IP Newsletter October 2024

Welcome to your October 2024 IP Newsletter

In our latest newsletter, we explore the world of CPD and how our schools plan their professional development in SchooliP for this exciting new academic year. We also discuss the latest updates to the iP suite, from a brand-new help centre to exciting new reports!

If you are interested in finding out more about how you can centrally manage all of your school improvement processes, covering everything from staff appraisals to whole school action planning, and finding out more about how our schools around the world are utilising our solution to ensure a smooth transition away from paper and onto a digital platform, please read to the bottom to find out more.

What’s New

Brand New Help Centre – We have developed a new and improved help center for the entire iP suite to ensure everyone who uses our solutions have access to the tools they need to properly approach the new year with confidence. With everything from user guides to videos, new updates, and direct access to your customer success manager, everything you need is here!

CPD Controlled Courses can be duplicated – A new feature on the CCCs means that CPD managers can simply click a button and duplicate courses that are already saved in the system! All that is required is for a new cost and date to be entered and you’re set!

CPD integration with your budgets – CPD courses can now be further integrated into your school’s budget by linking with course cost codes ensuring a transparent CPD dashboard with accurate and live display of spending and attendance.

Additional Policy Reports – New reports available within the policy module within iP means those with the appropriate user rights can now see a breakdown of the staff that have outstanding actions against every policy.

CPD: Planning the Year ahead

Effective CPD is essential for schools that are striving for continuous improvement. SchooliP simplifies this process for you, making it simpler for educators to engage in meaningful and fulfilling professional growth. Well, how does SchooliP help?:Streamline CPD Planning –

  • SchooliP allows schools to easily organise, track, and manage CPD activity in one platform, reducing time and effort spent on administrative tasks
  • Track Progress and Feedback – Educators are encourage to provide feedback and leave a star rating for each course that they attend, offering line managers and CPD coordinators a real-time view of progress. This feedback also provides a bank of evidence for which courses should and shouldn’t be repeated in the future based on the outcome and effect it has had on the attendees.
  • Resources Accessibility – Remove the complexity of CPD planning by offering a central platform where all activities, objectives, and progress are feeding into one place. With built-in templates, automatic reminders, and custom workflows, you can further save time and focus more on PD
  • Encourage Collaboration – Foster a culture of collaboration for your school by allowing educators to easily share their experience with CPD courses, resources, and insights. Encourage staff to work together, sharing best practices and work towards common goals.

How are our current customers preparing for the new year? At Titus Salt School, they are using SchooliP to plan their CPD spending to ensure budgets are properly allocated, and staff are thoroughly supported, to quote a SLT member from the school “SchooliP allows a more efficient use of school funds to support CPD for multiple people rather than always on an individual level”

A few things to consider when planning your CPD for the year:

  • Align Professional Development with Whole School Goals – Ensure your CPD is not only going to improve your educators but also the school as a whole. Tie CPD in with your development plan and recent inspection outcomes as well.
  • An Ongoing and Sustained Approach – Use your calendar to schedule check-ins to ensure professional development is ongoing throughout the year
  • Focus on Student Outcomes – The ultimate aim of PD should be to improve teaching and learning, providing your students with the best opportunities through excellent teaching practices.
  • Collaborative Environment – Peer observations and department collaboration can improve efficiency and create a dynamic learning culture, helping to foster continuous improvement and strengthen the professional development community throughout your school.

 

In July 2024 the Department for Education updated its guidance regarding CPD needs specifically highlighting the importance of digitising CPD by using software and performance management solutions to streamline CPD activities ensure accountability and provide clear metrics for professional development success.

Schools should consider the benefits of using online or electronic performance management solutions to help provide a streamlined approach which can not only reduce workload and save time for leaders and teachers but can also assist with identifying and targeting CPD needs, empowering staff to take control of their professional growth and allowing leaders to track impact on school priorities

EdTech Awards 2024

Now some exciting news in the wider EdTech world, the announcement of the all-new EdTech Impact Awards.

EdTech Impact pact for those unaware is the leading platform for Educators, Trust Leaders, and all other Educational Specialist to explore and locate innovative solutions based on their needs. You can read reviews and case studies, directly compare solutions, and request demonstrations and quotes through the platform, making EdTech Impact a one-stop shop for all of your EdTech exploration needs.

Now, back on to the awards! These awards span a wide range of areas, but the main three overarching areas are Top School Money Saving Tool, Top Student Collaboration School, and Top Teacher Workload Reducing Tool.

SchooliP has utilised EdTech Impact for a while now, and we have currently amassed over 125 reviews from our happy customers! But we are still 2 short!

One of the requirements to be entered into the draw for these new awards is to have at least 15 reviews from individual schools (No Duplicates!) since the start of 2024, so for any of our wonderful customers who are reading this, please consider leaving us a quick review so that we might have the chance to further spread the SchooliP word – https://edtechimpact.com/products/schoolip/survey/

Policy Management

The SchooliP Policy Management Module is one of the latest additions to our ever-improving solution. Through the integration of policy management into a whole school improvement tool, school leaders can further centralise their administrative tasks.

 

Through the module, you can allocate each of your policies an “owner” who will be responsible for the review cycle of the policy, ensure all relevant staff members have viewed and agreed with the policy, and ensure the policy is approved at the proper level.

You can monitor views and agreement through the “View” tab which will allow you to see who is yet to acknowledge each policy, and if relevant, who is yet to agree with it as well. With additional functionality to send reminders out to those with outstanding actions, you can manage your policy needs from one place.

To inquire about the policies module please book in with Damien Roberts or Liam Reece.

   

Latest Insights

All the latest news and insights on whole-school improvement, staff well-being and empowering staff with their professional development.