The Client

Small Preparatory School

A smaller institution where staff members have wide-ranging responsibilities and cannot benefit from the economies of scale or dedicated administrative teams of larger schools. Time and effort pressures are therefore highly magnified.

Digital rewards, Realtime data

The Challenge: The Paperwork Bottleneck

The school's existing reward and sanction system was slow, time-consuming, and hindered effective behaviour management:

• Inefficient Logging: The paper-based system was slow for teachers to use, leading to delayed entries and administrative backlog.

• Zero Real-Time Data: Data could only be analysed hours or days after logging, making it impossible for staff to intervene quickly or give timely updates.

• Termly Reset Stress: Resetting the system at the start of each new term was a laborious manual process requiring significant administrative time.

The Geek in a Cape Solution: Seamless, Scripted Automation

We created an end-to-end automated solution leveraging the school's existing Google ecosystem, eliminating manual entry and providing instant insights:

1. Teacher Input Form: We built a streamlined logging tool using Google Forms and simple free add-ons. This form was easily updatable and could be repopulated and reset automatically at the start of every term, saving dozens of administrative hours per year.

2. Automated Backend: The Form fed into a Google Sheet that used custom-written script and formulas for logging, managing, and categorising the raw data instantly.

3. Targeted Alerts: We built in custom contextual email alerts to automatically notify specific members of staff (e.g., department heads or senior leaders) the moment a defined sanction or high-level reward was logged.

4. Instant Visualisation: Data was piped into Looker Studio (Google's free visualisation tool), generating real-time dashboards and weekly reports used for whole-school assemblies and staff briefings.

The Result: Data-Driven Behaviour Management

• Time & Cost Efficiency: The school avoided purchasing expensive, proprietary behaviour tracking software, saving thousands, and freeing up staff time previously spent on manual data entry and system resets.

• Real-Time Intervention: Staff could now view and analyse reward and sanction trends instantly, allowing for proactive, timely behaviour interventions.

• Engagement Boost: Weekly, visualised data updates in assembly boosted student engagement with the rewards system, driving positive change across the school.