Survival and helpdesk craft
The S.O.S. card, priorities, tickets, escalation, written decisions and a working knowledge base.
School IT Survival Guide · Companion
What has gone wrong?
Start with the symptom. Read the five-minute checks before changing anything, then move to the approved repair or escalation route.
Version 4.2 Illustrated · 2026/27
School IT Survival Guide
Understand the systems behind the school day. Work through common faults, document what matters and recognise when a problem needs specialist support.
Written for IT support staff, network and infrastructure managers and IT leads; also useful to business managers, headteachers, principals and other school leaders in schools, academies, trusts, school districts and international schools.
270 pages including covers (268 interior pages) · 96 diagrams and visual guides · Digital PDF
13 parts. One-off purchase. Checkout and delivery through Gumroad.
KCSIE and DBS material is jurisdiction-specific; readers outside the relevant jurisdiction should use their local safeguarding and vetting requirements. Follow your organisation’s approved procedures and applicable legal requirements. Escalate any conflict to the responsible lead.
Already have the book? Open the free companion ↑Free companion and Version 4.2 workbench.Current guides, practical tools and source links. Use stable section references alongside your book; retail editions may differ.
New · Workbench version 4.2
Turn the next check into a useful record.
Follow a fault, record what happened and capture one lesson that will improve the next response.
Find the next authorised checkAnswers change the route, including Windows, Mac and Chromebook support.Build a record and reflectKeep the outcome, evidence, lesson, owner and next action together.Practise ten school-day casesMake two decisions and compare the reasoning behind each answer.Explore Ethernet and electrical interferenceSeparate observations from diagnosis, with official and vendor sources.
Free practical resources
Use a worked guide. Keep the checklist.
Autopilot stuck at device setupFind the blocking application and collect useful evidence.A classroom cannot get onlineSeparate address, gateway, DNS and service failures.A staff-built AI app needs approvalUse the release worksheet and a worked booking-app example.US K–12 Chromebook readinessTest the student experience before the district releases the batch.
PDF · £14.99School IT Survival Guide
270 pages including covers (268 interior pages) · 96 diagrams and visual guides · Version 4.2 Illustrated. Secure checkout and digital delivery are handled by Gumroad.
Inside the 2026/27 guide
From the first ticket to the first full year.
The book follows the real shape of school IT work, with decision aids, checklists and reusable records alongside the explanations.
Classrooms and the estate
AV, Microsoft 365, devices, identity, networks, printers, Intune and the wider technology estate.
Security and safeguarding
Filtering, pupil data, phishing, MFA, student misuse, incident boundaries and exam-day failures.
Assets, projects and communication
Lifecycle records, procurement, maintenance, multiple sites, suppliers and explaining decisions upwards.
The human side of the job
Supporting children and adults, working alone, careers, CPD, boundaries, adjustments and avoiding burnout.
International and reusable resources
Thirteen parts, including AI tools and staff-built applications (Part 12) and international guidance (Part 13). Appendices cover your first 30 days, getting the job, a first-term casebook, and templates and forms.
Fix a problem
Windows, networks, printers, classroom AV, identity and school systems.
Diagnose by scope →02AI in schools
Safe use, staff-built applications, data, safeguarding and governance.
Open the AI guide →03Intune support
Search 203 enrolment, Autopilot, compliance, update, app, security and onboarding scenarios.
Find the failed control →04Tools and scripts
Visible source, safety labels, expected output and an explanation before every command.
Inspect the tools →One method across every topic
Scope before command.
The companion never treats an administrator account as permission to make an organisational decision. Read-only evidence comes first; changes need an owner, a rollback route and a record.
- 1Check safety and safeguarding
Stop if there is immediate danger, exposed sensitive material or a pupil concern.
- 2Confirm the scope
One user, one room, one site or everyone? Scope prevents random repairs.
- 3Find the teaching workaround
Restore the lesson or essential school process before chasing the perfect fix.
- 4Record before changing
Capture the exact message, time, device, user impact and last known change.