STEMS - Feedback from Schools

In late 2002, the High School Transition Management System (HSTMS) was developed and trialed in 45 schools in St George District.  Over 30 K-6 schools installed the system, collected and entered data on their Year 6 students and automatically transferred that data to the District Office.  A week later, at the end of week 4 of Term 4, the District Office automatically sorted and distributed electronically the new Year 7 data to all of the district's High Schools.

From a technical perspective, the HSTMS has proven itself to be successful in operation and the concept of electronic data transfer between schools and the District Office has been shown to be very effective.  At the end of Term 4, a formal evaluation was undertaken of all K-6 schools regarding the HSTMS process they had recently completed.  At the end of Term 1, 2003, another formal evaluation of the HSTMS system was made of each of the district's high schools.  The responses received were all taken into account for the redevelopment of HSTMS into the STEMS product that was released in Term 2, 2003.  STEMS has since been adopted by the NSW DET Sydney Region as the only method of managing the important issue of high school transition. Several of the comments received have been included on this Feedback page.

What St George Primary Schools said about the HSTMS:
  • This has been a great innovation which will serve as an excellent communication link between year 6 and 7 teachers.  Development of a model starting in Kinder and updated each year after that would be excellent! - Kingsgrove Public School
    .................................................................
  • We think it's fantastic as there is consistency of data collection.  This streamlines it all for teachers. We can't wait until the program is extended to include tracking for all students from K through to 6.- Mortdale Public School
    .................................................................
  • Great program - need something similar for reporting to parents in other years. - Canterbury South Public School
    .................................................................
  • The regular updates of what was happening with the whole process and the strict timeline was useful.  Next year should be even better. - Ashbury Public School
    .................................................................
  • It's fantastic!  The best idea for school administrative use of technology yet. - Rockdale Public School
What St George High Schools said about the HSTMS:
  • Better decision-making has been possible from the commencement of the year.  Management process is more effective with the use of this database.  Children have more chance of doing well in transition to high school because more informed decisions can be made regarding their education. - Kogarah High School
    .................................................................
  • Peakhurst HS draws students from St George and Bankstown districts.  It is a very time-consuming process collecting data on paper for out-of-district students and then entering it into the database.  This program when eventually implemented across all districts will make an incredible difference for our school. - Georges River College, Peakhurst Campus
    .................................................................
  • The data filtering option in the HSTMS was wonderful!  Made the whole process of working with the data easy!  We can now grade students to a certain extent from the beginning, place ESL students together and provide preparatory information for the Year Adviser and School Counsellor.  The HSTMS is an invaluable tool. - James Cook Boys High School
    .................................................................
  • We were able to better select year 7 classes, ESL groupings and arrange extra support for IM students.  This is a good system. - Moorefield Girls High School
    .................................................................
  • While the program is terrific, it has very limited use in a selective high school.  Of the 150 students we have, only 42 were from St George district schools.  If the HSTMS is adopted statewide (and it should be because it is great), then it would be of greater use for us. - Sydney Technical High School
    .................................................................
  • Initially, the most valuable information related to academic performance, ESL and support needs.  Student advisers accessed the information and shared it with Head Teachers and class teachers of year 7 teams.  We also accessed details of special talents such as music and sport.  As our teachers become more familiar with the power of the data reporting and filtering, they will increase their use of the HSTMS.  Overall, a great innovation! - Georges River College, Hurstville Boys Campus

The School Transition Enterprise Management System
 is designed and developed by: 

Stuart Hasic - stuart.hasic@det.nsw.edu.au

© 2002-2009 by Stuart Hasic.  All rights reserved.