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Background
The introduction of Insight was part of a wider strategy to rationalise and improve recording and reporting of pupil information within the school. When we decided to change practices within the school we were already recording and reporting a broad spectrum of information about our students. However information was recorded in a number of different ways using a variety of systems which did not always make data transfer easy or efficient. Staff found it time consuming to bring together information for parents. The process started when we looked at introducing a new information system which would be capable of holding all our data, attendance, contacts, grading, behaviour, etc. for the whole school and allow us to create reports easily for both staff and parents. Having looked closely at the systems available, we chose to go for PARS because this would allow all aspects of a students school experience to be recorded and monitored effectively and efficiently. This system was introduced and trialled in the summer of 2009, ready for full use from September 2009. Along with PARS, we also licenced PARS Connect allowing staff full access from outside the classroom. The introduction of these two packages was instrumental in fundamentally changing the way the school functioned on a day to day basis. Communication, tracking, behaviour, attendance, and reporting systems within the school all improved very quickly and the quality of information held greatly increased.
The Project
Following the highly successful introduction of PARS and being aware of the need to provide parental access to student information, we started to look for a suitable piece of software. Initially, we were thinking that we would provide basic attendance information and see how that progressed before exploring areas. However, because the range and quality of information held was now so vast, we decided that we would look for a system which would allow more than just the basic information to go to parents. The system needed to be easy to setup and maintain as
TASC Software Case Study: Sturminster Newton High School Page 1 of 2
we did not want to commit lots of additional administrative or technician time to either the set up or on-going maintenance of the system. Again having looked at a number of options on the market, we asked TASC if we could trial the Insight software for a couple of weeks. Set up was simple and we quickly found that the vast range of options within the package meant that we could allow access to everything from attendance through behaviour management to copies of student reports. Little technician time was required and the only administration time needed was in the management of parental emails, initially time consuming but that initial flurry of activity has dropped to virtually nothing as our records have been updated.
Results
There is no doubt that as part of the co-ordinated effort to improve information management and communication within the school, Insight has delivered the parental aspect to the satisfaction of all involved. This package has allowed us to deliver the tremendous amount of information we now record to any interested parent as it happens. We are continuing to develop this aspect of our provision and are keen to explore future developments.
TASC Software Case Study: Sturminster Newton High School Page 2 of 2