Product Review – Provision Map

A powerful web based information management tool designed for superhero SENCOs

At a glance

• Designed to reduce workload and help manage SEND and Pupil Premium
• Flexible learning plans and pupil passports
• Easy provision mapping and provision map transition
• Prepopulated libraries of interventions and targets
• Simplifies administration
• Connects with SIMS, Integris, CMIS, Progresso, iSAMS and more

Who has it toughest in a school? The secretary? Caretaker? TA? EYFS teacher? Head? Well, every role in education has its own unique demands, but there is one that definitely has ‘challenge’ written into the job description: that of SENCO.

This incredible role isn’t for everyone. It spans the macro and the micro, the workload is at full capacity and in truth, most teachers wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole.

But it is also a deeply gratifying position, one that ‘makes a difference’ – and without a doubt, more people would do if it were less onerous.

To be as effective as possible SENCOs can’t go it alone. They need a support network with systems that simplify procedures, not overcomplicate them, and they need solutions to reduce the bureaucratic burden.

Happily, there is something that can help: Provision Map – feature-rich software that super streamlines the role and coordinates the complex. It enables you to get on top of provisions and interventions by providing a variety of time-saving tools for the tactical and dynamic management of inclusion.

Fully customisable learning plans are offered, which dovetail the SEND Code of Practice and follow the Assess – Plan – Do – Review approach. Single-page pupil profiles or Pupil Passports are included too and this tool allows you to tailor to pupils’ needs accordingly.

The software is designed to make mapping out interventions quick and stress-free, and helps you keep a close eye on what pupils and staff are doing.

It comes with a brilliant library of interventions which you can edit to suit your needs as well as plenty of targets with success criteria, strategies and provision.

All of the costs are automatically calculated too, so you can track and cost the interventions used in your school and evaluate their impact.

One of the stand-out features of Provision Map is its instant reporting offer. Cost, time, Pupil Premium and outcome reports are all there – just choose the criteria you want, click a button and a detailed report is done. This is a huge time-saver.

In fact, generating information for governors, SLT, external agencies and other stakeholders has never been easier.

There is an additional plugin you can purchase, called School Robins. It allows you to make an information request via a ‘round robin’, which is an email sent to all relevant staff about a particular pupil; the replies are then collated into the pupil’s record.

I’d say this is worth the extra investment because it will mean less rushing about and hassling staff for their paperwork.

Wearing several hats isn’t always sustainable but using Provision Map gives SENCOs greater flexibility and allows them to focus on what needs to be done with productive precision. All the information you need is in one place, and it can be sorted and filtered with ease.

Verdict

• Saves SENCOs an average of six hours per week and shrinks stress
• Enables you to map funding, assessment and review meetings
• Costed Provision Maps help you complete funding bids
• Supports smooth transition by effortlessly moving key data from one school to another
• Makes sharing plans with parents easy
• The best tool on the market for being up-to-date and super-organised

Upgrade if…

You are looking for a centralised approach of quick wins to super-organise your SEN administration; Provision Map represents efficiency, effectiveness and economy.

Cost: from £795 for 1 year; School Robins £355.50. Book a demo for a 30-day free trial: provisionmap.co.uk/demo.

Reviewed by John Dabell