What will OneSchool do?
Why the name change?
Our school is thinking of purchasing new software, should we wait until OneSchool is available?
How will OneSchool be different to SMS?
Won't the new application create a heavier workload and require more advanced skills from already overstretched staff in schools?
What training will be provided to school staff who will be operating the new application?
Who will have access to the information contained in the application, and what security measures will be implemented?
Will my school be able to create our own reports for our own purposes?
Will the data currently stored in SMS have to be re-entered into the new application when releases are deployed?
What if I have any additional questions?
OneSchool is being designed and built in stages with each successive release delivering additional functionality. While not all areas of specific functionality have been finalised, the OneSchool application will deliver functionality in the areas of:
Release One, which was deployed in schools in 2008, includes functionality around accessing student personal and contact details, and attendance information, producing student academic reports, recording student extra curricular participation and career aspirations, recording student behaviour records (positive and negative) and contact with parents/guardians.
Releases Two functionality was made available to all state schools in October 2009. It is focussed upon teaching and learning and includes unit planning functionality, teacher mark books, the ability to develop Education plans (SET Plans) and access to NAPLAN data.
Release Two: Timetabling was delivered to all state schools during Semester 2, 2010.
Release Three will deliver functionality to enable the decommissioning of the Department's Student Management System (SMS) currently used in schools. It is expected to be deployed to all state schools during 2011 following a pilot in Term 2, 2011.
The name OneSchool sends a clear message that this initiative is about connecting the 1300 state schools in Queensland through the implementation of consistent practices, and the delivery of a shared single student record. The name OneSchool was announced at the Gold Coast ICTs Leaders' Conference in April 2006.
The OneSchool application is planned to deliver many requirements and cover some functions for which schools have sought to purchase stand-alone software solutions or enter into service contracts. As a centrally funded program, all schools will be required to use OneSchool and therefore some stand-alone software products and services that deliver the same functionality will no longer be needed.
Before taking any action or making decisions to procure and implement new and/or stand-alone software to support school functions, all schools and district personnel are strongly advised to consider the OneSchool project.
Things to consider include:
ICT is an area where the Department will continue to use its purchasing power to make better investment decisions and achieve greater state-wide consistency. The Department cannot afford for duplication to occur through individual schools purchase of similar products or services. Consequently more ICT services will be purchased and developed by the Department to be implemented across the enterprise to improve consistency and standardisation of processes and practices.
Principals will need to assess their school's needs and the likely costs in the light of impending OneSchool releases and any potential for duplication.
One of the significant advantages of OneSchool is that its centralised database has the capacity to provide a comprehensive and real-time view of a student's record. This record will be able to give you quickly a holistic view of the student's education in Queensland state schools, including student achievement, attendance, behaviour and extra-curricular participation. Consistent practices and procedures across all state schools is an additional benefit as is being able to access the application anywhere and at anytime it is needed. OneSchool also aims to simplify business processes and enable self service capabilities to reduce the need for school, regional or corporate data requests.
On the contrary, the user interface with OneSchool will be designed to make it simpler for users to perform a range of core functions. For example, it will reduce the current need for users to log in and out of separate applications. Many paper-based activities will become automated. Also, the integration of data between functions and sites will eliminate the need for multiple data entry into different departmental applications and the multitude of school created databases. The efficiencies achieved by these improvements will create a greater capacity for school staff to focus on more value-adding work.
Regional and corporate access to student profile and aggregate data reports will reduce the need for school staff to collect and collate data requests as regional and corporate personnel will be able to access the information directly.
A number of workflow processes will be automated in OneSchool Release Three and a number of financial processes will be managed centrally for example BAS returns. Again reducing the workload of school staff members.
School staff will be supported in acquiring operating skills during the deployment of OneSchool releases. The OneSchool program budget will consider the total cost of the system, including training, support and other ongoing costs. This will ensure school staff members receive appropriate training in the new technology.
Staff training will be an important component of the OneSchool program budget. A training needs analysis will be conducted prior to system implementation and used to develop a comprehensive training program. All staff will have access to training in the application functions appropriate to their role during the deployment phases.
The OneSchool project aims to deliver training and support materials in a variety of formats in recognition of staff needs and preferences and the availability of current technology.
In 2008 all teachers received 1.5 hours of TRS to undertake training in the Release One functionality in the application.
In 2009, schools received funding to release teachers to participate in Release Two implementation activities. The principal decided how this funding was best utilised.
In 2010, the school Timetabler (principal or deputy) received training in the use of Release Two: Timetabling and the BSM and/or Administrative Officer in each school participated in Release Three training.
Help and training materials for all tasks performed in the OneSchool application are available within the OneSchool application for easy reference.
The OneSchool program places a high priority on both the duty-of-care considerations of student information and the security of schools administrative data. The program team is working closely with the Department's privacy and audit consultants to ensure the system complies with established privacy principles.
Each user is assigned a security access level which allows them to view, edit or enter data for only that student' whose profile they have permission to access. This access level is linked directly to the user's login.
Teachers and principals will not have access to data about any student at any other school. Data about a student can only be accessed by the principal and teachers at the school at which the student is enrolled. Information about a student, who has been enrolled as a future student of a school, can be accessed by the principal of that school prior to the student's official start day.
OneSchool will make available a number of standard data reports for statistical analysis. Schools will be able to adapt reports to accommodate their own preferences. Data security provisions will apply to reports. Principals can request data downloads from OneSchool if required.
Data entered into SMS will not have to be re-entered into OneSchool. The SMS data required in OneSchool for Releases One, Two and Two: Timetabling will, via EQIP the Education Queensland Integration Platform, populate the OneSchool application. EQIP is the Department's central store of SMS data with links to other applications including OneSchool. Some school-based personnel know EQIP as the 'transfer agent'. EQIP downloads and transfers data at night and because of this, data entered into SMS will not automatically be available in the OneSchool application.
When Release Three is deployed to state schools in 2011, SMS will no longer be used. Some data will be migrated into OneSchool as part of the deployment. Certain data is not consistently recorded in SMS across all schools and cannot be accurately migrated in a meaningful format. Also the department has defined new categories to be used in some processes. As a result, there will be data in SMS that will have to be entered into OneSchool.The details of the migration process, and support and planning documents have been provided to schools during 2010 to enable schools to prepare.
School, district and corporate personnel can contact the OneSchool Program, Guiding Coalition members or Regional Liaison Officers should they have any further questions. Parents and guardians should contact the principal at their child's school.
This page was last reviewed on 12 Apr 2011 at 11:35AM
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