How One Academy Trust Is Using Xello Data To Drive Their Careers Strategy
We caught up with John Peet, Deputy Headteacher at Cheadle Hulme High School and Careers Leader for Laurus Trust, to find out how they are using the centralised data in Xello to support their careers strategy.
The Challenge
Cheadle Hulme High School were searching for a program that would complement Laurus Trust’s newly-developed progression framework.
School
Location
The Problem
The Solution
John looked at a number of other programs but, once he viewed Xello, he could see it was just what they needed for two reasons. He said: ‘For one thing, the functionality is really good. It’s easy for me to select the features that will add value to our programme and straightforward to use. Second, there is so much data behind the program that I can analyse.’
Once Cheadle Hulme onboarded to Xello, the team began to track student engagement, interactions and outcomes. John is confident that his careers programme is good. He confided in us that he is often asked ‘how do you know?’ and with Xello he can prove it.
The data in Xello’s Educator Tools allows John to identify where students are most engaged and interested. Above all, John can assess what’s working well and what’s not and then adjust their career strategy to reflect the needs of their young people.
In particular, John uses Xello’s Educator Tools to embed his careers strategy across the curriculum by setting teachers up with accounts. He says, ‘I can give certain staff access to Xello, and they can share information with their class or group. For example, our Science Department recently completed an exercise with Year 10 and was able to share links and information directly with that group through Xello.’
The Results
John saves time using Xello, especially when sharing information with his students, via Xello’s two-way messaging feature, and recording student interactions.
He says, ‘Previously when I wanted to share an event flyer, I would have to go through SIMs, find the correct student, attach the document to the parent and then send it out. Now, I share directly with the student using Xello. Plus, our careers leader can now post her report directly to each student in Xello as well as share links and documents that they’ve talked about during their one-to-one guidance interviews. No more paper filing and mailing it all out.’
As a centralised solution, Xello provides John and his team with a great overall view of students’ needs.
Laurus Trust receives daily emails offering speaking sessions and workshops for students — some are free, some come at a cost. Using the centralised data in Xello, the trust careers adviser is able to filter the offers and select those encounters that will be most meaningful for the student body. Most importantly, they can view student data from a single site viewpoint or trust-wide, enabling them to offer more personalised guidance either across the trust or at individual schools.
John says ‘We can tailor our requirements to suit our needs because the data tells us so. And, we are more confident in saying ‘no’ to opportunities that do not fit. Our data tells us what will be beneficial for our students so that we can avoid wasting time or money.’
Also, this centralised viewpoint helps John when it comes to addressing staff needs across the trust. ‘When I’m looking to bring in additional support, I can use the data to identify the area of expertise I need and where I need it most.’
Using Xello to Measure Success
On pure destination data alone, Cheadle Hulme High School is recording that 99% of their Year 11 cohort (nearly 280 students each year!) are settled up to two months after they leave. Five per cent go into apprenticeships. John acknowledges that might not sound a lot but it is a vast improvement on previous records.
He says, ‘We have 150 of the 280 in Year 11 going into Sixth Form each year. All of these students get into either their first-choice university or pursue a high-level apprenticeship. The figures are impressive and stand up nationally. I believe Xello is helping us demonstrate success to our key stakeholders. It is definitely making my job a lot easier.’
If you would like to find out about Xello and use data to drive your school or trust’s careers strategy, tune into our recent fireside chat with John — you can watch the recording here.
About
