Kingsmead College in Melrose, Johannesburg, is the first school to use the ICAS Communications module, a new addition to the ICAS suite, an administration package offered to educational institutions by Strive Software International.
Jackie Welch, IT Director at Kingsmead College, became a supporter of ICAS when she saw the system implemented at another educational college. Having a wide experience in both education and IT, she believes that ICAS is a professional system that meets all educational needs, and optimises the best of technology in an education environment.
The recent addition to the ICAS suite, the Communications Module, equips the user with the ability to communicate with customised groupings via SMS or e-mail. For example, when pupils at Kingsmead are on tour, the system enables the college to notify parents that children have arrived safely at their destinations, that buses have been delayed and generally takes care of the many facets and irritations of organising such events.
Kingsmead is a private school (Grade 0 - 12) offering education that develops the whole child in a nurturing environment. As such, the philosophy caters for the individual needs of learners, by offering a wide variety of subjects as well as a full range of extramural and sporting facilities.
Kingsmead uses ICAS to manage and integrate this complexity. Before Welch implemented ICAS she found that databases used for class lists, school reports, timetables, and individual records were all fragmented. ICAS has assisted her to consolidate the whole system in a professional and user-friendly way and as such, Kingsmead became the first school to implement ICAS and has been running on the system for four years.
"Offering such a wide variety of subjects makes planning and coordination of activities very complex," says Welch. "Using ICAS enables us to manage our activities efficiently and to provide each pupil in the college with an individually printed out timetable."
Welch also implements the ICAS library model in a novel way. The purpose of this module is to assist librarians to integrate their records. Welch applies it in the school bookshop to integrate textbook loans. The added advantage is that the system is run by parents of the PTA, who are not necessarily IT experts.
Welch has been struck by an indirect advantage of ICAS, namely the extent to which the teachers at the school have become computer literate - a spin-off that she had not expected. She says teachers have been empowered by the system to overcome their initial stumbling blocks to computer literacy, to the extent to which they are now completely dependent on using the computer system.
To see more about how Kingsmead has implemented the system, go to www.kingsmead.co.za.
ICAS (the Integrated Campus Administration System) has been developed by Strive Software International for the effective management of education systems. It links the administration core to the education community in an easy to use and flexible manner.
For more information about ICAS, go to www.strivesoft.com.
Share
Editorial contacts