Camden Learning: School Reports for Parents
What Camden Learning needed
Camden Learning were looking to explore ways of providing parents with more complete and comparable information on the schools in the borough. Historically, parents have relied on word of mouth and overall Ofsted ratings when choosing schools, though these will not capture a full picture of each school.
Their goal was to create a report for each school which allowed parents to view and compare key information, view images and statements about the schools, and understand how each institution’s unique ethos may suit their children. The reports should be simple to access and intuitive, with a strong mobile-first design.
The reports should:
- Showcase primary, secondary and special schools ensuring relevant highlights for each.
- Present data on attainment at KS4 and KS5, as well as subject offerings, approaches to SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities), bullying policies, extracurricular activities, facilities, and behavioural approaches.
- Also be searchable across the borough, combined with an interactive map.
What we did
Mime worked with a steering group including Christine Gilbert and Sean Harford, along with Isos Partnership and a “development group” of schools from the borough. The group was tasked with provided guidance and recommendations on the structure and content of the reports.
The work included:
- Workshops & requirements gathering: Mime and Isos facilitated workshops to draw out requirements from the schools, and define the best way to present the content needed for the school reports.
- Prototype development: Initial mock reports were built using a design tool (Figma), which allowed rapid iteration while giving a really clear view on how the reports would work, including on mobile
- Testing and approval: We created initial versions of reports for development group schools to allow them to share with parents for feedback and final revisions before moving forward with building a website.
- Data collection and full build: We created a simple data collection template for schools to provide their information for the reports. To simplify the task, we managed and incorporated data from already published sources (e.g. DfE). We created a website to produce the reports from this data, including a top level interface to search and filter for schools. This built on the key learnings from the prototype and again focussed on a mobile friendly design.
The impact of our work
The school reports have been extremely well received by parents, who have commented on how simple to use and accessible they are, as well as the value of being able to compare across schools more easily, and make more information choices. The project was also featured on BBC Breakfast (see below), with interviews with Christine and parents, and was also on the first page of the BBC website.
Ofsted are consulting on reporting a wider range of information on schools and this would include many of the details covered in the Camden school reports.
“The report is incredibly clear and easy to navigate. I loved how everything I needed to know about the school was in one place.”
“It is fantastic to see aspects like mental health and wellbeing being given the same prominence as academic outcomes. This feels very forward-thinking.”
“The report really helped me understand what makes the school unique. I felt like I got a sense of its character, not just its results.”
Parents at Camden secondary schools
