Plymouth school looking to boost student achievement with new software


23/02/2010                                                                                                                                                                      Back to releases

Eggbuckland Community College in Plymouth is looking to motivate and raise the achievement of its students by investing in new software. The school – already recognised by Ofsted as an excellent learning environment and by Becta for its innovative use of technology – has switched to Capita Children’s Services’ SIMS management information system to help teachers get the best out of their students.

SIMS is used by over 21,000 schools across the UK. The system allows schools to enter details about numerous aspects of a child’s school life and then brings all this information together to provide a clear view of their progress.

The software will enable teachers to get a full picture of how each child’s learning is developing against their targets. The information will make it easier to identify those children who are falling behind so that teachers can step in early to address any problem areas.

Matt Burrell, e-college manager, Eggbuckland Community College, said: “Our management information system is vital to successfully monitor and track our students and this is why it was important for us to switch to the most robust and effective system available. We record a wide variety of information about our students, including assessment, behaviour, achievement and attendance. With SIMS,
we will be better able to analyse this data and turn it into meaningful information that can be used by the teachers and the college leadership team to improve assessment and the outcomes for our students. 

“We want to be able to look at the whole picture of a child and see how they are performing across all their subjects and plan appropriate interventions as necessary. The information provided by SIMS will enable us to be more proactive and allow us to drill down into the data from a whole college perspective to individual subjects, classes and vulnerable groups.  This information will be available to all our teachers and used in real time in the classroom to support learning.  Students will also be motivated by being able to access their information online, such as target grades, teacher comments and being able to watch their reward points grow.”

Phil Neal, managing director of SIMS at Capita Children’s Services, said: “Eggbuckland Community College is determined to use students’ information to its full potential as the leadership team realises that the data they record can have a significant impact on how students and the school as a whole performs.”    

ENDS

Ref: CAP529
Issue date: 23rd February 2010

Notes to the editor:
• Eggbuckland Community College has received an ICT mark in recognition of their good use of technology from Becta, the government’s body responsible for encouraging the use of ICT in schools.

Capita contact:
Graham Cooper, Head of Marketing, Capita Children’s Services, Franklin Court, Priory Business Park, Cardington, Bedford, MK44 3JZ. Tel: 01234 838 080 Email: graham.cooper@capita.co.uk
Website: www.sims.co.uk

Press contact:
Rebecca Bremner, Catherine Lane PR, Floor, 145-157 St John Street, London, EC1V 4PY. Tel: 07092 872 720. Mobile: 07787155 882 Email: rebecca@catherinelane.com

About Capita Children’s Services:
Capita Children’s Services 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 management information system for schools and is used every day by more than 21,000 educational establishments in the UK.
www.sims.co.uk