Driving efficiency and delivering SIMS Independent school excellence with SIMS case study Aim: To help drive efficiency in the smooth running of the school

Background A significant shift Solution: When Headmaster of Leicester Grammar After researching the options extensively, SIMS Assessment & Reporting, School, Christopher King, wanted an easy Leicester Grammar School chose SIMS. SIMS Curriculum Management, way for staff to monitor the academic “We were truly impressed by the major SIMS Lesson Monitor progress of pupils, there was a growing investment that has been made in SIMS in frustration with the school’s existing recent years and the direction of travel for Impact: management information system (MIS) as the future. It was clear this was what we SIMS Independent has provided a it struggled to keep up. were looking for.” management system that is intuitive to use, and so useful the headmaster As a top-performing independent school A short time before, the school had been keeps it open on his computer all day, for students aged 11 to 18, and a member through a major IT change. “This wasn’t every day. From staff cover to report of the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ always plain sailing, so we had some writing to ensuring pupils’ special Conference (HMC), Leicester Grammar trepidation about changing MIS as it is so educational needs are met, SIMS pursues all-round excellence and is central to so many functions in the school. Independent is effectively supporting committed to ensuring every child benefits the aims of this top-performing school. from an holistic educational experience. “To the credit of the SIMS Independent Since moving from the city to a 75 acre team, the transfer was as smooth as you purpose-built campus in Great Glen, South could hope for. They did everything they , student numbers have said they were going to do, which was grown by 25% to 1,240 and already strong hugely reassuring. The speed of the team’s examination results have improved further. response, plus the deep understanding of what we were trying to achieve, made all Access to information was becoming the difference.” increasingly important, as Christopher King explains: “We were limited in how we were Readily accessible “I have SIMS open able to track the academic progress of our Staff at Leicester Grammar School have permanently when I’m pupils. What’s more, the information staff found SIMS very intuitive to use and this needed quick access to – such as details gives them the confidence they need to in the office.” relating to children with special educational explore the system. “We used to have the Christopher King, headmaster, needs, for example – was available in our worst of all worlds – some records held in Leicester Grammar School old system, but we had to go hunting paper files, others stored electronically, for it. We needed an MIS that was more making it difficult for staff to put their comprehensive and intuitive to use.” hands on the information they needed to support every pupils’ learning. “With SIMS, staff find it extremely easy to identify which children have special educational needs, for example, and have a clear picture of what level of support is required in the classroom.

“A class teacher can pull up the register, see a flag by a child’s name and simply click through to all the salient information. So, if a child has dyslexia, the teacher can easily see all the relevant information needed to support them, such as details of whether the child needs to be provided with a larger font or a particular coloured background to participate fully in reading tasks during lessons. This was one area of our provision “I am particularly pleased with the dialogue that has that impressed the inspection team in our recent ISI inspection.” opened up. There is a real relationship being built between the school and the SIMS Independent team and a pathway in place Simplifying the key tasks to accommodate the areas of the system we want to develop With everything in one place, SIMS has streamlined the reporting process further.” considerably for the school too. Christopher King, headmaster, Leicester Grammar School “Before, writing reports to parents was a torturous process. Almost 1,000 reports go out at the same time, and there is a lot of information to be complied together – Window on the school “And if I’m interviewing a prospective new maybe 16 subject reports as well as tutor As headmaster, Christopher finds member of staff, I can easily remind myself and headmaster comments. the information available in SIMS so which year groups need to be taught indispensable, he keeps it open on his desk what subjects, and judge the workload “Now, we complete the full reporting all day. that needs to be filled so I can be sure the structure using SIMS, it’s much easier. All candidate can provide the level of teaching our reports are electronic, and we can pull “Before, I would only log on to our we need going forward. information directly from the system. database if I had to, as it wasn’t easy to find the information I needed. Now, SIMS is “SIMS is a workhorse for our school – it “It has reduced the stress load on members open permanently when I’m in the office. I frees staff from unnecessary administration of staff and because the process is much can find all the essential information I need and releases time that can be focussed on quicker, we have extra time available for very quickly and simply. getting more important things done. other tasks.” “If a parent calls to speak to me about an “I am particularly pleased with the dialogue The critical job of organising cover issue with their child, for example, I can that has opened up too. There is a real for teacher absence has also been find a record of conversations that have relationship being built between the school transformed. “Our director of studies can gone before and what support we have put and the SIMS Independent team and a now see much more quickly who is free in place for them. pathway in place to accommodate the to invigilate an exam, for example, as well areas of the system we want to develop as how many cover sessions each staff further.” member has already done. This helps us to spread the load as evenly as possible.”

“SIMS is a workhorse for our school – it frees staff from unnecessary administration and releases time that can be focussed on getting more important things done.” Christopher King, headmaster, Leicester Grammar School

July 2017

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