December was a significant month at The Wellington Academy. The decision had been made to reconstruct our curriculum timetable and move to a new Management Information System. Fulfilling one of these tasks alone, would have been challenging enough, but undertaking both simultaneously had the potential to steer our academy ship of course.
Deploying the new timetable was not without it’s issues; somewhat expected. However, and in stark contrast, the introduction of iSAMs barely made a splash on entry (blame the naff Saturday night programming for that reference). Most definitely a pleasant surprise. With a good proportion of the migration untaken on by iSAM’s sympathetic support team, (including configuring the new timetable) training was precise, focused and perhaps most importantly succinct. Given the module configuration, barely half of the MIS was “open.” Administrative training was professional, refreshingly honest and delivered with forethought and clarity. I am not sure we could have asked for much more.
Day to day, the staff have been quick to utilize the wider features of iSAMs. Communication tools in particular (instant messaging, email teachers of, email students of, and automated emails for detentions and concerns). Data collection was quick to set up, fast and very efficient to enter. Now I know we have barely skimmed the surface, but I would encourage you to take a good look at this new cloud based MIS. As we explore the product more fully, I will post our reflections here (if I get a chance to come up for air). For now, earlier signs are very promising and response to our feedback has been receptive and interested, (yes I said receptive and interested.) If you are at BETT, drop by to their stand F302, they can provide a full and live demo (its cloud based).
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