Discovery Schools Academies Trust is a Leicestershire trust of 20 primary and special schools, educating around 6,200 pupils. As technical lead, we refreshed ageing, unsupported Wi-Fi across 16 sites in twelve months and re-switched eight sites on Aruba, working evenings, weekends and holidays to keep classrooms running. Phase 2 is now ordered.
Discovery Schools Academies Trust is a Leicestershire-based Multi-Academy Trust (MAT) of 20 primary and special schools, educating around 6,200 pupils and employing approximately 850 staff. The trust serves communities across Leicestershire from a single county base.
Across the estate, schools were running ageing wireless and unsupported network hardware built to differing standards. The trust set out to standardise on a single platform, move off unsupported equipment, and give every school a modern, reliable network.
The trust selected Aruba for the refresh. The programme is delivered with Strive as project partner and Medhurst as technical lead, working closely with the trust's central IT team. Our engineers are accredited across multiple Aruba examinations.
"Their team took time to understand our requirements from the outset, working closely with our schools and central IT team to deliver a solution that genuinely meets the needs of our trust."
Trust IT Leadership, Discovery (draft, pending approval)Across 20 schools, the trust was carrying ageing wireless and unsupported hardware with no common standard. It needed a single platform, a route off end-of-life kit, and a refresh delivered without taking classrooms offline during the school day.
Network equipment across several sites was end of life and no longer under vendor support, which carries both reliability and security risk.
Each school had grown its own infrastructure, making the estate harder to support, secure, and plan for. The trust wanted one consistent platform.
Older wireless could not keep pace with the demands of modern teaching and the number of devices now relying on it across primary and special settings.
The work had to fit tight timelines without disrupting teaching, calling for evening, weekend, and holiday delivery coordinated with the trust's IT team.
"We have been impressed by their technical capability, project management, and the care they have taken to minimise disruption across our schools."
Trust IT Leadership, Discovery (draft, pending approval)As technical lead, we standardised the trust on Aruba and delivered the refresh in phases, scheduling work around the school day so that teaching continued uninterrupted.
Working with the trust's IT team, we agreed Aruba as the single standard for the estate and planned a phased refresh that moved schools off unsupported hardware in priority order.
436 Aruba access points deployed across 16 sites, phased between March and September 2025 for the primary schools, replacing the ageing wireless throughout.
Eight sites re-switched on Aruba CX 6200 series since April, bringing the network back into support and onto the common standard.
Phase 2, covering switching and wireless at the non-primary schools, is now ordered, with scope to quote further schools as they join the trust next year.
Delivered around the school day: Tight timelines meant weekend and out-of-hours work. We arranged each site in coordination with the trust's IT team, completing work in the holidays or, for the primary schools, after school hours, to keep disruption to a minimum.
Why Aruba, and why Medhurst: The trust selected Aruba for the refresh. Delivered with Strive as project partner and Medhurst as technical lead, the programme draws on engineers accredited across multiple Aruba examinations, giving the trust confidence in the design and the installation.
The programme moved from wireless across the primary schools, into switching, and on to phase 2, all sequenced to protect teaching and planned around the trust's growth.
436 Aruba access points deployed across 16 sites, phased between March and September 2025, replacing the ageing wireless throughout the primary estate.
Eight sites re-switched on Aruba CX 6200 series, delivered through weekend and out-of-hours work coordinated with the trust's IT team.
Wireless refreshed across 16 sites in twelve months and switching completed at eight sites, moving the trust onto the common Aruba standard.
Phase 2 is now ordered, extending the refresh to switching and wireless at the non-primary schools across the trust.
There is scope to quote further schools as they are onboarded over the next school year, with the programme set to continue over the next 24 months.
The refresh has moved the trust off ageing, unsupported infrastructure and onto a single Aruba standard, delivered without taking classrooms offline during the school day.
Wireless refreshed across 16 sites in twelve months, giving primary and special school classrooms a modern, reliable platform.
Eight sites re-switched on Aruba CX 6200 series, moving the network off unsupported hardware and onto the common standard.
A single Aruba platform across the trust makes the estate easier to support, secure, and plan for as the trust grows.
Evening, weekend, and holiday delivery, coordinated with the trust's IT team, kept classrooms running throughout the programme.
A clear outcome for pupils and staff: improved connectivity, stronger network reliability, and a more secure environment, delivered in partnership with HPE Aruba.
With phase 1 complete and phase 2 ordered, the programme is set to roll out across the trust's remaining schools. The trust's reflection on the work to date is below.
"Medhurst Communications have been an excellent partner throughout the first phase of our infrastructure programme. Their team took time to understand our requirements from the outset, working closely with our schools and central IT team to deliver a solution that genuinely meets the needs of our trust. The results have been clear: improved connectivity, stronger network reliability, and a more secure environment for our pupils and staff. We have been impressed by their technical capability, project management, and the care they have taken to minimise disruption across our schools. We look forward to continuing this programme with Medhurst as we roll out the remaining schools over the next 24 months."
Trust IT Leadership, Discovery Schools Academies Trust Draft, pending approvalPhase 2 is now ordered, covering switching and wireless at the non-primary schools, with scope to quote further schools as they join the trust. The programme is set to continue over the next 24 months, standardising the whole estate on a modern, supported Aruba network.
We work with schools, colleges, and Multi-Academy Trusts across England to standardise estates on HPE Aruba, refresh ageing Wi-Fi and switching, and sequence delivery around the school day. Speak with our experts about your refresh plans.
