Skip to main content
Menu
ESS SIMS

Promoted navigation

Main navigation

  • Why SIMS
    • Solutions
      • Managing your Multi-academy Trust
      • Engaging your whole school community
      • Preparing for your next inspection
      • Saving time and money
      • Ensure effective safeguarding
      • Insight for senior leaders
        • SIMS Consolidated Reporting
      • Tools to improve teaching and learning
      • Managing daily school life
      • Continually raise achievement
      • Attracting new pupils
      • Manage school finances simply
    • Establishments
      • Primary schools
      • Secondary schools
      • Independent prep schools
      • Independent senior schools
      • International schools
      • Multi-academy trusts
      • Special schools
  • Products & services
  • Training & consultancy
  • Partner with us
  • Events & webinars
  • Resources
    • Blog
    • Downloads
    • Case studies
    • Videos
    • White papers
    • Press and media
    • Infographics
    • Reports
  • Search
  • Get in touch
  • Sign in
    • The Customer Support Portal
    • Pay360 Education Payments
    • SIMS Parent app
    • SIMS Student app

A continuous multi-year programme of customer driven innovation, designed to add-value to your investment in SIMS. Discover the next generation of school MIS.

SIMS Next Gen

Progress without levels: how SIMS Next Gen can help

Breadcrumb

  1. Home
  2. Reports
By Alexander James
Thursday, 17 March 2022

Progress without levels; how SIMS can help

In September 2014, the Government removed the National Curriculum ‘Levels’ without introducing a replacement. Though this has led some to complain that the lack of standardisation makes it a bit more difficult to track progress, the Commission established to examine the change found it would reduce the amount of time teachers spent tracking progress towards ‘numerical targets’. What is clear, though, is that SIMS has a really important role to play in enabling teachers – more stretched than ever before – to chart a child’s development, particularly as they move between primary school years.

Collecting data

Ultimately, it seems that the removal of levels has been positive. Rather than focus on test scores, teachers are now able to develop a more nuanced, ‘pupil-centric’ approach to monitoring and advancing student progress. Of course, numeracy and literacy scores are still dutifully recorded, but the emphasis has shifted towards ensuring a deeper learning and understanding of the curriculum. Ultimately, children are no longer all on the same linear flight path, but are instead following bespoke routes established by teachers who know them best. And just as the assessment process adapted, so too has SIMS – the Next Gen platform being specifically tailored to enable as much info as possible to be tracked and analysed simply.

After all, faced with a vast Niagara of information, collecting data that can really spur forward a child’s development could pose a bit of an administrative challenge for teachers. Put another way, the more time once spent on admin that can be freed up for teachers means more time that can be invested into developing lessons; engaging directly with pupils; or maximising the learning of children that really need it most.

This last point is particularly important. After all, Covid-19 has arguably exacerbated the gap between disadvantaged children and their peers: those in the former group often lacking access to laptops or other devices that enable remote learning. And even those children that don’t come from disadvantaged homes have perhaps fallen behind after a disjointed two years.

How SIMS can help

This is precisely where SIMS Next Gen – which will benefit from £40m of investment over the next few years – can help. The platform will provide the most detailed information possible to support teachers with the smallest administrative overheads. Even as the latest progress data is being captured, the system will feedback to the teacher any changes in a pupil’s progress and also highlight any patterns or trends across groups of pupils that the teacher should be aware of. With minimal time-investment, maximum educational returns can be enjoyed.

Share

Subscribe to our newsletter

 

Company

  • About us
  • Careers
  • Cookies
  • Legal
  • Press and Media
  • Privacy Notice

Resources

  • Blog
  • Case Studies
  • Downloads
  • Infographics
  • Reports
  • Videos
  • White Papers

Popular Products

  • SIMS Connected
  • Staff Absence Mangement
  • Admissions +
  • MyConcern
  • OFSM
  • Redstor Back up Pro
  • SIMS Parent App
SIMS

© 2022 Education Software Services Ltd. All rights reserved.

Registered office 11 Kingsley Lodge, 13 New Cavendish Street, London W1G 9UG and our registered number is 12595779.

besa Microsoft Gold Certified Partner