence in all endeavours
? Integrity
o Trustworthiness, honesty, reliability, faithfulness, loyalty, commitment, consistency in dealing with others
? Respect o Honouring (oneself, others, property, values), fairness, tolerance, inclusion
? Citizenship
o Teamwork and co-operation, stewardship, membership of and service to the community, humanity
? Courage
o Doing the right thing even when it is hard, perseverance, determination when faced with a challenge, having a go, accepting a challenge
? Compassion o Understanding others, sympathy, empathy, kindness, caring
Environmental Context Social – community and demographics:
? Located in a very mixed social demographic
? 30% of families entitled to receive educational maintenance allowance
? 30% of families where one or both parents/guardians are professional or business proprietors
? Likely to see an increase in current enrolment to 450
? The school has an extremely professional staff team
? The age/experience profile of the staff has changed over the past few years after an extended period of very little personnel change, enabling employment of a number of graduate class teachers
Educational
? Introduction of the Learning Standards with a greater emphasis on ICT
? New assessment and reporting arrangements implemented in 2006
? The school to seek accreditation in performance and development culture in 2009. Technological
? New classroom technologies are becoming available
? Approximately 30% of students have access to a computer at home
Environmental – grounds and facilities
? All rooms are well-equipped and conducive to effective learning
? All spaces are heated and air-conditioned
? Areas of concern include the adequacy of staff planning and resource space and limited storage space
? Grounds are well established with attractive gardens
? Extensive range of play spaces for children including 2 tar ovals, full grass oval and 4 adventure playgrounds
? The sloping site is an ongoing concern for maintenance as is the effect of wet weather upon usability of grassed areas
Strategic Intent
Area Goals Targets Key Improvement Strategies
Student Learning Create a high expectation and success culture Pupils and Staff ? Establish a no failure culture – personal best!
? Find something for each child to succeed at
? Establish staff training to ensure the school reinforces the positive
Student Engagement and Wellbeing Link home and school through the development
of a learning community Pupils, Staff and Parents ? Encourage communication between home and teachers via email, which could be used in support of home learning.
? Develop a school website with content created by pupils
? Online learning materials accessible by pupils and parents
? Open days for parent staff meetings
? Provide parent community sessions for parents to become familiar with ICT
Student
Engagement
With
Technology Establish technology-based individual learning for all pupils School, Pupils ? Ensure effective use of technology in the classroom
? Provide opportunities to practice skills out of class
? Involve pupils in creating content for school website
Staff
Engagement Build leadership in-depth throughout the
staff Staff ? Encourage collaboration between staff members
? Encourage innovation
? Involve staff in decision making
? Encourage staff participation in educational forums
Performance Design and implement accurate performance indicators and hold everyone accountable for them Staff Principal:
? Collaborate with stakeholders in the school improvement process
? Share student achievement data with all stakeholders
? Provide time for collaborative problem solving
? Demonstrate effective group-process and consensus-building skills in school improvement efforts
? Communicate the school vision, school goals and ongoing progress toward attainment of goals to staff, parents, students, and community members
? Recognize and promote the contributions of school community
members to school improvement efforts
? Nurtures and develops the leadership capabilities of others
? Evaluates the collaborative skills of staff and supports needs with staff development.
Staff:
? Demonstrate a high level of knowledge relevant curriculum and learning and assessment theory
? Demonstrate commitment to their own learning
? Are able to employ a range of effective teaching techniques
? Reflect on their techniques and teaching performance
? Demonstrate a high level of commitment to student well being
? Manage challenging learning environments
? Demonstrate effective communication in working with staff, parents and pupils
? Support and provide assistance to other teachers.
SCHOOL STRATEGIC PLAN 2009 – 2012
Key Improvement Strategies Actions Achievement Milestones
Establish staff training to ensure the school reinforces the positive outcomes
Year 1 ?
?
? Individual teachers research reinforcement strategies
Incorporate strategies into lesson plans
Review outcomes ? Gauge improvement
particularly of pupils who do not participate well
Year 2 ?
?
? Teachers collaborate and exchange strategies
Individual teachers incorporate new ideas into teaching
Review outcomes ? Monitor
behaviour and participation
Year 3 ? Repeat as for year 2 ? Monitor
behaviour and participation
Year 4 ? Repeat as for year 3 ? Monitor
behaviour and participation
Develop a school website with content created by pupils
Year 1 ?
?
? Brainstorming with class for website ideas
Pupils decide on 4 ideas to start with
Rest of the ideas will be worked on later ? Consensus
achieved but all ideas will ultimately be considered.
Year 2 ? All pupils elaborate the 4 main themes ? Group
collaboration on shared ideas with joint ownership
Year 3 ?
?
? Revisit some of the original ideas
Decide which ones to elaborate
Brainstorm for more details ? Group
collaboration on shared ideas with joint ownership
Year 4 ?
New ideas – things have changed ? Everyone is a web designer
and our web
site is evolving
Involve pupils in creating content for school website Year 1 ?
?
? Make our ideas into web pages
Use colours
Use fonts ? Everyone is a web page author
?
? Use pictures
Get the spelling right ? Parents can see our contribution
Year 2 ?
?
? Evolve our pages
Introduce new topics
Update old pages ? Our website is dynamic and reflects the changing school environment
Year 3 ?
?
? Evolve our pages
Introduce new topics
Update old pages ? Our website is dynamic and reflects the changing school environment
Year 4 ?
?
? Evolve our pages
Introduce new topics
Update old pages ? Our website is dynamic and reflects the changing school environment

Appendix B – Useful references & information
Quality Management Plan Template
http://www.projectmanagementdocs.com/templates/quality-management-plan-emplate.html
Project Plan Template
http://www.tantara.ab.ca/ja_pmiee.htm
Project Management Best Practices: Planning the Project
http://www.projecttimes.com/articles/project-management-best-practices-planning-the-project.html
Project Quality Management Plan
http://www.itplanning.org.vt.edu/pm/qualitymgmtplan.html
Project Management Process Guidelines http://www.itplanning.org.vt.edu/pm/process.html
Project Documentation Guidelines
http://www.itplanning.org.vt.edu/pm/documentation.html
Project Management Documents and Information http://www.projectmanagementdocs.com
Project Management Guidebook
www.thoughtware.com.au/documents/method123-ebook.pdf
Project Management Methodologies
http://www.cio.com.au/article/402904/project_management_methodologies/