BridgeU has helped Aloha College to create a university guidance programme built on high quality data
Kyra Kellawan, Head of Universities & Careers Guidance, Aloha College
“Teachers appreciated that there was one login and it took them away from email and other distractions. When you’re overwhelmed with lots of new information, it takes the burden off you.”
Aloha College is an independent school based in Málaga, Spain, offering a British education that is also grounded in Spanish culture. At Key Stage 5/Sixth Form level, Aloha College teaches both the IB and A-level curricula. The vast majority of Aloha students apply to universities in the UK.
Kyra Kellawan arrived at Aloha College in August 2018 with some prior knowledge about BridgeU, having seen a demonstration of the platform in her previous role. She commenced her new position as Head of Careers when Aloha College was already signed up to BridgeU. However, upon her arrival, Kyra found that the first year group of students who had accounts weren’t making full use of the platform, with tasks and assignments still outstanding.
Kyra has found BridgeU to be an intuitive platform for students applying to the UK, with features such as the Strategy Adviser helping students plan and prepare their UCAS Personal Statement. She quickly integrated BridgeU into her university and careers guidance programme.
“BridgeU has led to students applying to more realistic target and insurance universities.”
Kyra Kellawan, Head of Careers & University Guidance, Aloha College
Students were required to log in to the platform during their one-to-one meetings with Kyra and were set deadlines for compiling their final university shortlists within the platform. She explains how BridgeU’s ability to calculate chance of acceptance has helped students to be more realistic in their university shortlisting – “BridgeU has helped students to apply to more realistic target and insurance universities”.
Kyra also used BridgeU as part of the foundation of a policy document between the school and students, laying out expectations and deadlines to students during the university application process. Students are given ultimate responsibility for the completion of certain tasks within the platform, and are therefore encouraged to take ownership of their own applications.
Kyra was able to rely on the support of the BridgeU Customer Success team as she embedded BridgeU in the Aloha College guidance programme. She notes that the whole team have been ‘approachable and efficient’ whenever she’s needed help with the platform – for example, adding a cut off deadline for student’s university applications, so that they couldn’t shortlist any more universities after a certain date and time.
BridgeU has also helped teachers and tutors at Aloha College by removing some of the administrative burdens that come with managing the university application process. For example, when writing relevant reports for the school UCAS reference, Kyra explains how teachers at Aloha College appreciated being able to access any relevant information on their students’ university applications with one simple login, allowing them to manage their university reference writing in one place. This, in turn, enabled Kyra to easily collate teachers’ references into the final school reference that was sent to universities, and have them proofed by her Head of Secondary all in one place, with no need for emailing drafts back and forth
“It’s great to be able to look at the data and measure the effectiveness of your counseling. You want to be able to shout about your successes and ensure the school understands what the investment in a system like this, and a post like mine, means for our students.”
Kyra Kellawan, Head of Universities & Careers Guidance, Aloha College
Using BridgeU has meant that teachers at Aloha College are less reliant on manual processes and cluttered email inboxes. “Teachers appreciated that there was one login and it took them away from email and other distractions,” notes Kyra. “They could do all their references in one bundle. When you’re overwhelmed with lots of information each day, it takes a burden off you.”
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Kyra arrived at Aloha College knowing that she wanted to use BridgeU to create a university guidance programme that was driven by data. She is excited about BridgeU’s ability to collate and showcase data on students’ outcomes and track trends over time and explains how data can be “the ace up your sleeve” when showcasing Aloha College to parents.
As the academic year draws to a close, Kyra is looking forward to using BridgeU Analytics data in the end-of-year report she will deliver to the school board. The platform allows her to access and share data on trends such as the most popular university destinations, or the total number of offers students received from their application lists. “It’s great to be able to look at the data and measure the effectiveness of your counselling,” Kyra explains. “You want to be able to shout about your successes and ensure the school understands what the investment in a system like this, and a post like mine, means for our students.”
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