You will all know that the Bradford Learning Network collaborative broadband is continuously looking to improve its service delivery to schools. The current improvement project is largely related to the need to complete a programme of upgrades to the network infrastructure that supports our Internet access.

As was advised pre Easter there are a number of essential upgrades required to the Bradford Learning Network which build on the introduction of second links into all schools. These upgrades will inevitably cause some disruption to the network however, the need for them is absolutely pressing.

Once this upgrade has been done the next steps are to increase the capacity of the filtering service (Netsweeper) to handle the throughput of data and then to add in an additional 100Mb internet pipe which will double our current internet capacity. This second stage to the upgrade process will have minimal effect on the service as Synetrix can achieve most of the configuration before making a physical connection to the network . This means that down time resulting from this second upgrade will be minimised.

We are acutely conscious of the need to maintain services and to minimise the disruption of learning. However, these essential works need to be accomplished at some time and there is no time when someone is not potentially adversely affected. It is clear that the delay in upgrading, which was necessarily caused by the need for revision classes and coursework completion workshops over Easter, has affected our collaborative network and we cannot afford another delay.

After consulting with the support groups representing schools we intend completing this essential upgrade work over 23 May (6:00pm) to 28 May which means that there will be no guaranteed access to the internet during this period. The network may well be back up on Wednesday 28 May but Synetrix cannot guarantee this and we advise you to plan accordingly. This upgrade only effects your access to the internet and schools own networks will continue to run as normal.

Our apologies for this disruption and the potential impact that it might have on your service delivery, however, we have been advised that the work is essential. We continue to commit to minimise such disruption in the future.