With the ever increasing burden of paper-
This is our approach and how it worked for us.
I am the Head Teacher of Ryedene Community Primary School which is situated on the southern edge of Basildon, Essex. There are ten classes: a thriving nursery, four key stage 1 classes and five key stage two classes. The school employs thirteen teachers including myself and seven learning support assistants.
The area has high levels of unemployment and economic disadvantage. Fifty-
When I took up the post of Head Teacher in January 1997, standards were depressingly low with only 15% of pupils achieving in line with national expectations at the end of key stage 2. The brief was very clear:
• Improve pupils’ attainment and progress
• Improve the quality of teaching and learning
• Use assessment to identify pupil progress
• Ensure the intentions of the planned curriculum are met in practice
The school has seen radical change in the last three years, having been in and come out of special measures in a record time of just over twelve months. Although attendance was not highlighted as a key issue it was clearly evident that there was a correlation between attendance and attainment. Many children on stages of assessment had irregular attendance, which made it very difficult to sustain progress. Annual attendance in the school was just below 90%, which was also a cause for concern. I considered the potential benefits of electronic registration in monitoring and improving attendance.
Having discussed this idea with staff and governors we eventually decided that if we could find an affordable computer based solution that focused on primary schools then this would help in the drive to improve attendance.
We embarked on a co-
Initially we considered a single user system but it was obvious to all concerned
that it would not be practical to run an isolated system in the school office, as
the required information was in the classroom, for example, attendance details, money
collected and so on. This would then have to be checked and entered on manual forms
by the teacher and then re-
Using a unique, yet simple networking system that requires no network cards or expensive cabling all of the classrooms were linked via terminals to a small standard PC in the administrative office. All teachers could then enter registration details concurrently with real time updating.
The teachers had approximately two hours training just before the start of term on performing the simple processes of registration and collecting the lunch and any other money handed in by pupils.
The administrative staff, which consisted of one secretary and a part-
The initial system went live on the first day of term and within a few weeks registration and "First Day Contact Reports" were being produced by 09:15. Catering numbers and details are also produced at this time showing Dinners (along with any special dietary requirements), Sandwiches and also children going home for lunch.
All statistics were now automatically updated as registration was carried out taking a matter of minutes.
Additional Benefits
Apart from being a quick and easy registration method, the teachers have access to
various other facilities from their own terminals. For example they can authorise
any absence for pupils, diarise notes on pupils and have either public or private
notation, enter (Special Educational Needs Coordinator) SENCO information, produce
annual pupil reports, email each-
In 1998 the year 5 pupil’s annual reports were automatically produced.
Since the implementation of Campus at our school numerous changes have taken place in both the methods of operation and reporting. For example, the teachers have developed their IT skills and confidence using the terminals every day to such an extent that they have swapped them for PC’s and printers which enables them to be used for curriculum activities, word processing and spreadsheets as well as Campus.
Role Model
We have found that using the computer every day provides a good role model for the
children, in fact both the teachers and administrative assistants unanimously agreed
that they would not like to go back to the pre-
Campus is now indispensable
The administrative systems are all now much more effective and systematic. We have been able to mechanise manual tasks which has made this more efficient, reduce paperwork and released staff to spend more time on other related activities.
Our Administrative assistant Yvonne Campbell said, " Without Campus, we could not provide the level of administrative support that we do, we would need an extra person. At one stage due to staff illness I found myself running the school for a month, something I could not have done before".
She continued, "We have trained the learning support assistants to take registration
so if we have a supply teacher they can call the register. First day contact follow-
Catering lists are provided automatically every day for the lunchtime assistants along with any special dietary requirements. Standard letter production is fully automated with absenteeism and outstanding lunch money produced on a weekly basis. The reports for EWO (Education Welfare Officer) are very comprehensive as they focus automatically on only the relevant children. Up to 40 different reports are available to help run the school and monitor attendance. It has certainly cut down our administration headache and paperwork".
Quality Data Gets Results
We now have quality attendance data for the last two years and there is clear evidence that attendance is improving steadily. Each cohort of pupils have been tracked for two years with all except one improving their attendance.
I have found that Campus has allowed the administrative staff, teachers and myself to gather crucial attendance information without being a burden. The system has definitely helped reduce absenteeism when combined with a targeted high profile approach. The quality of the data highlights a range of attendance issues, which may be related to individual pupils, specific classes, year groups or gender groups. The reports help us to focus on these issues with the statistical data being applied practically to planned improvement of attendance.
Attendance has a high profile in our school with all children receiving half-
We all find the system very easy to use, and if office staff are absent we just switch the computer on and the teachers know what to do. Campus has without a doubt provided the quality data to support the drive to improve attendance.
Cost Effective
The system paid for itself within 18 months. Terminals in classrooms have been replaced
by used PCs which have been purchased very cheaply. This keeps the original outlay
cost to a minimum and on-
Contacts:
Kevin Furlong Ryedene School........ 01268-
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