Our biggest Observatory update of 2021 (so far) is here!

We’ve released a brand new update to Observatory and we’re so excited to show you how these new features can really benefit you. Here’s a breakdown of everything we’ve added to make your life that little bit easier…

KPIs, RAGs & Risk Assessments

If you are currently using spreadsheets to track KPIs against your schools then you will be pleased to know you will now be able to create your own KPIs and templates within Observatory!

You can choose what scale you wish to use, for example, track ‘Effective Governance’ with a ‘Red, Amber, Green’ or complete ‘Budget issues’ with a ‘Yes/No’.

The best bit is, you can create as many templates as you like and choose a selection of KPIs you would like to RAG rate your schools against (just like you can with our observations and professional standards modules in Perspective).

This allows you to be forensic and pinpoint particular areas where schools may require extra support, CPD and resources.

We are also working on updating our intelligence analysis so you’d be able to see a trust-wide view of RAG rating to identify areas of focus across the Trust – super handy for your Trust reports and resource allocation.

OFSTED support – all in one place!

With inspections back at the forefront of everyone’s minds, we’ve introduced a new OFSTED tab to your school dashboard.

You’ll have access to the main findings and recommendations from their last inspection, and where relevant, their SEF grades compared to their current OFSTED grades. We have also included your own organisational and target grades here.

Trust-wide assessment analysis

For those Trusts where schools are using our Balance curriculum, planning and assessment tool, you will be thrilled to know we have now introduced the ability to analyse Teachers’ Professional Judgements across all the schools in the entire Trust.

This provides real-time analysis from schools using Balance (you can find out more about Balance here) where teachers can record point-in-time assessments against pupils in their class. From Balance, data will automatically feed into Observatory for you to be able to see a Trust-wide picture and identify any interventions and support that may need to take place. A massive time saver!

Don’t have Balance but interested in taking a look? We’d love to book you in for a demo.

School Dashboard redesign

We’ve made some tweaks to the school dashboard to make it even easier to navigate and find the information you are looking for. For example, if you’re looking for any information from the school’s Perspective account, click on the “Perspective” tab to see their agreed SEFs, team reviews, SDPs and action plans.

Don’t forget we have also recently updated the schools “websites” tab with a list of useful websites to help you keep on top of Performance data, Finance information, Governor information, Ofsted reports etc. all in one place. It’s definitely worth a look.

We hope you love these updates as much as we do!