Learning
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Description
Established in 1954 by the Sisters of Mercy, Mercedes College is a co-educational Catholic school situated in the foothills of Adelaide, South Australia. Catering to over 1,200 students from more than 17 nationalities, Mercedes College offers the International Baccalaureate curricula from Reception to Year 12, as well as the South Australian Certificate of Education (SACE).
Curricula Supported
Grade Levels: K–12Implementation History
Rolling out ManageBac
Mercedes College implemented ManageBac to the whole school incrementally over three years, throughout which staff worked closely with the ManageBac team to tailor the system to their multi-curricular needs. Former MYP Coordinator Ashley Coats also held workshops and wrote guides to help teachers gain confidence in the system. ManageBac imported Australian Curriculum standards into the school’s account so teachers could apply them within their classes. ManageBac also helped configure the teacher gradebooks with customised criteria to enable SACE assessment. The school now manages its SACE classes alongside its IB courses. Throughout the platform’s implementation, Mercedes College staff were impressed with how ManageBac responded to feature requests and questions. They look forward to the deepening of ManageBac’s functionality for non-IB programmes to continue improving the virtual learning environment they provide to students. In 2014, ManageBac’s move to Rails 4 enhanced its ability to support non-IB components in curriculum management.
Reporting
Mercedes College started generating reports on ManageBac in 2013. The school uses a template that clearly details its reporting practices for SACE and IB subjects, as well as its Religious Education programme. In 2015, Mercedes College gave parents access to the system. Parents can now view the specialised reports directly online, eliminating the need to print out thousands of pages.
Non-IB Assessment Support
Mercedes College had some initial concerns about ManageBac’s ability to support non-IB assessment. However, the level of customer support received assured the school that its assessment needs could be met. ManageBac’s complimentary standards import service lets Mercedes College operate the Australian Curriculum side-by-side with the IB. The option to create made-to-measure rubrics and criterion means that high-school teachers can comfortably assess SACE students directly on ManageBac.
