SCHOOL MANAGEMENT

Is covert complaining damaging your school’s progress? How could something that feels so good ever be bad?

This is the year to finally sort problem paperwork within your school. You can improve safeguarding, productivity, space and compliance simply by improving the way you manage your student records, staff files and financial documents. Outdated ways of working can be transformed through a proven electronic document management system designed in collaboration with school business managers. Sound good? Here, school business manager Alison Jefferson shares how Durham Trinity School use mstore across student records, HR and finance...

“Clearing our filing cabinets has already created enough space to accommodate a new staff member, and we are really happy with the way mstore is transforming the way we work with documents.

“mstore was fast and easy to install; it works with our existing IT systems and software, including SIMS. We didn’t need to replace anything or learn how to use an entirely new system and the software is really straightforward to use. We can save and retrieve files quickly, and safeguarding is enforced more easily too.

Arena is very familiar with the legal obligations surrounding records management in schools, and we were confident from the start that they could help us to achieve our goals whilst remaining compliant with all of the rules. The service has been great, we have had no complaints and I have even referred other schools to them.”

The King’s School use mstore for finance and HR records. Finance manager Tammy Gaines explains: “Before we had mstore, there were folders all over the place. We have sensitive documents to protect so we kept them in locked cabinets, but we had no way of telling who had accessed what, or if they had changed things.”

UK schools are obliged to keep a record of who has accessed particular documents types such as those relating to child protection. mstore makes this easy by automatically auditing activity in the system.

mstore also saves time and space, says Tammy: “We file everything electronically now. We used to shred a lot of documents as we could not store them all; it’s reassuring to have everything backed up in case we need it. It is without doubt quicker and easier to find things in mstore rather than searching through cabinets.”

Recent analysis based on mstore's use in four education institutions shows that return on investment can be achieved within two years. Digital gets it done!

So your new (school) year’s resolution is not a tricky one to make. And with the support of Arena’s education specialists, the transition to better ways of working that finally ditch that problem paper keeps you focused on more important aspects of school life.

Visit www.arenagroup.net/education to read more case studies and access resources, or contact [email protected] / 0344 863 8000.

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Part-time staff may be seen as an obstacle, difficult and time-consuming to accommodate effectively within the timetable. This is largely a falsehood. By rethinking the problem and identifying innovative solutions, part-time staff can be seen as an asset, not an obstacle. This year, open up exciting new opportunities for part-time staff with smarter timetabling.

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Andrew Mulholland, chief marketing officer at Groupcall, discusses how schools can elevate effective edtech use and teacher workload to the top of the leadership agenda:

How do teachers really know that what’s happening in their school is making a difference? Are school leaders as effective as they can be? How can they be confident that their teachers are having the biggest impact possible, and how can school business managers effectively support all of this? With these issues in mind, the Schools, Students and Teachers (SSAT) network will be holding the SSAT National Conference 2017 in Manchester, which will be taking place from 30th November to 1st December.

Having worked as a teacher, middle leader and a coach within education, I have seen various performance management processes with a wide range of line managers and staff. I have had the pleasure of working with experienced teachers, NQTs, underperformers, outstanding staff, coasting staff and ambitious professionals. Each have proved to be excellent learning opportunities!

“Oh my GDPR”: Five common questions about the new data protection law and how it applies to your school.

This school year, Ysgol Cae Top Primary in Gwynedd will this year be maximising the use of a resource that in July won them ‘Best Tech Adopter’ at the prestigious Wales Technology Awards. The tech in question? eeZeeTrip - made by Gwynedd neighbour Semantise Ltd!

As the external environment becomes more complex (law changes, penalty increases, more vocal and critical stakeholders, technology changes), more demands are placed on the leadership teams in schools. Coordinated crisis management in the short term is all very well. But is the training investment by the organisation keeping pace with the future needs of the school?

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