The school will be deploying Ipads to our students, to be used in certain classroom activities. Is there a way we can protect the general settings option/button
While you can set a restrictions passcode that can prevent using the App Store, the iTunes Store, and certain apps, there’s no way to put a passcode on Settings>General as a whole.
Start with Apples iPad managment software. If it does't do what you need there are third party solutions.
While this software does't do exactly what you describe, you should be able to achieve the results you desire (locking down certain feature changes and access to apps).