Case Study: How Microsoft 365 Modernised Greybridge School

By the DigiAurora migration team – ≈ 800 words

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Setting the Scene

Greybridge School, a mixed secondary in North Yorkshire, ran on a ten-year-old Exchange server and a patchwork of local file shares. Teachers lugged USB sticks between classrooms, IT spent evenings restoring corrupted Word docs, and senior leadership worried about GDPR compliance. In 2023 they turned to DigiAurora with a simple brief: “Help us modernise without disrupting GCSE prep.”

Phase 1: Listening Before Lifting

We began with a discovery workshop involving SLT, ICT technicians and union reps. Their priorities were clear:

1. Anywhere access to teaching resources
2. Zero loss of learning time during migration
3. Robust safeguarding for email and OneDrive

An audit showed 147 active staff and 1 050 pupils—perfect for Microsoft 365 A3 with Student Benefit licences for every learner.

Phase 2: Building the Foundations

Within Intune we created policy profiles for staff laptops, classroom PCs and six computer-lab images. Azure AD Connect synchronised on-prem AD; School Data Sync pre-built Teams classes linked to SIMS timetables. We staged mailbox migration in three Friday-night batches, each validated by test accounts so Monday lessons resumed unnoticed.

Phase 3: Training that Sticks

We launched a “365-in-30” CPD series—thirty-minute, role-based micro-workshops:

• English department used OneNote Class Notebook for essay annotation.
• Science replaced paper worksheets with Forms quizzes, auto-marking 3 000 answers weekly.
• Admin staff automated parental letters via Word mail-merge and SharePoint site templates.
• A peer-mentor scheme paired enthusiastic early adopters with sceptics; by half-term, over 90 % of staff logged into Teams daily.

Challenges & Course Corrections

• Legacy macros: Two GCSE mark-sheet spreadsheets relied on outdated VBA. Our solution: rebuild them in Excel Online with Power Automate flows—no longer tied to local drives.
• Bandwidth spikes: Initial full-Classroom video uploads saturated the 100 Mb internet line. We scheduled large uploads after 4 p.m. and enabled OneDrive sync throttling.
• Mindset shift: Staff worried emails might “vanish into the cloud.” We organised drop-in Q&A cafés; seeing emails on a phone convinced many sceptics.

Outcomes One Year Later

• Time saved: Staff survey shows average prep time down 3 hours per week—the “copy to USB” ritual is gone.
• Collaboration boom: 12 000 Teams chats and 1 800 channel posts per month, compared to near-zero shared documents the previous year.
• Data safety: No ransomware incidents since Defender ATP policies went live; off-site backups run automatically in Azure.
• Financial impact: Capital savings of £6 400 by retiring two servers; operating budget redeployed to student devices.

Headteacher Ms Rowe sums it up: “We thought a migration would be disruptive. In reality, lessons continued seamlessly, and the gains in collaboration and security were immediate.”

Lessons for Other Schools

1. Phase migrations around the academic calendar. We avoided mocks and exams.
2. Invest in CPD, not just licences. Technology adoption is a people project.
3. Tackle ‘special cases’ early. Legacy macros or bespoke MIS exports can derail timelines if ignored.
4. Leverage Student Benefit. Free learner licences balanced the budget for premium A3 staff accounts.

Considering Microsoft 365? DigiAurora’s migration blueprint combines zero-downtime cut-overs, role-based CPD and post-launch analytics so outcomes mirror Greybridge’s success.

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