How Lanercost C of E Primary School reduced manual processes and improved communication with Compass

Lanercost C of E Primary School is a small, nurturing school at the heart of its community in Cumbria, where every child is known, valued, and supported to achieve their full potential. Guided by its core values of respect, perseverance, creativity and love, the school is committed to creating a caring and inclusive environment where children can thrive both academically and personally.

With increasing pressure on time and resources, Lanercost needed a more efficient and integrated way to manage administration, communication and payments across the school.

Kirsty Ruddick, School Business Manager at Lanercost, shares her experience of moving to Compass and bringing multiple processes together into one platform.

The Challenge We Faced

As School Business Manager at Lanercost, I’m responsible for many aspects of the school’s administration, finance and compliance, so having reliable systems in place is essential to keeping everything running smoothly.

While our previous MIS supported some core day-to-day functions, I began to feel that we needed a system with greater functionality and flexibility to support both our administrative and strategic processes. Some everyday tasks simply weren’t supported in the way we needed.

For example, we didn’t have a built-in way to manage club payments or allow parents to book parents’ evening appointments online. Instead, I had to send letters home, wait for written replies, manually collate responses, allocate appointment slots in a spreadsheet, and then email parents individually with their meeting times. It was a very time-consuming process and left room for errors like double bookings or missed responses.

Lunch ordering was another challenge. Because our MIS didn’t offer this functionality, we had to rely on an additional external system. This created extra work around reconciliation and oversight and added further cost to the school.

Using multiple systems increased administrative workload and meant I was spending more time managing processes rather than focusing on more strategic priorities for the school.

It became clear we needed a system that could simplify these processes and remove the duplication from our day-to-day work.

Finding the Right Solution

I first heard about Compass when I received a call introducing me to the system. Around the same time, we learned that our previous MIS provider was planning to shut down, and I didn’t feel that moving to an alternative solution within that group would meet the needs of our school.

When I explored Compass further, it quickly felt like the right solution for us. I was particularly impressed by how it could bring together processes such as club payments, parents’ evening bookings and lunch ordering within a single platform.

The system also felt very user-friendly for both staff and parents, which was an important factor for us as a small school where systems need to be simple and intuitive.

Once I understood how Compass could streamline our processes and reduce administrative workload, I felt confident it would be a sustainable, long-term solution for the school, and at a very competitive price too.

The onboarding process itself was very straightforward, and whenever I’ve needed support the customer service has been quick, efficient and reliable. I’m currently the primary user of the system and have been really impressed with how easy it is to use.

“Parents find Compass really easy to use. They can see what’s happening in school, make payments online and stay connected with their child’s learning.”

The Difference It’s Making

Since introducing Compass, several areas of our administration have become far more efficient.

I now manage tasks such as club payments, parents’ evening bookings, lunch ordering and residential trip payments all within one system. Previously, many of these processes involved letters home, spreadsheets and separate payment systems. Now parents can sign their children up and pay online, which saves a huge amount of time and removes the need to chase payments.

Staff use Compass primarily for registers at the moment, which has streamlined attendance tracking and reporting. Even with this initial usage, the impact has already been noticeable.

Parents have also responded very positively. They find it easy to access information, make payments and stay connected with what is happening in school through the newsfeed.

“Compass has streamlined many of our administrative tasks and made communication with parents much easier.”

For me personally, the system has had a big impact on my working day. Tasks that once required multiple steps and manual follow-ups can now be completed quickly and easily. For example, I can send reminders to all parents at the touch of a button rather than sending multiple individual emails.

By bringing several processes together into one platform, Compass has reduced duplication of work, improved efficiency and made daily administration much more manageable.

Looking Ahead

We’re still at an early stage of using Compass and there are many more features I’m looking forward to exploring.

In the future, I would love to see staff making greater use of the system beyond registers, for example tracking behaviour, monitoring progress and managing trips and clubs. This would further reduce administrative workload and improve data accuracy across the school.
I also see Compass continuing to strengthen parental engagement by making it even easier for families to access information and stay connected with school life.

My advice to other schools considering a change of MIS would be to research the options carefully and speak to other schools who have already made the move. Choosing a system that is user-friendly, well supported and capable of integrating multiple processes can make a huge difference.

From my experience so far, Compass has already streamlined many of our administrative tasks and improved communication with parents. It has made my day-to-day work more efficient and enjoyable, and I’m excited to see how the system continues to support our school in the future.g-term partner in the school’s ongoing development.

Ready to Simplify Your School Processes?

Compass supports schools like Lanercost to bring administration, communication and payments together in one powerful, cloud-based MIS – reducing workload, improving efficiency, and supporting school engagement.