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HI-TECH SYSTEM COULD TRANSFORM SCHOOL LIFE

School inspectors have highlighted the successes of a specialist computer database which is revolutionising school pastoral systems.

Archbishop Mcgrath pupils using Lisol Pathways

Estyn discovered the Lisol Pathways system at Archbishop McGrath Catholic School, Bryn Road, Bridgend, and congratulated the school on the way it analyses data and has improved the target-setting process.

Inspectors said the system had been used to “good effect” so that its benefits could be seen throughout the school.

Lisol Pathways, said Estyn, helped heads of year in “tracking pupils’ progress and in organising effective intervention for pupils seen to be “falling behind their expected rate of progress”.

It was “enhancing internal communication, pastoral vigilance and child protection arrangements through its e-mail facility”.

Inspectors also found that it was “creating a more efficient system of behaviour referral” and is “removing any distinction between academic and pastoral managers by ensuring that everyone has all the information that is available”.

And it is not just inspectors who are pleased.

Archbishop McGrath deputy headteacher Joanne Thomas said the system has made staff’s life easier and received good feedback from parents.

Read the story as it appears in the South Wales Echo

VOYAGER HELPS SCHOOL GET TOP MARKS

The system was especially designed to solve problems of transition and to assist in the moderation of teacher assessments.
It is now in use in every school across Caerphilly LEA, allowing them to store and electronically transfer academic and pastoral information on all pupils.
Data transfer is swift, safe and easy, and teachers can keep track of pupils’ work and monitor progress at the touch of a button.
Now Tir-y-Berth is celebrating receiving an ICT Mark from Becta, an award which proves its pupils are at the forefront of using computer technology in every aspect of school life.
The success comes hot on the heels of another major achievement earlier this academic year, when the school became the first in Wales to achieve the NACE challenge award for excellence in providing a top class education for more able and talented pupils.
Tir-y-Berth’s successes in the NACE Challenge Award and the IT Mark owe much to its work at the forefront of the Lisol Voyager IT system.
Deputy headteacher Jacqui Roome said: “Voyager has been an innovative tool that has improved transitions links. Important and necessary information is electronically sent to feeder comprehensives. The assessors for the NACE Challenge Award were impressed with its current uses and future possibilities.
“In order to obtain the IT Award it was necessary to provide evidence how IT is used to facilitate transition. Through the use of Voyager we were able to evidence this.”
A team of assessors from Becta, the Government-funded body for promoting the use of computers in schools, monitored and observed lessons before grading the school.
They found computers were used successfully in every aspect of school life from play in the nursery class to maths lessons for 11-year-olds.
Lisol would like to congratulate staff at the school for their hard work and determination to ensure every pupil achieves their full potential.

LISOL CELEBRATES SCHOOL SUCCESSES

Lisol has been celebrating good practice in secondary schools across Wales.

Ysgol Bro Morgannwg celebrates receiving a Welsh Secondary Schools Association teaching award.
Pictured (left to right) are: Kate Galea; Rachael Roberts; Andrew Canham, of Lisol; Bethan Dillon (head of sixth form) and Rhian Owen. Pupil Abigail Matthews was unable to attend the ceremony.

 

Mary Immaculate RC High receives its award from the Welsh Secondary Schools Association: pictured are pupils Dominique Da Silva; Catherine Walsh; and Thomas Deacon, with headteacher Philip Gilpin, Lorraine Davey and former pupil Andrew Canham, of Lisol, one of the sponsors of the awards.

The awards were presented at a ceremony at Treforest and Andrew Canham, of Lisol, said the quality of entrants was extremely high.
“The awards showed what excellent work is being carried out in secondary schools all over Wales,” he said. “Lisol are delighted to be involved in the presentation.”

Seven winning schools were invited to the ceremony.
Pembroke Comprehensive School won in the curriculum planning, organization and delivery category, for librarian Liz Smith’s work with teachers to prepare lessons.
Rhymney Comprehensive won in the pastoral category for its healthy school initiative which deals with problems of bad diet, teenage pregnancy and drug abuse.
Castell Alun High, Hope, was successful in the school improvement category for its leadership training programme.
Mary Immaculate RC High in Cardiff was the winner in the KS2/3 continuity and progression category for work to ensure pupils move happily from local primaries to the secondary school.
There were two joint winners in the community action category. Ysgol Rhiwabon, Ruabon, celebrated for the way it was developing pastoral care through community partnerships. Ysgol Bro Morgannwg, Barry, won for the work its sixth-formers are doing in community projects and, in particular, on a fundraising project for the Joshua Foundation, a charity for children with cancer.
Bishopston Comprehensive School, Swansea, was successful in the key skills category for its innovative ‘Key Skills Journey’.

General Secretary of WSSA, Roderic Ashley, said: “Through the awards schools have an opportunity, not just to celebrate their own good practice and innovation, but also to share this with all other secondary schools across Wales.
“We are delighted this year to welcome, as a sponsor of the WSSA School Awards, Lisol, an innovative, software information management company working with education providers across Wales.”