Making things simpler with school management systems

By Gemma Easton, Editor

We all know schools are busy places. Making things easier for staff, students and parents is always a priority.

An effective way to streamline processes is through school management systems. While commonplace in many schools, the constant evolution of technology and management systems regularly introducing new features, it may be time to consider if your school’s management system needs updating.

Generally installed as a software package to existing devices, school management systems can record and store a range of data including staff and student movement, and learning progress for individual students, or across subjects and cohorts. Communication details for students and their families, as well as enduring

permissions, wellbeing and pastoral information, and student adherence to codes of conduct can be captured.

Customising your system to suit your school’s needs will determine the types of data collected, who can access it, and for how long it will be stored.

Reports can be easily generated, spanning a student’s entire time at the school. Information may include assessment records, attendance reports, any siblings the student has, extra-curricular activities they are involved in and details of previous education.

Storing this information in hard copy would be challenging, and interpreting and comparing data sets would likely be impossible. Management systems, then, can save school staff time. Students will also benefit from educators having full and complete information regarding their learning and progress.

Regular communication between schools and families is paramount for good student outcomes. When parents can easily access information, they feel connected to the school and become more invested in their child’s education. School management systems can incorporate parent communication, simplifying and targeting information to the parents who most need it.

With so many extra-curricular activities on offer at schools, the number of updates sent to parents can feel overwhelming. Customised parent communication, based on data collected by school management systems, ensures parents receive information relevant to their child. When information is relevant, parents are more likely to engage with it, and are less likely to miss important updates or information relevant to their student.

The health and safety of students while at school is paramount. School management systems can record important medical information, including allergies. A report can then be generated and distributed to all staff.

Knowledge of which students may have severe allergies or other medical conditions may assist staff in preventing medical emergencies before they happen.