Welcome to the ScholarPack blog

In many ways, cloud technology is really familiar to us. In our home lives we access cloud services like email or Netflix, more or less every day. We couldn’t imagine going back to posting letters, or a weekly trip to Blockbuster video. And yet, when it comes to a school’s management information system, cloud technology is something that needs a bit more explaining.

There’s been a lot of speculation over the last few weeks about whether or not schools should reopen in June, and what a return to ‘normal’ might look like. While we now know that some schools will take a phased approach to reopening, leaders still remain in the dark on a number of important specifics, making it impossible to plan one week to the next. 

Despite the challenges, school staff have gone above and beyond and education leaders have done a remarkable job of keeping things running - remaining one of the few constants holding communities across the country together. 

Having just joined the ScholarPack team, my experience at education-related events is fairly limited, so when my colleague invited me to go to BETT- I jumped at the chance to improve my knowledge of the edtech sector (and maybe grab a ScholarPack-branded cupcake or two on the way). Here’s what I learnt...

Just as the classic floppy disk, or the Commodore 64 have had to evolve over the years since their dominance in the 80’s, management information systems (MIS) used in schools, have also moved on. In fact, now there are several viable MIS providers in the market, each offering something different for schools - from clever new features and apps to price competitive bundles. This is great news! Strong competition in the market means a huge opportunity for schools to seek out the best deal - just as we did a decade ago, when we realised we could switch energy suppliers, or bank account, in just a few clicks!