The success of a Management Information System (MIS) comes from its flexibility and range of features. The reason for this is simple:
Every school is unique.
A key part of this uniqueness is the different challenges each school faces and the different solutions they require. If you are considering a new MIS, it is important to explore the features the system offers. Only when you do this will you be able to identify the tools that are going to make a difference to the running of your school.
With this in mind we thought it would be valuable to take a look at the 10 most popular features for SchoolBase, our flagship product and MIS. The list below is in no particular order and you can find the full list of features here. We’d also love the opportunity to speak to you directly to you about your specific needs – whatever your requirements are, we have the broadest core functionality of any MIS on the market and we are confident that we can find a way to make your life easier.
But for now, aside from the standard MIS functions such as activities and clubs, calendar, markbook and SEN, our top ten most popular features in SchoolBase are…
1. Assessment and Tracking
“It does all the hard work with the click of a button!”
Academic data is fundamental to every school. This is one of our most adaptable features, with fully bespoke reporting and integration with Report Designer enabling you to create your own reports quickly and easily. Schools can analyse progress on a large range of different cohorts and against baseline and standardised testing. Our teachers love the fact that they don’t have to scan through countless reports and can create their own spreadsheets and analysis - the system does the hard work and shows them exactly what they need at the click of a button!
2. Integrations
“Access existing programmes via SchoolBase API”
A number of our schools have existing programmes that they understandably don’t want to stop using. Our integration feature means you can simply integrate your current Staff, Student and Parent portals and access them through SchoolBase. There is no additional charge for this and we can easily manage the transfer of data to third parties using our API link.
3. Admissions and Marketing
“Access tools and data to plan effective recruitment campaigns”
An MIS shouldn’t just be about helping the school to run smoothly. A truly effective and beneficial MIS will also help a school to promote itself to the next generation of pupils and parents. Our Admissions and Marketing feature offers unique marketing analysis tools for specific campaign targeting. Registration functions for parents and document storage for administrators are additional features that will support you with the whole admissions process - from prospective pupils to enrolment.
4. Integrated Communications
“Simplify how people communicate across the whole school community”
An effective MIS revolutionises communication within the school. It needs to be able to link everything up and connect different tools such as schedules, email systems and IT programmes. With SchoolBase, teachers can quickly send SMS, emails, mail merges and push notifications, send registration notes to teachers and parents, add documents and view all historic communications from one place. Gone are the days of searching through hundreds of files before you can answer a question!
5. Analytics
“Access to the most beneficial information available in the school”
Every MIS will have analytics tools built in but we are confident that the data you can extract and analyse from SchoolBase will give you the most beneficial information available, allowing you to make informed decisions about pupils, marketing and other critical areas of the school. With SchoolBase you can access analytics from a dashboard using graphic-rich graphs and charts, plus it has an export function to view data in Excel and control a variety of parameters to generate targeted results.
6. Maestro (Music and Performing Arts System)
“Manages all the complex planning to free up time for more music”
The whole Furlong team is passionate about Maestro, our online music management system! Maestro offers insight into every area of music administration and manages all the complex planning so that you can concentrate on delivering music in your school. From ensemble scheduling and external teaching management to an external examination manager (ABRSM and Trinity), this feature has thought of everything and gives any Performing Arts department the opportunity to concentrate on what they do best – putting on a show!
7. Timetable
“Plan timetables seamlessly for the entire curriculum”
Schools can be a hectic environment so the ability to be able to seamlessly plan timetables is essential. The schools we work with often praise SchoolBase for its easy-to-use and intuitive timetable feature. This includes integrated timetables with activities and clubs displayed, as well as easy access to lesson covers, exam invigilation and room bookings.
8. Parents’ Evening Manager
“Slick planning, delivery and communication via one portal”
This feature, more than any other, is constantly evolving. At the moment the development team are working on ways to move Parents Evenings into the digital world. Existing features include the ability to book appointments for specific subjects online, communicate with parents before meeting and send notifications and schedules ahead of time.
9. FeeMaster
SchoolBase also includes a powerful fee billing system. This facilitates the production of fee invoices for pupils at the school, making the process seamless with integrated information from SchoolBase. FeeMaster covers fees, recurring items, recharges generated from SchoolBase (for trips, uniforms, ECAs etc), sibling discounts, deposits and more. Plus we also have an Online Payments system to allow for card payments directly on the portal!
10. Library Management
“Included as standard in SchoolBase”
Part of having the broadest core functionality of any MIS on the market means you don’t get charged additional costs for certain features. Whilst some competitors don’t include Library Management as standard, SchoolBase gives schools the chance to record and create attributes against all resources, generate barcodes and clock in/out by scanner, as well as set and manage overdue charges for books and other items. This just highlights our commitment to creating an MIS that benefits all staff, whether they are teaching or non-teaching.
Visit the SchoolBase page to see even more features that could support you in the running and promotion of your school.
We would love the opportunity to speak to you directly about your specific needs, you can contact us here.
