The basics to get you started

V1 22/2/10 TJC

To access

OWA will work from anywhere, and on any computer connected to the Internet. Since all your emails are held on the central Exchange Mail Server at School, any changes you make work in exactly the same way whether you use OWA, a PC in school, or your school laptop or Blackberry if you have one.

OWA can be accessed in two ways.

It is important to include the full https as you will notice that there is an ‘s’ on the end of the http. This means it is an encrypted, secure connection, which is important as it means that all data is protected. During the changeover period, there will be emails links to both the current system and the new OWA.

Remember that these notes are about the basic functions of email with OWA, but they are only part of the range of functions available in Outlook. Please ask if, and when, you want to know more. There is a copy of this document in the ‘OWA help’ link from the ‘Email’ menu item on the Staff Portals. A more detailed document can be found in the ‘Outlook support’ link from the ‘Email’ menu item on the Staff Portals.

The three schools have slightly different Staff Portals and the layout of these will change over time, but you need to look for an ‘Email’ link and left click on it. Then left click on ‘OWA’.

To Log on

If you are using a computer in School then you will

  1. First have to Log onto the network by entering your username and password into the Logon box that should be shown on the computer screen.
  2. Then click on the Internet Explorer icon on the Desktop, which will take you to the Staff Portal.

Your network username and password are the same as your Email username and password.

After you click on OWA in the email link on the Staff Portal, or type in the web address https://www.greshams.org/owa into the Internet Explorer browser, the first screen shows a logon box

For school computers it does not matter which ‘security option’ you tick (left click in the round button space). DO NOT tick ‘Use Outlook Web Access Light. For your home computer or any others, click on ‘This is a public or shared computer’

  1. Then type in your normal network username and press the ‘Enter’ key or move the mouse into the Password box and left click.
  2. Then type in your password, and click on Log On.

The screen showing Outlook will then load. This is produced by the server at school and will show the up-to-date state of your emails.

Reading emails

To see an email left click on the email in the list and this will be shown in the window on the right. If you want to see the email full screen ‘double left click’ on the highlighted email in the list or in the window showing the email. If you cannot see this list left click on the Inbox folder in the list on the very left hand side of the screen.

To PRINT an email

move the mouse into the email window and right click. This will give a list of options.

Left click on Print and the usual printer you have connected to the computer will print.

To DELETE an email

Left click over the email in the list to highlight it. Then either left click on DELETE on the toolbar above the list of emails, or right click over the email and then left click on DELETE in the list of option shown.

This moves the email into a ‘deleted’ folder, from which you will need to final delete it to remove it completely. This is in case you delete an email by mistake as it allows you to get it back.

To delete an email finally and totally then left click on the Deleted Items folder in the list on the left hand side of the screen. Left click on an email to highlight it and then either right click and then left click on ‘Delete’ or left click on the ‘cross’ on the icon bar at the top.

Sending an email

Left click on the ‘New’ tab and then left click on ‘Message’ in the list shown

This opens a window in which you write your email.

In the ‘To’ line you type the email address. For ‘greshams.com’ addresses that you have used before you will get prompted by a list as soon as you start to type the address. Click on the one you want – it can save time.

In the ‘Subject’ line just type something which either refers to the topic of the message or just ‘From ...’.

Then type your message in the large space.

To SEND the email left click on the ‘Send’ button in the top left corner of the window. A copy of the email is stored in a folder ‘Sent items’, so you can find copies of emails you have sent at a later date if necessary.

To Logout and leave the school computer ready for someone else.

Left click on the ‘Log Off’ tab in the blue bar at the very right hand side of the screen

Left click on the ‘Close Window’ button

This will give another small window – click YES to confirm

This takes you back to the main Desktop. You now need to Log off the computer. Left click on the ‘Start’ button in the bottom left hand corner of the screen and then left click on ‘Shutdown’ in the list that appears (the bottom option). This displays a window in the centre of the screen which gives the user a list of options. Normally it should have ‘Log off your username’ shown, in which case you just click on OK and the computer will return to the main network Logon box.

However, this box is also used to turn off the computer and to shut it down, and so the small ‘down arrow’ on the right drops down a list of options. You will see that one of these is ‘Shut Down’. If you left click on this to select it and click on OK, then the computer will shut down.