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Background
St Mary’s Shaftesbury is a Roman Catholic independent girls’ school. The current enrolment is 326 girls aged 9 to 18. Two thirds of the girls are full boarders and one third are day pupils. Situated a mile outside Shaftesbury in 55 acres of its own glorious Dorset countryside, with fine facilities and buildings, the school enjoys a reputation for all round excellence, pastoral care and traditional values. Almost all of the Sixth Form continue to higher education. Over the last year ICT at St Mary’s has undergone a major revamp with a new ICT support team, new network, full wireless coverage across all academic areas and laptops for all teachers. One outstanding weakness though was the school database system. Bought over four years ago from one of the major players in the market, the school had struggled to manipulate it to its requirements. Although it had extensive features it was also overly complex, so much so that the previous UNIX database was still maintained and used for the majority of lists and labels. The database was also only accessible to one person which infuriated the staffroom who desperately required quick and easy access to the information. With the introduction of a new ICT support team, time was spent trying to develop the system. Access was finally provided to all staff for basic information but the school were becoming increasingly frustrated with the inflexibility of the package and the level of support they were receiving. Requirements
Based on their experiences with school database systems, St Mary's School knew what they were looking for in a new package. User friendly- for the school database to be successful all staff needed to be able to use it regardless of their ICT ability Support - it was imperative that problems were resolved quickly and efficiently. Flexibility - the system needed to fit around the school requirements and grow with them. Speed - the database would not be used if staff had to constantly wait for information. Achievements
At the beginning of August 2005 St Mary's decided to go ahead with SchoolBase®;. By the start of term they had achieved the following: When looking for a database system the school's primary needs are: All data had been successfully transferred from the two old databases into SchoolBase®; The new timetable was fully integrated allowing individual staff and student timetables to be printed All the key staff were given a days training on all aspects of SchoolBase®; All staff were able to access the information they required quickly and easily All external examinations results were imported and analysis produced Marketing information can now be recorded and analysed on prospective pupils A rapidly growing document library which has become the central store for all policy documents future potential - the system needs to be based on sound data management principles so that as technology changes the core of the system will continue to support it responsive support - staff need to have the confidence that if a problem does arise it will be dealt with quickly by someone who understands how a large independent school functions
By the end of the current term St Mary’s will also trial the electronic registration module and all end of term reports will be completed through SchoolBase®;. Quote from St. Mary's School Staff
"I initially invited Furlong to St Mary's to demonstrate their registration module. However after seeing the whole package it was clear that it addressed all the shortfalls of our old system and had the additional bonus of being far cheaper. Time was a major factor though, we were already half way through the summer holidays and I had to ensure that the school had a fully working system, with correct data, by the start of term. I don't mind admitting that I was sceptical when Furlong promised to deliver a working system in two weeks, but they did exactly that. In fact the level of support we have received from Furlong is overwhelming. The staff cannot believe so much has been achieved in so little time and there is a fantastic buzz of excitement within the staffroom." - James Pearce - ICT Services Manager "One of the few software packages I've come across that genuinely moulds to your requirements rather than expecting you to adapt to its!" -Clive Norman - Database Manager "Our old school database had caused me no end of problems, not least because of its complexity and its limited amount of use. It is clear that SchoolBase®; has been designed by people who know how independent schools work. We now feel we are at the centre of the development as opposed to on the edge: this is a database that works for us, rather than making us work for it; it is extremely user friendly and tailored to how our school operates. We are also absolutely delighted with the level of support we have received. Nothing seems to be too much trouble and I am so impressed by just how quickly our suggestions are implemented into the database." David Cohen - Director of Studies "Our previous system swallowed up data but wasn't very forthcoming with letting us get it back out again! The setting up of reports was extremely complicated and the support from the software company fluctuated dramatically between little and non-existent! SchoolBase®; and Furlong have both been a dream come true from the very beginning. The system is straightforward, easy to use and accommodating (even the font type is friendly!), and the support from Furlong, whether it has been by phone, email or in person has been outstanding. I have never felt 'adrift' with this system and know that the staff will love using it." - Kay Day - Registration Secretary "I'll just quickly say that you have done marvels for Kay's confidence and general happiness and that is worth more than anything as she was so shattered by previous database experiences. In addition to which, of course, the system started off pretty marvellous and only gets better every day!!! So user friendly and easy to find something even when you haven't done it before." Jo Sampson - PA to the Headmistress For more details please contact:
James Pearce
IT Services Manager
Telephone : 01...
Website : http://www.st-marys-shaftesbury.co.uk/
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