The Joseph Whitaker School, Nottinghamshire

When the Joseph Whitaker School returned to SIMS from an alternative management information system, they decided to bring in a SIMS consultant to set up the system quickly and customise it for their needs. 

During his first visit, the SIMS Professional Services consultant worked closely with the school to demonstrate how to develop the marksheets and templates needed, and how to set up formulae. Sarah Lane, Data Manager, explains: “We had basic tracking in place, but he helped us progress to a much more sophisticated system, and his experience of the target-setting process was invaluable.”

David Bell, Assistant Head, adds: “We soon had the system we wanted in place, and were able to run training for each faculty ourselves. Our consultant was our ‘critical friend’ - we were really grateful for his advice, which we knew was based on experience and in-depth knowledge of the software.”

The school can now track pupil progress throughout the year and take action, where needed, immediately, a key capability which David considers crucial to raising student attainment at the school: “We can now look at on-going progress towards targets for individual students and groups - and intervene early when necessary.” 

Read the full Joseph Whitaker School case study