Norland College Installs Student Management System to Track Nannies in Training

Added: (Wed Feb 01 2012)

Pressbox (Press Release) - Norland College in Bath, one of the most prestigious providers of training for nannies and childcare practitioners in the UK, is introducing a new IT system that will enable it to move away from the largely paper-based methods of managing information that have been in place for nearly 120 years.

The new technology, Capita’s SIMS management information system (MIS), will enable the college to manage student information such as their attendance and achievement data electronically.

Storing information in this way will ensure that each student’s learning progress can be tracked much more closely than it could in the past. It will also ensure staff can focus on providing the best childcare tuition and spend less time on paperwork

Liz Hunt, Principal at Norland College, said: “As the first college in the country to offer formal childcare training over 100 years ago, we want to ensure that our students provide the finest care to children and their families when they leave us as qualified Norland nannies. We take this responsibility very seriously.

“Storing detailed information such as students’ attendance and achievement, will enable us to provide support to our students much more effectively as they move through each stage of their studies and then into employment. It will also allow us to move on from using paper files, making student data more widely accessible across the college.”

The system will help save an enormous amount of time in managing tasks such as timetabling at the college. With details on students and staff availability held in the MIS, much of the process will now be automated. With an average intake of 50 students each year, this will give Norland the flexibility it wants to make adjustments to the college day at short notice, without increasing staff workloads.

Using Capita’s SIMS Learning Gateway, students will be able to access important college announcements, timetables and details of their learning targets online. The system will also allow them to view guidance from their tutor and notes from previous lecturers, whether they are in college, at home or working with a family in a home-based placement. This will encourage them to drive their own progress and ensure that they get the support they need to achieve more, both inside and outside college.

Once students have gained their qualification, the information held in SIMS will help the college’s in-house recruitment agency to match them with families that require their particular skills. This means that the college will be able to provide support for Norlanders in the workplace for many years to come.

Julie Booth, head of independent schools at Capita SIMS, said: “Norland College’s reputation as the leading provider of childcare provision is second to none and we are delighted that they have chosen SIMS to manage their student and college information. The college joins more than 500 UK and international independent schools now using the system to support the delivery of teaching and learning excellence.”

Twitter cue: Norland College chooses SIMS to help manage student information http://bit.ly/zySAnW

ENDS
Ref: CAP742


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About Capita SIMS:
SIMS is the leading supplier of information systems to the education sector, providing a range of software and services to schools in the independent sector to help raise standards and reduce administration. Capita’s SIMS is used every day by more than 500 UK and international independent schools.
Website: www.capita-independent.co.uk
Follow us on Twitter at @CapitaSimsInd

About Norland:
Norland College has been at the forefront of Early Years care and education since 1892 when it was founded by Emily Ward.

Norland trained early years professionals are employed worldwide as Nannies, Nursery Nurses and in other positions in a variety of early years settings. Norland graduates are often placed through Norland Agency – Norland’s in-house nanny employment agency. They earn the top salaries, clinch the most sought after posts and enjoy a busy life often working for the rich and famous.

You can find more information about Norland at www.norland.co.uk