We’ve been privileged to speak with even more edtech and industry thought leaders throughout 2023 as part of our #FinnemoreFireside chats, and the insight they continue to provide to us and our community is invaluable.

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

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.

It’s great to speak with thought leaders from government 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.

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.

Our chat with Lyndon Stickley and Sam Curtis of iplicit is essential listening for everyone with an interest in finance as they discuss the importance of change in the education sector and the need for flexibility and adaptability in finance and management systems

Thank you to Ollie Burnett from the school support team in Coventry for talking to us about all the valuable ways they support their schools, including helping them procure and migrate to their new MIS as a group earlier this year.

Finally, we were delighted to speak with Izzi Dorrian and Ed Butcher, founders of the brilliant Habitude workflow platform, for an insightful discussion on the evolving landscape of MATs, the importance of infrastructure, and the need for a clear vision.

As always, we’ve thoroughly enjoyed making the series and are looking forward to a fantastic 2024!

Have a great Christmas break

Best wishes from Sarah & Nick

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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 🙂

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 🌞