Sydney Boys High School BYOD Program

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bring your own device

at Sydney Boys High School

At High students are expected to bring their own computing device to school every day.

This develops upon the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) program that began with Year 9 students in 2014 and which has now been enthusiastically adopted across the school.

BYOD Program in 2024: Selecting and Purchasing

The Device Specification has been finalised and you can consider what device to purchase.

Visit our Device Purchasing and Program Operations section for guidance and purchasing options.

What is BYOD?

Bring Your Own Device, or BYOD, is a technological trend in education and in the corporate world.

BYOD recognises that technology and choices about technology are very much personal.

BYOD acknowledges technology in education means more than meeting specific curriculum requirements.

BYOD is designed to give you, as students and families, freedom to make technology choices that suit you and all your circumstances.

How does it it work?

All students at Sydney Boys High School are expected to bring their own computing device to school every day.

We are making recommendations as to the model of device you may choose to bring.

Or, if you have a strong technical background, there may be something of your own choosing that meets our Device Specification that you choose to bring.

Bring Your Own Device form factors

There is also some software that you have must on the device.

In most cases there are free options for software.

Bring Your Own Device software

You are required to sign a User Charter that sets out how the device can be used at school.

A member of the school staff, the BYOD Technical Support Officer, is available to answer questions and to give assistance.

However, the school does not manage, support, own or warranty the device - it's your device.

What type of device can we bring?

A range of devices in a range of price categories meet the Device Specification.

Laptop
Tablet with keyboard


It may be a laptop.


It may be a tablet.
with a keyboard

Smaller tablet devices may be half the price of a large and powerful ultrabook. You should carefully consider all your options for purchase and lease/rent-to-buy. Consider also that a good quality device could comfortably last four years.

Some of the Device Specification requirements are quite particular. If you choose one of our recommended devices, you won't have to worry about whether it ticks all the requirements. Additionally, it's possible you already own or use a device which meets the Device Specification, in which case just bring that.

Our Device Purchasing section explains how you can purchase a recommended device as well as the advantages that come with doing so.

Why do you operate a BYOD program?

The BYOD program was first implemented in 2014 for Year 9 students. It was designed to replace the Digital Education Revolution (DER) program which ended in 2013.

Our teaching staff expressed their desire to expand the program across the school. This allows each subject to move from physical to electronic texts over time, to deliver lessons with a unified teaching methodology across all year groups and to bring the rich learning experiences to all schools. All faculties are committed to developing increased integration with the BYOD program over the coming years.

I'm concerned about the costs

The purchase of a device is a major decision and a significant expense. A good quality device may last from Year 9 to Year 12 and viewed over four years the expense is considerably less. Sydney Boys High School has taken strides to integrate device use into many aspects of teaching and learning. Your investment allows the school to maximise learning outcomes for all students.

We are committed to our obligations as a public education institution to deliver the same learning outcomes to all our students no matter their families' financial means.

We have developed an Equity Policy to operate alongside our BYOD Policy. The Equity Policy outlines a number of strategies the school may take, in consultation with you, to augment access to information and communication technologies.

I'm concerned about device security

The school does not own the device, support the device or warranty the device. Experience from the previous Commonwealth-funded Digital Education Revolution scheme indicates that students who took good care of their device and considered themselves the device's owner rarely had device security issues.

If you are concerned the device is going to be broken, lost or stolen, you may wish to consider specific accidental damage insurance for the device. You can specifically list the item on your home contents insurance, or you can purchase an Accidental Damage Protection plan for your device. Accidental Damage Protection is available as an option for all our recommended devices.

You may also consider using a device locator service. These services include the "Find my iPad" or "Find my device" service built in the operating system, or third party products such as "Prey" or "LoJack for Laptops".

Internet access on the device will be filtered at school and students will be prohibited from connecting to other networks while at school.

Details and Feedback

If you have questions or feedback on the Sydney Boys High School 'Bring Your Own Device' Program you can contact the Bring Your Own Device Delivery Team at:

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Download and View Policy Documents