Building school data systems

Data and innovation

Data is something that all schools collect, maintain and manage, but many schools aren’t aware of the capabilities that digital tools can present in order to support best practice with data informed teaching and programming, as well as productivity and functionality across the school. 

By creating a new data system, Tom built prefilled spreadsheet templates, that were colour coded and easy to use, and established a clear plan for file management. The data management system automates huge amounts of work that would previously have to be manually entered by each teacher; this information can now be maintained and carried over to the following year for as long as the students remain at the school.

This not only makes it easier to manage the data, but it also gives teachers and staff hours back in their days, resulting in a huge uplift in engagement and productivity. Since initiating this program, not only did this program improve and streamline staff spreadsheets and data collection, but the students in the school also benefited from the upgrade.

The school already had established a Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) program to encourage and reward the students for their good behaviour, but prior to digitising the program the data was tracked through physical pieces of paper in a system that was confounding and difficult to monitor. Once this rewards system transitioned to an online platform, the understanding, management and engagement all vastly improved.

Every student in the school was placed in one file, and when good behaviour is rewarded with a PBL token a tick is placed against their name. Once the system was up and running it was fully automated and would display the top five students who were approaching their next reward for the whole school to see. This visibility meant students became fully engaged with the program and thrilled when they saw their name on the screen approaching their next reward. 

One of the key outcomes was not only an increase in student engagement, but also helped to upskill teachers using these tools. At the start of the school year there was apprehension and a lack of confidence, this led to a series of mini-PLs being created for teachers to quickly learn new programs that they might not have had the awareness of or confidence to try out otherwise.

The support offered to teachers has expanded into digital tools to enhance engagement in teaching and learning programs. WeVideo and podcasting was one of the most popular mini-PLs that was undertaken which has opened new, creative ways for learning in literacy and numeracy.

Further enhancing their understanding and use of digital tools across the school community, The school also created a digital dictionary resource, which focused on the local Aboriginal language.