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Delivery Partnerships Collaborate With Private Sector To Develop High Tech Solution For Tracking Student Attendance & Progress

Leading UK Local Authorities Adopt Unique Web System - Including Leicester, Bromley, Stafford and Birmingham

Perspective, a UK software developer specialising in web-based training and learning solutions, has created the first commercially available means of effectively measuring student attendance and progress in the increasingly important environment of distributed learning: Collaborative Learning Manager (CLM). This solution is the first time that Partnership Managers can have up-to-the-minute data on all Students, Schools and Training Providers, providing a comprehensive picture of a Delivery Partnership's performance at any given time.

Several leading 14-19 Delivery Partnerships around the UK have already adopted the system - including VESA, the Vocational Education Support Agency, in Leicester and Local Authorities in Stafford, Bromley, Nottingham and Birmingham - to promote the development of their Vocational Curriculum, yielding immediate benefit in terms of both daily time reclaimed and the quality of management information available.

Schools have a statutory responsibility to be aware of the whereabouts of pupils within their jurisdiction. The increasing numbers of students receiving off site learning has put a heavy strain on the existing manual solutions for the management of this information, especially as telephone calls, faxes and emails are both time consuming, inconsistent and prone to error.

Jacqui Harley, VESA Administrator, commented:
"Schools in particular bit our hand off to use the service - even in many cases having only taken a brief look at what it could do - principally because it saves so much time. Navigation around the system is extremely straightforward, with large, clear boxes indicating to the training provider what needs to be filled in, in terms of registering attendance and monitoring progress. We at VESA and the schools are then given an overview of activity, which can be viewed by individual, group, class or year, and are immediately made aware of any problems to be resolved."

Consequently, the provision of Vocational Training outside of school premises presents challenges for both Schools and Training Providers. Perspective's web based solution; CLM delivers greater control to the managers of vocational and other distributed learning schemes via an easy to use tracking system which resolves these problems, measuring student's movements and progress whilst taking part in off site learning.

CLM has been designed in conjunction with sector professionals to link the partners involved in a diverse range of learning environments; including 14-19 delivery partnerships, work based learning, apprenticeship programmes and vocationally based schemes.

Training providers complete online registers featuring simple radio buttons against each student's name to mark attendance or type of absence. Training providers' and schools' rights to the data within the system are carefully controlled using a secure USB device, this also allows the user to interact with the system securely from any web enabled PC.

Schools can then immediately use the system through a simple one-view screen to identify any 'red flag' problem areas requiring action, such as unexplained absences, which can be dealt with immediately. These are then marked as Authorised or Unauthorised Absences with the addition of register notes where appropriate. A fully archived audit trail is automatically created when any changes are made to the register, ensuring compliance for legal purposes. Schools can also add register notes to future registers informing providers of any known forthcoming absence, this is then picked up when the provider is completing the register.

The Stafford partnership has 9 schools and 6 Training Providers, all with easy access to CLM to deal with the ever growing pupil figures and off-site learning programmes. The use of CLM instantly improved management time, efficiency and record keeping for the Staffordshire Partnership.

Marie McCarren, 14-16 Development Administrator, Staffordshire Collegiate, commented: "From the initial set-up onwards, Perspective provided huge support. The service was quick, efficient and extremely professional. A system trainer was always available to ensure the programme ran smoothly when rolled out to the Partnership providers - and the after-care service has also been second to none, providing added re-assurance that someone was constantly available should they be needed."

"All the data recorded onto CLM is instantly available and has cut down on the paperwork, emails and administration required, reducing the amount of time that I spend preparing statistical information. Following the hands-on training, myself and other members of staff are now operating the system with ease - whilst our Training Providers and Schools have all found the programme very easy to use. There are now stronger communication channels between all parties as a direct result of CLM."

CLM also integrates with the National Database for Accredited Qualifications. Consequently, on entering the course code, the units comprising the qualifications delivered by the partnership are automatically entered into the system. Student progress is then simply entered by the training provider against each unit, allowing the schools immediate access to measure student development.

The Perspective suite of Learning Management systems is designed to meet the requirements of the evolving UK education and skills sector, as the need to effectively track learner progress towards achieving their objectives becomes increasingly important.

Peter Barnett, Director, Perspective said:
We have spent a good deal of time working with sector professionals across the country to develop a solution which meets their needs in a fast growing sector of education. We are consistently receiving testimonials and referrals from our customers whom are generally keen to pass on the news to their colleagues in other Partnerships. We constantly hear that the system which is the first of its kind in the UK, has saved people hours of time by simply enabling them to monitor student's attendance and progress via one simple online system rather than spending hours using phones and faxes to keep track of students outside of school."

Jacqui Harley, VESA Administrator, added:
"The saving in terms of time and paperwork has already been extremely significant and, as we work towards an ever more paperless environment with CLM, more and more paper filing is becoming increasingly redundant. I can wholeheartedly recommend the service for any other 14 - 19 Delivery Partnership which has experienced the difficulties associated with keeping track of students manually - which is to say, every single one of them."

For further information regarding Collaborative Learning Manager contact Perspective on 0121 506 9452 or visit www.perspective-uk.com.

About Perspective:
Perspective is a software developer specialising in web-based training and learning solutions in the UK. Perspective offers its unique collection of Learning Management systems to the evolving UK education and skills sector, providing the tools to effectively manage and monitor skills delivery, attendance and progress. The web-based solutions have been designed by sector professional to link the partners involved in a diverse range of learning environments including 14-19 delivery partnerships, work based learning, apprenticeship programmes and vocationally based schemes.

About VESA:
Established in 1994 as the Vocational Education Support Agency to promote the development of the Vocational Curriculum, VESA provides a range of services for schools and colleges in Leicester and Leicestershire to support and develop education & training for 13 - 19 year olds.

An important part of the VESA work is centred on the provision of Vocational Qualifications for school students, through a delivery partnership that links 22 Schools and 9 Training Providers delivering courses for in