90 attend July User Groups
USER GROUPS – JULY 2018
‘Really good and inspiring,’ said one delegate. ‘So informative,’ said another. ‘I should have been here last year – I must have missed so much.’
Such words and more, with echoes of appreciation, were really encouraging. ‘It shows we have the balance right,’ said Mike Taylor, Operations Director.
Our hosts and many delegates
Our gratitude must go to Rustenberg Girls High School (RGHS) which hosted 30 delegates at the Cape Town user group, and the Deutsche Internationale Schule which hosted 60 delegates at the Johannesburg user group.
Who was there and what happened?
Attendees from Engage included Mike Taylor (Operations Director), Jenny Dry (Regional Manager), Peter Heginbotham (Schools Account Director), Lu-Ann Bure (South Africa Support Services) and Tyrone Easton (Schools Liaison Officer).
The main format for both user groups was:
- A welcome with introductions from Mike Taylor
- In Cape Town, a RGHS showcase from Graeme Broster (Operations Manager) and Rene Forbes (IT Manager)
- In Johannesburg, a Deutsche Internationale Schule showcase from Petra Houart (Head of Administration)
- Specific Engage topics were covered by Mike Taylor, including: Engage development recap for the last 12 months; What’s next for Engage?; SMS, e-commerce; Daybook and the App
Two keynote addresses
The keynote address, ‘Eighteen months on – how has Engage changed our School?’ was brought by Allayne Guest, Head of Academic Administration, Grade Head, HOD and Assistant House Master, Kingswood College, Grahamstown
Another keynote address was brought by Lara Philip of Knights Preparatory School, Johannesburg, using the same title of ‘Eighteen months on – how has Engage changed our School?’ Lara, Intersen Phase HOD, waxed lyrical about Engage and its take up within the school. A case study will be added, shortly, under Schools.
Breakaway Sessions
The afternoons breakaway sessions featured:
- Marksheets/Calculated columns – ‘What’s been found to be best practice?’ (Jenny Dry)
- Admissions and Web Admissions – ‘How to maximise the benefit’ (Mike Taylor)
- Business Intelligence – ‘The next phase of development for Analytics’ (Mike Taylor)
- Parent Portal/App & Pupil Portal usage – ‘How to maximise buy in?’ (Jenny Dry)
School Tour
Between the breakaway sessions, delegates were treated to a tour of the school. ‘It’s always interesting to see how other schools work,’ said one delegate. There was much agreement to this comment.
