PAGS: Two weeks of SEND admin, halved. And a whole trust finally working from the same page.

How Bourne Alliance Multi-Academy Trust in Kent used PAGS to cut SENCo workload, strengthen EHCP evidence, and build a consistent experience for every pupil with addi-tional needs — across three of its schools.

50% reduction in SEND review and planning time at Grove Park School

3 schools, one shared platform — adopted trust-wide from September 2024

1 child with complex needs supported through a full EHCP application and into special-ist provision

The problem: information everywhere, understanding nowhere

Before PAGS, SEND provision at Bourne Alliance looked like it does in many trusts: well-inten-tioned, effortful, and held together by individual SENCos who knew their pupils deeply but were working from systems that couldn’t keep up with them.

At Grove Park School, Mandy Harling managed 85 pupils on the SEN register. Every term, ILP review cycles meant two solid weeks out of her diary — meetings with teachers, then the docu-mentation that followed. Data lived in multiple places: one drive for reports, another for ILPs, with different access permissions for different staff members.

“I’d find myself putting data in three or four different places. It created confusion and things got missed.”

— Mandy Harling, SENCo, Grove Park School

At Iwade Primary, Lauren Gilmour was managing over 100 SEN pupils through individual SharePoint folders. There was no way to combine plans, track reviews across the cohort, or pull together consistent evidence when it was needed most.

The knowledge was there. The commitment was there. What was missing was a system that could hold it all in one place.

The decision: one platform, across the whole trust

Following a recommendation from a visiting SEN advisor, Bourne Alliance explored PAGS — a Pupil Intelligence Platform that helps schools identify which pupils are struggling, understand why, and plan what to do next.

After a trust-wide review, three mainstream schools adopted PAGS at the start of September

2024. From day one, SENCos could create and store strategies, generate learning plans, run developmental assessments, track interventions, and produce reports for reviews and EHCP applications. All from one system. Consistently, across every school.

“We looked at systems we already had to see if anything could offer something better, but we couldn’t quite find what we needed — and then we heard about PAGS.”

— Lauren Gilmour, SENCo, Iwade Primary School

The impact: less time on process, more time on pupils

The most immediate change was workload. At Grove Park, the two-week review cycle became one. Pupil review meetings that previously ran to 15–20 minutes at Iwade Primary now take around half that time. Teachers have become more actively involved in the review process, be-cause the system makes it easy for them to contribute.

“Once it was set up, that two weeks out of my diary became one week.”

— Mandy Harling, SENCo, Grove Park School

But the more significant shift has been in what the time saved makes possible. SENCos are spending less of their week managing paperwork and more of it working directly with staff, fami-lies, and pupils.

For one pupil with an existing EHC plan, PAGS evidence was used during annual reviews to support a transition to a specialist setting. More recently, Mandy has successfully used PAGS data to secure a new EHC application — a clearer reflection of the platform’s impact as the trust’s use has matured.

“At that time, as we were still in the earlier stages of implementing PAGS, we had not yet completed the full process. More recently, I have successfully used PAGS data to secure an EHC application, which may better reflect the impact.”

— Mandy Harling, SENCo, Grove Park School

Consistency across the trust: what it actually means for pupils

Perhaps the most important outcome isn’t measurable in hours saved. It’s the consistency that Bourne Alliance has built across all three schools — a shared approach to SEND provision that means pupils receive joined-up support regardless of which school they attend, and that their information travels with them when they move within the trust.

Looking ahead, the trust is working toward embedding SEN targets directly into everyday class-room teaching — making inclusion part of every lesson rather than a separate layer of provision. The parent portal is next: giving families real-time access to information rather than waiting for printed reports.

For Mandy, the platform’s value comes down to something straightforward:

“Knowledge is power. PAGS creates a platform where you can gather quite a lot of knowledge, and the tools within the system help you use that knowledge to plan, pre-pare, and create.”

— Mandy Harling, SENCo, Grove Park School