L-R: Eddie Snooks, Bespoke Network Team Member; Wade Nash, Head of IT Services at Benenden School, Stacey King, BT Regional Director for South East England, and Chris Barker, Bespoke Network Team Leader

Benenden's internet equipment is UK school first

Benenden School is the first in the country to have its own high-speed fibre broadband exchange installed

Posted by Stephanie Broad | March 31, 2016 | Technology

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• #broadband-exchange
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A new unit – about the size of a domestic boiler – has been installed at Benenden School so that instead of relying on the speed of the nearest public exchange, the school has its own. This will increase internet speeds by five times and ensure a more reliable internet system for the school.

The move is part of BT’s Community Fibre Partnership, which up to now has been primarily focused on housing developments, business and universities. Benenden is the first school to have the equipment installed by Openreach, the part of BT that provides the network infrastructure.

Our reliance on the Internet has increased substantially in recent years – Wade Nash

Headmistress, Samantha Price, said: “We are delighted to be the first school in the UK to install this technology. We are committed to preparing girls for the modern workplace and that means ensuring that the environment here matches the fast-paced, digitally-connected world.”

Wade Nash, Benenden’s Head of IT Services, said: “As a 24/7 school, we are a community in our own right and our reliance on the Internet has increased substantially in recent years – from teaching in classrooms, to cloud-based email services for students and for use by staff and their families who live on site.

“Although we already have robust internet connectivity we have invested in this new exchange to further increase the resilience of what has become a critical service. It will also enable us to keep ahead of the curve as the data requirements of the school continue to expand.”

www.benenden.kent.sch.uk