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Case Studies

IRIS in Action - Broad Oak Sports College

See IRIS in action at Broad Oak Sports College - Bury.

Online behaviour and achievement monitoring system, IRIS has facilitated the introduction of a low tolerance but supportive strategy towards securing consistently good behaviour at Broad Oak Sports College resulting in a decrease of 51 percent of reported incidents. By highlighting behaviour issues in their early stages and being able to offer pupils the guidance and support they need to modify their behaviour, the school is now able to prevent incidents of a serious nature occurring. The film also shows the benefits of giving pupil and parents their own log in to IRIS.

Broad Oak Sports College

Broad Oak High School is a small comprehensive serving an area of high social and economic deprivation. The percentages of students with learning difficulties and/or disabilities and with statements of special educational need are above the national average. The proportion of students eligible for free school meals is well above national average. About 27% of students in the school are from minority ethnic backgrounds. In 2003 the school achieved specialist status as a Sports College. In 2005 the school was scheduled by the local authority for closure but this was rescinded in July 2007.

Read here how Deputy Head Chris Owen explains how IRIS has helped turn the school around.

Cedar Mount

A smaller than average secondary school serving an urban area with very high levels of social and economic challenge. The proportion of students entitled to free school meals is well above the national average. Over half the students are from a wide variety of minority ethnic backgrounds and about one third of all students have English as an additional language. There are about 45 different languages spoken by students as their first language. The number of students with learning difficulties and/or disabilities, including those with statements of special educational needs, is well above average.

Read here how Deputy Head Martin Dunkerley describes the impact of IRIS.

Our Lady's RC Sports College

A smaller than average college lies on the outskirts of Manchester and serves an area of significant social and economic disadvantage. The proportion of students known to be eligible for free school meals is more than three times the national average. Most pupils are of White British heritage but there is an increasing number entering the college with English as an additional language. The proportion of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is broadly average. Our Lady's has been a specialist sports college since September 2003 and is now working towards Healthy School status. It has been identified for an extensive rebuild under the Manchester Building Schools for the Future programme.

Read here how Deputy Head Mike Leader describes the school's use of IRIS.

Weatherhead High School, Wirral

Formerly on three sites, the school has occupied a new building since 2003. With re-location, the school now serves a diverse area. A higher than average number of girls are entitled to free meals. The great majority of students are White British; very few are learning English as an additional language. The number of students is increasing; the sixth form is growing rapidly. The proportion of students with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is similar to that found nationally, though lower numbers were recorded in the past. There are fewer students than usual with statements of special educational needs. Specialist School status was awarded in 2002 for media arts.

Read here how Assistant Head Teacher Geraldine Fraser describes the impact of IRIS.

IRIS Supports the Reintegration of Pupils in East Lancashire into Mainstream Education

In the first term of 2010/11, online behaviour and reward monitoring system, IRIS has been extremely useful in reintegrating as many pupils from The Oswaldtwistle School, a short stay secondary school in Lancashire, into mainstream education as was achieved throughout the whole of 2009/10.

IRIS was introduced at The Oswaldtwistle School to facilitate a change of emphasis to the overall behaviour management strategy and to formalise a more individual and nurturing environment for its pupils. The powerful rewards facility on IRIS allowed Oswaldtwistle to focus staff de-briefing on reinforcing positive behaviours and sharing good practice rather than discussing negative behaviour. Accommodating up to 65 pupils at any one time, Oswaldtwistle IRIS Supports the Reintegration of Pupils in East Lancashire into Mainstream Education

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IRIS Supports the Reintegration of Pupils in East Lancashire into Mainstream Education

In the first term of 2010/11, online behaviour and reward monitoring system, IRIS has been extremely useful in reintegrating as many pupils from The Oswaldtwistle School, a short stay secondary school in Lancashire, into mainstream education as was achieved throughout the whole of 2009/10.

IRIS was introduced at The Oswaldtwistle School to facilitate a change of emphasis to the overall behaviour management strategy and to formalise a more individual and nurturing environment for its pupils. The powerful rewards facility on IRIS allowed Oswaldtwistle to focus staff de-briefing on reinforcing positive behaviours and sharing good practice rather than discussing negative behaviour. Accommodating up to 65 pupils at any one time, Oswaldtwistle is a short stay school for those displaying challenging behaviour or pupils that have become disengaged with education.

Prior to the implementation of IRIS, Oswaldtwistle had a time consuming paper-based system that focussed too heavily on negative behaviour displayed by pupils, as well as more serious incidents. By moving to IRIS, staff have the opportunity to record both negative and positive behaviour on one simple data entry form, which saves time and allows for rewards to be linked to the curriculum. As an online platform, IRIS can be accessed via a secure log-in from anywhere and parents, pupils and even third party agencies can be granted access.

The main focus at Oswaldtwistle is to reintegrate pupils back into mainstream education within one term. An essential part of the new behaviour strategy was to breakdown and identify the specific behaviour that pupils needed to display in order to successfully re-enter the traditional education system. IRIS is key to accurately recording and analysing this information. As a flexible monitoring system, IRIS was easily adapted so that the main thrust of behaviour management is for teachers to award points for positive behaviour throughout every lesson, such as listening and reacting positively to instruction.

Mark Bocker, headteacher, The Oswaldtwistle School, comments: “Implementation of the IRIS system has allowed us to place the emphasis on positive behaviour and rewarding our pupils. Discussion at our daily staff meeting is now focussed around IRIS’ in-depth analysis and reports. Rather than spending a significant amount of time everyday discussing the negative behaviour in the classroom, our teachers now share the techniques they have used to encourage positive behaviour from pupils and celebrate success.”

“Of course, there is still the requirement to record negative behaviour and more serious incidents but IRIS seamlessly facilitates both. The analysis that I can extract from the system provides a full overview of the entire school or an individual pupil with one click of the mouse.”

Furthermore, the reports from IRIS on individual pupil’s behaviour now form the basis for initial discussions with mainstream schools when a pupil is considered for reintegration. In the academic year 2009/10 when IRIS was introduced, the number of pupils successfully reintegrated doubled from 2008/09.

“To be able to provide concrete evidence from IRIS that a pupil can display all the behaviours required for them to go back into the classroom is invaluable,” continues Mr Bocker. “I believe this is one of the main reasons that we have been so successful and that the majority of pupils frequently stay with us for less than one term. Of course, there are pupils with special education needs that stay with us longer but they are now in the minority and, receive more appropriate support and nurturing.”

IRIS’ behaviour and rewards monitoring system operates in real-time and teachers at Oswaldtwistle use the online platform to give immediate feedback to pupils throughout lessons. A transparent points system allows pupils to transfer them into vouchers that can be spent in local shops or on recreational activities. Attendance on end of term trips is also determined via a pupil’s IRIS records.