The Challenge
Oasis Community Learning was established as a Multi-Academy Trust in 2004 and now has 54 academies providing education to over 32,000 young people.
Oasis undertake an annual safeguarding audit to ensure that safeguarding systems and processes are working. Prior to implementing the Phew Audit System, they used a paper-based method which made it extremely time-consuming to coordinate all of the academies’ responses. It was also difficult to report on the data in a meaningful way and be able to easily make comparisons against previous years information.
It became clear that a system was required which would collate all the audit data together into one place, was easy to use, reflected Oasis’ business needs, and was presented in a in a clear and accessible format.
The Solution
The Phew Audit System provides Oasis with a clear and easy to navigate tool which coordinates all of the audit responses in one place. The team are able to easily identify the safeguarding needs of the academies and work with them accordingly. Flexible question formats with smart features allow them to build a custom audit, making it unique to their Trust.
The Results
Since implementing the Phew Audit System, Oasis Community Learning has successfully adopted a centralised and cohesive approach to monitoring safeguarding. The system has empowered Oasis with comprehensive governance oversight across all of the academies. In turn, it has also enabled the school’s to represent themselves effectively and enhance their safeguarding function.
All of the academies’ audit responses are now consolidated in a unified location, resulting in a marked improvement in processing efficiency and a substantial reduction in administrative workload.
Both administrators and respondents find the system easy to use which made adoption straight-forward. Oasis has accumulated a standardised dataset over the past four years using the system, which enables them to track year-on-year progress in each academy, and facilitates meaningful comparisons across the regions.
Furthermore, the system generates an action plan that can be conveniently downloaded in Microsoft Excel format. This feature equips schools with the ability to review, amend, or update the plan throughout the year, ultimately simplifying the identification of safeguarding and developmental needs at the end of each academic year.
“The Phew Audit System has revolutionised our approach to safeguarding and governance oversight. Thanks to this streamlined solution, we’ve centralised our auditing operations, which has in turn made data processing efficient and reduced administrative burdens.
“The system is incredibly accessible and its user-friendly interface has been well-received. Having access to standardised data enables us to track progress and make informed decisions. The system’s ability to generate actionable plans in Excel format has simplified our processes and helped us readily identify and address safeguarding and developmental needs. I also can’t speak highly enough about the support team at Phew – they’re fast, efficient and friendly.”
Jon Needham, Director of Safeguarding at Oasis Community Learning
