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Background
Forest came early to computing. There was already a Computer Department by 1980 and in 1982 a purpose-built Computer Centre was opened by Norman Tebbitt with 52 networked BBC B computers. Within a couple of years one of these was smuggled into the school office purely to handle word processing. At that time there was no commercial package for managing school information so a member of the department took the initiative and created a simple record system for pupils' basic details. But it was with the computerised processing of entrance examinations that the management finally woke up to the potential of these strange machines. As expectations grew, the database became gradually more complex, until with the change to PCs, it finally migrated to Microsoft Access, later supported by MS SQLServer when the system became too complex for Access to handle. The teacher who had begun the process was now made Database Administrator and later became Head of IT. Modules were added to handle university entry procedures, external examinations, parents evenings, medical records and many other functions. However, the school found itself increasingly reliant on a single individual who alone knew the internal workings of the system. The administrator began looking for a commercial package which would meet the school's requirements. All the main contenders were considered but found unsatisfactory, either because they were too complex, were too heavily committed to supporting legacy systems or because they would require the school to rethink the way they handled many of their administrative functions. At this point Furlong Solutions approached the school and proposed creating a new package for them. Requirements
Forest School has a tripartite structure with four geographically separate centres of administration. Every member of the teaching staff is equipped with a laptop computer. Data about pupils can thus be updated from any one of about 150 different computers. The data requirements are constantly being updated and increased. Many of the procedures have been developed and carefully refined over years or even decades. They are part of what makes Forest School what it is, part of the reason why customers, the parents and pupils, chose the school rather than any of its local rivals. When looking for a database system the school’s primary needs are: a system which fits the way the school does things rather than forcing the school to change to fit the system ease of use - not all the teachers are particularly computer literate speed of response - time is important to busy teachers and secretaries multiple access - many different people may be updating information at the same time accessibility - staff need to be able to get at the information at any time and any place including from home reliability - the school cannot afford down time flexibility - procedures need to change to meet ever changing customer needs - the system needs to change with the school rather than force the school to delay change because the system is not ready future potential - the system needs to be based on sound data management principles so that as technology changes the core of the system will continue to support it responsive support - staff need to have the confidence that if a problem does arise it will be dealt with quickly by someone who understands how a large independent school functions Achievements
The final decision to go ahead was taken at the beginning of the academic year 2004-2005. The school’s yearly round dictated that the best changeover point was mid-way through the summer term, after the start of study leave for examination classes and before information needed to be changed for the start of the new academic year. Immediately before the half-term break, the old system was frozen and the data handed over to Furlong Solutions. Within four weeks of this point of time: - all data had been transferred from the old to the new system
- the school’s data manager was fully familiar with the new system
- the office staff had received formal training and were confident users enthusiastic about the ease of use and quick response of the system
- the report system, a keystone of the old system, had stood up well to use by nearly a hundred new users and reports had been successfully printed
- the medical department had full access to their records, and, although hesitant computer users, had adjusted confidently
- all major problems had been successfully resolved
- the senior management of the school formally reviewed the new system and adjudged it a success
- above all users had the confidence that any issues they did have with the system would be speedily dealt with
"I would not have believed that we could have transferred to a new system so successfully in so short a time. Furlong Solutions have been tireless in their support, always friendly and responsive whenever we have contacted them. The system feels as if it has been tailored specially for us. The staff at Furlong Solutions have actively encouraged feedback from all our users and I believe that everyone in the school thinks we are in safe hands. I look forward to our future successful relationship with the firm." - Bob Bishop, School's Data Manager.
"The database is pretty fantastic, the number of times it's saved me from a huge amount of work (which would have been the case with the old system) is immeasurable." - Emyr Wyn Morris, Teacher For more details please contact:
Zamir Nazir
Database Administrator
Telephone: 0208 520 1744
Website : www.forest.org.uk
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