Resource Hub Case Studies

Madeley Academy

Madeley Academy

/ Sunita Gordon

In 2023, we sat down for a catch up with long time Bromcom users, Madeley Academy, to get an update on how Bromcom shapes their daily lives and what triggered the initial change.

 

Empowering staff with accessible data

Madeley Academy was rated as Good for overall effectiveness by Ofsted and Outstanding for Personal Development in 2022. It started life as a community School, which is now thriving, as part of the Thomas Telford Multi Academy Trust where Steven Barnes (Network Manager) had experienced the legacy MIS system until 2016 when the Academy decided to procure Bromcom MIS.

 

Reaching tipping point

The consensus was that the legacy system was not fit for purpose and the available support was poor. Unresolved technical issues lingered, and the software didn’t feel user centric.

The head of a department or a subject lead had to wait until the deputy head could extract data for interventions by subject, which often meant delays in timely interventions, resulting in additional workload for all concerned. Teachers want to teach and make a difference in the learner’s journey and not have to worry about having to create and do progress analysis.

 

Making the transition

Transitioning from any legacy system is not easy, starting with consulting the various stakeholders, shaping the specification requirements, and scoping the market all this took time. The success factors were clear to the stakeholders who understood the benefits changing to Bromcom would bring.

"Bromcom, were at hand to support Madeley Academy, at every step of the way, by engaging, listening and delivering on what was being asked."

From the start, the system has saved time and built staff confidence with the use of technology, which leaves them with a sense of empowerment. Instead of one person controlling the data and dividing it up, now staff are using data at their own convenience, which can be easily accessed, sorted, compared and extracted from Bromcom. Subject leaders and heads of year can access and analyse data themselves, and implement interventions when and where necessary, as they have confidence in using the system.

 

Extracting value

Since the Academy has now moved to the cloud with Bromcom MIS, staff can access the MIS on all devices, any time anywhere, enabling flexibility of use. Bromcom’s intuitive and user centric design has enabled their staff to feel confident with its use, they are asking to use apps like MCAS (MyChildAtSchool), for the benefits they can provide by enabling two-way communications and saving time.

"The impact has been felt right across the Academy. It has improved the student outcomes through interventions that are supported by the data."

Madeley Academy has a separate HR system. However, they do use Bromcom to record staff absence and for cover, it makes very easy to report and extract data and running the School Workforce Census from Bromcom is a much easier task than from the stand-alone HR system. This illustrates that Bromcom MIS is feature-rich, versatile and steadily supports the efficient management of School administration, whilst supporting all staff.

"Changing to Bromcom MIS was the best decision we made."

Bromcom’s impact has been enormous, it’s difficult to pinpoint one particular area as we see positive outcomes being driven by the MIS throughout the Academy.
Sunita Gordon

Sunita Gordon

Sunita is a seasoned professional with a rich career spanning over three decades in the education sector. She has held pivotal executive roles in national newspapers, including prestigious publications such as The Guardian and The Times Supplements. Her extensive experience encompasses business expansion, marketing, and strategic leadership, particularly within Media and Software as a Service (SaaS) platforms.