CASE STUDY: STAFFORD PARTNERSHIP
“As learners take advantage of a wider range of learning opportunities open to them, delivered by an increasing number of partners, tracking attendance and progress through an effective solution like CLM will be an essential part of a school’s responsibility to its pupils and their parents.”
Phil Cumming, Headteacher Stafford College Collegiate
About the Stafford Partnership
The Stafford 14 – 16 Partnership was established to provide access to a vocational curriculum not previously available to learners. The emphasis was on practical
skills and clear links to the workplace. Now 6 years on, the Partnership comprises 9 schools and 5 training providers and last year enabled well over 400 learners to gain a range of vocational qualifications. Achievement has increased significantly, for example for the courses at Stafford College it has risen from 67% in 2004/5 to 84% in 6/7. A similar rise can be seen with our other providers. Stafford College has gained Centre of Vocational Excellence (CoVE) status and, training provider Francesco Hairdressing Group has been presented with the National Excellence Award for raising achievement in young people.
“ We have been impressed by the simplicity of CLM. It is user-friendly and offers quick communication with our partners – cutting out the need for phone calls. We have now increased monitoring capacity and the reporting tool is very useful.”
Sylvia Stenson, Executive Director Francesco Group - Stafford Partnership Training provider
The Problem
Like many partnerships nationally, although the overall experiences of the initial scheme were positive, certain issues quickly became apparent. The curriculum being offered was not always appropriate to suit the many different types of learners so a period of consultation took place to establish an alternative, better suited solution.
Schools are now offered three programmes of study to suit these many different types of learners: an entry level, the existing IFP (Increased Flexibility Programme) level 1 and 2 and a programme specifically for disadvantaged learners. To successfully deliver the new programmes the tracking and monitoring of the learners had to be more effective as the existing solution was clumsy, difficult to use and was a significant drain on administration resources.
“My feedback on the system is extremely positive: Collaborative Learning Manager is user-friendly and versatile; the facility to add and read notes on the register has proved really helpful. Attendance statistics are simple and clear. Overall, it is a fantastic system providing an instant liaison with the schools. The support provided by Perspective prior to, and post installation has ensured that we now have a system that meets all of our requirements.”
Jo Bound, Biscom – Experts in IT and Business Delivery - Stafford Partnership Training provider
The Solution
The answer presented itself at a 14-19 conference where a Perspective representative demonstrated Collaborative Learning Manager (CLM). CLM provides a fast and intuitive web interface for training providers to record student attendance and progress. The online class registers are straightforward to complete with the entered data
instantly available to schools, training providers and partnerships. This allows them to quickly and simply identify non-attendance and promptly take the appropriate action. Any unexplained absences are immediately highlighted and can be edited to show the absence as authorised or unauthorised. Notes can also accompany any section of the register. This enables users to input explanations that explain absences or any expected absences for forthcoming lessons, which are then picked up by the training provider when filling in the register. When changes are made in the register, they are automatically recorded on CLM to create an audit trail, therefore ensuring compliance for legal purposes. All recorded data is then archived and available for instant retrieval when required, enabling users to instantaneously prepare statistical information.
As students enrol on courses, CLM creates an individual development record where progress can be entered and stored. Students can also be graded for aptitude and effort during the course and to keep up-to-date with all course developments, CLM allows qualifications to be entered onto the system using the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) course code which downloads all unit information directly from the National Database of Accredited Qualifications (NDA) site.
Sophisticated filters permit users to tailor how the statistical and progressional information is then viewed and reports can be created showing attendance and progress by pupil, course or school over a selected time period.
The Results
The software was introduced across the Stafford Partnership in September 2007 and proved an instant success allowing quick and simple feedback on attendance and the ability to immediately follow-up on unwarranted absences, creating altogether stronger communication channels between all parties. The technology has also saved huge amounts of managerial time with paperwork now effectively redundant. The recorded data in the CLM system provides more accurate information and reports giving a detailed picture of student progression.
Collaborative Learning Manager’s success in Stafford has led the Local Authority to plan a roll-out of its use across
the county where it will support collaboration and diploma implementation.
“We have been very impressed by CLM: it has provided an easy way for our staff to give instant feedback to our school partners and thereby allowed us to streamline our communications systems.”
Jayne Elsby, Indigo Training Solutions Ltd - Stafford Partnership Training provider
