Elective sessions

2

This session will review the trends and influences that are accelerating the take-up of SIMS Learning Gateway within the secondary and primary sectors.

The speaker will focus on parent and staff access, where significant progress has been made by over 50 local authorities. He will also provide an overview of the new capabilities being launched to enhance the SIMS Learning Gateway to ensure it continues to meet your needs.

Paul Metcalfe, Product Manager – Capita

2
Meeting the Challenges of the 14-19 Agenda

This presentation will address the practical implications of preparing for, implementing and supporting your schools’ 14-19 learning partnerships and how technology can help you manage provision for your students more effectively.

Andy Sykes, Product Manager - Capita

Keith Bostrom, Head of Training and Consultancy - Capita

Come and hear how one local authority works in partnership with the SIMS Professional Services team to support whole-school improvement in their schools.

In this elective you will find out how to successfully engage with senior leaders and teachers to embed the effective use of SIMS across your schools and be inspired by examples of best practice.

Jan Blake, Head of Product Professional Services - Capita

Is the training provided by your local authority meeting the needs of your staff? Is financial planning managed effectively across departments? Are calls from schools handled efficiently by your support teams? These are some of the questions that need to be asked to ensure your authority is delivering a high standard of service.

The LASER model will enable you to address these issues and more within your local authority. Discover how LASER can be used to help develop your practice and see how it fits into the existing accreditation scheme.

Pete Brown, Head of Strategic Partnerships - Capita

Duncan Baldwin, Strategic Education Consultant - Capita

Rebecca Wragg - Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council

Aimed at technical staff, this talk will cover the proposed migration of SIMS and FMS to SQL2008 from SQL2005.

The session will enable school IT support teams to evaluate the skills needed to perform the migrations and help ensure the process runs smoothly.

Jonathan Wood, Product Manager - Capita

Schools have benefited from the link between the DCSF’s OPEN portal and FMS since Autumn 2008 enabling them to purchase their resources electronically through an increasing number of suppliers.

This elective will examine the roll-out of the OPEN portal and help technical staff providing support for SIMS and FMS to advise school managers on the benefits of using e-Procurement in their schools.

Ian Romeo-Smith, Head of Product Management - Capita

This session will give you the chance to ask any SIMS-related questions that you have not previously had the opportunity to raise.

Whether you want to know what new product developments are coming up or find out more about the SIMS Support structure, now’s your chance. Capita's SIMS Directors Phil Neal, Ian Churchill, Simon Smith, Gary Hyman and Tina Whitley will be happy to respond to your queries.

Phil Neal, Director: SIMS - Capita

Ian Churchill, Chief Operating Officer - Capita

Simon Smith, Professional Services Director - Capita

Gary Hyman, Business Development Director - Capita

Based on pupil Ben Abbot’s story, this presentation will help you get the most out of SIMS and ensure your schools’ data is working hard to drive whole school improvement.

School managers will learn about what questions need to be asked of data and how it can be used most effectively to help them achieve their school development goals.

Keith Bostrom, Head of Training and Consultancy - Capita

You want to ensure schools in your area are providing good-quality teaching that will encourage every child to achieve to the best of their ability.

Nick Finnemore, Principal Product Manager - Capita

How often are senior leaders referred to an Excel spreadsheet or a print out when they want the answer to a question about a group of students? Many schools store a variety of student data, but it is often collected for a specific reason and may not be used across the school.

Jan Blake, Head of Product Professional Services - Capita

Viv Reed - Consultant

Would you like to make it easier for schools in your area to collect and manage dinner money efficiently?

In this presentation, you will hear about schools that trialled the new version of SIMS Dinner Money. Discover how changes to the software have made the process of dinner money management simpler and saved them hours in administration time.

Natasha Marsh, Product Manager - Capita

The introduction of the School Workforce Census (SWC) from January 2010 will see a change in the way that information is collected about people working in schools.

Presented by Gill Turner and Alicia Childs from the DCSF, this session will give you some high-level feedback on the piloting that has taken place so far during 2008 and 2009, information on how the data will be used and the benefits to schools, and a forward look to the Autumn and Spring collections.

Jim Haywood - Product Manager, Capita

In this elective we will explore the complete cycle of why schools leave SIMS and what prompts many of them to return. Paul Butler, from the SMIS Team in Sandwell, will outline the business implications of schools switching MIS to LSUs and how his team supports those that return.

Claire Ashton, Partnership Schools' and Achievement Coordinator - Capita

Paul Butler - Sandwell Local Authority

Come and gain inspiration from our local authority colleagues as they speak about the frustrations, hurdles and considerable benefits they have experienced in planning and developing the use of SIMS and One in their schools and LAs to support their information management strategy and deliver real benefits to end users.

There will be a 'Question Time' style panel session where delegates can ask those who have started the journey about the successes they have achieved and what approaches have worked best in helping them deliver on key initiatives such as Every Child Matters.

Graham Cooper, Head of Marketing - Capita

Richard Randall - Somerset Local Authority

For a 21st century local authority, access to information from schools is vital to ensuring pupils are benefiting from the highest standards of educational provision.

Nic Fell, Head of Product Management (One) – Capita

Do you want to ensure a unified approach to assessment and school improvement across the schools in your local authority?

In this session, Dave Cattlin, LSU Manager at Rochdale local authority, will explain how he and his support team have rolled out a SIMS assessment tracking system to Rochdale schools and how this has benefitted teaching and learning in the area.

Chris Sherwood, Principal Product Manager - Capita

Local authority colleagues using SIMS Learning Gateway will share their experiences and provide an insight into how the system can be best utilised to support information sharing.

Jim Mason, Principal Technical Consultant - Capita

Poor attendance can have a detrimental effect on academic achievement and it is vital that schools have the tools they need to tackle this challenging issue effectively.

Geoff Perry, National Sales Consultant (Product) - Capita

This session is targeted at all local authorities and educators concerned about literacy standards and are looking for an innovative way to tackle the issue.

Learn how you can engage students in a collaborative reading community and track their progress against proven results. Examples will be shown of how to blend existing technology such as learning platforms together with tomorrow’s innovative ideas to deliver a passion for reading and literacy within today’s schools.

David Grashoff, Partner Manager - Capita

Daniel Tennent - Micro Librarian Systems Ltd (MLS)

Dave Rawsterne - Nottingham e•learning Centres

This session will provide an overview of how Medway Local Authority and its diverse range of secondary schools is successfully using the UniServity cLc (connected learning communities) Learning Platform to help deliver 14-19 Diplomas that engage learners in their education.

The session will demonstrate how the UniServity cLc can make it easy for teachers to create and set 14-19 Diploma resources for learners to access across multiple learning institutions and how easily work placement partners can become involved in the ongoing learning process.

As one of the first local authorities to become actively involved in successfully using a learning platform to assist 14-19 Diploma delivery, Medway’s experiences will provide an invaluable reference point for all local authority staff involved in Diploma delivery now or in the future.

David Grashoff, Partner Manager – Capita

Ben Jones - National Sales Consultant (Technical) - Capita

Chris Wild - UniServity

This elective will be essential for school managers and local authority staff wanting to find out how strategic planning can best support the long term sustainability of a school.

The session will cover both the theory and the practical application of linking the school’s vision with its financial strategy. It will also explore the benefits of linking the short, medium and longer term strategies back to DCSF agendas and how Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council has supported schools in developing their key objectives with limited resources.

David Grashoff, Partner Manager – Capita

Geoff Perry, National Sales Consultant (Product) - Capita

Nick Ratcliffe - HCSS Education Ltd

This session is for those that have a role in managing and advising on school improvement and those looking to use school generated data more effectively.

Find out how an online system can be used to integrate key improvement processes around planning and performance to prevent the counter productive ‘paper chase’ that exists in many schools.

Matthew Norris, National Sales Consultant - Capita

Keith Wright - Bluewave SWIFT

Provision mapping can be a powerful measure of inclusion within schools giving an accurate picture of how effectively resources are being used.

Colin Hutchinson, Senior SEN Learning Coordinator at Eastlea Community School in Newham, will explain how he uses Blue Hills Software’s Provision Map Writer for collecting and managing Special Educational Needs and inclusion data. Discover how Colin enables school managers, inspectors, teachers, parents and pupils to see that the school’s additional provision is good value for money and is matched to pupils’ needs.

Geoff Perry, National Sales Consultant (Product) - Capita

Susan Rudlin - Blue Hills Software Co.Ltd

Colin Hutchinson - Eastlea Community School