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Just like to chip in with this conversation. I'd highly recommend Bromcom. Currently being adopted by Harris, Ark and Leigh. My experience is that, being cloud-based, it allows colleagues to continue working in extreme conditions, such as the recent snow, meaning that even though the school closed, leaders, support staff and teachers were easily able to carry on working on important tasks from the comfort of their sofa!

Hi Does anyone know whether Bromcom can integrate with Biostore's Fastrak biometric registration system at all? We are looking at Bromcom but can't seem to get an answer on this. Thanks Simon

Data Manager Salary: G20 £21,207 FTA – £18,760 actual 37 hours per week/Term Time only plus 15 days Required ASAP We are seeking a Data Manager to take responsibility for key aspects of the Academy’s Management Information System and to assist with timetabling. Experience of working in a school setting and a good knowledge of educational issues is desirable but not essential. Excellent ICT skills are however essential, particularly the use of Excel as is the ability to pick up new systems quickly. This is a critical and exciting role for someone with an analytical mind who would relish this opportunity to work flexibly with a core team to support our raising of achievement strategies. Full details here: Longfield Academy - Vacancies

Details here: Longfield Academy Vacancies Job Description Application Form Part 1 Application Form Part 2

Hi Sounds like it went well for you. When you talk about LOP analysis, did they want to see that for all subjects or just English and Maths? Thanks Simon

Yes, another vote for 'F' from me.

Thanks for all of the feedback, it's really interesting to see the mix of experiences that people have had.

Hi I would be interested to hear from any colleagues who have been through an Ofsted Inspection recently about what their role in the inspection was. I have heard mixed stories from the usual working late to make sure everything is in place for the inspectors up to being interviewed by the inspection team. I joined my current school just after their last inspection and we are just about due I imagine, so would like to know what to expect. The school has been through 'mock' Ofsted inspections over the years but I have never been included. We recently lost our Principal who was amazingly clued up on data and would have handled everything himself, but his replacement is not so clued up. Any stories of the good, bad or ugly would be appreciated! Thanks Simon

Great, thanks for the info!

Hi Sorry to dredge up an old thread, but I was wondering if anyone had any updates on this? We use Facility so I am not sure about this, but am working on a few other projects where SIMS may come in. Thanks Simon

Done! Would be really interested to read the dissertation if you were willing to share it?

Hi Michael I'm doing a bit of research for a new school. I work at an Academy using Facility and we were due to go live on Progresso in May 2012 but pulled the plug because we were so concerned. The new school opens in September and they are currently looking at Progresso or SIMS. What's your opinion about Progresso for a brand new school with no history and not going live for a while? Thanks S

I work in a multi-Academy Trust. As things stand for us there is no joined up thinking - we have separate MIS for each Academy, some with SIMS some with CMIS and each of the Secondary Academies has its own Data Manager - at the moment. They are working on a plan with GroupCall to pull information from all Academies into one central point, so that there can be some work done centrally using something like Crystal Reports. Moving to Progresso was also discussed a while ago, with the plan being that once one school had successfully moved over and were happy, the other schools would all move too. Progresso has a 'Federation' option, where you can centrally manage the whole system and have an overview of all data from all schools. We'll have to wait and see, but data seems to be very low down on the priority list bizarrely, so I don't expect any major changes any time soon.

I had a couple of tweets re-tweeted by the school's account, so the parents that follow that then started to follow mine... scary stuff! So I had a mad panic checking that I hadn't said anything too dodgy and then blocked them all!

Having thought about this, I decided to set up a 'school' (non-personal) twitter account. Don't want to get caught out saying anything I shouldn't - especially as I noticed I was suddenly being followed by some parents! So, my work one is @LGFAssessment