Western Isles Council: Case Study

Western Isles Council Utilising SDMS Software to Enhance its Professional Development and Training for Education & Children’s Services Staff

The LEA:

 

Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, otherwise known as the Western Isles Council, is a Scottish Local Authority and is responsible for providing education and learning opportunities for children and young people, whilst providing care and support for children and families in need within the Western Isles area (located off the Northwest coast of Scotland).  The main goal of the Education & Children’s Services Department is to provide first class education opportunities for all learners, to encourage continuous improvement and to foster an appreciation of the values and uniqueness of the physical and cultural environment of the Western Isles.  Education provision is delivered in a variety of establishments across the islands including 31 pre-schools, 22 primary schools, 4 S1-S2 secondary schools and 4 S1-S6 secondary schools. 

 

Background and Expertise:

 

The Western Isles Council has been a customer of SDMS for the past 17 years, using SDMS software to manage the high quality training that they provide. The highly professional administration team in the Education & Children’s Services Dept have been using SDMS as a foundation for their work for many years, which allows them to monitor and report on training provided to schools and teachers.  Becky Maclean, Senior Administration Assistant, said:

“Although I am relatively new to this position in the Dept SDMS V Staff Development has been used here for many years.  SDMS members of staff were quick to respond to my needs to gain basic training in both the SDMS V Staff Development and SDMS V e-Training as groundwork for me to begin using the system.  I would only have positive feedback about SDMS for any LEAs that are looking into this system.”

The Council have been customers from the time of Version 5 of Staff Development.  In the Department, SDMS V Staff Development and Learning Management is being used to manage training courses provided to all Education & Children’s Services staff.  The web functionality in the form of SDMS V e-Training was implemented as an extension to allow all staff and the school training coordinators to have direct access to see the training courses being provided by the Dept and allow them to enrol staff onto these courses.

 

Course Details Screen

 

  • Basic information on teachers can be held including qualifications and main subjects taught
  • Training needs for teachers can be recorded and matched to courses available
  • Pre End of and Post Course Evaluations can be completed by teachers
  • Different levels of access with passwords for CPD co-ordinators, Teachers, and Trainers
  • Extensive browser based reporting on teachers, courses, costs, needs and evaluation for CPD co-ordinators

 

Features of the Software: e-Training for Web Access

 

SDMS V e-Training is an extensive Training Administration System for the Web and Intranet.  Here are some of the features of the software available to the Council and Schools in Western Isles:

Courses entered on SDMS V Staff Development and Learning Management for Windows are immediately available to schools and teachers on the web.

  • CPD Coordinators can enrol schools’ staff on central courses directly and receive notification of acceptance by e-mail or through the browser.

  • CPD Coordinators can view training histories for all school staff on-line.

  • On access to the browser CPD Coordinators can see a summary of who is to be trained next and training budget position of the schools.

  • Teachers can browse courses and apply on-line subject to Managers approval on-line.

  • CPD Coordinators can set up CPD activities with costs for the school only and enrol teachers – this can be made “public” if required.

The Change of Use of SDMS Software and Future Plans:

 

The Western Isles Council have been a longstanding customer of SDMS, but due to the change in staff dealing with the administration side of professional development, the software was used to record information about training after the event has occurred.  Now with new members of staff who wish to develop further the use of the software, the plans are to record information about training events before they occur to encourage interactivity between the Dept and Schools.  The Council is also looking to integrate SDMS with the Council Payroll and Personnel System so that details of new starters, changes to personnel information and leavers can be automatically transferred into the software.

 

SDMS V Staff Development and Learning Management for Windows

SDMS V e-Training for Web and Intranet Access