Schools beckon world’s first intelligent information management solution

Sept. 29, 2010 - PRLog -- For the first time, all schools and local authorities, including independents, international, academies and free schools, could benefit from Serco Learning Progresso – the UK’s first online solution to intelligently manage school information to support school leaders, teachers and administrators in working more efficiently and effectively. Supported by a team of education experts at Serco Learning (www.sercolearning.com), a global provider of e-learning and management solutions, Serco Learning Progresso converts data on pupil attainment, attendance and behaviour into meaningful information at the point of use, without the need for teacher time to search and retrieve.

Developed in conjunction with forty education specialists from schools, academy groups and local authorities, Serco Learning Progresso meets the needs identified by over 2000 schools already collaborating with the company. Serco Learning Progresso will be available for late 2011 and will provide schools with an information management solution that caters for individual needs in a safe, secure and timely manner. The system will seamlessly integrate with schools’ existing systems and dramatically reduce staff time spent on managing the application.

In July 2010, the Government pledged to put headteachers and teachers back in control of the classroom by stripping away bureaucracy that far too often prevents them from maintaining good behaviour. Providing a bird’s eye view of the whole school, class by class or even individual student groups, Serco Learning Progresso puts vital data at teachers’ fingertips the moment they log-on, freeing them to spend time teaching rather than manipulating numbers. Serco Learning Progresso’s simple, easy to use interface presents data in real-time without the need for searching, , enabling staff at all levels of ICT competency to quickly and easily produce their own reports within three clicks of a button. Recognising that all school management systems hold a huge amount of data, Serco Learning Progresso presents tailored information to teachers and parents at the point of use. For example, if a pupil is absent after lunch the parent can be alerted immediately by telephone, text message or email.

As data security has become an increasingly complex issue for schools, with parents, governors and other education professionals outside the school building requiring access, Serco Learning Progresso is delivered via a central managed service which eliminates worry for the school by ensuring that information held in the data centre is always kept safe and secure by dedicated technical experts. Security is further enhanced by restricting access to information to only that specifically needed by the role of a user.

The web delivered and professionally managed solution enables schools and local authorities to share data easily. Collaboration between schools is also simplified whereby when a student moves from one Serco Learning Progresso school to another, the data will automatically be transferred. As a centrally managed system, featuring a single student record, Progresso’s design inherently supports the management of dual registered students or those attending work experience.

Serco Learning Progresso can be easily configured, to adapt quickly to best practice enabling schools and local authorities to define the specific metrics teaching professionals require to support students’ learning. Additional facilities such as SMS systems are integrated to aid the personal productivity of teachers and administrators. Parameters can be set according to individual teachers’ needs, for example teachers can identify and monitor vulnerable groups by setting a threshold which flags all students with attendance below 95% during a particular time frame. Teachers can spot trends between attendance and attainment, inform relevant staff about any concerns and send instant notifications to parents.

Mohamad Djahanbakhsh, Managing Director, Serco Learning, adds: “We are passionate about offering schools the UK’s fourth generation information management solution – the first of its kind to really meet their needs. Through our work with 2000 schools, we identified the need for a service that can be managed by us so that schools can focus on intervention. As the user experience is at the heart of what we do, we will regularly review schools’ processes to make sure the Serco Learning Progresso service is continually working exactly as they want.”

For further information about Progresso please contact Serco Learning on
Tel: +44(0)1 332 660 555, e-mail: enquiries@sercolearning.com or visit the website: www.sercolearning.com/products/progresso .

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Serco Learning is a global provider of innovative e-learning and management solutions, training and consultancy services to the educator sector. Employing specialist educational consultants, including former headteachers, senior education managers and Ofsted inspectors, Serco Learning develops solutions informed by, and designed to answer real schools needs. Serco Learning is part of a FTSE 100 company with over 12 years experience delivering a diverse range of services and solutions to over 2,000 schools and local authorities worldwide.