Wrexham schools are the first in Wales to use a new MIS (Management Information System) developed by Bromcom to manage various aspects of school life, including student data, attendance, assessment, and communication.
Having worked with our previous MIS supplier for over 20 years we recognised a need to transition to a new supplier with a modern, focused approach. All 70 schools in Wrexham (9 secondary, 60 primary and 1 special) now use Bromcom’s MIS and they have since experienced a number of benefits.
A key improvement is that Bromcom’s MIS is cloud hosted and accessible from multiple platforms and devices, meaning staff, parents, and pupils can access all the information (including exam results) wherever they are. Previously this could only be done on site at the school premises.
Another big factor in changing is that we wanted a supplier who understands and has commitment to delivering a school MIS solution in Wales. Bromcom’s MIS is fully bilingual and offers the same experience for English and Welsh speakers, meeting Welsh Language Standards.
The MIS also supports people who use English as an additional language with a setting that allows users to change the language they are communicating in. This has been particularly helpful in exchanges between parents and teachers.
Some of the other benefits of Bromcom’s MIS are:
- it’s more cost-effective
- it’s secure and resilient
- it supports third party integrations
- it’s compliant with and supports exams in Wales
- it facilitates our model of MIS support in schools
- we get ongoing support from Bromcom
Cllr Phil Wynn, Lead Member for Education, said: “This is a project over three years in the making, but it was a necessary step we needed to take for our schools. Through hard work, research, planning and several demonstrations we decided Bromcom would be the partner to help us achieve our goals. We’re very pleased with how it’s going so far and the feedback we’ve had from teachers, parents and pupils has been positive.”
Shard event
On Thursday, June 19 our Education MIS Support and Training Officers Jan Picken and Karen Stubbs were invited to be guest speakers at Bromcom’s annual event at the iconic Shard building in London.
Jan offered insights to those in attendance on the practicalities and challenges of implementing a new MIS for a local authority.
Jan Picken, Senior MIS Support and Training Officer for Wrexham Council, said: “We were grateful for the opportunity to share our story from Wales, connect with like-minded colleagues from other local authorities, and network with peers from the Bromcom team.
“Our collaboration with Bromcom has grown stronger over time, but this success wouldn’t have been possible without the unwavering support of our schools and the wider IT team. Their dedication has been instrumental in making this journey a success.
“While the process has certainly been challenging, it’s also been incredibly rewarding. We’re excited to be using a product that continues to evolve and improve, helping us meet the needs of our schools and communities.”
What do our schools say?
We asked some of our schools to tell us about their experience using Bromcom’s MIS software suite.
Sarah Millington, School Business Manager from Acton Primary School, said: “The system has been able to streamline everyday tasks for our staff, making it much more time efficient and it also helps with workload.
“In comparison to our old MIS, the improved user-friendliness enables everyone to access information independently which is a great benefit as well. It has saved us a considerable amount of money, as we were able to utilise the modules included within our Bromcom package, rather than using a third party software, such as payments and messages.
“We rolled out the MCAS (MyChildAtSchool) app too which has had positive feedback from parents with having all the information in one place instead of various different apps. Bromcom has had such a positive impact on our school and we are very pleased with the change!”
Mr Richard Hatwood, Headteacher from All Saints, Gresford, said: “Bromcom has transformed how we manage and work with data in school. We are exploring in detail the sophisticated elements of the programme to support assessment within Curriculum for Wales amongst much, much more.”
Mrs Rebecca Billington, Headteacher from Park CP Llay, said: “Since moving to Bromcom, at Park CP Llay we’ve seen a real improvement in the way we manage data across the school. Despite being in the early days of usage, we’ve found the system intuitive, efficient and it’s already proven to save staff valuable time.
“The ability to access everything in one place – from attendance and behaviour to assessments and communication – has allowed us to start transforming the way we work. It’s a system that genuinely supports school improvement, with so much more potential that we are excited to explore.”
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