attro is an innovative new product inspired by the head of St Thomas More School, Blaydon upon Tyne, Mr Jonathan Parkinson, who recognised a vast amount of time was being spent trying capture data manually during classroom observations, then subsequently inputting the data into spread sheets so that it could be analysed and used to prepare reports to demonstrate teaching improvements were being achieved.

Waymark IT developed a software application that would allow classroom observations to be recorded in real time on a device such as a tablet or a laptop. The data is stored centrally in a database which means it can be analysed and presented in a format that the school requires. The application uses templates which can be pre-defined or set up by the school prior to an observation and can be shared across multiple devices. These templates incorporate:

• Classroom layout – record the physical set up
• Students – by gender
• Pupil characteristics – add notable exceptions that you may wish to record
• Teacher location – track teacher movement and analyse the impact this has on the session
• Observations – schools set the data they want to capture, these can be counters, i.e. the number of times an instance occurs or timers i.e. the duration a specific instance occurs
• Add notes – you can record notes at any stage, like observations these can also be timed
• Custom templates – you can set up a template to record data on anything you wish so attro can be used for infinite applications

The flexibility of attro enables schools to use the product for virtually any data collection they require, which is particularly useful as OFSTED requirements continuously evolve. Mr Parkinson has now designed templates to enable their school in the following areas, this is not an exhaustive list but does indicate how far reaching attro is:

• Work scrutiny – being given increased importance by OSFTED
• Classroom observations – they use their template to record level of challenge, pupils on task, etc 
• Performance management – measure teachers continuous development
•  OFSTED audits – remove the painstaking task of producing evidence for audit

 

For more information on attro please contact us.