iPads and laptops

All Tatachilla Lutheran College students enrolled at the college from Year 2 to Year 12 are expected to bring their own device to school every day.

Students from Year 2 to Year 6 are required to have an iPad while students from Year 7 to Year 12 are required to have a laptop. These specifications are based on the suitability for the students age and in some cases the specific subjects they study (media and music).

These devices are required to be enrolled with ICT Services before use in the classroom and are expected to meet the minimum device requirements provided below in the Minimum Devices Specifications information.

As students will be accessing the College network they will be required to agree to the Acceptable Use Agreement that sets out how the device can be used at Tatachilla Lutheran College.

Our ICT Services department is available to answer questions and to give assistance if required.

• Call ICT Services at (08) 8323 4466
• Email ICT Services at ictservices@tatachilla.sa.edu.au

Junior School students in years 2 to 6 are required to have an Apple iPad device that meets the minimum device requirements provided below in the Minimum Devices Specifications information.

Reception and year 1 students we have returned to a more conventional hands-on learning approach, with a loan fleet of iPads available for special activities.

Students joining the college in Year 6 are offered the opportunity to lease an iPad to avoid the burden of purchasing one for use for a single year.

Upon starting Year 7, students are expected to provide a laptop device that meets the minimum device requirements provided below in the Minimum Devices Specifications information.

Tatachilla Lutheran College requires the following minimum device specifications, any devices that do not meet the below requirements may be incompatible with the college systems may be refused.

Junior School - iPad Device Specifications:

• iPad (10th gen) or greater; iPad Air (3rd gen) or greater
• (Note: The iPad Mini is not suitable)
• A suitable case that fully encloses the iPad and a Screen Protector

Middle & Senior School - Laptop Device Specifications:

• Strictly no tablet/hybrid devices (eg. ASUS Transformer, Microsoft Surface)
• Strictly no gaming notebooks (eg. Razer devices, Alienware devices, ASUS ROG & TUF devices, ACER Predator, etc)
• Note: Gaming notebooks appear to meet minimum specification, however have poor battery life (typically ~1 hour) and are quite large and heavy
• Strictly no Celeron, Pentium, ARM, SnapDragon, or CPU generations older than listed below
• 13” Screen or larger with a minimum resolution of 1920x1080
• Operating System: macOS Sonoma, Windows 11 Home/Pro (without S mode)
• CPU/Processor: Apple M1 or greater; 13th-generation Intel Core i5/i7 or greater; AMD Ryzen 7000 series or greater
• RAM: 8GB or greater (we strongly recommend 16GB)
• Storage: 128GB SSD or greater
• Battery 8 Hour or greater
• USB-C charging (please ensure Windows laptops are checked for this)
• Wifi: 802.11AC 5GHz Wireless capability

Specialist Subject Consideration

Students studying music are strongly recommended to consider a Mac.  As Macs are particularly suited for this area a Mac will be provided in class where students have a Windows device, however to utilise this software outside of class it would be an advantage to have a Mac BYOD.

Students studying media, photography, and/or 3D animation should consider a more powerful computer. This still needs to comply with the above specifications, but should have:

• RAM: 16GB
• Storage: 256GB SSD
• Discrete GPU (eg. NVIDIA, AMD)

Before purchasing a device please ensure you have reviewed the Minimum Device Specifications above.

As a BYOD is a personal device, families are free to purchase from any vendor they wish, so long as it meets the specifications outlined here. To help with this decision, ICT Services has arranged a portal with JB-Hifi that provides a sample selection of devices that comply with the minimum device specifications.

Click the following link and use the school code tatachilla2025 to purchase using this portal - JB Hifi Portal

Note: Avoid recycling a device from an older sibling – usable lifespan is typically three years and they will no longer have adequate battery life and may no longer meet the minimum device specifications

The rate of change with the advances in technology means that after three years there are significant differences to platforms which would warrant a change of device rather than a repair. Often the cost of the repair is greater than the value of the iPad or laptop. Likewise, the functionality of devices deteriorates and we have found that students become increasingly frustrated by operating speeds in their most important years of school (for example a laptop purchased in year 7 proving inadequate during Years 11 and 12) and ICT Services advise families that it would be reasonable to expect to replace technologies every three years.

As such the College advises device purchasing expectations would be:

• Year 1 - iPad purchase
• Year 4 - Upgrade iPad
• Year 7 - Laptop Purchase
• Year 10 - Upgrade Laptop

Note: Avoid recycling a device from an older sibling – usable lifespan is typically three years and they will no longer have adequate battery life and may no longer meet the minimum device specifications

Calendar appointments for the setup of BYOD Device in 2025 can be made for November, December, and January here - 2025 BYOD Bookings.

Please note: This booking date is the drop off date. Collection of the setup devices is the following Monday, with the exception of Monday 16th December (collection will be 20th December)

All BYOD devices that will be used at the College are required to be enrolled so they are equipped with the required software and settings.

For laptops, ICT will simply add an additional user and there is no requirement to wipe the device to factory settings.

For iPads, the enrolment process involves wiping the device to factory setting, so please ensure students have no personal data on it.

Devices can be dropped off to ICT Services anytime during the school terms for immediate setup. However, new or replacement devices for the following school year will be enrolled over the Holiday break and will require appointments to be booked.

The College does not own or warranty student devices. ICT Services staff are not capable, qualified, nor authorised to mediate, facilitate, resolve, repair, upgrade, or rebuild your hardware or operating system. 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. Families are responsible for ensuring that devices are insured. Where available, the College will provide access to a device in school while a family has a device being repaired.

Where a student has borrowed a College device (their personal device is being repaired or is left at home for example) and it is then the school device that is damaged, lost, or stolen a $500 excess charge by our insurance company will be liable to the family.

In the case where a student has forgotten their device or if a device requires repair services, ICT Services can provide a short term loan of a College device. This loan is provided at the discretion of the College and students who habitually require loans or fail to return or extend loans may be refused a loan in the future.

ICT services can also provide other items on a strictly same day agreement:

• Laptop Chargers - Suiting Apple and a majority of Windows Devices
• Various Adapters - Including USB-C to USB-A Adapters

In all cases a loan agreement is required to be pre-signed by all parents acknowledging loans are strictly short duration, daily charges apply if loans are not promptly returned, and damage to a College device incurs a $500 excess charge by the College insurance company.