The final rollout was celebrated with a morning tea at St Mary’s.
Compass is a complete user friendly and intuitive Student Information System that provides staff, students and parents with instant mobile access to a variety of information including:
- Attendance – sign in and roll marking
- Curriculum subjects and enrolments
- Calendars and planning
- Newsfeeds and other communication
- Event Management (i.e. excursions)
- Learning Tasks (i.e. Mark Book)
- Chronicle - Well Being and Behaviour Management
- Continuum (including Learning Progressions)
- Analytics
- Academic Reporting
- Parent and Student Portal.
The first pilot of Compass was rolled out at St Joseph’s College, Lochinvar, St Clare’s High School, Taree and St Michael’s Primary School, Nelson Bay in July and August of 2017, with around ten schools going live with the system each term since.
Compass is the first phase of the Maitland-Newcastle Student Information System (MNSIS) Project, which aims to be a ‘one-stop-shop’ for school student information, data and reporting functions for parents, school and Diocesan staff and students.
The system holds single records for each individual, which means a student can move between schools and have all relevant information (e.g. medical, behaviour, achievements, attendance, classes, subjects etc.), go with them, making such periods of transition easier.
“I feel privileged to be part of such a wide-spread software implementation,” said Andrew Swadling, Project Manager at the Catholic Schools Office.
“Users won’t recognise the full benefits yet, however, over time, significant improvements and efficiencies will be realised.
“Compass has already triggered many strategic discussions and opportunities in the way we use technology to run our schools.”
The second phase will include the Finance Management System (FMS), which is expected to commence roll out this term. This system will make the management of fees and finances easier for schools and help ensure they continually respond to new and evolving legal and compliance requirements for risk management and sustainability.
The Project Management team includes:
- Andrew Swadling (Project Manager)
- Joanne Abrams
- Kirsty Fletcher
- Greg Lord
- Marc Hattam
- Katherine Kirwan
- Helen McIntosh
- Steven Shaw
- Ben Vine
- Anna Walker
- Liz Young
The Steering Committee (Governance Team) for the project includes:
- Paul Greaves (Project Executive)
- Suzanne Fern
- Peter Treloar
- Graeme Selmes
- Craig Stevenson
- David Crawford
- Vicki Anderson
- Oliver Connolly
- Steven Shaw
A special mention also goes to Elizabeth Stokes and Marc Hattam who were vital to the project in roles as Implementation Consultants for the schools.
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