Freedom to Focus April 2013

2013 www.capita-sims.co.uk

Attainment

‘Outstanding’Having the facts at your fingertips will pay off when the inspectors visit

Behaviour managementSchools reveal how they have improved pupil behaviour

AttendanceHow SIMS software can raise attendance at your school

SIMS software helps boost achievement

2 | 2013 | FREEDOM to focus

FAST FACTS

www.capita-sims.co.uk

www.capita-sims.co.uk 0845 460 4078

Save time and money with SIMS

Enter achievement and behaviour information directly into SIMS and save 370 hours (or 10 weeks of admin time) a year.

www.capita-sims.co.uk/savewithsims

Primary schools can gain an average of two to three hours of administration time per week using SIMS Dinner Money – larger primaries will save even more time.

“Communications are now streamlined, saving valuable staff time. Parents are also more willing to get in touch about any concerns, helping us support pupils more effectively.”

Pay your suppliers by Capita’s BACS service and you could save 50 per cent on payment costs. For an average secondary school the saving is £3,500 per year.£3,500

Switch to text and email for communicating with parents, pupils and staff and an average secondary school can save 450 hours, 39,000 pieces of paper and £8,000 per year. An average primary school can save 120 hours, 6,750 pieces of paper and £2,200 per year.

“Parents can log in anywhere and see an overview of their child’s information in real time.”

Use electronic registration and eliminate correcting and scanning OMR sheets – saving approximately 39 days per year.

Replace 200 phone calls per week at 25p with texts from SIMS InTouch @ 6p.

Using SIMS Profiles for pupil report writing can save 30 minutes per pupil report. 30 pupils = 15 hours. In a school of 80 staff = 150 days, assuming an eight-hour day.

Data acts as a catalyst

for more customised teaching and learning.

We c a n i d e n t i f y v u l n e ra b l e g r o u p s

w i t h j u s t a f ew p u p i l s i n t h e m a n d m o n i t o r t h e i r p r o g r e s s .

contents list04 Behaviour: SIMS software is

a really powerful tool when it comes to changing attitudes.

06 Attendance: Having accurate data at your fingertips will help you to improve attendance at your school.

08 Attainment: SIMS can play a major role when it comes to boosting attainment allowing

you to make targeted interventions with pupils.

10 Communication/saving money: Whether it’s keeping parents informed or managing budgets, SIMS can help you to be more effective and efficient.

12 Inspections: It’s vitally important to have the facts at your fingertips when HMI pay a visit.

Inspectors expect you to know if any cohort of pupils is struggling and what you’re going to do about it.

14 Inspection advice: Five valuable tips on how to use data to your advantage.

15 SIMS at a glance: Support, training and hardware – SIMS is much more than just software.

FREEDOM to focus | 2013 | 3

WELCOME

S chool leaders have so many demands on their time, it’s possible to be distracted from a focus on teaching and learning. SIMS founder and managing director Phil Neal explains how management information systems (MIS) can give you the freedom to focus on what’s important: the pupils in your care. SIMS is an amazing resource. It can help pupils achieve more, behave better and improve standards. It can manage pupil and staff information across

all areas of school life and even facilitate parental engagement. It builds a complete picture of every pupil – and your school as a whole.

Take SIMS Discover, as an example. This 2013 Bett Award and 2012 Education Resources Award (ERA) winning software package allows you to analyse your data and present it in a variety of visual ways, including Venn diagrams, bar charts and pie charts. Its use of drag and drop simplifies analysis, meaning all school staff can easily manage and understand their own data.

Arguably its most valuable asset is that it can alert you to trends. For example, when a pupil has amassed a certain amount of behaviour points, or when attendance falls below 90 per cent. It also shows the links that exist between children’s attainment and their attendance and behaviour. Once the information is at your fingertips, you can act on it and change outcomes for the better, for example, a child who’s attendance has dropped to below 90% and has more than 50 behaviour points.

With SIMS you can go deeper. Parental involvement is a key part of pupil attainment. SIMS Learning Gateway provides secure online access to your school’s information, which can be accessed by parents and teachers anytime from anywhere.

Used in conjunction with SIMS InTouch, which combines text and email, even hard-to-reach parents

can stay updated on their child’s progress via short, to-the-point text messages which encourage them to get involved in school life, for example, receiving a text to say that their child has just been given a commendation.

SIMS InTouch can automate processes in the school office too by alerting staff to important events or incidents. This can include automatic alerts when a teacher hasn’t updated a Marksheet or when a behaviour incident is logged in SIMS.

SIMS Learning Gateway is now better than ever and features a new user interface for the pupil summary page for improved access to the SIMS information for parents, pupils and teachers. Parents and pupils can access this information on the go via their mobile

phone with our mobile browser.

SIMS is a resource that is constantly evolving and offering you more. Our new product, SIMS Agora enables parents to pay online for items, including uniforms, school trips, school dinners and much more. Not only does this lower costs, it

also helps cut down on bullying, as fewer children carry money to school.

We are constantly enhancing the SIMS suite with solutions that support schools in their quest to use data efficiently to drive school improvement. This includes enhancements to SIMS Personnel to manage staff performance which enables schools to capture all elements, from lesson observations to objective-setting and reviews. You should also look out for a new and improved SIMS Homepage and

Teacher Pupil View to make it easier to analyse the information presented.

In short, as a school leader, you can’t afford to be without SIMS.

Welcome to

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Introduction by Phil Neal


BEHAVIOUR

“Pupils no longer face any disruption to learning from their peers”

Behaviour at school does not exist in a vacuum. Bad behaviour in the classroom can disrupt pupils and affect achievement. Conversely, rewarding good behaviour can

incentivise pupils and create a positive atmosphere.

“More and more schools are measuring positive as well as negative behaviour,” says Graham Cooper, head of product strategy at Capita. Schools can use SIMS to record a range of behaviours, with point scores awarded for each action. The data can be broken down in a variety of ways – for example, by class, or by time of day. “This is a very powerful tool for driving attainment and spotting early interventions,” says Graham.

Collecting the data is just the beginning – acting quickly when bad behaviour is recorded is key to turning attitudes around, says Phil Neal, managing director of Capita SIMS.

“An old-fashioned school would record incidents on paper and take a week to process them – by which time the pupil would have forgotten the incident that occurred in the first place. Now, everything is recorded electronically as it happens. Schools often have a behaviour coordinator. They will see the incident immediately and give instant feedback – it makes a huge difference,” he says.

He adds that recording low-level behaviours – such as cheekiness or ‘messing around’ in class – also has an impact. Previously, small incidents

would go unrecorded and unnoticed. One school, he says, has a policy of intervening after three such incidents have been recorded – which has had a “huge impact” on behaviour.

At Witchford Village College in Cambridgeshire every behavioural incident, whether it is good or bad, is recorded using SIMS. This means disciplinary action can be taken straight away when it comes to bad behaviour, says David Taylor, the school’s head teacher.

Incidents of positive actions are shared widely with parents, and with pupils and staff throughout the school at assemblies.

Significant impactPupils are rewarded in several ways. As well as stickers, certificates and non-uniform days, they earn points for good behaviour such as working hard, helping other pupils, or taking part in extracurricular activities. These points can be spent online on treats such as cinema tickets or free lunches at the school.

This positive endorsement helps to create an environment where pupils know that their good behaviour will be rewarded, says David, adding that SIMS has had a “significant impact” on bullying at the school. The statistics show that the school has successfully reduced incidents of bullying by 75 per cent since using the software.

SIMS software allows the school to interpret

The impact of using SIMS to improve behaviour is hard to overstate. When examples of both good and bad behaviour are recorded, it brings a holistic solution that can transform the atmosphere in a school


School: Witchford Village College

Pupils: 800

Age range: 11-16

Location: Cambridgeshire

Sex: Mixed

Ofsted: Good

“The new systemhas receivedpositive commentsfrom parentsand pupils”

the data in several ways. For example, in the case of bullying, the school can see if incidents are occurring in a specific lesson or at a specific time, and cross-check that against the individual achievement of the pupils involved.

“It’s been really positive – we have got a complete picture of what is happening, and we are aware of any issues as they emerge. We can target interventions exactly where they are needed,” says David. The feedback from teaching staff and parents has been “brilliant”, he adds. “We can now spend time on dealing with minor behaviour incidents and positive behaviour management. Tackling bullying has successfully affected achievement and attendance at the school.”

Ofsted has taken notice. In 2010, the school’s most recent inspection, inspectors noted that behaviour had improved “significantly”.

“The new behaviour-management system received positive comments from parents and pupils. The college has worked hard and to considerable effect to improve attendance.

Persistent absence has dropped well below the national average,” the Ofsted report said.

Holistic strategyIn Falmouth, Cornwall, SIMS is also helping to improve behaviour. Alex George, the assistant head teacher at Falmouth School, says the school uses SIMS in a variety of ways, including to help improve behaviour.

“If an incident occurs, staff enter the details into SIMS and the pupil automatically receives a detention the next day. This has had an immediate impact, as pupils know misconduct will not be tolerated,” he says. “We have significantly reduced the number of incidents

over the past year, and the figure is still falling. Pupils no longer face any disruption to learning from their peers.”

Tackling behaviour is a key part of the school’s holistic strategy, says Alex: “By addressing low attainment, behaviour or lateness head-on, setting ambitious targets and closely monitoring our progress, we can be sure that every child leaves our school with the best possible start on the next stage of their journey.”


School: Falmouth School

Pupils: 1,100

Age range: 11-18

Location: Falmouth, Cornwall

Sex: Mixed

Ofsted: Good

The software provides a complete picture of

what children are doing in terms of good as well as

bad behaviour

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K E Y S T A T I S T I C S

Bullying incidents at Witchford Village have reduced by 75 per cent

In 2005, 41 per cent of Falmouth pupils got 5 A*-C GCSEs, including English and maths. By 2011, it was 66 per cent

K E Y S O F T W A R E

SIMS Core SuiteSIMS Behaviour ManagementSIMS AssessmentSIMS Discover

66%

75%

“We are aware of any issues as they emergeand can target interventions where needed”



ATTENDANCE

“Without SIMS, we’dbe completely lost. We use it in lots of ways”

Pupil absence can be a persistent problem for schools, says Phil Neal, the managing director of Capita SIMS. Children who spend too much time out of school may

find it hard to catch up, putting their future achievement at risk. As well as truancy and sickness, increasing numbers of pupil absences are due to unauthorised term-time holidays.

“Whether the issue is cheaper family holidays, truancy or difficulties at home, recording and studying what we know will help schools to ensure children’s needs are met,” he says. “We need to act now to ensure that frequent absence from the classroom doesn’t jeopardise their chances of gaining the qualifications and skills they need in adult life.”

In his review on improving school attendance, Charlie Taylor, the Government’s adviser on behaviour, said problems associated with absence from class can begin when children are four.

However, with the use of SIMS, non-attendance can be tracked electronically by schools. Registration tools mean teachers can record registration directly into the school’s computers. This means that absence patterns are much easier to spot. In addition, sophisticated tools in SIMS allow school staff to set alerts when pupils miss school, and allow users to analyse data in several ways – by day of the week, time of day,

class, year or family group, for example.

Reward good attendanceWendy Stones is Wistaston Green Primary School’s family support worker. The school is on the outskirts of Crewe, and pupils come from an area of high socio-economic deprivation. In 2010, the school was classed as a ‘red school’, with attendance running below 93 per cent. The school embarked on

a push to increase attendance, says Wendy, and last year its efforts paid off – attendance hit 96.4 per cent.

“Without SIMS, we’d be completely lost,” she says. “We calculate the minutes children are late, for example, which can make a big difference. If they are missing lessons, we

Poor attendance reflects badly on schools and can jeopardise the life chances of pupils as they fail to gain the qualifications and skills they need for adult life. SIMS software has proven results when it comes to improving attendance


School: Wistaston Green Primary School

Pupils: 340

Age range: 3-11

Location: Crewe, Cheshire

Sex: Mixed

Ofsted: Good

“All staff are engagedin using SIMS toprovide informationto assist teachingand learning”

“Without SIMS, we’dbe completely lost. We use it in lots of ways”

can then put a punctuality plan in place.”Having the data on hand also means that it is

easier to work with parents, says Wendy. “You can compare siblings and if they are off on the same day we can raise it with parents – all the information is there at the click of a button.”

The school uses the data in a weekly attendance assembly, where it is shared with the children who are aware that the school’s attendance target is 96 per cent. Rewarding good attendance is a key part of the strategy. “We have a reward scheme, so every child whose attendance hits 96 per cent or above gets a prize and an attendance-effort badge,” Wendy says.

Acting quicklyIn secondary schools, attendance management tools are used in the same way – and school staff monitor attendance on a lesson-by-lesson basis using SIMS Lesson Monitor. Having data available readily means schools can act on

unauthorised absences quickly, for example, by setting detention at lunchtimes if pupils are persistently late in the morning. “It’s acting on things so quickly that makes such a huge difference,” says Phil Neal.

At St James’s CE High School in Farnworth, Bolton, attendance has been rising every year since 2009, and is now 96.3 per cent across the whole school. Deputy head teacher Roy Coulson says: “Our SIMS coverage is comprehensive. It forms the key element of

our monitoring and progress reporting on a number of levels. All staff are engaged in using SIMS to provide information to assist teaching and learning, and ultimately pupil progress.”

The school is one of only two ‘Outstanding’ schools in Bolton, as judged by Ofsted in 2011. Inspectors noted that “attendance at the school was very high and reflects pupils’ enjoyment of and commitment to the school.”

Teachers find it much easier to spot absence patterns when they use SIMS tools that allow them to record registration directly into the school’s computers every day


School: St James’s CE High School

Pupils: 1,000

Age range: 11-16

Location: Bolton

Sex: Mixed

Ofsted: Outstanding

GET

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Wistaston Green Primary has raised attendance from 93 per cent to 96.4 per cent

Attendance at Bolton’s St James CE High School has risen to 96.3 per cent


SIMS Core SuiteSIMS AttendanceSIMS Lesson MonitorSIMS InTouchSIMS Learning Gateway

96.4%

96.3%“Our SIMS coverage is comprehensive andforms the key elements of our monitoring andprogress reporting on a number of levels”



ATTAINMENT

Raising attainment is a complex issue, affected by deprivation, parental involvement and behaviour, among many other factors. However, keeping on top of the data your

school produces is vital in any improvement strategy.

“Exam results are hard-and-fast data points and easily understood,” says Julie Booth, Capita’s head of independent schools. “Schools set their own interim tests, and children sit tests at the start of key stages.”

School staff can use SIMS Discover to gather all these test results and analyse them to ensure that pupils remain on track. For example, the software can be set so it sends an alert when a pupil is falling behind on targets. “It’s little things like this that are built into its functionality that help to ensure every child is reaching their potential,” says Julie.

Graham Cooper, head of product strategy at Capita, says that schools can use their data much more efficiently in order to dig deep into the factors affecting attainment – for example, by comparing attainment by class, year, gender,

attendance level or prior attainment.

“All schools are about driving standards and raising attainment – that is the main job of the school, and there are a range of tools they have at their disposal to help raise attainment, including SIMS,” he says. “There is lots of data sitting inside SIMS. The question is: what is it actually telling you – what are the patterns and stories within the data?”

Using the interactive drag-and-drop tools within SIMS Discover can help schools explore exactly what they need to know in order to raise standards, says Graham. “If you spot a pupil going off the rails, you can do something about it, and if you see that pupils receiving free school meals aren’t doing well, you can ask yourself what are you doing about it?” he says.

Best exam resultsFeatherstone High School in London is attended by more than a thousand pupils. It is situated in an area of high cultural diversity – 71 per cent of pupils speak English as an additional language. There is also a degree of deprivation, with more than one-third of pupils receiving free school meals.

Additionally, 27 per cent of children have special educational needs. However, the school achieved its best ever exam results this year, with 66 per cent of pupils gaining five

“Data acts as a catalyst for more customised teaching and learning”

School: Featherstone High

Pupils: 1,200

Age range: 11-16

Location: Southall, London

Sex: Mixed

Ofsted: Outstanding

Can a software package such as SIMS really raise attainment at your school? The short answer is yes, and it applies equally to primary and secondary education. Many schools, including Featherstone High in London and Hatfield Primary in Sheffield, can show you how


“At Featherstone, 71 per cent of pupils speak English as an additional language”

A*-C grades at GCSE, including English and maths, compared with 53 per cent in 2011. 96 per cent of pupils achieved A*-C grades in GCSE subjects excluding English and maths, up from 80 per cent in 2011.

“It’s the biggest year-on-year rise we’ve experienced,” says Neil Bradford, the school’s deputy head. The school uses a range of tools to help raise attainment, including extra revision classes and online resources. It also forges links with parents, giving them regular updates and information on their children’s progress via SIMS.

“There are many things that we do, but SIMS plays a major part in our success,” says Neil. “Everyone uses it and understands it. It helps us to know how every individual, class and year group is performing in each subject. This helps us pinpoint where we need to work harder.”

It has been a similar success story at Hatfield Primary School in north Sheffield. The school joined forces with Hartley Brook Primary in 2009 in order to create a partnership that would help to raise standards.

Both schools were failing and located in one of the most disadvantaged areas in the country.

Since then, attainment has risen rapidly at the schools. Chris Hobson, head teacher of the Hatfield and Hartley Brook Primary Trust, says using SIMS to monitor and analyse pupil progress has been crucial.

Standards are risingShe says: “Teachers are alerted to specific problems, as the data highlights underperformance in a particular area. This allows them to put appropriate learning strategies in place and then track progress.”

At Hatfield, this has contributed to great results: 96 per cent of children made at least two levels of progress from Level Two in English since year two, and 100 per cent achieved this in maths. At Hartley Brook, 96 per cent of children achieved this leap in English, and 91 per in maths. Average progress nationally is 85 per cent.

Chris says: “The data acts as a catalyst for more customised teaching and learning. This raises expectations as well as overall standards.”

“Data acts as a catalyst for more customised teaching and learning”

School: Hatfield Primary

Pupils: 400

Age range: 5-11

Location: Sheffield, South Yorkshire

Sex: Mixed

Ofsted: Good


“There are many things that we do, butSIMS plays a major part in our success”

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of children at Hatfield have made at least two levels of progress from Level Two in English since year two, and 100% achieved this in maths

of pupils achieved five A* - C grade GCSEs, including English and maths, at Featherstone High School compared with 53 per cent in 2011


SIMS Core SuiteSIMS AssessmentSIMS Discover

66%

96%


COMMUNICATION / SAVING MONEY

When it comes to running a successful school, effective communication is a vital component, the days of sending letters to parents are almost a thing of the past. “You can now do shopping and banking online, so why

should your child’s school report be any different?” asks Julie Booth, Capita’s head of independent schools.

Andrew Freeman, director of ICT at St Bede’s in County Durham, a secondary school with 1,500 pupils and 170 staff, agrees. “SIMS is our management system that, as a school, we use day-in, day-out to measure attendance, exam grades, behaviour and more,” he says.

The school uses SIMS Learning Gateway which allows parents to log into the SIMS system to look at stored information relevant to their child. Andrew says: “Communication has been made a lot easier, because we give access to information to parents. They can log in anywhere and see an overview of their child’s information in real time, including attendance, behaviour, school reports, assessments and grades.”

Communication streamlinedWhen The Magna Carta School in Surrey moved to SIMS, it improved communication. The secondary academy has used SIMS InTouch extensively. Exams, data and SIMS manager Julie Allen says: “We use it to help improve attendance. It’s useful to be able to inform parents of an absence. We also use it to notify them about events, such as parents’ evenings, and for emailing reports.”

Assistant head James Thorpe adds: “Communications are now streamlined, saving valuable staff time. Parents are also

more willing to get in touch about any concerns, perhaps if they notice a pattern of absence. This level of parental engagement helps us support pupils more effectively.”

Graham Cooper, Capita’s head of product strategy, says SIMS InTouch works with SIMS Learning Gateway as a ‘push and pull model’. “We push short, snappy communications out to parents through texts and emails – such as a reminder for parent’s evening – and these communications pull them towards SIMS Learning Gateway, which contains information about their child over a long period of time, for example, their attendance record for the whole year, or all of their school reports.”

SIMS InTouch can even send detention messages to inform parents about it. However, it can do far more than send out communications to parents. It can also automate processes in the school office by alerting staff to important events or incidents. If, for example, a teacher hasn’t updated a Marksheet by a specified date, an alert can be automatically set up; or when a behaviour incident is logged in SIMS

Using SIMS software means that schools and parents alike aren’t left in the dark about attendance, behaviour, grades or reports. Schools can also plan their budgets much more effectively

“Communication has been made so much easier”


School: The Magna Carta School

Pupils: 1,200

Age range: 11-16

Location: Surrey

Sex: Mixed

Ofsted: Good

School: St Bede’s Catholic School and Sixth Form

Pupils: 1,500

Age range: 11-18

Location: County Durham

Sex: Mixed

Ofsted: Outstanding

“By virtuallyeliminating paper-based financialprocesses, we have much greater controlover our cash flow”

an automatic alert can be sent to teachers. Using the system also saves money – schools no longer print reports, which saves on postage, stationery costs and staff time. Instead, parents receive a text alert that their child’s report is online. This costs the school six pence per text, compared with a 40–50p postage cost.

“We do give parents the choice to opt out if they still want a printed report,” says Andrew. “Only 14 parents out of 1,500 have opted out so far.”

Billing is simplified Independent schools are also using SIMS to help save money. Ruthin School in north Wales has switched from a paper-based invoicing system to an electronic one. The school is a combined boarding and day school for UK and international pupils, which made billing a complicated process.

“Our previous fees billing process was incredibly time-consuming and with almost

60 per cent of our parents living overseas, paper invoices could get lost in the post,” says Toby Belfield, the school’s head.

“Time zones also made it difficult to resolve issues by phone and this meant payments to us were often delayed.”

The school decided to use SIMS Fees Billing, which automates the billing process, using email to send invoices. Parents pay fees by bank transfer, rather than cheque, giving the school the ability to control its

cash flow more effectively. The school also pays staff and suppliers

electronically – making paper-based financial processes almost a thing of the past. School staff are paid by BACS with payslips issued by email. Suppliers are also paid electronically - SIMS already stores details for them, so staff can simply press a button on the same day each month to pay any outstanding bills.

“By virtually eliminating paper-based financial processes, we have greater control over cash flow, which is central to running an efficient and effective business,” says Toby.

“Communication has been made so much easier”


School: Ruthin School

Pupils: 200

Age range: 11-18

Location: Denbighshire

Founded: 1284

Sex: Mixed

Sector: Independent

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“Parents pay fees by electronic bank transfer,rather than cheque, allowing the school tocontrol its cash flow more effectively”


Since implementing electronic billing, Ruthin School receives 64 per cent of its revenue from fees at least three weeks early – which amounts to £1 million in every billing run

“Communications are now streamlined, saving valuable staff time. Parents are also more willing to get in touch about any concerns, helping us support pupils more effectively” The Magna Carta School assistant head James Thorpe


SIMS Learning Gateway SIMS InTouchSIMS Fees Billing SIMS Financial Management System

64%



INSPECTIONS

Changes to the inspection system mean English schools can now be subject to ‘short-notice’ inspections. The ‘satisfactory’ grade

has also been replaced with ‘requires improvement’. The changes mean that keeping track of data and using it effectively is increasingly important. Most schools collect data to a greater or lesser extent, but it’s the regular and effective analysis of that data that is the crucial next step – and one that can make the difference between a ‘good’ school and an ‘outstanding’ one.

“Many schools that were put into the lower categories following previous inspections have had to become good at analysing data. Some schools that didn’t do this have been left behind,” says Jan Webber, Ofsted specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL).

SIMS Discover enables school staff to carry out detailed analysis of data, including

statistics on pupil attendance, behaviour and attainment. This kind of analysis is a mark of a school that is responsive and reactive, says Graham Cooper, Capita’s head of product strategy. “If you know what’s going on in your school, you can show that you’re taking steps to deal with it,” he says. “When the inspectors come through the door, you need to find the answers to the questions they’re asking quickly.”

Detailed analysisUsing data stored in SIMS Discover, school staff can show inspectors key statistics in an easy-to-understand format. The latter can be crucial, as not all inspectors have the same background knowledge and experience when it comes to analysing data.

At Wimbledon Chase Primary School in London, SIMS Discover has allowed the school to track the progress of different groups, such as children with English as an additional language, more effectively and efficiently. Prior to using the software, the school used to print off pupil progress reports and look at them on paper, a process that Catherine Roberts, the deputy head, says used to take “quite literally, days”.

SIMS Discover now simplifies and speeds up this process, she says: “We can identify vulnerable groups with just a few pupils in

Effective use of data can empower teachers and drive learning – it is also vital when it comes to inspections, say school leaders at Wimbledon Chase Primary School and Carmel College in County Durham

“Data plays an enormously important role in underpinning progress”


School: Wimbledon Chase Primary School

Pupils: 550

Age-range: 3-11

Location: London

Sex: Mixed

Ofsted: Outstanding

“We can identify vulnerable groups with just afew pupils in them and monitor their progress”

them and monitor their progress. It ensures we are addressing everyone’s needs.”

A few months after the school began to use SIMS Discover, an inspection took place. Instead of giving inspectors data that was three months old, the school had information that was completely up-to-date on hand.

“Children can make quite a bit of progress from February to May, so it made a real difference,” Catherine says. “I was fully prepared for all of their enquiries as I had everything in front of me. They asked me how the children on free school meals were doing and I could be exact. I was also able to show the precise percentage of pupils who had made six or more sub-levels of progress from Key Stage One to Key Stage Two. It was wonderful to have that information at my fingertips.”

The school was upgraded from ‘good with elements of outstanding’ to ‘outstanding’ overall. It was last inspected in May 2012, and remains an ‘outstanding’ school.

Rigorous systemCarmel College, a Catholic Academy in County Durham,

is another success story. Using SIMS, the school has implemented a rigorous system that assesses pupils against national curriculum criteria or GCSE grades three times a year. The children are given targets to be met that increase as they progress. “Everything is in our management information system, enabling us to analyse data effectively,” says Janice Gorlach, the school’s vice-principal. “We make it straightforward so that teachers can immediately spot any cause for concern.”

This effective data management has contributed to an ‘Outstanding’ rating from Ofsted at its most recent inspection.

“Data plays an enormously important role in underpinning progress,” says Janice. “Our pastoral and academic structures are totally integrated, as all staff work together with children to secure outstanding achievements, wherever their starting points and needs.”

The inspectors agreed – their report noted that the “tenacious analysis by staff of pupil performance data ensures that work is well matched to their needs and interests.”


School: Carmel College, a Catholic Academy

Pupils: 1,200

Age-range: 11-19

Location: Darlington

Sex: Mixed

Ofsted: Outstanding

ALAM

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“Tenacious analysis of data ensures that work is matched to their needs and interests”


At Carmel College, 95 per cent of pupils achieved 5 A*-C GCSEs, including English and maths in 2012

Wimbledon Chase Primary upgraded from ‘good with elements of outstanding’ to ‘outstanding’ overall following clear analysis of pupil performance data


SIMS Core SuiteSIMS AssessmentSIMS Discover

95%



INSPECTION ADVICE

It’s time to embrace technology with open armsWhile it can be reassuring to stick to tried and tested measures, tide and time wait for no-one. Printing out reports and posting them has been replaced by email; payments are made easier by using BACS. If you want to

know how your pupils with English as an additional language have progressed with their numeracy over the past six months, you just need a few clicks of the mouse. As deputy head Catherine Roberts notes in our behaviour article: “We can identify vulnerable groups with just a few pupils in them and monitor their progress. It ensures we are addressing everyone’s needs.” Head teacher Chris Hobson hits the nail on the head in our attainment feature when she says: “Data acts as a catalyst for more customised teaching and learning. It raises expectations and standards.”

Use all the tools at your disposalWhen it comes to data, there can be no complacency. Schools are under pressure to keep standards high. Inspectors will come armed with figures and preconceptions, but, in the words of Jan Webber,

Ofsted specialist at ASCL and the former head at Longton High School in Stoke-on-Trent, “It is then the job of the school to support or disprove their hypothesis with their own data.” What marks out the good and outstanding schools is the breadth and depth of detail they provide and the way they respond to the analysis. In a poll of ASCL members, all agreed that data was important in informing school improvement decisions, yet more than a third only used their MIS as an ‘electronic filing cabinet’ or for accessing data when a specific problem was identified.

Take controlInspectors want to see that heads have a close grip on every aspect of their school. It follows that school leaders need to be experts in their MIS. It’s not something to be delegated to the IT teacher, deputy head or the school business

manager. Having the MIS embedded in the daily life of the school and used to its full potential is increasingly essential. With a continuous flow of up-to-the-minute information, schools can track and analyse pupil and staff data allowing them to spot potential issues as they arise.

Dig deep and wideData on vulnerable children (EAL, FSM, SEN, LAC) or other user-defined groups can be scrutinised across a class, year group or on a school-wide basis. This allows for simple data analyses to be undertaken, such as examining the

progress of girls against boys, as well as more detailed analysis and year-upon-year comparisons. If, 18 months ago, you identified your core poor attendees and put strategies in place to address the issue, you can see if your efforts have had an affect on attendance today. Even if attendance is above the national average, you will need to show what action is being taken to improve the figure further.

It’s not just for pupilsWith increased responsibilities for teacher development, the ability for schools to analyse the results of an NQT against an experienced member of staff can help identify where more training and support may be needed. By considering

how different teachers, classes or subjects are progressing, subject and school leaders can uncover a teacher’s strengths and use the information to inform their CPD requirements and their curriculum management decisions. Inspectors will be also looking for evidence that teachers deserve to be on the pay scale that they are on.

As a school leader, you need accurate information at your fingertips when the inspectors come calling. Using your MIS to its full potential is increasingly a hallmark of ‘good’ and ‘outstanding’ schools

Get ahead of the game an inspection is only a phone call away


ALAM

Y

“What marks out good and outstanding schoolsis the breadth and depth of detail they provide”

keep in touch find out more


YOUR GUIDE TO SIMS

More than just software


Capita SIMS | Franklin Court, Priory Business Park, Cardington, Bedfordshire, MK44 3JZ | 01234 838 080 | www.capita-sims.co.uk | Freedom to Focus is published by Redactive Publishing Ltd | www.redactive.co.uk | Account director: Anthony Moran | Editor: Steve Smethurst | Writer: Fay Schopen | Art editor: Gene Cornelius

© Freedom To Focus is published on behalf of Capita SIMS by Redactive Publishing Ltd, 17 Britton St, London EC1M 5TP. Articles do not necessarily reflect the views of Capita SIMS nor should such opinions be relied upon as statements of fact. All rights reserved. This publication may not be reproduced, transmitted or stored in any print or electronic format, including but not limited to any online service, any database or any part of the internet, or in any other format in whole or in part in any media whatsoever, without the prior written permission of the publisher. While all due care is taken in writing and producing this magazine, neither Capita SIMS nor Redactive accept any liability for the accuracy of the contents or any opinions expressed herein. Printed by Stephens & George Print Group.

SIMS can install a new server or network for you or provide you with expert staff on-siteWe offer a complete solution to your school’s needs. We can provide technical support for all your software and hardware; we also offer technical services and staff cover for SIMS, FMS and any IT infrastructure.

We offer training and consultancyWork with us to ensure all your staff get more out of the data held in SIMS. If you have new members of staff, or there are those who need a refresher, our courses can teach them the shortcuts and best practice derived from years of user feedback and our in-house knowledge. We can train school staff on any of our 120 courses in 20 locations across England. www.capita-sims.co.uk/training

Or let us bring the training to youAll our courses can be

delivered at your school. For bespoke consultancy tailored to your specific needs, call 0844 893 9000.

We can find the hardwareAre you looking for server upgrades or hardware such as iPads or mobile devices? SIMS offers expert advice on choosing the most suitable solution for all your hardware and software needs, and we will source equipment for you at very competitive rates.

We can support SIMS From support on SIMS and other software packages, to system recovery and advice on making the best use of your IT resources, Whole Support provides the expertise to

ensure it’s still business as usual.

SIMS InTouch (Primary) videohttp://tinyurl.com/SIMSInTouchDino

SIMS Discover video http://www.capita-sims.co.uk/discover

SIMS Learning Gateway (Primary) videohttp://tinyurl.com/SIMS-SLG-Primary

SIMS InTouch (Secondary) videohttp://tinyurl.com/SIMSInTouchReports

SIMS Learning Gateway (Secondary) videohttp://tinyurl.com/SIMS-SLG-Secondary

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Introducing SIMS videos

The new SIMS Homepage

SIMS AgoraSIMS Learning Gateway

Online payments solution from SIMS

Want to know more?visit www.capita-sims.co.uk/onlinepaymentsemail [email protected] call 0845 460 4074

SIMS Agora provides a cost-effi cient, secure and easy way for schools to collect payments from parents and sell school items online.

Parents can pay for school meals, trips, uniforms and much more online, providing a more convenient and fl exible way to pay.

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Documents

Freedom to Focus April 2013