How one trust saved 400+ hours a year on website compliance

Hear how Rachael Field, Head of Digital Solutions and Media at The Constellation Trust in Hull is saving admin staff a week out of their year.

She talks to us about modernising, using AI to make life easier and cutting down those repetitive tasks that take up such a massive chunk of time.

The Constellation Trust and Robin

Can you tell me a bit about your trust and your role

We’re a trust of ten schools - two large secondary schools, seven primaries and an alternative provision (AP) - many of our schools are based in areas of deprivation in Hull, East Yorkshire.

I was a geography teacher at the trust for 10 years. It was only in the last 12–18 months that I became Head of Digital Solutions and Media where I’m really trying hard to modernise things.

In my new role I’m the link between our managed service provider and our ten schools. I do all the projects - if we need new Wi-Fi, laptops, or screens. This year, because we've now got the new kit, it's about trying to think: what can we buy now that makes life easier?

That's where Robin has come in.

What are your biggest challenges at the moment?

We've got the kit and the infrastructure - the next thing is trying to bring everyone with me on the journey. That means training 900 staff members and making sure that our systems talk to each other.

Previously, ad hoc products were just purchased. Now, we want systems that speak to each other and cut down those repetitive staff hours that take up such a massive chunk of our time.

What was happening with website compliance and policy checks before Robin, and what made you look for a different approach?

I managed the two large secondary school websites and found out first hand that it’s such a time-consuming and manual task. When it comes to website compliance, you’re under significant pressure from Ofsted and it’s a year-long job. It’s not a quick check - it’s massive!

We sat down and thought: how can we improve this? That’s when I was shown Robin, and I remember thinking, “Woah, yes please!” Rather than plowing through a checklist - have we got this, have we got that, and then badgering people - Robin can save us so much time.

Since you started using Robin in September, you’ve had three website reviews and compliance has improved. How are you using it across your trust?

We get a check once every half term. The person who leads secondary does that side, and the person who leads primary and AP does that. They can instantly see what’s the matter, they copy me in, we get the information and upload it.

It’s all very well knowing what’s missing, even with Robin - which has saved us hundreds and hundreds of hours - we still need to fix the websites.

But Robin has massively reduced the time it takes.

What were you hoping Robin would achieve, and what impact has it had across your trust?

The first thing was to see if the product did as it claimed it would and speed things up, which it has.

I’ve certainly seen a much quicker turnaround time and it’s fantastic. Robin just does the checks, so we can fix the issues, meaning it frees us up to do other things.

From a central point of view it allows our leads to feel like they’ve got a handle on website compliance. They can go to their teams, show them the report and say: "This is what’s the matter, we need to sort this out."

In reality, website checks use to happen in June, right at the end of the year - Robin is much quicker and more frequent.

With compliance now going up, there’s less to do, because we're on top of it more.

You mentioned saving hundreds of hours. Can we put a figure on it?

Our trust PA would be doing this all the time - probably on a weekly basis - checking the trust policies, the school policies and the dates. If you said it took an hour a week, over 40 weeks, that’s a week out of her life. And that’s just her doing the trust website. That’s 40 hours to a click.

You’re potentially looking at 120 hours just between the two of us checking three websites in a year. Factor in seven primaries and the AP, you’re easily into hundreds and hundreds [approx. 400] staff hours.

Robin really is such a game-changer.

How do you find the right digital tools?

That's a good question, because you do get bombarded. Robin was introduced to us from the company managing our primary websites, as he was already using it on other trust’s accounts.

For me it’s word of mouth.

You don’t have the time to look into everything, but being recommended something by someone you trust is key.

If a trust leader asked, “Should we use Robin?” What would you say?

I would say… 100%! It just takes away that persistent headache of compliance checking.

Now, it's scheduled in, it’s not forgotten, you run it and instantly have that information. It’s straight to the point and not this never ending cycle of checking websites.

Finally, what excites you most about the future of digital at your trust?

AI gives people dread and excitement at the same time, but products like Robin and Arbor, that have the ability to chew through large chunks of data and remove those repetitive tasks - for me those are the exciting things.

It’s about joining up systems to work for us and making our lives easier.

Find out more about The Constellation Trust and follow them on LinkedIn.

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Next steps

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