Brisbane Catholic Education (BCE) will soon provide 137 schools in south-east Queensland with a mobile app that enables parents to view term dates and announcements, and their child’s exam results and rankings from their smartphones or tablets. BCE operates within the Archdiocese of Brisbane and provides umbrella administrative, learning and employee, and technology services to the schools attended by almost 71,000 students. The mobile app initiative is part of an ongoing project to reduce the administrative burden for schools in the archdiocese. In late 2013, the company engaged Blink Mobile Interactive to help create an app that lets teachers search curriculum content from their mobile devices. It also follows the 2012 rollout across schools of an SMS facility that informs parents of student absences by combining daily information from the role marking process with primary contact phone data in its student admin system. The SMS facility is also used in five admin offices across the region to contact staff in the event of an emergency. “We had a fire in one of our offices and wanted to let all staff know overnight that they shouldn’t come to work the next day so the most reliable way to do that was to send them an SMS,” said Warren Armitage, CIO at Brisbane Catholic Education. The latest Android and iOS mobile app for parents – which interfaces with BCE’s SharePoint system – will be rolled out into two phases to the schools during this year. During the first stage, BCE is creating a generic mobile app to publish information that relates to all schools such as term dates and announcements. There will be a school directory with contact information, and maps to guide users to a specific school. Authentication is being added during the second stage, enabling parents or carers to log in to school systems using a mobile device and view information such as student grades and rankings. They will also be able to access student timetables and calendar dates, and payment options allowing parents to pay for books, uniforms and even lunch from their mobile devices. “We will be able to communicate directly with an individual parent,” said Warren Armitage, CIO at Brisbane Catholic Education, told CIO. “We also will start to provide more targeted information to parents, we can give them a snapshot of the academic calendar of the school as it relates to their child individually [providing information about] when they have got assessments coming up or assignments due – specific to that child rather than just broadcast the information.” Six schools are currently trailing the mobile app and all 137 are expected to take it up by the end of the year. Armitage said the SMS facility and mobile app projects lower administrative burden for school staff. “Our administrative staffing is pretty skinny … as is for most schools,” Armitage said. “It [SMS] is a quick notification for parents, they usually find out quickly if something unusual has happened – either because their child hasn’t arrived at school and should be or there ‘s been an emergency.” Follow Byron Connolly on Twitter:@ByronConnolly Follow CIO Australia on Twitter and Like us on Facebook… Twitter: @CIO_Australia, Facebook: CIO Australia, or take part in the CIO conversation on LinkedIn: CIO Australia Related content feature 10 most popular IT certifications for 2023 Certifications are a great way to show employers you have the right IT skills and specializations for the job. These 10 certs are the ones IT pros are most likely to pursue, according to data from Dice. By Sarah K. White May 26, 2023 8 mins Certifications Careers interview Stepping up to the challenge of a global conglomerate CIO role Dr. Amrut Urkude became CIO of Reliance Polyester after his company was acquired by Reliance Industries. He discusses challenges IT leaders face while transitioning from a small company to a large multinational enterprise, and how to overcome them. By Yashvendra Singh May 26, 2023 7 mins Digital Transformation Careers feature 移民のバックストーリーが、技術リーダーを育てる 移民としての物語を有するテックリーダーには、共感と多様性に根ざした視点を持ち、かつてはほとんどなかった無数の機会を有している。 By Inna Lazareva May 25, 2023 1 min Diversity and Inclusion Careers IT Leadership feature BNY Mellon、AIを活用してマスターデータを改善 By Peter Sayer May 25, 2023 1 min Master Data Management Artificial Intelligence Data Management Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe