Founded in 1879, Chafyn Grove School is an independent preparatory school located in Salisbury, UK, catering for boys and girls aged 3-13.
Chafyn Grove School’s mission is to provide an inspiring and supportive learning environment where every child is encouraged to explore their potential and develop a lifelong love of learning.
How would you describe your initial expectations of the onboarding process?
My initial expectations were honestly pretty high. I had not heard anything negative from anyone regarding the iSAMS onboarding process.
What tools, sessions, or materials were most helpful during onboarding?
The Project Pack spreadsheet was incredibly useful. Having everything written out in clear steps was vital in this complicated process, and it encouraged me to write my own notes in it as well.
But most importantly, the ability to save the recordings of the training sessions was great news. It’s a large amount of information to take in all at once, and the ability to look back over it later has been so helpful.
What was your experience with the full onboarding and implementation process?
Right from the start, the communication was excellent. We had very clear documentation that not only set out the timeline but also gave concise instructions each step of the way. The weekly Teams meetings were very welcome and a great way to keep on track. I knew what was expected of me each step in the process.
Looking back, what part of the onboarding process worked especially well for your school?
We didn’t have any issues with the onboarding process at all, so it is difficult to pick out one thing. I would say the training – as this enabled us to learn how to tweak iSAMS to our needs.
What kind of support did you receive from the iSAMS team during onboarding?
We were assigned Coral as a Project Manager and she was fantastic. Due to the nature of our move to iSAMS, it had to be done very quickly, and Coral was there every step of the way to ensure that this process was smooth and to ensure that I felt supported. This process had the potential to be incredibly stressful, but thanks to the support of Coral and the iSAMS team it was smooth and calm (as much as any big move like this can be!).
I also want to say a great big thank you to the training team. The training really is great. The trainers were patient and gave clear instructions and didn’t get grumpy at all with my constant questions!
Do you have any advice for schools beginning their iSAMS journey?
My advice would be to go through your data and clean it up as much as possible before the export to iSAMS. Most databases have data checking tools built in, and I would go through all of them. A big part of the data import process is when iSAMS sends your existing data in spreadsheets for you to check, and if you have removed the erroneous data already, it will make this process so much easier.
“Go through your data and clean it up as much as possible before export as it makes the entire import process faster, easier, and far less stressful.”
Would you recommend the iSAMS onboarding experience to other schools?
Absolutely. You are supported and have access to assistance via email and weekly Teams meetings along the way. The software itself is so powerful and honestly worth the effort to move to it.
Any final reflections on your onboarding experience?
I just want to share a few reactions from teachers here regarding iSAMS. We recently joined the United Learning trust, so we had to move MIS. But I have not heard one negative comment about using it from anyone here. I’ve heard comments such as ‘It’s so easy to use, isn’t it?’ and ‘Oh, I can look that up in iSAMS’.
Teachers are using it with confidence and that is a big win from me.