We’re delighted to welcome one of our LA Support Team colleagues to our #FinnemoreFireside chats. A huge thank you to Ollie Burnett, Systems Lead at Coventry City Council, who talked to me about their work with schools and plans for the future.

Ollie has been in education since 2003, is passionate about education and aims to improve the experience for students and teachers through his work. It’s a great conversation and, amongst other things, we talk about:

• Having a vision for the future relies on consultation with the SLT, partnering with more suppliers, but ultimately listening and then delivering for their schools and MATs.

• How Support teams should understand the school’s context and goals, offering solutions beyond specific products.

• The importance of Support teams to schools in helping them navigate software and processes.

• How User Group sessions and sharing best practices among schools are promoted to enhance learning.

• The challenges of transitioning to new systems, praising the support provided by suppliers. Ollie highlights the need for training and consultancy services due to the shift to cloud-based systems.

• Support teams are becoming more consultancy-based in the future and collaborating closely with multi-academy trusts (MATs) to meet school needs.

Ollie also chats about the process they went through during their recent MIS switch and why they chose Bromcom. In total, 75% (45) of Coventry’s LA-maintained schools chose to move both MIS and Finance, with the Authority implementing the switch in only 3 weeks by working in a 3-way partnership between the Coventry Support Team, the schools and the supplier. It can be done!

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Working with MIS

We’ve been lucky enough to have worked with most of the maintained MIS suppliers including SIMS (then owned by Capita), Arbor, IRIS Ed:gen, Pupil Asset, and, at the time of writing, working with Bromcom as they grow their user base across the UK.

We’ve recorded tons more #FinnemoreFireside chats on the topic of MIS with MATs, school leaders, support teams, suppliers and independent consultants which you can find here or subscribe to our You Tube channel for regular updates.

Other brilliant free, independent resources we’d recommend you take a look at include WhichMIS and BringMoreData, We also run a LinkedIn group ‘The Future of MIS’ which seeks to understand the new role of MIS in schools and explore what it will look like in the future – come and join the conversation 🙂

Management Information Systems are the backbone of educational institutions, helping them to make informed decisions, streamline operations, and enhance overall efficiency. In the past, MIS was primarily about data storage and reporting, but it has since evolved into a multifaceted ecosystem. Today, MIS encompasses a wide array of functions, including student information management, financial administration, communication, parental engagement, analytics, and supporting the school development plan.

Last week, over 250 of you brilliant people participated in our online MIS Discovery Sessions, thank you so much for supporting our events. Everyone from MIS managers and finance officers, to support partners and headteachers attended – there’s just so much interest in what’s possible in the world of MIS right now.

The Ever-Evolving World of MIS

One of the key reasons for MIS’s continuous evolution is its adaptability to changing educational needs. As technology advances and educational methodologies evolve, MIS systems have had to keep pace. This adaptability is essential in helping educational institutions meet the ever-changing demands of students, parents, and regulatory bodies.

Looking Ahead

The world of MIS is poised for even more exciting developments in the future. With advancements in artificial intelligence, data analytics, and cloud computing, MIS will continue to transform the way educational institutions operate. It will empower educators and leaders to make data-driven decisions, personalize learning experiences, and improve overall educational outcomes.

Engaging in the World of MIS

Nick and I have both worked in this area for over 20 years now and love how it continues to innovate – as it should! If MIS is your thing then you can:

1. Join our ‘Future of MIS’ LinkedIn Group: Our online community, ‘Future of MIS,’ on LinkedIn is a hub for like-minded individuals. Here, we share insights, discuss trends, and connect with professionals who share your passion for MIS. Join us here.

2. Access Discovery Session Recordings: In our recent MIS Discovery Sessions, we had the privilege of hearing from industry leaders Bromcom, Arbor Education, and IRIS Education. These sessions are a treasure trove of knowledge, and you can access the recordings to gain valuable insights into the latest developments in MIS:

Bromcom MIS Discovery Session

Arbor MIS Discovery Session

IRIS Ed:gen MIS Discovery Session

3. Explore Our #FinnemoreFireside Chats: We’ve had the privilege of sitting down with edtech and MIS thought leaders to discuss the future of MIS in education. These insightful conversations are available on our blog, offering you a chance to hear from experts in the field. Explore our Fireside Chats here.

There’s been a huge amount of change in the school MIS sector in the last 5 years. The make-up of MIS market share is completely turning on its head, and the landscape continues to move towards one where academisation dominates and the number of maintained schools gets smaller each year.

It can feel like a scary time for a lot of teams; over the years some have ceased to exist as they just weren’t sustainable for their local authorities. Others have grown and gotten stronger, sometimes joining up with neighbouring teams or striking out on their own as separate commercial entities. The school support market continues to be an exciting market with lots of opportunities – something many private equity companies can see as they acquire in this sector.

We’re often asked what’s next for support teams, so in this blog, we’ve outlined what to avoid and what to try and focus on instead.

While it may not be possible to make all these changes immediately, it’s worth having a plan for what the edtech and school management landscape might look like in 3-5 years’ time. What will your value and unique offer be as a team? Will your revenue be dependent on certain suppliers and, if so, what are the potential consequences?  Owning your own destiny is about ensuring your revenue is not tied to suppliers, but instead to all the value your offer outside of product support.

Try not to be too dependent on financial incentives that come from suppliers for signing your schools up to their products.

Being able to achieve revenue from school management suppliers via favourable licence deals, rebates and referral fees has been the traditional model for some time. However, it’s a risky strategy for support teams in the future:

• They can be pulled very easily by the supplier once you’ve got all your schools on their product – many support teams will likely have experienced something like this. Incentives provide a revenue stream in the short term, but it can easily be threatened.

• A big part of your uniqueness and value as a Support Team is that you’re independent and trusted, but this standpoint can be challenged on ethical grounds if you suggest one solution above all others based on financial kickbacks/incentives.

• Being a support partner for solutions can often result in a financial rebate from the supplier (in the case of MIS this is usually around 20% of the annual subscription price for all those with support partner programmes in place) but what happens if this arrangement is pulled in the future? What you offer schools is far more than just product support. You support the processes, not the products, and your SLAs and services can really focus on the additional value you provide over and above user support in a way that supplier SLAs cannot.

So how will you adapt your team and your business to be a truly agnostic and independent partner to your schools? Here are our ideas:

1. Continue to advocate on behalf of your schools and seek the best value for them.

As a support team, you are still your schools’ no. 1 point of contact for most things and will often have a close relationship with them spanning many years (or even decades!). This is so important to schools; these strong relationships are built on trust and there are many ways you can ensure their best interests are at the centre of what you do:

• Helping coordinate aggregated purchases means you can access discounts for your schools which can be passed back directly to the schools, ensuring they get the best value.

• Being the provider of support for those solutions means you can offer an enhanced SLA to schools which is much more than just product support; it helps them use the solution as part of their overall SDP which provides them with far better value.

• Support teams are able to help schools navigate the procurement process which might feel daunting for schools on an individual level. Helping your schools through a well-thought-out procurement process can make a huge difference to them—both financially, by releasing cashable savings, and by maximizing social benefits for your schools and the wider community.

2. Look for more ways to add value, new ways to help your schools and create additional partnerships.

It’s hard to survive as a team if you only offer IT support, even harder if your support is limited solely to MIS. There are tons of technology-enabled systems and services required by schools and only a fraction of these is usually delivered within an MIS (see below):

Original image courtesy of Chris Kirk, CJK Associates

Consider:

• Are there other staff-related areas you could support such as HR or payroll? If so, have you considered a partnership with an excellent software solution such as Fusion/SAM People?

• Are there other operational school management areas you could support such as safety and compliance? Have you considered creating a channel partnership with a supplier such as iAM Compliant to add value for your schools?

• Could the range of school management-related services be extended if you were to work in partnership with other support teams across the country? We’re seeing more and more teams work together in order to be able to deliver a personalised service to their local schools, but also to the MATs they support which often span the width and breadth of the UK. Teams such as OSMIS and SCOMIS do just this to provide an exceptional level of support to their schools and help them use their MIS to truly improve outcomes.

• Could you elevate your conversations to truly understand the pain Heads and MAT leaders experience and support their School Development Plan or the MAT strategic plan? This could be through getting the best out of technology, becoming more sustainable, reducing the cost of ownership, automating processes, getting more out of the data – the list goes on.

Support Teams offer so much to schools, academies and Trusts in the way that they help reduce friction for them. You can do everything from uncovering awareness of needs, understanding their portfolio of all solutions and making recommendations and driving usage, to helping the procurement process, supporting transitioning and onboarding, ensuring MATs/schools are getting the greatest value from the solution and supporting schools to hit their climate and net-zero targets.

Owning your own destiny is about ensuring the revenue you generate is in your hands, not the hands of product suppliers. There are tons of brilliant ideas out there which will help make it a possibility; in this blog, we’ve listed just a few but we’re always happy to share best practices so get in touch if you’d like to discuss.

We’ve been privileged to speak with even more industry thought leaders this academic year as part of our #FinnemoreFireside chats, and the insight they provide us and our community is invaluable.

So thank you to Edtech NED, legislator, schools and education expert Jim Knight for your thoughts on the disconnect between the education and labour market, and the need for a school system which truly meets the needs of learners, communities and employers.

Thanks to Derek Hills from Ark for sharing your views on where you see AI fitting into technology budgets and the broader education landscape, and what the future of MIS might be.

Thank you Matt Woodruff for an insightful conversation about how technology can support more effective decision-making at all levels to improve outcomes and identify ways to be able to ‘do more, with less’ – more important than ever in today’s economic climate.

Thanks to Catherine Tallis of HFL Education, a long-standing provider of MIS support to schools, for discussing the ways in which support teams must adapt as the MIS market continues to evolve.

Thank you to Chris Kirk of CJK Associates Ltd for your insight into MAT’s needs in terms of vision, strategy, operating models and governance, and what this means for suppliers – both now and in the future.

And finally, we were delighted to welcome back Martin Baker of The Safeguarding Company for a follow-up chat about the lessons that can be learnt from the Child Q case. A challenging topic and we really appreciate you sharing your experience.

Nick and I have thoroughly enjoyed making the series and already have a great session ready to go in the new term from Lyndon Stickley and Sam Curtis at iplicit. Ollie Burnett from the school support team in Coventry will also be joining us to talk about all the valuable ways they support their schools, including helping them procure and migrate to their new MIS Bromcom as a group earlier this year. Watch this space!

Have a great summer break everyone 🌞

Did you know that schools in England collectively spend a staggering £10+ billion annually on non-staffing costs?

It’s one of the reasons why effective procurement is absolutely critical, but the idea of going to tender for edtech and school management software can feel pretty daunting. However, there’s no reason why it should be complicated and there are actually some brilliant benefits to testing the market and running a formal procurement for the solutions used by your school.

Here are our top three reasons why running a procurement is a good thing:

1. Savings and Efficiency

Going out to procurement means you can benefit from economies of scale which might not be currently available to you with an existing supplier or arrangement. For example, if you’re part of a Trust, engaging with the same supplier as other academies in your MAT but doing it separately isn’t the most efficient approach. By consolidating your spending as a Trust you immediately gain better buying power and secure better deals.

Similarly, aggregating your purchasing decision as a group of schools within an LA means you can also benefit from acting as a group. In many cases, your LA support team will be able to help negotiate a discount for the group of schools while still allowing you all to purchase your own licences (Support Teams are also brilliant at helping schools manage implementations, migrate data and co-ordinate training so we’d recommend asking your local Support team for advice when planning any move or procurement).

It’s also important to remember that efficiency is key. Going out to procurement and then using a Dynamic Purchasing System or Framework offers access to pre-vetted supply chains and can significantly reduce timescales compared to traditional procurement processes.

For software and infrastructure, good options include:

• Crown Commercial Services (CCS)/G-cloud https://www.crowncommercial.gov.uk/agreements/RM1557.13#products
• Everything ICT https://www.everythingict.org/

When it comes to school management information systems (MIS), there are more options available, many created by or in conjunction with school support teams. For example:

• NYES Digital (North Yorks framework) https://nyes.digital/mis/mis-framework/
• The ICT Service https://theictservice.org.uk/management-information-services/

For devices, especially climate-friendly and budget-friendly options such as reconditioned laptops, etc. ScoStore is a brilliant tool https://portal.getech.co.uk/ScoStore

For more general school purchasing try ESPO https://www.espo.org/ and YPO (Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation) https://www.ypo.co.uk/

2. Compliance

Compliance essentially involves following internal financial rules and statutory requirements when spending public money (and, in the case of MATs, the Academy Trust handbook). Failing to ensure fairness, transparency, and equal treatment of all suppliers—especially if you’re engaging with existing suppliers—can inadvertently lead to legal challenges. We’ve seen legal action taken in the MIS sector (for example, Bromcom recently won its case against ULT re. fair and best practice in education procurement) so really can’t emphasise enough the importance of avoiding such pitfalls. The risks include costs, time burdens, reputational damage, and potential fines and legal action in serious cases.

Compliance involves adhering to the legal framework known as Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCR2015) but it shouldn’t be something to fear. You can mitigate these risks by adopting a robust approach to your procurement exercise, and being able to make use of frameworks helps a great deal. Frameworks and DPS provide compliant pathways to procure goods and services so they should always be considered as an option.

3. Improving Outcomes

A procurement exercise is not solely about getting the best price. It’s about understanding your requirements and identifying the best solutions that meet your needs while balancing price, and ultimately delivering greater outcomes for your school or MAT. A well-thought-out procurement process can make a huge difference—both financially, by releasing cashable savings, and by maximizing social benefits for your school, Trust, and the wider community.

When looking at new solutions or replacing an existing legacy system, also ask yourself the following:

• How does the contract benefit your staff, students, and community through service delivery and by accessing the knowledge and expertise of suppliers?
• What are you hoping to achieve and what would truly benefit your schools or MAT?
• Will this add value and make a remarkable impact?
• How will this partnership support the SIP (School Improvement Plan) or the MAT’s overall strategies? For example sustainability, pupil safeguarding, pupil progress, financial security

Summary

While the prospect of engaging in tender processes for edtech and school management software might seem daunting, the benefits far outweigh the challenges. By exploring the market and running a formal procurement, schools can unlock a world of opportunities that lead to significant savings and enhanced compliance.

On the back of a LOT of requests from schools, academies, partners and MATS, this September we were pleased to independently host a series of MIS Discovery Sessions.

Who were the Sessions for?

What did the Discovery Sessions cover?

Bromcom MIS Discovery Session

Arbor MIS Discovery Session

IRIS Ed:gen MIS Discovery Session

Last week we joined MATs, LAs and the Bromcom team for an exciting day of learning, networking, and inspiration at the annual Bromcom Shard Event. There was a great lineup of expert speakers and engaging workshops; here are 7 things we learnt at last week’s event:

1. There is still a huge appetite from schools to participate in an aggregated MIS purchase, and there were some brilliant stories from LA Support Teams who helped make this happen for their schools.

2. MAT and school leaders want data that can help them make informed decisions, not just on attendance and academic performance, but on areas such as:

• Financial performance
• Operational efficiency
• Culture
• Staffing & HR

3.  Support Teams are increasingly looking to support multiple MIS so they can meet the needs of their schools, irrespective of which MIS they use – they support the process, not the product. It’s a positive step for everyone as the relationship between schools and local support is a close one, it’s something schools usually want to continue.

4. Using AI alongside MIS data can and will make a difference to schools . . . but it really does need to be handled with care when it comes to users understanding children’s data. It’s an interesting conversation

5. Academies and MATs have often led the charge in moving to a new MIS as they’ve tended to go to market and look for new cost-effective, innovative cloud solutions shortly after academisation. However, the rate of switching MIS amongst state schools has also accelerated and actually shows signs of increasing if anything! In 2018 77% of state schools used the then-dominant supplier SIMS, this has now fallen to 55% in 2023 (it will be interesting to see what the next census data shows).

6. A huge priority for MATs when they look to test the MIS market is understanding all the separate products and subscriptions they currently buy in to which they potentially wouldn’t need when they switch MIS. Across a MAT the savings really do stack up and can be used to fund staff or be reinvested in teaching and learning.

7. Strong professional relationships and great customer support are everything in our sector. It was great to hear so many individuals praised as we heard about the various journeys MATs, LAs and schools had been on switching MIS.

There’s definitely plenty of change going on across the sector and it’s clear that MATs and LAs want the very best solutions for their schools – both in terms of value and outcomes. It will be interesting to see what happens next!

Thanks again for the invite, Nick loved presenting a session and we enjoyed catching up with friends and colleagues 🙂

We’re kicking off the summer term with our next #FinnemoreFireside, this time with Derek Hills,  Director of IT, Systems and Data at Ark, a charity and network of 39 schools that aims to transform children’s lives through education.

Derek has a wealth of experience leading first-class Data and IT teams, having previously worked with other MATs including Harris Federation and David Ross Education Trust before taking up his role at Ark. He knows the MIS landscape well and we had an interesting chat about what the future of MIS might be, including topics such as:

• Where does Derek’s passion for data and analytics come from, and why does he love working in education?
• What can be achieved by sharing data, info and best practice
• Where he sees AI fitting into technology budgets and the broader education landscape
• Are schools getting enough out of their edtech and systems, and are they utilising it effectively?
• Consolidating solutions means investment can go into teaching, but what are the challenges around open data policies?
• The importance of working in partnership with suppliers and forming long-lasting relationships
• What Derek would like to see more of from edtech companies

Our first #FinnemoreFireside of 2023 is with Catherine Tallis, Director of Business Services at HFL Education.

HFL Education (formerly Herts for Learning) is a national provider of school improvement and business support services, training and resources.  As long-standing providers of MIS support to their schools, this Q&A discussed in detail the ways in which support teams must adapt as the MIS market continues to evolve. Being a SIMS-only support team, as was usually once the case, is now a risky strategy for any team wanting to remain in business in the coming years.

It’s a fascinating chat and, amongst other things, Nick and Catherine discuss:

• The precarious state of school finances and the impact that has on decisions, and the huge amount of pressure on schools as they are taking on more as services around them are cut to the bone (e.g. CAMHS, social care, etc.)
• How academisation and changes to the way schools licence MIS have led to the sector completely changing, and how HFL Education have adapted into a multi-MIS support team to help their schools
• What will happen to teams who aren’t able to adapt quickly, and how the conversation needs to shift away from software support to whole school strategic support
• The challenges around understanding overheads as a business where teams are still part of an LA
• The democratisation of data, and how HFL Education supports meaningful school improvement through the effective use of data
• Schools are great at curriculum change but not always so great at change across other systems, and this is something support teams can help with
• HFL Education’s vision and plans for the next five years
• What Catherine would like to see from the market and from suppliers

We’d love to hear your feedback; what would you like to learn from support team leaders?

We’ve spoken to many schools, Trusts and LA support teams about the options regarding the 3-year ESS SIMS contracts, so it’s great to hear that there’s now some clarity as to what to do next.

Basically, if you’ve been thinking about exploring alternative MIS systems you can now take advantage of the new 12-month break clause following the recent Competition and Markets Authority judgement.

The CMA has published its decision to accept commitments from ESS that enable certain schools (meaning those which had considered switching providers but concluded they did not have sufficient time to do so) to apply to an independent adjudicator for a 12-month break clause. If granted, the clause will allow them to exit their current three-year contract with ESS and choose an alternative provider, should they so wish.

– This is good news for schools that wanted to go through a procurement exercise for their MIS but felt they didn’t have enough time as they can now apply for a 12-month break clause to give them time to test the market.

– What’s not so great is that there’s a limited timeframe to get your application in and you’ll need to provide a supporting statement. Schools have one month to apply, from 10^th January 2023 to 10 February 2023.

You’ll be told whether you are successful by 31st March 2023, you then have 12 months to choose a new supplier, giving you time to switch by March 2024.

There is no downside to applying. It’s worth doing to buy some time so you can take a proper look at the MIS solutions out there. You’re not under any obligation to actually move supplier and you can always change your mind and do nothing.

If you’re happy with your existing SIMS contract and terms, then of course this probably isn’t for you. However, if you would have liked to test the market but couldn’t do so at the time, here’s the link to the application form and the guidance

We’d also recommend looking at the support options available as many local school support teams are completely MIS agnostic; they support the process, not the product. They can often help you with your market-testing exercise and are able to support your MIS implementation as part of your overall IT strategy and School Development Plan too.