Since 2014, Barker College, an independent K-12 day and boarding school on Sydney’s upper North Shore, has relied on AARNet networking infrastructure and services to deliver its teaching and learning vision and prepare students for the future.

Over the years, as Barker has progressively integrated and improved technology for both business operations and curriculum delivery, its bandwidth needs have grown. During this time, AARNet has worked closely with Barker’s ICT Team and delivered connectivity improvements and upgrades to meet the school’s changing needs ahead of demand.

Online all the time

Today, almost ten years after AARNet first installed a 1 Gigabit per second (Gbps) link, Barker has peace of mind with dual high-performing 10 Gbps connections to the AARNet network.

James Stewart, Barker College Head of ICT, said AARNet’s dual connection solution mitigates the risk of systems going offline and disrupting day-to-day operations.

“If there’s an outage on the primary connection, traffic switches to the secondary backup connection and the school continues to operate as normal on the backup link,” he said. “This is critical for ensuring that staff and students always have access to online resources for teaching and learning and day-to-day business operations.”

Barker has long had a forward-thinking approach to technology, and reliable connectivity to the internet and online resources and services has been and remains the enabler.

“The school believes that students need to be able to use technology effectively and to have a strong foundation in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects in order to succeed in the 21^st-century workforce,” says Stewart.

To that end, Barker integrates technology across the curriculum. Students use technology to learn, create and communicate using a variety of tools in the classroom, such as interactive whiteboards, laptops, and tablets. STEM subjects are offered, and STEM-focused co-curricular activities teach coding, robotics and engineering. The school also has a makerspace where students can design and build their own projects.

Leading the way with robotics

Barker’s robotics program began in 2013 and is a great example of the school’s commitment to providing students with opportunities to develop STEM skills and knowledge.

“It’s one of the school’s most popular co-curricular programs, enjoyed by students from Year 3 to Year 12, who learn about all aspects of robotics, from design and construction to programming and competition,” explained Stewart.

Barker competes in the global FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition (FRC). Barker’s robotics team, the Redbacks, has had many successes over the past six years, winning awards, and mentoring other Australian and international teams.

Building on the successes of the program, Barker opened a world-class Robotics Centre in 2022. The state-of-the-art facility provides students with access to a full-size robotics field, and a large lab space for students to design, machine, code and plan.

The Robotics Centre is located a kilometre away from the main school campus and Stewart’s team turned to AARNet for a connectivity solution.

AARNet designed and deployed scalable network infrastructure to connect the centre to the main campus and support the growing technology needs of the robotics program.

“AARNet is very collaborative, listens and demonstrates a clear understanding of what a technology-driven school needs from a network perspective,” said Stewart. “We’re very happy with the service AARNet has delivered for Barker’s new Robotics Centre and for the school across the board. Staff and students can move between sites and seamlessly access online systems and resources wherever they might be.”

Featured image: Barker students watch a demonstration by a teacher on a robotics field in the centre. Credit: Barker College.