Log on to your child's school progress, says county

The innovative SIMS Learning Gateway from Capita is to be piloted in eight schools. If successful, it will be introduced in all East Sussex County Council schools.

It will allow more flexible working arrangements for teachers and provide parents with access to their child's achievement and attendance information online.

The system will also give pupils a secure online portal to their test results, school event information, timetables and pupil discussion forums.

Cllr Rupert Simmons, lead county cabinet member for learning and school effectiveness, said: "The SIMS Learning Gateway will transform the way teachers work and how pupil data is accessed across the region. It's a really exciting project that also supports our on-going commitment to improving outcomes for children through increasing parental involvement."

The county council has signed a contract with Capita to supply all schools across the county with the new secure internet interface system.

Teachers will benefit through having greater access to pupil information outside of school and they will be able to log on to the system at a time that is convenient to them to carry out planning or reporting tasks. It will mean more flexible working arrangements allowing them to complete certain jobs at home rather than remaining on the school premises.

Parents will have secure access to their child's test results and progress reports. With this information they will be able to tell how well their child is progressing and if they need additional support. They will also be able to view daily attendance information which will enable them to check that their child has arrived safely at school and attended all lessons.

The plan is for the SIMS Learning Gateway to also become the single access point for pupils to see all school information securely online including learning materials from their school's virtual learning environment.

The county council and Capita have been working with a group of eight schools since November in order to implement a pilot for the SIMS Learning Gateway and this will be going live for staff and parents in the coming months.

It will be introduced in all 27 county secondary schools, 10 special schools and 157 primary schools by the end of 2008.

Phil Neal, director of SIMS at Capita said the new technology would bring benefits for teachers, parents and pupils alike.

"In choosing SIMS Learning Gateway the authority is meeting the requirements of parents who want a simple way to access more information about their child's progress.

"Access to relevant data is controlled by usernames and passwords which means that information is only available to those authorised to view it.

"Parents are restricted to viewing only their own child's attendance and assessment data."