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From paper-based tracking to actionable insights
Case study: Sonar Tracker
Scoill Phurt Le Moirrey
About the school
Scoill Phurt Le Moirrey, located in Port St Mary, Isle of Man is a mixed primary school. It promotes a culture of care and respect and prides itself on ensuring that all students are respected as individuals. Mr Simon Murphy has been Executive Headteacher since 2023 and his role focuses on overseeing teaching, learning and assessment practices and working with staff to improve efficiency and impact.
The challenge
When Simon arrived, he quickly identified that staff had a strong understanding of their pupils but assessment recording and analysis was time consuming and largely manual. Teachers were using A3 paper-based tracking sheets and highlighting curriculum objectives individually for each pupil.
This resulted in several challenges:
- Updating assessment for a full class took significant time
- Leadership analysis required manual compilation of multiple trackers
- Identifying trends across classes and groups was difficult and inefficient
- Processes duplicated effort between teachers and leaders
This made it challenging to extract clear insights and decide on effective next steps.
The solution
Simon and his team implemented Sonar Tracker to digitalise assessment processes and provide a central platform for assessment data. As part of the implementation, a bespoke curriculum model was developed specifically for Manx schools, aligning Sonar Tracker with the Isle of Man education framework and ensuring it reflected local curriculum expectations.
Simon explains:
“Sonar Tracker allowed us to keep the same assessment principles and teacher expertise while making the process faster and more efficient. It also automated the more procedural and analytical tasks meaning staff could spend time on interpretation and intervention rather than data handling.”
Sonar Tracker made processes more productive, providing quicker access to actionable data whilst retaining strong teacher knowledge and professional judgement. The platform builds on teachers’ existing practice, freeing them to focus on actions that have the greatest impact on pupil outcomes.
Simon Murphy Executive Headteacher
The results
Since implementing Sonar, Scoill Phurt Le Moirrey has seen a variety of positive impacts including:
- Reduced workload: Teachers no longer need to maintain paper systems or separate reports for parent meetings
- Improved efficiency: Data is available instantly without manual compilation
- Better pupil progress discussions: Staff can bring laptops to meetings and work directly from live data
- Greater teacher ownership: Teachers now have clearer, real-time oversight of their own data
- More targeted interventions: Staff can quickly identify pupils needing support and act sooner
- Stronger communication with parents: Data is accessible and clear, enabling more informed and transparent conversations
The team at Scoill Phurt Le Moirrey has also benefited from the ability to move seamlessly from whole-group analysis to individual pupils. Sonar enables staff to rapidly identify trends, drill down to the pupils behind them and take impactful action.
Following the success at Scoill Phurt Le Moirrey, Simon has since rolled out Sonar Tracker to the other school within his leadership remit, further demonstrating its impact and scalability.
Recommendations
For teachers
“A key strength of Sonar Tracker is how it empowers teachers. By giving them real-time access to accurate, meaningful data, it allows them to take greater ownership of pupil progress and make informed decisions quickly.”
For leaders
“Sonar Tracker also supports a more collaborative and strategic approach to school improvement, ensuring that decisions are based on clear evidence and focused on impact.”
"Tasks that previously took a long time can now be completed in a fraction of the time, while also being more accurate and easier to analyse.”
