Management information system (MIS): five reasons to choose IRIS Ed:gen

Technology is of the utmost importance for schools and trusts looking to be managed more effectively.

More specifically, it’s vital you have the right Management Information System (MIS) in place to store your data, run operations and communicate.

But with so many offerings on the market, where do you start? Our MIS, IRIS Ed:gen, is a game-changer, helping back-office staff, teachers, school senior leadership and trust management work smarter, not harder.

Statements are all well and good, but what actually makes IRIS Ed:gen special? Designed with you, for you, here are five ways IRIS Ed:gen streamlines your entire school day.

1) Improve your student safeguarding

Safeguarding doesn’t simply stop at the school gate.

However, visibility can often be a challenge – multiple systems for behaviour, grades, attendance, etc, makes it tough to connect the dots.

Designed with pupil wellbeing at its heart, IRIS Ed:gen provides staff with all the tools needed to effectively manage wellbeing in a single system.

Seen or heard something concerning? Perhaps you’ve noticed bruising, seen a student crying or behaviour has rapidly declined.

IRIS Ed:gen gives you an all-in-one platform, enabling staff to quickly log concerns, assign actions/deadlines, upload supporting documents and run instant audits + access to sensitive information also remains secure with customisable categories and visibility groups.

In a busy school environment, the easier you can make it to report any safeguarding concerns, no matter how minor, the easier it is for well-meaning teachers to capture information, helping create a chronology of events and paint a clearer overall picture. Many schools and trusts rely on safeguarding software to help make this process efficient and simple.

Additionally, you can rest assured you’re making decisions based on the most up-to-date information; the system provides numerous pre-set reports and access to live data, helping you spot and tackle potential issues before they arise.

More content: How software can help tackle rising school absences

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2) Simplify your teachers’ tasks

It’s no secret that teachers are stretched for time, and every efficiency truly counts.

With IRIS Ed:gen, tasks such as recording behaviour, flagging student considerations and locating information are all streamlined and can be completed in less clicks than ever before.

Gone are the days of jumping between applications to complete daily tasks – IRIS Ed:gen seamlessly integrates with third-party software, giving teachers all the tools they need in one intuitive system.

As for inputting data, IRIS Ed:Gen also saves time there! Rather than inputting data in multiple locations, the system does all the heavy lifting – simply enter data once into IRIS Ed:Gen and watch it automatically update throughout all connected systems.

3) Optimise your reporting

Data is the bane of many schools and trusts; often, by the time you finish collating data from multiple sources, the information is already out of date.

Well, if you currently spend hours gathering and analysing data from multiple sources, you’ll LOVE IRIS Ed:gen’s powerful reporting capabilities.

Our data consolidation and reporting tool aggregates not only data from all school MISs but also HR and finance, as well as external sources such as Ofsted and IDACI, into one location, ensuring all information is easily accessible.

To cater to all staff, the reporting functionality within IRIS Ed:gen has also been built with many different users in mind, from data managers and power users to those less technically minded, the software offers a wide range of premade dashboards as well as a more in-depth, built-in editor.

So, no matter the questions, you can get answers! For example, rather than viewing reports on attendance, behaviour and performance in isolation, you can bring all this information together, enabling you to connect the dots.

We recently held a session with education leaders to determine a few of the hot questions which IRIS Ed:gen can help answer, including:

• Are more students absent on non-uniform days/Fridays?
• What is the impact of staff working at more than one trust?
• Does student behaviour worsen after significant sporting events?
• What is the staff cost per subject?
• Are there any early warning signs for pupils?
• What are the energy costs by site?
• What is the attendance of my vulnerable students?

More content: The future of data managers in education

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4) Improve pupil outcomes

Excessive admin, limited flexibility and cloudy visibility – are these all things you face when approaching assessment management?

Good news: every part of the process is automated with IRIS Ed:Gen! Workflows are in place to streamline every part of the process, from recording marks to sharing results with parents and pupils.

What’s more, events and triggers can also be set up.

For example, you could have a trigger in place that automatically alerts the appropriate staff and parents if lessons are missed and homework isn’t handed in.

If you want to go even more granular, an alert can be set up if a student’s grades drop in a specific area, again, automatically notifying the appropriate members of staff.

5) Offer flexible working with the cloud

IRIS Ed:gen is cloud-based, empowering your people with added flexibility.

The agility provided through the cloud means you can meet the needs of an ever-evolving workforce with far more ease.

As schools look to embrace flexible working post-pandemic, many are allowing staff to undertake outside-the-classroom planning preparations off-site – something only achievable if your MIS is available through the cloud.

What’s more, IRIS Ed:gen’s cloud functionality supports increased scalability, agility and cost-savings. 

Explore your MIS options. Discover IRIS Ed:gen

Equipping yourself and your team with the best tools for the job improves productivity, efficiency and pupil outcomes.

A modern cloud-based MIS is key to the smooth running of any school or trust.

Switching MIS is on the cards for lots of schools and trusts; we understand there are numerous considerations, and stakeholders to include in the procurement process.

You’ll want to start exploring your options early, so that you can chose the right platform for your establishment.

In our upcoming webinar, we’ll give you an overview of IRIS Ed:gen, our innovative, cloud-based MIS + there’ll be the chance to ask our MIS experts any questions that you have.

Register today to save your seat.