Client name . Bryanston School, Blandford Forum, Dorset

Sector . Education

Summary comment . Andy Barnes, Director of Technology, Bryanston School

"FileMaker provides exceptional information management capabilities and makes rapid system development a reality. From academic reporting, to commercial management tasks, whatever we embark on, FileMaker always delivers – it's as simple as that."

Bryanston School

FileMaker is Best in Class at Bryanston School

Bryanston School is an independent boarding and day school for girls and boys aged 13 to 18 years old. Famed for its exemplary academic standards, the school utilises IT to promote independent study, support personal learning styles and foster a sense of personal responsibility in pupils. Occupying a stunning 400-acre estate in North Dorset, the school's outstanding facilities include extensive playing fields, purpose built science and technology and music centres, a theatre and sports complex, as well as stables and a riding arena. Outside of term times, the school operates as a commercial conference venue.

Bryanston School needs to track and report academic data throughout the school year, undertake dynamic curriculum management for pupils – including personalised access to timetables, learning materials and assignments – via its virtual learning environment (VLE), and manage the day-to-day operations of the school which includes an extensive estates department.

An established FileMaker user, Bryanston School uses FileMaker as a rapid and non-resource intensive development tool that's transformed the management and delivery of information across the school. Connected via an integrated ODBC backend, FileMaker, through the development by CJM Software ltd of the award winning School Administrator FileMaker solution provides the data management tools to power the school's dynamic virtual learning portal – giving pupils access to a vast range of multimedia resources and personalised learning programmes, while enabling teachers to access key performance data and undertake reporting on student progress.

Centralising the management and sharing of data has fast-tracked the school's initial registration, tracking and reporting processes and significantly reduced administrative overheads.
Rapid development of customised data views for a variety of audiences – staff, parents and pupils.
An adept and highly flexible cross-platform information management system that delivers an exceptionally low cost of ownership.
Fully customisable business systems to support the school's commercial and operational needs.

Adaptable, powerful, and simple to use

For Andy Barnes, Director of Technology, FileMaker delivers on every level. "As an organisation that's committed to the humanisation of data, FileMaker gives us the ability to manage and present data in a graphic and highly visual way to a wide variety of audiences. No other solution is as accessible or approachable."

Andy believes this is why IT teachers have embraced FileMaker in such an enthusiastic manner. "They use it in the classroom as a teaching aid, and are comfortable working with it as a management and reporting tool."

As a rapid development tool to support dynamic curriculum development and customised data reporting for staff, FileMaker has proved a true workhorse. "We need to collect and implement data in extremely short timeframes and with FileMaker this becomes an achievable reality. Teaching staff and the school management team can undertake sophisticated reporting and management activities with ease."

This, Andy believes, gives users a unique relationship with the data they work with. "Staff and management can produce customised reports with no intervention from the technical support team. They have the data and the tools, so they own and execute the process. We simply finesse this, on an as needed basis."

As a result, all the schools primary business and academic databases are managed by just three dedicated personnel. "FileMaker is intuitive and not resource intensive, which makes it an extremely cost-effective solution for us," he says.

A supportive culture

Bryanston School has saved a considerable amount of money by developing and deploying several FileMaker databases in-house, from enhancing its Schools Management Information System to support examination applications, automate record keeping and timetable management, to supporting the development of new ways for students to learn and study through its virtual learning environment.

Using FileMaker the school has developed systems to undertake order processing and manage job allocations to an extensive team of personnel responsible for the day-to-day maintenance of its buildings and 400 acre estate.

"The FileMaker developer community is very open and willing to share good practice," confirms Andy Barnes. "This highly collaborative and supportive culture proved a real boon as we developed the commercial side of our business."

Sustainable working

"We selected FileMaker because it offered low impact cross-platform functionality and is very user friendly," explains Andy Barnes. "We operate 500 licenses, and have a number of databases in operation, yet we manage with just three support personnel – that's pretty impressive."

For an organisation that operates 24x7, 365 days a year, FileMaker has delivered the robust business continuity that keeps everything running smoothly. "The reality is we never close – even outside of term time we still operate as a commercial conference centre. FileMaker have proved to be the ideal solution – it just never fails."