Reports season can be one of the most taxing times of year for teachers, as the time-consuming task of drafting school reports is added to their already growing list of priorities. Despite this season taking place on a regular basis, it can be challenging to be as efficient as possible while still focusing on valuable lesson time.
It’s important for school leaders, administrators, and your choice of software to support teachers in all areas of their role. Maximising efficiency ultimately results in a more positive school experience for both teachers and their learners.
Easing school reports season could make a considerable difference in the quality of work life for your teachers, and reducing unnecessary admin will always be a welcome improvement for your staff. So how can you help your teachers during this time of year?
- Software to support student performance reports
- Top tips for time management during school reports season
- Managing teacher workload
- iSAMS supports Independent school teachers
Software to support student performance reports
While dedicated solutions for report generation are important for maximising efficiency during this season, there are many ways that your software can support you at this time of year. Ultimately, all school software should boost productivity and time management, resulting in a better ability to focus on immediate priorities.
Your MIS should be your one source of the truth
The key to effective data management and school processes is having a solid foundation. Your School Management Software and its associated database should be that foundation. It should always serve as your one source of the truth and integrate seamlessly with the systems that you need on a daily basis.
In-built integration ensures that each piece of data only needs to be entered once, and that staff can always access the most up to date information no matter which software they’re using.
Storage of vital assessment and class data
Not all software is built the same. Schools need solutions that meet the needs of their school specifically, as well as the needs of their individual departments. In this case, assessment and class data is vital to your teacher’s ability to complete school reports efficiently.
Your school software should offer a tailor-made solution, module, or area of the system that houses all this key data and makes it accessible to teachers whenever they need it. In iSAMS, this data is managed and displayed in the Gradebooks Module – ensuring consistency in preparation for your academic reporting.
Access to key behavioural data and events
Academic performance isn’t the only key data point that teachers will include in student reports. Rewards, detentions, and behavioural information are all relevant to a student's overall performance. Your teachers will likely want to bear this in mind when drafting individual comments or reviewing grades.
The right software will offer your school staff a dedicated system that displays all this data in an easily accessible format. This not only helps them to offer support where needed, but can provide context to a student’s overall performance at school for reports season. The iSAMS Wellbeing Manager and Reward and Conduct Manager ensure that your school can acknowledge student positive and negative behaviour, as well as monitor key life events for each student.
Custom report generation to meet your needs
Each school has different reporting standards and requirements. At the very least, your teachers will need support in customising reports with relevant branding and grading. At iSAMS, we know that a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work.
Your chosen software provider should offer a range of solutions for report generation. Within the iSAMS system, you can find the Reports Designer tool. This enables schools to make changes to in-built iSAMS reports, including replicating or editing built-in and iSAMS-built reports.
You also have the option to enlist the help of our Reporting Services team, who can build reports according to your individual needs within a specified lead time. iSAMS recognises the challenges of this season, and is keen to provide the solutions you need to be as efficient as possible.
Write your reports anywhere, any time
Flexibility and accessibility are key to completing any task in a timely manner. Report writing isn’t likely to be something that can be completed in one go. That’s why it’s so important to be able to work on student reports wherever possible.
The ability to complete reports on the go could be the difference your teachers need to maximise their time and achieve their deadlines. Whether on school trips, in the classroom, or otherwise offsite, your software should support flexible working where possible.
The iSAMS iReport App was made to provide your teaching staff with the opportunity to manage report writing on the go. Empower your staff to complete key tasks at their own convenience and plan their time more effectively.
Top tips for time management during school reports season
Plan ahead: This might seem like stating the obvious, but make sure you’re allowing enough time in your calendar to complete reports. This season can be one of the busiest times of year, so it’s important to get started as early as possible. Consider building a schedule to break up the workload.
Reduce data entry: Manual data entry is one of the most time-consuming tasks when working with school reports. Conserve staff resources by finding a more manageable way to input data and ensuring that your systems share that data automatically.
Templates can speed up the process: Chances are you’re producing the same or similar reports each year. They’ll require similar data sets and recognisable formatting. Avoid building new reports from scratch with templates that are suited to your school and your academic reporting standards.
Review your reports: When facing the workload that school reports season brings, it can be easy to forget to leave time to review. Always allow extra time to check for errors, and this can also act as a buffer for any unexpected additions, changes, or delays – providing your teachers with some breathing room.
Managing teacher workload
Teacher workload is one of the primary challenges in the sector, regardless of the time of year. Overworked staff can lead to a decrease in retention and potentially costly mistakes. It’s important to support all staff in managing their workload wherever possible, but this is particularly important for those that interact with your students on a daily basis.
There are a few ways that you can better support teachers in their role and boost efficiency. Consider:
- Methods for reducing marking: Encourage teachers to implement a whole class marking approach, verbal feedback, or self and peer assessment in their classrooms
- Teaching Assistants: Consider whether your training teachers can be put to better use in order to support your teachers each day
- Reduce data entry: Implement software that integrates seamlessly ensuring that data only needs to be entered once
- Be flexible: While flexible working isn’t always viable for schools or teachers, consider where you can provide a more amenable approach to encourage productivity, such as personal days or tweaks to work hours
- Limit meetings: Some staff meetings are unavoidable, but ensure you’re optimising meeting time and finding other ways to communicate key information where possible
Helping teachers to manage their workload demonstrates that you’re engaged in their wellbeing and focused on providing them with a positive work experience. Motivated staff have higher productivity levels and are more capable of effectively prioritising their work.
iSAMS supports Independent school teachers
The iSAMS MIS and our range of integrated solutions were built with Independent schools and their needs in mind. We recognise the challenges that school reports season can bring and are always keen to find ways to maximise efficiency and better support school staff during this period. That’s why we offer a range of solutions for academic reports, and prioritise automatic data integration thanks to our cloud-based and modular architecture.
If you’d like to learn more about how iSAMS can support your school, watch our short demo below: