Running school IT solo? Here’s how to lighten the load 

Running a school’s IT systems on your own or in a small team is no small task. Here's how to lighten the load.

A guide to lightening the load when you’re the only one keeping everything running.

Running a school’s IT systems on your own or in a small team is no small task. From user account creation to keeping everything secure and functioning across multiple platforms, one-person IT departments are a reality for many schools across the UK.

Yet, we know from working with over 4,000 schools and trusts, it’s quite common for IT teams in schools to be lean, with many only having the budget for one network manager or a couple of technicians, responsible for a long and varied list of responsibilities:

• Creating and managing user accounts
• Handling classroom technology
• Maintaining infrastructure and cloud systems
• Troubleshooting daily issues
• Ensuring cybersecurity and compliance

On top of this, there’s often pressure to support teachers, lead digital transformation, and improve efficiency, while doing more with less.

How common are one-person IT teams in schools?

While there isn’t a definitive statistic on the exact number of one-person IT teams in schools, the prevalence of this in the UK is widely acknowledged.

For example, The Department for Education’s “Technology in Schools Survey 2022 to 2023” gathered responses from 323 IT leads across 1,877 schools, indicating that many schools operate with minimal IT staffing.

And, given the average number of devices per school (155 in primary schools and 520 in secondary schools) it’s evident that many IT professionals are tasked with managing extensive infrastructure single handedly.

We also know from working with our own customers that many of you operate in small teams.

And, while the role is often hugely rewarding, it can also be overwhelming.

In fact, from our survey focusing on the wellbeing of IT staff in schools in 2023 we found that:

• A quarter of IT staff in schools believed their workload to be unacceptable
• 41% strongly agreeing that their school does not help them reduce their workload, i.e. expanding the IT team

How to survive with a one-person IT team

When systems are integrated and automated, your day-to-day changes significantly. Rather than spending time on routine admin, you can focus on strategic work, user support, or simply keeping your school running without working late.

Below are the core areas where automation can support one-person IT teams:

Account provisioning and management

Manually creating user accounts, assigning permissions and setting up groups can take hours, especially at the start of term.

With Salamander Integration Suite, this is automated using your MIS data.

Accounts for students, staff and even governors are created and maintained automatically.

When someone joins or leaves, their details and access are updated across platforms like Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Apple School Manager and Active Directory.

Classroom provisioning

Creating Google Classrooms or Microsoft Teams manually for every subject and year group is tedious. Salamander can automate this too; provisioning classes, assigning students and teachers, and archiving classrooms at the end of term.

This means teaching staff are ready to go from day one, with their digital classrooms set up and linked correctly.

Timetable syncing

Timetable changes are common. Entering them manually into calendars is time-consuming.

Our solution can sync timetables from your MIS directly into users’ Microsoft or Google calendars.

This ensures everyone knows where they need to be, whether it’s a regular lesson, cover class, or detention.

Managing leavers and access permissions

It’s easy for leavers to slip through the cracks, posing both security and compliance risks.

Salamander automatically disables or archives accounts when someone leaves, ensuring access is removed across systems, including email, file storage and even building access via tools like Paxton Net2.

This helps you stay compliant with data protection policies and reduces the burden of end-of-year clean-up.

Go from firefighting to forward planning

When you’re not constantly reacting to urgent admin tasks, you’re in a better position to look ahead.

Automating your routine processes allows you to:

• Support staff more effectively
• Improve systems and processes over time
• Strengthen your school’s cybersecurity
• Take well-earned breaks knowing things won’t fall apart

We work with schools of all sizes, many of which rely on a single person to manage IT systems.

Our approach is bespoke, which means we tailor the setup to your exact needs, whether you use one MIS or several, across one school or a whole MAT.

With our support, automation doesn’t need to be complex or intimidating. Once in place, it works quietly in the background, keeping things running, so you don’t have to.

If you’re running IT solo, or supporting someone who is, we’d love to help you make things simpler, safer and more manageable.

Book a call with us to learn more about how Salamander can support your school or trust.