An efficient cloud-based student management platform for Weston Public School.
It was time to make the switch
Weston Public School knew that to continue providing high quality education it would need to ‘move with the times’. As the demands grow on education, the need for a comprehensive and efficient school management system is paramount. Weston Public School chose Sentral because it could see the benefits of a one-stop- shop platform providing benefits across the whole school.
Implementing new systems presents challenges. Yet the team at Weston Public School was able to adapt quickly to the intuitive Sentral interface. The new Sentral experience provided a sense of empowerment amongst teachers as they began to harness the potential of having information at their fingertips, any time, anywhere. A gradual improvement of working culture within the school soon followed. Sentral quickly became a tool that made teachers’ jobs easier whilst improving the student experience at the same time.
In 2020, the school upgraded to Sentral in the Cloud. This brought significant advantages with the additional modules becoming available in the cloud- based version. The upgrade happened seamlessly in the background with no interruption to the service. The staff welcomed the change and were immediately comfortable with their Sentral data stored on Microsoft Azure. Offering best-in-class security, teachers could feel confident that they were accessing their data in a secure environment.
The move to Sentral in the Cloud provides the path to expand the usage of other modules as the need and capacity arises. The high-speed cloud infrastructure is easily scaled up or down to meet demand. Other significant benefits include the removal of capital costs associated with purchasing and maintaining on-premise servers. This frees up time for administrators and lessens the need for dedicated IT staff. Complex matters such as security and data encryption are safely managed in the cloud, complying with all government privacy requirements.
Wellbeing: a key module
Kristy Sutton, Assistant Principal, Learning and Wellbeing, spends a lot of her time interacting with the Wellbeing module. After the module was initially configured to match the wellbeing framework being used by the school, it quickly began to yield improvements. Information about incidents throughout the day are accurately recorded in a centralised system providing real time insight to relevant staff.
Wellbeing is an aspect of school life that is constantly changing. ‘Themes’ of wellbeing change over the years requiring a regular evaluation of approaches and emerging research. For Kristy, Sentral Wellbeing provides a highly configurable system that can be adjusted to suit the needs of Weston Public School on the fly. Kristy reports that with Sentral Wellbeing, she is “seeing a lot less paper” and faster improvement of challenging behaviours.
When asked about the work involved in adapting Sentral Wellbeing to changing circumstances, she replies “it’s always a lot simpler than you think”.
Attendance: a key theme for 2020
Whilst managing attendance is always a critical factor in schools, 2020 presented particular challenges given the disruption caused by COVID-19. Sentral Attendance enabled the school to keep highly accurate attendance records in a constantly changing environment. Supported by an efficient text messaging system, this kept the school community well-informed of student whereabouts at all times.
Students also experience a new dimension in recording attendance. Through the interactive attendance interface, students become a part of the process. This enables teachers to communicate the importance of regular attendance to maximise opportunities for learning. It also helps create a common language of attendance between school and the home, encouraging positive reinforcement of learning expectations.
The Future
Kristy is excited about the possibilities that Sentral offers. The move to Sentral in the Cloud triggered a 60-day customer success journey to provide her and the team at Weston Public School with the support required to take full advantage of the new features available.
As the school expands its use of modules, Kristy is confident that improvements to school life will continue. In particular, the enhanced communication offered by the Sentral Parent Portal and real-time calendar are expected to produce improvements for the whole school community. The Kiosk also promises to be highly useful as the school continues to refine the management of visitors to the school. Combined with the other modules that make up the complete Sentral platform, the scope is wide to explore new efficiencies and opportunities.
"“I was able to empower teachers with the knowledge that it is really easy to use.”"
