The ability to check achievement, attendance records and other information are just a few of the benefits of the sophisticated and innovative SIMS Learning Gateway from Capita which is to be rolled out by the County Council to all of its schools.
Teachers and pupils will also benefit from being able to access certain school files and information following a successful pilot of the software in eight schools.
Cllr David Elkin, the council's Lead Member for Learning and School Effectiveness said: “The pilot of the Learning Gateway has shown us how successful it can be and really can transform the way teachers work and how pupil data is accessed across the region.
“I think this is an extremely exciting project that really enables us to use IT technology to improve links between schools and parents', improve flexibility for teachers, and lay the foundations for pupils to access much more school information at home.”
The County Council has signed a contract with Capita to supply all schools across the county with the new secure Internet interface system. East Sussex will host the technology for the schools in the area so the management of the SIMS Learning Gateway is handled centrally, saving time and money.
Teachers will benefit through having greater access to pupil information outside of school and they will be able to logon to the system at a time that is convenient to them to carry out planning or reporting tasks. It will mean more flexible working arrangements allowing them to complete certain jobs at home rather than remaining on the school premises.
Parents will have secure access to their child's test results and progress reports. With this information they will be able to tell how well their child is progressing and if they need additional support. They will also be able to view daily attendance information which will enable them to check that their child has arrived safely at school and attended lessons.
The county's school pupils will have a secure online portal to their test results, school event information, timetables and pupil discussion forums. The plan is for the SIMS Learning Gateway to also become the single access point for pupils to see all school information securely online including learning materials from their school's virtual learning environment.
The County Council and Capita have been working with a group of eight schools since November in order to implement a pilot for the SIMS Learning Gateway. Following the success of the pilot the gateway will now be rolled out to all of the county's 27 secondary schools, 10 special schools and 157 primary schools from September 2008.
Mark Jones, the deputy head teacher of Eastbourne Technology College which was one of the pilot schools, praised the system. He said: “For the first time teachers, parents and students will have easy access to live school information and learning resources 24-hours a day. The gateway will bring together information that has been historically stored and accessed in many different formats under one umbrella. This investment and development will have a massive impact on teaching and learning and it will have benefits to all stakeholders involved in education.”
Phil Neal, Director of SIMS, for Capita said: “Learning is no longer confined to a classroom within set hours and schools need to evolve to reflect the desire of teachers, pupils and parents to work or interact with the school after the school gates close. With a single password, schools can offer access to all the information teachers, pupils and parents need when they need it, as well as giving them access to applications such as the virtual learning environment, discussion groups and email – helping bring the school into the home.”
Further information
The SIMS Learning Gateway is a single, secure web-based gateway into a school's SIMS management information system and other standard school applications. The SIMS management information system is used by around 22,000 schools in the UK to manage pupil data. All maintained schools in East Sussex use this system. Access to relevant data is strictly controlled by usernames and passwords ensuring information is made available only to people authorised to see it. Parents will be able to see general information for the whole school, such as timetables, school events calendars and notices, but are restricted to viewing only their child's attendance and assessment information. The system complies with the Data Protection Act.
Capita is the leading supplier of information systems to the education sector providing a range of software and services to schools and local authorities to help raise standards and reduce administration. Capita's SIMS is the most popular information management system for schools and is used every day by more than 22,000 educational establishments in the UK.
For more information on Capita and SIMS, please contact Catherine Lane on 07092 864 764 or email: catherine@catherinelane.com
Reference:
2003
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