Features
Education minister praises Serco schools
Schools that use Serco’s Facility management system came in for special praise when MP Jacqui Smith addressed an education conference in London.
The Minister of State for Schools and 14-19 Learners spoke at the launch conference of the ‘Engaging Parents to Raise Achievement’ campaign arranged by the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust and the Association of School and College Leaders.
She said: “Encouraging and supporting parents to become more involved in their children’s education will not only pay dividends in the classroom, it will also result in children and young people who are more motivated and better equipped throughout their lives to fulfil their potential.”
Cardinal Wiseman Catholic Technology College and Bartley Green School in Birmingham were both mentioned in Ms Smith’s speech.
Parents at Cardinal Wiseman use ePortal – a Serco product – to log on securely through the internet and check children’s behaviour, attendance and attainment as well as downloading reports and target sheets.
At Bartley Green staff have devised a project with their feeder primary schools to ease the transition to secondary level. Parents and pupils attended a course with teachers and mentors to learn subjects such as listening skills and anger management as well as taking part in creative activities.
Like many LEAs, Birmingham used to have only one main supplier for its school management information systems but four years ago, after requests from heads and teachers, it decided to offer schools a choice. Officers offered Facility from Serco as an extra option and since then 86 per cent of schools in the city have taken it up.
The change was part of the drive for interoperability in education demanded by central government.
Using Facility’s secure web interface, teachers now feed information directly into school records and that can be used in school self review to prepare for evaluation in readiness for inspections. But the data is also available for other officers who need access to background information, for example, when a member of the Inclusion Support team needs to assess a child’s behaviour.
Looking it up through ePortal means they can find out what events are affecting the child’s behaviour and identify patterns before they meet the child. They can analyse
What is going on without the pressures they would be under at the school and can plan strategies from a calm position, rather than an emotional one. Some decisions can even be made without visiting the school, saving time and money for both the authority and the school.
Facility is a management information system designed to make the most of the learning environment for everyone concerned. Parents, teachers, administrators and students can have access to accurate and immediate information wherever and whenever they need it through the web interface Facility ePortal.
With Facility in place and the support of Serco, authorities all over the UK are finding they can drive effective policies that raise standards in academic achievement, attendance and behaviour to bring out the best in their pupils.