Improvements to Focus Point website

We have introduced an exciting new interactive feature to our website in the form of the Journey Planner. This allows pupils to select a course or career they are interested in and track their progress as they move throughout the school. The Journey Planner is linked to their Focus Point profile so when they update their qualifications, Journey Planner lets them know if they are still on course to meet their post school ambitions. If they don't quite get the grades they were hoping for or don't manage to choose a key subject, Journey Planner will let them know their options, whether it is to take the subject the following year, go to college first before going to university, or simply to seek some advice from FOCUS West or from a teacher as to what their next steps may be. Journey Planner is accessed through a tab on the Focus Point home page using the pupil's normal Focus Point login.

Taking on feedback that the information for teachers was difficult to access on a busy schedule, we have made a more mobile accessible way of receiving information through our Teacher App. This can be accessed through a desktop computer but can also be easily used on a mobile device or tablet. It features information on UCAS and College Applications, Reference writing and dates for your diary as well as providing a useful tool for contacting FOCUS West with any questions you may have. Through Focus Point, you can also now add yourself to our Teacher Social Group through your Profile giving you the change to communicate across the FOCUS West network with other teachers as well as FOCUS West staff to ask questions and share good practice.

Based on feedback from some schools that Primary 7 to S1 can be one of the trickiest transition points when it comes to post school ambition, we have enabled access to Focus Point for Primary 6 and 7 pupils. This includes content similar to that of S1 pupils including a profiling too which can be used to fulfil requirements for the Primary 7 profile. It also has a Dream Wall for pupils to share their dreams across the FOCUS West network to inspire others with interesting job ideas and will also feature Classroom activities including topic and lesson planners as well as in school lessons and extension activities. We unfortunately do not receive funding for working with Primary 6 and 7 pupils and so, if you think your feeder primary schools would be interested in this it would involve a small cost. We are currently working out a suitable costing model but would be grateful to hear from interested primary schools via email to focuswest@strath.ac.uk to discuss this.

To recognise the diverse range of gender identities our young people may have, the Focus Point registration form now has options for Male, Female, Non-Binary, Other and Prefer Not To Say. Users are encouraged to select whichever gender they identify with regardless of their gender at birth. Those who are already registered can change this in their profile. Viewing lists in My Pupils

To make it easier for you to find the pupils on Focus Point that you are responsible for, there are now tabs to select the year group you wish to view. You should then click Load to view the pupil list. This should also reduce the processing time for such a task.