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The “corporate memory”: Creating a living source of information to help pupils thrive

A guest blog from Pupil Pathways’ Education Consultant David Bill.

The idea of a “corporate memory” was discussed recently at an online seminar with an eclectic group of highly dedicated local authority officers. One of the joys of being present was to appreciate the levels of commitment to, and concern for, those in their care. We could easily imagine the multitudes of spreadsheets and Word documents which recorded the support which had been provided and the successes achieved. 

These files constitute the foundations of the “corporate memory”. 

Wikipedia define the corporate memory as “the accumulated body of data, information, and knowledge created in the course of an organisation’s existence”.  

It can easily be adapted to “the accumulated body of data, information, and knowledge developed by professionals to let a child thrive and achieve their potential” for the purposes of education. I am sure a great debate could be had on this subject. 

There were two issues raised at the seminar about the corporate memory which are worth exploring. 

Expanding the corporate memory 

How can the corporate memory of a child be expanded. Expanded that is in a way in which all those who support a child can add their experiences and expanded in a way which is searchable to tell the story of that child? 

Pupil Pathways can help, particularly for the most vulnerable children through its Foresight service. Here, all professionals who are involved in supporting a child, can add their comments at each stage of the process. As there is a consistency in the way in which the data is entered, it is easily searchable by the next person in the support process. Any user will know exactly where to go to find a particular part of the case history. 

When a child moves school or local authority 

When children move, what happens to that part of the corporate memory which tells their story? How can it be accessed by the new school and what happens when children require the services of additional support?  

It is no good passing on data. We need to pass on information which is rich in detail and accessible to the next group of professionals.  

For example, a secondary school welcomes children from many schools. How do they know which children to focus on for their attendance?  

Through the consistent way our information is relayed, we are able to provide secondary schools a transition watch list. This is a list of all the pupils with attendance concerns in Y6. A pupil on the list might have good attendance in the autumn term, and perhaps in the spring term too, but we have identified long term absences in the summer term. The school can the take proactive measures to stop this happening again.  A perfect example of how the corporate memory can be transferred and used proactively for the benefit of the child. 

And finally 

The corporate memory can be an accumulation of knowledge, contained deep in files gathering virtual dust. Alternatively, it can be a living source of information needed to let a child thrive and achieve their potential 

Next Steps 

Get in touch to find out how Pupil Pathways can help you grow and maximise the potential of the corporate memory within your local authority. Get in touch to arrange a demo.