Exhibition: Bett 2016, 20 – 23 January 2016 – ExCeL, London
Exhibitor: Capita SIMS
Stand: B190
Capita SIMS has published the following four press releases relating to Bett 2016:
Press contact details and further information about Capita SIMS are available at the foot of this page.
Successfully manage the changing education landscape with the SIMS School Improvement Programme
Capita SIMS helping schools manage the switch to Progress 8 and life after levels
Schools visiting Bett 2016 are invited to visit the Capita SIMS stand (B190) to find out how its SIMS School Improvement Programme (SIP) is helping senior leadership teams successfully manage the changing education landscape.
A consultancy programme, staffed by former school leaders and specifically tailored to each school’s needs, the SIMS SIP programme is helping primary school leaders manage life without levels, secondary school leaders make the transition to Progress 8 smoothly and supports any school tackling issues relating to student progress, behaviour or attendance.
Phil Neal, managing director of Capita SIMS, says: “Our SIP consultants start with the premise that easy access to the right information is the cornerstone for each school to successfully manage the many changes that have been directed at this sector. It is also critical for school improvement as information allows school leaders to fully understand and track improvements in any problem areas.”
The SIMS SIP consultants create a dashboard of data for school leaders that allows them in an instant to see how progress of students is stacking up against the Progress 8 measures, or what attendance is like against targets. For primary schools, the consultants are also helping develop bespoke assessment systems to record and monitor the progress of pupils now that levels are no longer in use.
Reverend Steve Walters, principal of St Peter’s Collegiate School, remarks: “Thanks to the SIMS School Improvement Programme, I have at my fingertips all the information I need to instantly understand what is happening in my school – or use to report to governors or Ofsted. This is critical to ensuring we are continuing to improve and challenging all students to fulfil their potential.
“Our consultant offered us guidance on capturing Progress 8 data using our SIMS management information system as part of this. With their help, all our staff are now confidently able to monitor and analyse assessment data for an individual, group of students or an entire year group against the new grading system.”
Phil Neal, managing director of Capita SIMS, says: “There is no one-size-fits-all approach to school improvement. SIMS SIP delivers a tailored service that can have a lasting impact across the school.”
For more information, visit www.capita-sims.co.uk/sip-1 or call 0800 170 7005.
ENDS
Ref: CAP1666
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SIMS showcases its ‘any school’ assessment solution
Capita SIMS (stand B190) will be at Bett to showcase the latest tools within SIMS Assessment that can help to monitor attainment and track pupil progress within any school – no matter how they choose to approach assessment following the removal of levels.
SIMS Assessment, which has been shortlisted for a Bett Award 2016, contains all the Department for Education’s programmes of study statements, so teachers can record achievement exactly as it happens in the classroom. This information gives them the insight they need to inform future teaching and learning activities.
What’s more, curriculum statements can be added or customised, so English teachers reporting on a series of Shakespeare assignments, for example, can substitute official terminology with statements that clearly reflect whether a student has understood a particular text.
Jayne Mullane, headteacher of Mersey Vale Primary School, says: “We wanted our assessment to focus on our curriculum priorities and give a clear overview of the progress of all of our children. Thanks to SIMS Assessment, we now have a clear view of how children are moving forward and at what pace, along with a breakdown for individuals or groups of pupils. SIMS Assessment is a great tool for analysing the progress of children in a whole range of ways.”
If a pupil moves to another primary school or on to secondary school, the information can go with them, highlighting what they know and don’t yet know in relation to the national curriculum programmes of study. This helps schools to quickly identify gaps in knowledge and support future learning.
The ability to customise the DfE’s programmes of study statements also means schools can use language that parents easily understand.
Powerful reporting tools ensure teachers and school leaders can examine the data visually to determine whether particular groups of children are falling behind or if certain skills need to be revisited to ensure pupils master the core skills required to progress.
Phil Neal, managing director of Capita SIMS, says: “Now that national curriculum levels have been removed, schools are rightly adopting very different approaches to monitoring attainment. Senior leadership teams are in need of a flexible solution that can reflect their school’s curriculum and allows teachers, governors as well as parents to monitor progress.
“We have spent many hours consulting with schools across the country to ensure that SIMS Assessment provides a truly unique product which has been built from the ground up to fit with the spirit of the changes to assessment. However senior leaders choose to adapt to the changing assessment landscape, SIMS Assessment offers schools the tools that they need to effectively monitor attainment – now and in the future.”
For more information, visit www.capita-sims.co.uk/simsassessment-1 or call 0800 170 7005.
ENDS
Ref: CAP1667
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Virtual access to SIMS on a tablet
Capita SIMS will be on stand B190 at Bett 2016 to showcase Hosted SIMS which allows teachers to access SIMS from any internet-connected device.
Hosted SIMS simplifies everyday tasks such as analysing data for a particular year group before a lesson. It allows staff to complete registration in the classroom or at the start of a school trip using their laptop or tablet computer. What’s more, it saves a school’s IT team countless hours managing software upgrades and backups as all this is taken care of by the Capita team.
Phil Neal, managing director of Capita SIMS, says: “Hosted SIMS now provides more than 5,000 teachers with the flexibility to work from any location using their PC, Apple Mac or tablet device and more than 500 schools across the country no longer need to worry about unnecessary hardware or maintenance tasks.
“Hosted SIMS is an affordable, hassle-free solution for schools that no longer want to manage the IT, but still want to provide staff with a means of easily recording and accessing data on the management information system that 22,000 schools use.”
Julie Coulter, office manager at Shortstown Primary School, remarks: “Hosted SIMS means staff who have to travel a long distance to school can log into SIMS from home and access live data 24/7 if they want to.
“It also means teachers can enter and retrieve the latest assessment information for an individual or class from any part of the school building with a Wi-Fi connection. Also for a primary school with limited IT support, it is great not to have to worry about software upgrades or managing servers.”
Hosted SIMS uses the latest Microsoft Azure cloud platform to ensure reliability. All data within SIMS Hosted is encrypted, even when it is not being used.
For more information, visit www.capita-sims.co.uk/HostedSIMS-1 or call 0800 170 7005.
ENDS
Ref: CAP1668
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Monitoring extracurricular activities is now child’s play with the new SIMS Activities module
Capita SIMS (stand B190) will be launching its new web-based SIMS Activities module at Bett 2016 which allows schools to efficiently and effectively manage all extracurricular activities and school trips.
With some schools running as many as 50 extracurricular activities throughout the year, from music lessons to sports clubs to trips away, the administration can be extremely time consuming. SIMS Activities can save hours of daily administration time, gathering disparate bits of information from those running extracurricular activities.
Staff can automate many tasks, such as quickly assigning students to each activity and electronically distributing consent forms. As the system is online, students are able to sign up to a club from any device with internet access and parents can log on from home to give their consent for a student to take part. Staff are also able to take the register for a club or event on the move via their PC, tablet or smartphone.
In addition, live attendance data allows headteachers to demonstrate to inspectors that safeguarding policies are in place as they know exactly where pupils are at any given time.
Paula Whiteley, SIMS manager at Cantell School, says: “We used to rely heavily on paper attendance registers which are inefficient and often inaccurate. There were safeguarding issues too as we were not able to pinpoint the exact location of every student throughout the day. Since introducing SIMS Activities, we have reliable information at our fingertips and know with absolute confidence which students are participating in clubs at any specific moment in time.
“It enables staff to accurately record attendance, achievement and analyse results. SIMS Activities also allows us to contact parents and students electronically about planned activities. We are now able to ask for confirmation of attendance in advance, rather than relying on telephone calls or letters.”
Real time attendance information held within SIMS Activities can be integrated into a student’s SIMS record to provide teachers with a complete picture of their progress.
Phil Neal, managing director of Capita SIMS, says: “Most schools currently manage extracurricular activities through a plethora of spreadsheets held in various different locations around the school.
“We have developed SIMS Activities to allow information to be retrieved from a single location using any internet-connected device, saving time and making the process much simpler for schools.”
For more information, visit www.capita-sims.co.uk/simsactivities-1 or call 0800 170 1729.
ENDS
Ref: CAP1669
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Press contact:
To arrange interviews, for further information or images, please contact
Olga Hadjilambri, Catherine Lane PR, 2nd Floor, 145-157 St John Street, London, EC1V 4PY.
Tel: 020 8351 2542. Email: olga@catherinelane.com
About Capita SIMS:
Capita SIMS 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 22,000 educational establishments in the UK.
Website: www.capita-sims.co.uk
Twitter: @CapitaSIMS
