24 January 2024 – On stand SC50, ParentPay Group will unveil the latest updates in SIMS including developments with its cloud solutions, SIMS Next Gen and SIMS Connected. These will be showcased alongside other leading edtech solutions from the ParentPay Group.
Lewis Alcraft, CEO at ParentPay Group, says: “We’re looking forward to showing at Bett how ParentPay’s decades of experience in cloud innovation is supporting the transformation of SIMS for the cloud. We have over 200 people developing SIMS Next Gen and we’re investing £40m in its development. We’ll be showing everyone the first fruits of this effort that are already in the hands of schools.
“We launched nine SIMS Next Gen cloud modules in 2023 as we promised. That’s just the start. Every term we’ll be releasing more new modules to support a safe and easy move to the cloud.”
SIMS Next Gen has powerful new features and a new look for our MIS for schools, school groups and MATs.
Customers can use SIMS Next Gen today alongside their existing version of SIMS. They get seamless data sharing and benefit from these new cloud features without any disruption, change to how they work or need for retraining. This means schools can adopt cloud at a pace that works for them and access to Next Gen is included in their current contract.
The modules available today are:
- Statutory Attendance Register: teachers can take session attendance registers anywhere, on any device, at any time.
- Lesson Attendance Register: teachers can also complete their lesson registers anywhere.
- My Markbook: makes monitoring student progress easy with a single tool to record the outcomes of tests, observations, evaluations, or skill competencies in one location.
- Staff Profile: all the information you need on staff members in one place.
- Pupil Profile: the central hub for viewing and editing pupil information.
- Custom Groups: with its user-friendly interface and easy search and filter options, data managers, school administrators, and teachers can create, edit, and organise groups quickly and effectively.
- Exclusions and Suspensions: easy to use interface for recording suspensions and exclusions with step-by-step instructions to ensure accurate data entry.
- Staff Timetables Calendar: an easy-to-use and visual calendar tool that displays staff timetables and cover lessons in one place.
- SIMS Group Analytics: comprehensive reporting and analytics tools and consulting services tailored for MATs and school groups using SIMS. It provides a comprehensive overview of group or trust performance so leaders and administrators can identify trends, benchmark performance, and develop and monitor targeted improvement strategies to enhance overall educational performance.
The company will share its future roadmap and show exciting new modules for early 2024 including:
- Seating Plans and Class View: plan, organise and edit class seating arrangements. Create the most positive learning environments to support student development.
- Role-based Homepages: personalised homepages giving teachers and then other roles access to their most used tools in SIMS.
- School Analytics: a powerful tool which allows school leaders to get a clear picture of attendance, identify at risk individuals, meet statutory requirements and make informed decisions for effective interventions.
A continuous development approach means new Next Gen modules are added every term for teachers, leaders, and administrators. The company will complete this reimagining of SIMS by the end of 2026.
Schools looking for a safe and easy move to the cloud can also look at SIMS Connected. This gives them the SIMS they use today on-premises but in the cloud. No disruption. No compromise on features or functionality. No need to learn how to use new software plus the benefits of a move to the cloud in cost, management, security and anywhere, anytime access.
-ENDS-
About ParentPay Group
ParentPay Group’s mission is to make it easier to run great schools, catering businesses, and libraries with the help of innovative technology because when it’s easier to run these organisations, there’s more time and resources for learning.
ParentPay Group is a long-term leader and innovator in the edtech sector. Across the UK and internationally, many thousands of schools and millions of parents trust us to provide them with the technology they need for cashless payments, parental engagement, catering, libraries, and information management systems.
About SIMS from ParentPay Group
SIMS is the leading cloud and on-premises MIS used by all school types and phases. Trusted by over 15,000 schools and over one million teachers and MAT leaders internationally for over 30 years.
SIMS makes admin and reporting easier and faster freeing up critical time and resources for learning. It gives leaders the data and insights they need to make decisions that will improve performance, student experience and results. But that's not all. SIMS gives educators the data and tools they need to support student monitoring, attendance, and attainment; pastoral care; wellbeing, and safeguarding.