Data

How secure is your school’s data?

scameron — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 16:04:37 +0000

What does the Data Protection Act and data security have to do with schools?
Pupil information held by schools and teachers – whether at school or on laptops and other portable devices – attracts the same level of regulation under the Data Protection Act (‘the Act’) as other personal information held by public and private institutions such as banks, businesses in general and government agencies. Pupils’ information needs to be held as securely as possible to protect this potentially vulnerable group.

Using data to assist behaviour management

scameron — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 10:31:29 +0000

In these days of easily accessed information on pupil behaviour, it seems sensible to make as much use as possible of the data available to you. For this to be effective and not overly labourious it is important to be aware of:

Using data to target learner success

scameron — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 15:18:38 +0000

I come from a background in scientific research, working in the field of cancer research. But two-and-a-half years ago, I made the serious step of considering a career change. When I spotted the data manager position at Serlby Park, advertised in the local paper, it seemed like a perfect position for me.

Management information systems can transform teaching and learning

scameron — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:23:28 +0000

In many schools, the power of management information systems (MIS) is not properly exploited, in large part because the amount of data is so great. The purpose of information systems is to identify patterns and anomalies in pupil performance and enable schools to trace the causal links with the quality of education. This means schools need to identify what they want to monitor and evaluate, what information they need and how they are going to organise and interrogate the evidence base they have created.

Reviewing pupil progress + Helpsheet 11

sara — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 12:21:42 +0100

Support for SENCOs

Guidance on the ContactPoint directory

admin — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 12:21:40 +0100

Education Questions and Answers

What is ContactPoint?

Data protection: your legal obligations

sara — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 12:21:34 +0100

The Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) has been described by the courts as "a cumbersome and inelegant piece of legislation". However, its importance is undeniable.

Richard Thomas, the Information Commissioner has even gone so far as to say that "data protection law stands in the way of a surveillance society where government and commercial bodies know everything about everybody".

Data protection seems to have been in the news a lot recently. Why is that?

Observing student behaviour

cassandrafaria — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 12:21:32 +0100

Information about where or when the behaviour occurred can be collated with information on a number of individuals (start with no more than 10), allowing teachers to observe patterns and similarities. This in turn will contribute to individual reviews and reveal the strengths and weaknesses of current arrangements.

Measuring school performance

admin — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:49 +0100

Let’s face it, size matters. Whether or not we believe that this is true for all walks of life, we certainly have to admit that it applies in education. We currently seem obsessed with the process of measuring things. Exam results, value-added, parental satisfaction, floor space, carbon emissions. I sometimes think that I could spend all day, every day, wandering around my school finding things to measure.

Photography and filming in school: when the Data Protection Act applies

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:48 +0100

End of term productions, certificate presentations, nativity plays...these are some of the occasions when a school has to decide whether or not to let parents take photos or videos of the event. In Christmas 2007, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) decided to make a statement about the Data Protection Act and parents’ rights in respect of recording their child’s involvement in productions.

The importance of data security

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:46 +0100

A wide range of sensitive and valuable information is stored that schools cannot afford to lose, ranging from pupil homework and emails to teacher lesson plans and curriculum content.

Alternative pathways into the world of work

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:44 +0100

The rise and rise in the importance of CVA (contextual value added) has sharply highlighted a series of issues for schools in the data manipulation area. Like many schools, at the Valley School in Worksop, Notts, we have been seeking to exploit the rules while still holding true to our educational principles. This has caused us significant difficulties, as are outlined in this article. I have picked up some of the key areas we have been looking at, along with possible solutions to some of the problems faced.

Guidance on using biometric technology

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:39 +0100

Governors and headteachers are being urged to be clear and open with parents and pupils about the growing use of biometric technology in schools.

How to gather and manage personal data in your school

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:39 +0100

The Data Protection Act 1998 has received wide press coverage — mainly where organisations blame errors on the Act’s ‘red tape’. This cumbersome piece of legislation is problematic (not least because of its turgid prose) but it has at its heart a key aim, aptly summarised by the Council of Europe Convention. The convention said the Act recognised ‘that it is necessary to reconcile the fundamental values of respect for privacy and the free flow of information between peoples'.

Data protection principles

Effective use of primary school data

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:38 +0100

Almost every aspect of school life is now measurable and headteachers are overloaded with statistics. The analysis of what is ‘important’ and how to use this information is a key management skill of the primary school headteacher. However, schools must only use data as one aspect of school achievement and attainment. The width and quality of curriculum experiences and social development should always be maintained and cherished.

Why effective use of data is so important

What is ContactPoint?

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:25 +0100

The government intends to introduce a new way of sharing information about children who are receiving a variety of services. This new system has previously been referred to as the ‘Information Sharing Index’ but will now be known as ContactPoint.

Becoming a bank account school

ewtemp — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:21 +0100

More and more schools are now seeing the benefits of financial autonomy through bank account status. But what would becoming a bank account school mean for your institution?

A personalised approach to targets

ewtemp — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:19 +0100

By deputy head Paul Ainsworth

Belvoir High School is located in rural Leicestershire. There are 400 pupils on roll from Year 6 to Year 9. The G&T register consists of approximately 40 pupils who are selected by a combination of teacher referral, MidYIS scores and KS2 results. The G&T coordinator is also the head of inclusion.

Financial resolutions for 2007-08

admin — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:17 +0100

As any business or finance manager in a busy school knows, it is all too easy to get bogged down in the day-to-day grind that we don’t take the time to stand back and review whether we are doing everything possible in terms of strategic and long-term financial or resources management.

Assessment of maths pupils

admin — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:16 +0100

The starting point for my action research project came from an SMT review of the department that highlighted an over-emphasis of the use of textbooks in the teaching of mathematics.

Project outline

Managing sickness absence

admin — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:16 +0100

Staff sickness absence is a national problem covering all sectors of employment. Estimates put the annual cost to the UK in lost hours and productivity at over £12bn, with an average cost of £495 per employee. While for many organisations the cost of sickness absence may be partly a notional figure – struggling on with reduced staffing is often possible, especially in the case of short-term absences – in schools the problem is particularly acute.

Teaching and learning interventions

admin — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:15 +0100

In teaching and learning, we are increasingly concerned with improving students’ attainment through focused interventions and it is becoming the responsibility of individual teachers, subject leaders or teaching and learning coordinators to select the best intervention for their students from a dazzling array of options. But how and where to start? How can teachers make informed choices? One important tool at our disposal is meta-analysis, though it is only one of a range of tools that teachers need.

The benefits of behaviour tracking

admin — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:07 +0100

The first requirement for any programme of school improvement is the gathering of detailed information about what’s going on. One of the best statements regarding this was made by American executive Louis Gerstner, who took over, and eventually transformed, IBM when it was on its knees in the early 1990s.

‘Good strategies,’ he said, ‘start with massive amounts of quantitative analysis, hard, difficult analysis that is blended with wisdom, insight and risk taking.’

Overhaul for school records of staff vetting

admin — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:05 +0100

Following the publication of Ofsted’s report, the government introduced new measures to improve record keeping and revised guidance was issued over the summer for consultation.

Making personal development quantifiable

admin — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:19:56 +0100

Ofsted’s insistence that schools should not ‘shirk’ the need to evaluate learners’ personal development and wellbeing, ‘however hard these may be to quantify’, has provoked anxiety as well as perplexity. ‘Should we do that?’, ask some. ‘Is it possible?’, ask others.

Justifiable wariness

Speaking school finances: ICT

admin — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:19:47 +0100

By Ruth Bradbury

Book review: GCSE Success Essentials - Study Skills

admin — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:19:28 +0100

The book is well written and well laid out with good use of colour. Five main areas are covered: managing yourself and your time; memory, reading and note taking; group work, project work and using ICT; revising subjects and the exams. In each area the book makes widespread use of a number of presentational techniques and can be used to ‘dip in’ for specific help on a particular area of study and examinations. Each section is laid out in blocks of text that enable the reader to get a ‘bite’ very quickly.

Collecting information about different types of special educational need

admin — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:19:25 +0100

The guidance provided in June and September 2003 has now been amended in the light of two years’ experience of collection and all the queries and comments received.

Who to record
Only record type/s of need for pupils where special educational provision is being made at School Action Plus or through a statement of SEN. This means that the pupils receive educational provision, which is additional to, or different from, the educational provision made generally for children of their age, and advice has been sought from external services.

School security – legal review

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:19:25 +0100

Legislation does not assign responsibility for school security to any one body. In practice, management responsibility is usually shared between the Local Education Authority (in the case of LEA maintained schools), the governing body, and the headteacher. However other agencies, in particular the police, fire service, social services, insurers, equipment providers, and maintenance contractors, can all make valuable contributions. A multiagency approach to school security is likely to be the most effective.

Making the most of MIS

admin — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:19:14 +0100

I once met a primary school secretary who had two chairs in her room – nothing unusual about that, of course. One was an ordinary office chair pulled up to the desk at which she added up registers, counted money and sorted through sticking plasters – all the things that school secretaries have traditionally done. The other chair was one of those revolving jobs that typists sit on and it faced a metal table, off to the side, bearing a computer. She called the typist’s chair ‘my computer chair’.