Testimonials
Over the last 10 years, we've helped hundreds of schools use GridMaker to capture evidence of the great work they do. Along the way, we've received countless testimonials and success stories. Some of these are detailed below...
(Don't forget to try it for yourself - and you'll see why so many people have such good things to say!)
GridMaker has become a valuable resource for us, even receiving commendation during 3 recent Ofsted inspections. With two Outstanding outcomes and a new school receiving Good in their first inspection, it is clear see that Gridmaker is playing a part in out schools’ continued success.
Michael Webster
Regional Director
Witherslack Group Ltd
Pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is better coordinated across the curriculum. An on-line audit of all the activities promoting development is enabling gaps to be filled and resources shared.
Extract from an Ofsted report / Ofsted
The Grid was used whilst in interview with an Ofsted inspector and one of my colleagues. The inspector was very impressed by the clarity of our evidence and how SMSC is being mapped across the curriculum. SMSC is now cited as a strength of the college.
Medina College
The SMSC grid is a quick and easy way to track and monitor provision across the school. It has helped us see at a glance where there may be gaps in provision. In addition, it has increased confidence in staff’s understanding of SMSC while enabling Faculties to see what others are doing and reflect effectively on their own practice. I have used the grid at a Governors training session to help clarify what SMSC really looks like in a secondary school and they were very impressed.
Sir John Lawes School
The SMSC Grid has enabled us to gather all of the good practice regarding SMSC throughout our entire institution. Previously it was challenging for Senior Leaders to pin point exactly what was going on and when. It illustrates any gaps in provision and gives us a strategic plan to move forward with as well as highlighting training needs for staff. OFSTED inspectors liked the visual way of presenting SMSC provision and said as a result that our SMSC delivery had moved from “unsatisfactory” to “good”. I highly value the SMSC grid and our academy is looking at how we can further expand its use.
The Manor Academy
Genuine testimonials from Headteachers, Principals,
SMSC Co-ordinators and Teachers:
“The Gridmaker is the best product on the market for recording SMSC in schools. It is quick and easy to use and the whole staff were able to access and complete it within minutes of being shown how to do it. OFSTED were easily won over when I showed the wealth of evidence in our SMSC grid. It continues to be a useful tool in planning our teaching and learning.”
“We were looking for a way to show our coverage of SMSC to OfSTED and Gridmaker provided the easy and painless way to do it. OfSTED were impressed with Gridmaker and what we do!”
“We had our Ofsted inspection at the start of September and the inspectors were extremely impressed with the way in which we track SMSC using the grid and then use it to action plan for the year ahead. “
“The Gridmaker program has enabled us to easily monitor, track update our SMSC provision across the whole school. As a senior leader it has allowed me to have the all-important helicopter view of our SMSC delivery. The grids are easy to manage, effective in creating a gap analysis and the tables, graphs and printable reports are a powerful tool to use in conversations with outside agencies. Other schools have also commented on our successful SMSC mapping which is directly linked to the Gridmaker and how easy it is to access. We are now using the Gridmaker to map our parental engagement linked to SMSC and PSHE. Overall a fantastic and tool, easy to use and is having a really positive impact on school development.”
“The online grid allows us to record all SMSC development opportunities that are provided for our students across the curriculum throughout the school year. This enables us to formulate an annual report, based on findings, and make recommendations for our SMSC provision for the following year. The use of the grid has really helped us to reflect upon our SMSC provision and has significantly informed our strategic development.”
“We used the Grid as part of a twilight INSET session, the whole teaching staff were able to access and update the grid at the same time. They were impressed at how user friendly and robust the system was. As SLT we can see at a glance where the strengths and gaps are within SMSC provision. Year two will be about auditing and filling the gaps.”
“As a senior leader, collecting evidence of SMSC is quite hard going. GridMaker makes it very easy. It is simple to complete, and creates really good graphs and overviews which inform strategies going forward. Staff can all be involved in adding evidence from their own work, so it becomes a team product. I would recommend to anyone.”
“GridMaker has been invaluable in tracking our SMSCD provision. It has helped us to identify, and act on, gaps in provision and has enabled us to share our successes. The Pupil Premium section of GridMaker allows us to track spending for individual children. It has helped us to measure outcomes by tracking pupil progress against provision.”
“The grid is straight forward to use and we found it was an important tool for us in collecting evidence to present to Ofsted. It also helped us to analyse aspects of our provision so that we could increase opportunities in particular areas.”
“I have found GridMaker an invaluable resource for the ongoing monitoring of SMSC at my school. The staff update the grid regularly, and the learning curve was extremely easy. GridMaker enabled us to evidence our SMSC provision for a recent visit from OFSTED in a very straightforward and clear way, allowing us to focus in on the wide range of SMSC provision within our school e.g. filtering results based upon year groups, subjects, etc.”
“My feedback for the SMSC Grid is all positive. I can speak on behalf of the staff at my school that it is very easy to use and not too daunting a task when it comes to collating SMSC evidence. It's reassuring to know that everything is safe and secure, and that our SMSC evidence isn't a million bits of paper falling out of a folder. KS2 have started to use it in lessons and have seen a positive response from the children, who are starting to recognise the different values and merits of SMSC. We dedicate half a staff meeting once every half term to updating and adding bits that we may not have had time for during the term. We do this as a whole staff, headteacher included, so that way there is evidence from each year group, all subject areas are covered and other areas of the school. I particularly like that you can add different subjects to the list and therefore make it personal and relevant to your school. Definitely worth the money, which for what you get is extremely reasonable.”
“Using the Grid to audit our provision of SMSC has been an invaluable, functional and easy to use tool throughout the curriculum in our school. Staff have engaged with the software with minimal distress and it has highlighted at the touch of a button the gaps we need to cover to ensure we provide a fully enriched curriculum for our students. Worth every penny.”
“The gridmaker has enabled us to capture the breadth of SMSC activities and lessons that we provide at school. It is only because of gridmaker that we can evaluate it and see where the gaps in our provision are. Invaluable tool for us and for external agencies to easily view”
“The SMSC grid is a very quick and easy way for teachers and departments across the school to record the SMSC that they cover in their areas. Activities can be easily recorded whether they are with schemes of work or one off events like Super Learning Day”
“GridMaker is simple to use and generates useful data so that gaps can easily be identified and addressed. In our weekly staff meetings we take the first 5 minutes to report back on SMSC which is then recorded on the programme thus it is kept upto date.”
“The GridMaker is a wonderful way of keeping a central portfolio of evidence. It is easy to use for all staff, saves on paper and is quick to access when evidence of SMSC is needed.”
“I would like to say that we have incorporated your Grid system into our daily reporting structure. In all our subject lessons we continually use the criteria from your lists to evidence the SMSC that we include into our lessons. This tool is an invaluable resource to all our SMT, Governors, teachers and pupils. I would recommend it to all schools.”
“The GridMaker programme has been an excellent addition to our monitoring of SMSC activities. It has provided clear and visual evidence that has allowed all staff and governors to see what we are already doing and where we can develop further. As the use of the grid embeds in the practices of the school I expect it to be utilised by staff at various levels to enhance their future development plans.”
“Gridmaker does what it says on the tin. It makes grids. Easy to use, no training needed except a short screen vid. Easy to create Ofsted evidence. As a tool to track what is going on it’s the simplest and most effective we have used.”
“I found the Grid system very user friendly. It is much easier to look up and view info through the Grid on screen by hovering the mouse over the relevant area than wading through reams of paperwork. It has a copy/clone facility, which saves having to retype the same thing over. The staff are very helpful and you only have to click the mouse to get expert help instantly. No waiting for telephone calls or emails.”
“Recording SMSC and it's impact on the children is always a challenge. GridMaker allows us to quickly record all the different aspects that the school undertakes quickly and easily and helps us to spot gaps in coverage for all year groups. It has become a key evaluation tool for this subject area”
“We are new to using the SMSC grid, it’s benefits have been that it is easy to use, share with staff and train staff on. It links essential evidence that everyone can access at any time and allows departments to see what each other is doing, providing a common ground for sharing information.”
“Thanks for some fantastic training on the grid only a couple of weeks ago. We have already started to use it throughout school and TA, dinner ladies, support teachers are all able to access the simple recording method. We'll keep you posted as to how it develops for our school.”
“The grid has been very useful in helping us to achieve several items:Tracking our delivery of SMSC across the curriculum.Being able to do this in a quick and easy manner.We employ our Gifted and Talented students to populate the grid with their experiences so it is an excellent way to engage our student voice.This means that we do not have to trouble our very busy middle leaders.Helps us be OFSTED ready.”
“We didn't have a problem encouraging people to use it because it was so simple. The grid is filling up nicely and we can tailor our curriculum to ensure that we meet the SMSC needs of all our children. We plan assemblies and organise visits to fill the gaps! Our ETAs have all been trained how to use it and our RE leader monitors and evaluates it routinely - we would highly recommend it! Thanks for saving us time and giving us a simple way to record and celebrate all of the extra- curricular things that we do.”
“We have been using your grid for just over a year now. I must say that I'm very impressed with it! I have found it a really quick and simple method of recording all the SMSC activities that happen on a daily basis in our school, but that were previously going untracked. I think it will be really a really useful tool for evidencing when OFSTED arrives.”
“Grid maker was a great tool for providing oversight of the SMSC provision whole school, and could be further broken down by year group, subject or even specific SMSC aspect. This certainly helped us identify our strengths and areas for development.”
“I have found the SMSC Grid invaluable because at a glance I can monitor every departments log of SMSC education. It is straightforward to use and I cannot imagine coordinating the SMSC for my secondary school without it.”
“The SMSC Grid has been a very useful tool to have in school. It has impressed visitors from other schools and Inspectors who rock up to school and ask for evidence of SMSC provision. Particularly impressive has been the capacity to produce graphs which readily show visual representation of SMSC education. The information needed can be drilled down in a manner useful to the individual school and will with a couple of clicks demonstrate to an Inspector the provision for @Gifted and Talented Year 9 pupils in ICT’ , for example! The capacity to attach lesson plans and lesson outcomes is impressive and adds a new tool to the kit when it comes to inducting new staff. On this note the online support and training is invaluable as it includes video clips and screenshots allowing users to learn the package at their own pace. Indeed the Grid is easy to use by all staff, time efficient and I have recommended it to other colleagues in the teaching profession. Very importantly, at a time when we are all strapped for cash it represents very good value for money!”
“As educators, we need to be mindful of how our students learn and, importantly, be sure that we provide a wide range of opportunities to enable context for learning, bringing in business partners, changing perspectives and challenging preconceived ideas. We are required, quite rightly, to deliver similar and differing agendas to support citizenship, business and enterprise, PSHEE, PLTS – all of which contribute to our SMSC priorities. The GridMaker software enables us to keep track of these activities and enable us to weave a rich tapestry of support around our students – the software enables us to track, identify gaps and plan for remedial action. It’s an essential business tool which enables us to focus on the students rather than gathering evidence – it’s so simple that all time-stretched teachers can use it but, equally, I believe it to be a highly effective management tool.”
“The Grid proved to be a valuable resource for collating evidence (especially in the run up to our International Schools Inspection!). We were able to use the Grid to demonstrate our coverage of PSHE and our inspection report quoted.."Personal,social and health education (PSHE) is central to the school’s ethos." We were able to use the Grid to demonstrate how we had covered aspects of PSHE throughout the Primary school. Teachers were able to uploaded photos from assemblies, trips, special days etc with ease. We also used the Grid to make a record of the use of ICT.”
“The team offer great help and support when setting the grid up, its quick and easy to learn and provides a central hub for a range of provisions to be mapped, evidenced and evaluated.”
“My role is to coordinate SMSC across the school. How can you capture the spiritual ethos in physical ways? The answer is “Gridmaker”. Gridmaker allows us to collate evidence of the whole school events and planning that help to make us a Catholic school with a tangible ethos. Furthermore, these links can be matched to other areas of focus to prevent people from needing to repeat work. A valuable OFSTED tool and method of identifying areas of strength and future development requirements.”
“GridMaker has been the perfect tool to record SMSC throughout our school. Quick and easy use has enabled our teachers to confidently upload evidence allowing us the see the whole picture of SMSC in our school. Highly recommended!”
“The SMSC grid is simple to use, quickly builds up a body of evidence and clearly shows a schools coverage and strengths in social, moral, spiritual and cultural development. Behind the grid sits a large body of evidence including photos, lessons plans and notes which are stored electronically. All for a very reasonable cost.”
“If you want to map anything cross-curricular, I'd really recommend GridMaker. The fact that they will also create bespoke frameworks for us has helped us greatly. One recent example is how they did this for our literacy co-ordinator.”
“Since using GridMaker we have built up a directory of SMSC happening throughout the school along with the resources we've used. It has made the recording of SMSC speedy and simple. It has saved a great deal of time and allows us to see clearly which areas of the curriculum need to be targeted for improvement.”
“Since first becoming aware of GridMaker, I immediately recognised its potential to support the schools and settings in Birmingham gather evidence and audit their SMSC provision. Through the unique and simple to use format schools are quickly able to record, evaluate and recognise all the good work they are doing around SMSC. Its ease of use has been recognised by schools and staff across the whole city, often turning the skeptic into an engaged members of staff in a short time. A key point that helps schools value it is that it can be customised to their own setting and groups within the setting, it gives it the feel of a truly bespoke programme for their own needs. The real value of it can be seen once the staff have all added their information, because school leaders can then use the powerful filtering tools and mapping tools to help establish areas of opportunity for improvement and development so as the pupils all get equal opportunity to experience high quality SMSC. As a tool it meets the needs of busy, dynamic and innovative settings, who value quality products that do the job they are meant to do.”
“We’ve really enjoyed using the grid. It’s very easy to use and gives us a simple tool to pull together all of our SMSC strands into an easily accessed data base. We have found the support offered by you and your team to be excellent.”
“Pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is better coordinated across the curriculum. An on-line audit of all the activities promoting development is enabling gaps to be filled and resources shared.”
“The SMSC grid is a quick and easy way to track and monitor provision across the school. It has helped us see at a glance where there may be gaps in provision. In addition, it has increased confidence in staff’s understanding of SMSC while enabling Faculties to see what others are doing and reflect effectively on their own practice. I have used the grid at a Governors training session to help clarify what SMSC really looks like in a secondary school and they were very impressed.”