Download pdf - Bromcom Cloud MIS for Schools · The Bromcom MIS is a complete system for School Management incorporating 18 modules, eliminating the need for bolt-on extras thus saving both time

North Yorkshire County Council Framework for the provision of a

Management Information System for schools and academies

Ref: MIS Information Pack © Bromcom Computers Plc 2016

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Information Pack

Bromcom Cloud MIS for Schools

available as

SaaS (Software as a Service) Centrally Hosted

and

Local hosting in school

Prepared for: North Yorkshire County Council MIS Services Framework Reference: DN212852

Version: 1.1 November 2016

Bromcom makes no warranties, express or implied, in this document. This document is Commercial-in-Confidence and shall remain the intellectual property of Bromcom. Any use or distribution of these materials without the express authorisation of Bromcom is strictly prohibited.

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Contents

Introduction ..............................................................................................................................................3

Solution Overview .....................................................................................................................................4

The Core Modules ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 4

The Administration Module ......................................................................................................................................................................... 4

The Attendance Module .............................................................................................................................................................................. 4

The Census Module ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 5

The Curriculum Module ............................................................................................................................................................................... 5

The Reporting Module ................................................................................................................................................................................. 6

The Setup Module ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 6

The Optional Modules .................................................................................................................................................................................. 6

The Analysis Module .................................................................................................................................................................................... 7

The Assessment Module .............................................................................................................................................................................. 7

The Behaviour Module ................................................................................................................................................................................. 7

The Communication Module ....................................................................................................................................................................... 8

The Cover Module ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 8

The Diary Module ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 8

The Dinner Module ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 8

The Examination Module ............................................................................................................................................................................. 9

MyChildAtSchool (MCAS) The Parent Portal Module ................................................................................................................................. 9

The Student Portal Module .......................................................................................................................................................................... 9

The Support Module .................................................................................................................................................................................... 9

The Timetable Module ................................................................................................................................................................................. 10

Deployment ............................................................................................................................................ 10

Migration ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 10

Training ......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 10

Support ......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 10 For more information or to arrange a demonstration or to speak with a reference site please contact:

Anne Russell, Regional Sales Supervisor Bromcom Computers Plc Prospect House 19-21 Homesdale Road Bromley BR2 9LY

Telephone: 020 8290 7171 Fax: 020 8290 7199 Email: [email protected]





INTRODUCTION The Bromcom Management Information System (MIS) is purpose designed for UK schools and academies to meet the demands for anywhere, anytime access to their data, thus enabling real time information sharing in the local community for the benefit of all. Designed to be accessed using a web browser, accessibility is increased, the cost of ownership reduced and with a highly adaptable interface, support for all school types and users groups is assured. Designed for you As a company exclusively working in the education sector, Bromcom has over 30 years’ of experience in IT systems at the cutting edge of technology and are pioneers in using web browser technology in schools. We are now into our 17th year of providing browser applications to schools and remain the market leader in this technology to this day. Now into our fifth generation of web products, the Bromcom MIS came about following the feedback of schools dissatisfied with competitors, and looking for a system that would exploit emerging technology for their benefit and give them the opportunity to help achieve better results for their pupils. School senior management teams, teachers and administration staff have all had a say in the look and features of the Bromcom MIS and as customers continue to be key elements in its on-going enhancements making our solution one of the forerunners of MIS development. By joining this growing group of users, you too have the opportunity to shape its future. Bromcom is not just a company that listens it is a company that does. The Bromcom Cloud offers a true Software as a Service (SaaS) MIS, where the entire application is operated by Bromcom and accessible using a web browser. Using the same secure encrypted login technology as used by internet banking, the system can be accessed using PCs, tablets, laptops, notebooks and smart phones giving it that anywhere, anytime any place option. Hosting flexibility Unlike other browser alternatives on the market, the Bromcom MIS is available with several hosting options. The centrally hosted service mentioned above uses Bromcom’s UK located Cloud service to deliver your MIS. As an alternative it can be installed and managed locally within your school on your own physical or virtual server using Bromcom’s managed service for local installation. The other hosting option is designed to give Multi Academy Trusts (MATs) and Local Authorities (LAs) the opportunity to centrally host the solution for their schools and academies. Whilst this latter approach may sound like it is only an option for large LAs and MATs, and indeed is now used to host the Bromcom MIS by one of the largest MATs in the country, it is also an option that is used in relatively small MATs. Total cost of ownership is a key factor to consider when deciding on the best hosting method of your institution and if undecided please contact Bromcom so we can discuss the options in more detail and put you in touch with reference sites for each of these hosting options. In all cases, remember that there is no need to install and maintain software for your users because access only requires a suitable web browser and connection to the web service, wherever it is located.





SOLUTION OVERVIEW The Bromcom MIS is a complete system for School Management incorporating 18 modules, eliminating the need for bolt-on extras thus saving both time and money by running other applications as well as an MIS. A Summary of each of the modules can be found on the following pages.

The Core Modules

The MIS consists of 6 Core modules which form the heart of the system, Administration, Attendance, Curriculum, Reporting, Census and Setup.

The Administration Module

Deals with Student, Staff and School information, including a complete Pre-Admission suite. Student information can easily be exported or Imported via CTF and ATF files and there is a Quick Edit option to update static information in bulk to multiple students. Student & Staff photographs can be imported at

the click of a button and there are many ready to use pre-designed reports.

Both Student and Staff pages are visually clear and easy to maintain, with all the information required ready at the click of a button including for students displayed symbols showing instantly that the student has medical or parental access issues and for staff including background checks, Continued Professional Development and contract information.

The Attendance Module

Deals with all aspects of Attendance and Registration, allowing the Administration staff to see instantly using the Today’s Missing Registers option giving a live update of registers taken and untaken and even reminds the teacher to take their register. Both class, tutor group and student attendance can be updated by administration staff and absences authorised. There is a Fire Drill option that updates the Fire Drill reports with the latest student marks and previous marks.

There are also over 40 pre designed reports including, Absentees Lists, Attendance Certificate, AM/PM Attendance Analysis, Fire Drill , Lateness by Student, Attendance History, Attendance Percentage plus over 50 Attendance Analysis Exports. All reports within the MIS can be scheduled to run automatically at set intervals.

The Teacher Registration view will display the timetable for a selected period of day and class registers, showing both previous and future marks. Staff can mark registers, add Behaviour and Assessment information and if permissions allow, access Student Information allowing them to have instant up to date information about a student’s medical background in case of an emergency or to see Support

information in case a Student requires extra help in class. Leaving Administrators to continue their work and teachers to teach





The seating plan option makes marking a register for a supply teacher or a cover teacher easier by displaying photographs of the students thus putting names to faces. The images are dragged and dropped into the columns and rows which can be set to the same seating arrangement as the classroom.

The Student Attendance Status option allows the attendance of every student in the school to be viewed instantly. This can be set for any of the options from the status selection for instance Missing marks will show who is absent on the selected day.

As long as the device (PC, tablet, Smart Phone etc.) being used to take the register has an internet connection the register can

be taken from anywhere, class room, sports field, school trip , even from the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris during a school visit and will be updated immediately within the school for Administrators to use.

The Census Module

Consists of the School Census, School Workforce Census and the Catholic Education Service (CES) Census for Catholic schools. Providing DfE summary and validation reports, any issues are highlighted so they can be amended before the Census is returned.

All updates follow the statutory guidance given by the DfE and any CBDS updates, amendments and changes are incorporated into the MIS and tested ready for upcoming Census dates. The Bromcom MIS conforms to the DfE’s statutory data collection requirements and we commit to expanding the system’s scope to fulfil any future requirements and Bromcom will ensure that the system continues to meet any future changes made by the DfE, its successors and other official bodies specifying the expectations for a UK school MIS census return.

The Curriculum Module

Is a pivotal part of the MIS, dealing with the Academic Calendar, Period Structures, Academic Years and Academic Days. Holidays and Inset days are also maintained within this one module. This is where the information for Courses, Classes, Tutor Groups, Staff Timetabling, Year Groups and Subjects are maintained. The system also provides very

powerful methods for creating dynamic groups of students that the system maintains automatically according to parameters set up by the user. One or more rules are set up to monitor such criteria as attendance, assessment, behaviour, membership in other groups, data items (e.g. include current LAC students) and user defined fields. There are further options to Apply a Timetable Model and to Bulk Edit Group Assignments and Learning Aims as well as Promoting both Classes and Tutor Groups for the coming Academic Year.





The Reporting Module

The Bromcom MIS has many pre-designed reports available within each module, but even we are unable to produce every type of report that every school may require, with this knowledge in mind we developed the Reporting module where reports can be designed to produce the data required in the style required, once done these are saved into appropriately named folders which can be used by all users. Reports can be designed using

four types, Mail Merge, Table, List or Matrix.

The domain options are then selected and the report is designed step by step, using an easy to follow Wizard, during this stage the report can be previewed to make sure the required data is displaying and the style is as required, if not the report can be amended until it is just perfect.

There is also a library/repository of over 100 pre designed reports which can be downloaded and used straightaway or used as a template on which to build your report variation. Reports in the library include Student Address Lists, Student Medical Conditions, Staff Check and Candidate Exam Results, to name just a few. A private repository can be created and stored for use within a group for a school, LA or MAT etc.

The Setup Module

Enables User Security options, Logins, Roles & Permissions, System Settings and Maintenance options to be created and maintained. The security settings for the User login are set here, with the options to enable a memorable question, set the length and the character requirement for the password or enable Active Directory. Login information can be amended for existing Users and New Users can be added.

Roles and permissions are maintained here and new roles can be created with permissions defined to meet the requirements of the User, e.g. a new role can be added where the user has full access to A, view only access to B and no access to anything else. These Roles can be allocated to Users in bulk saving time updating individual information.

A system log shows all instances of use, giving the name of the User, the module they accessed, the pages they viewed and the options selected along with the date. Making it easy to track who did what and when, it also has error log and security log information.

A system log shows all instances of use, giving the name of the User, the module they accessed, the pages they viewed and the options selected along with the date. Making it easy to track who did what and when, it also has error log and security log information.





The Optional Modules

As well as the Core Modules there are 12 optional modules (this will vary for Primary Schools) Analysis, Assessment, Behaviour, Communication, Cover, Diary, Dinner, Examination, MyChildAtSchool, Student Portal, Support and Timetable.

The Analysis Module

Builds on the wealth of data already available within the MIS, to analyse Attendance, Assessment, Behaviour (if used) and Examination Results. Producing data including Progress, Headline Figures, Student Summary, Pivot Analysis and Venn diagrams. Once the results are displayed the option to drill

down deeper is available e.g. allowing a result for a year to become a result for a class within the year and then a result for a student within the class. The analysed result can then be produced in both written and chart form, additional filters can be applied to produce even more detailed results.

The Bromcom MIS also provides an add-on for Microsoft Excel that enables you to link Excel spreadsheets directly to your live database to securely retrieve data without having to go through an export/import cycle. Log into your account and retrieve data from within Excel. N.B. The Bromcom MIS also provides exports of data and reports to Excel.

The Assessment Module

Provides the tools and interfaces to allow for the analysis, progress tracking and reporting of each pupil within the school. Templates can be built from the ground up, as many as required or downloaded from the Bromcom Online Assessment Repository, supplying DfE National Curriculum and other example designs for pupil tracking.

Comment Banks both global and personal are available and comments can be added for future use.

Once created Templates can be distributed to be marked by the associated member of staff. Which, can be done when taking a register or from the Assessment Sheets widget on the Dashboard, from within school or from home. Allowing Students to be tracked from school entry to leaving, using the multi-year database.

The Behaviour Module

Is extremely versatile and will allow the school to create their own behaviour work flows in a pathways structure setup using a simple drag & drop operation. Any number of behaviour schemes can be designed, including positive (rewards), negative (sanctions) and neutral (observations).

Events can be linked to other Events to accrue a points tally, which can be set to trigger an action, which could be an e-mail to a relevant member of staff to take action on or an award from a pre-set award scheme. Behaviour and detention events can be given by any member of staff to a student or a group of students at anytime from within the MIS. When taking a register, those present in the classroom can be one click





selected for mass allocation of an event (e.g. all present allocated an event meaning Good team project work). Rules can be added to a behaviour event when created to ensure for example that a serious negative event (e.g. Bullying) requires the teacher/user to enter a description and an outcome whereas a less serious event entry could leave the entry of these data items as optional.

The Communication Module

Provides a link between the school and parents, both SMS messages and e-mails can be sent either manually or automatically, making it easy to let everyone know if there is an event at school or if the school has been closed suddenly due to adverse weather. A full overview of messages sent is displayed on the Overview page in both data and chart form and the number of SMS credits is clearly displayed. The automated process can be setup

to monitor absence from school sending a message to the parent/carer if the student has not been registered by a school defined period. Therefore making them aware immediately that the student is not in school. Using the text back option the parent/carer can then reply to the message with an update, allowing truancy to become a thing of the past.

The Cover Module

Manage Cover quickly using drag & drop to instantly cover staff absences, room non-availability etc. Working directly with the information on the timetable, planned staff absences and room availability, Cover Managers can quickly select staff who are absent, input the duration and reasons for absence and then select staff to cover them. Cover will automatically display staff who teach the Cover subject and have the number of hours available and highlights those who have a lesson before or after the Cover session, thus always offering the best Cover for

each lesson.

Once the Cover is published it will immediately show up on the cover teacher’s timetable, accessible via the My Calendar section of the user dashboard. Cover can also be created for Special Events and for Exam Rooms Cover.

The Diary Module

Is an electronic diary to aid in the organisation of school scheduled events, parent evenings, equipment and room bookings, managing multiple diaries personal, departmental and school throughout the MIS.

The automated diary keeps track of key dates already held in the MIS, including the timetable, scheduled cover, SEN reminders, exams etc., and can alert the appropriate users beforehand. Departments can manage their own diary, as can individual MIS users.

Parent Evenings can be created and if the MyChildAtSchool parent portal is also used, parents can select their own times for attending, which will automatically update the diary of the teacher involved in the meeting.

The Dinner Module

Is used to keep records of payments made and account balances for students as well as supplying details to the kitchen of meal requirements. The information taken from the Dinner registers (taken in the morning) is used to produce reports which can be sent to the kitchen, to give them an accurate number of dinners required and the types of dinner. Custom, Student and Staff meal definitions can be added, costs of meals can be calculated making sure the correct amount is deducted from account balances for the meals taken.





Dinner money payments can also be taken at registration and recorded on the Dinner payment option of the Dinner Register, therefore keeping all records of payments up to date. If used with the MyChildAtSchool parent portal, parents are able to see the balance on the dinner account for their children.

The Examination Module

This module deals with internal and external exams management. Exam Boards basedata is processed, candidates managed and assigned UCI and Candidate Numbers. The whole process can be managed from start to finish (results and analysis). It fully supports entries, modifications and withdrawals. Once results are imported, the data

can be analysed within Exams and in more depth using the supplied Analysis module.

Any clashes of exams or seating will be displayed under the Clash Resolution or Seating Organisation options which are clearly highlighted ready to be resolved. Seating can be done automatically or manually using drag & drop options, the rooms can be set to seat the candidates in various seating layouts. A Special Candidate Requirement option is available to assign additional, time, equipment, a silent room or even a person to read the questions.

MyChildAtSchool (MCAS) The Parent Portal Module

MyChildAtSchool (MCAS), is designed to support parental engagement. The school supply secure login details and the user simply logs in, having live access to their child’s data. The school decides which data is published to the parents, it can include Attendance, Assessment, Behaviour, Exams, Homework, Reports, Announcements, Classes, Parent Evenings and

Timetable information. Reports and letters can be produced and published directly to MCAS allowing the parent/carer instant access to the documents. Schools and colleges using MCAS, report saving on paper with parents accepting electronic only supply of reports. It also promotes more frequent production of reports because they can be published directly to MCAS without the administrive burden of dealing with printed reports.

The Announcements option will give instant information to the parent/carer, be it a reminder for sports day or a parent evening or to inform them of a school closure due to adverse weather. As long as the MCAS Administrator has internet access this can be updated from anywhere, even a nice warm bed on a snow filled day.

The Student Portal Module

Is available to all students, the school supply secure login details and the student simply logs in, having live access to view or work on their Attendance, Assessment, Behaviour, Homework, Messages, Reports, Timetable, Subjects, School News, Recent Activities, School Calendar, Resources, Bookmarks, Quizzes and Lesson Plans.

Lesson Plans, Homework and Quizzes can be created by any member of staff and saved in the Learning Resources area of the main MIS, once assigned to a group of students or classes they become available and can be acted

upon by the students and followed up by the member of staff. Quizzes can be set to give a score that is recorded and Homework set to be handed in by a certain date, these will be available for the teacher to follow up on.

There is a Forum where students can have discussions with both other students and staff and a Resources area where helpful information can be stored for research purposes. This is the class room that is outside of the school.

The Support Module

This module provides facilities to assist with the management of student support within the college. SEND, LAC, PP, Gifted & Talented etc can be managed from this area and it works alongside the student record. Facilities include the ability to maintain support document templates such as Personal Education Plans (PEP), Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plans. Statement comment banks can also be built up to aid the generation of the





documents with common statements of need etc. These comment banks can be common and private to the user. Support staff can be allocated to a student requiring additional help by simply clicking on the timetabled slot and adding them. The User can also keep track of interventions and record progress. .

This module is the simplest timetabling and curriculum planning package in use designed by experienced educationalists using simple drag & drop options to create your timetable. Adding Blocks, (Simple, Option, Carousel, Linear or Complex), Subjects, Staff, Rooms, everything is colour

coded so it is easy to follow and multiple pages can be open, so everything you want is within easy reach. Settings are available to aid in the way the classes are displayed or the hours available and the subjects taught by a member of staff.

When the timetable has been constructed it creates a timetable model in the MIS, which can then be applied to any date range on the academic calendar.

DEPLOYMENT

Deployment and after service is very important to us, each school is looked upon as an individual and treated as such. We help where help is needed and listen to requests to improve our system when given. We will walk you through every process of moving over to the Bromcom MIS, from migration, to training, we will be at your school on the first day you go live and we will be with you every step of the way for the rest of your time with us.

Migration Bromcom has been migrating school data from other MIS suppliers for over 30 years and is very experienced in doing so. We can facilitate the migration of any number of years of data and as standard have a wizard controlled self-service migration process, which can optionally be supported by Bromcom taking over the full process for you. We supply a migration scope document so you know what data can be migrated. The migration can work directly from a copy of your current MIS database and therefore in many case there is no need to manually export data from your existing MIS. Bromcom automated data migration tool includes a data checking step that separately compares migrated data to further validate the process. We can also carry out a data checking service where our trained migration staff carry out manual data comparisons on your behalf. At the start of the process the school will be supplied with the name and contact details of your appointed Deployment Manager, who you will help plan and coordinate the data migration with you, and is available to answer related queries you may have. Training Training can be given via webinars, on-site, group training and/or tutorials with videos and practical exercises. We have very experienced trainers able to assist with training at any level that you require. As standard you are provided training materials, including a suite of training videos by topic with practical exercises to get you started using all core aspects of the system. Advanced topics, which are optional, are available to cover such areas as designing your own progress tracking sheets, building additional data analysis reports, designing a timetable. Free of charge top up training is also given by webinar, often supported with additional videos, when new enhancements have been added, to make sure everyone is aware of the changes. Support Bromcom has an ITIL aligned Support Desk waiting at the end of the phone to assist in all issues or queries from 8am to 5pm each day (except Wednesdays which is 8am to 4pm). The team consists of highly trained individuals with an all -round knowledge of the whole system. Calls can also be logged via the online system 24 hours a day 365 days a year.

A full range of documents, guides and videos are available, these include help files, release notes, setup guides and short ‘how to’ videos. These are all published on our Documentation Centre portal , which can be accessed directly from the MIS or via our support site.

Documentation and videos are regularly updated to keep pace with developments made within the MIS. Release notes are sent to customers via the customer care weekly update which goes to all authorised school contacts.

The Timetable Module