Visit IRIS at BETT 2024 for the latest EdTech innovations  

3 minutes length
Posted: 24th January 2024

After being crowned Company of the Year* at the 2023 event, IRIS Software Group (IRIS) is again attending BETT 2024 this week to give school and MAT leaders the opportunity to see the latest EdTech innovations and learn how best of breed applications can be integrated to make public sector resources go further. 

To open the show, the Confederation of School and Trust’s (CST) Data Leaders Professional Community meeting will be streamed live from the IRIS stand today at 10am. In this session, members will learn how a group of MATs have collaborated on shared infrastructure practices in order to achieve greater results. In addition, two practical examples will be showcased through the lens of attendance and safeguarding risk and learnings shared on how AI is augmenting human decision making – not replacing it.   

Featured speakers include:  

  • Matt Woodruff – Open Education AI,  
  • Lauren Thorpe – Chief Transformation Officer at United Learning,  
  • Derek Hills – Director of IT, Systems, and Data at Ark Schools. 

IRIS will also be hosting a panel session about workforce management; a relatively overlooked area despite the workforce being the biggest spend in any school. We’ll be exploring how connecting data from payroll, budgeting, finance and MIS systems can streamline processes and unlock insights to help schools attract, develop and retain a highly skilled workforce. This will take place in the Tech in Action theatre on Friday 26th at 10.30am. Panellists include: 

  • Russell Dalton – ex Director of Operations at The Rivers CofE Multi-Academy Trust,  
  • Karen Radford – Bursar of Cranbrook School, 
  • Simon Freeman – MD of IRIS Education. 

On top of showcasing IRIS’ suite of integrated software tools** on stand SA50, IRIS is unveiling a number of new products and features: 

  • General Availability of Every Payroll by IRIS – launched on 16th January 2024, Every Payroll is a cloud payroll solution designed to streamline the intricate payroll procedures in education, such as pay scales, salary structures and pension filings. It has been built specifically for educational establishments to accommodate their unique needs.  
  • IRIS Financials new e-Purchasing feature preview – currently in pilot testing for Amazon Business, this new feature helps trusts streamline their purchasing from online catalogues, prefilling order lines and reconciling purchases directly into the system.  
  • IRIS Ed:gen MIS with Welsh language translations – with 30 years’ experience in EdTech and a presence in 90 countries, we understand that each nation is different, so IRIS Ed:gen now takes users between the English and Welsh language, and we are working to ensure the system is fully compliant with Welsh statutory returns. 
  • IRIS Ed:gen MIS Homework module – schools can now create, assign, track and manage deadlines for homework tasks for their student body through this new module. This prevents the need for schools to procure and manage a standalone homework app, saving considerable cost, and making it simpler for pupils to have everything in a single student portal. 

Bett UK starts today at the ExCel Centre, London and is a global meeting place for the EdTech community. 30,000 educators and changemakers attend this annual three-day event to share cutting-edge EdTech insights and collaborate on product discovery.  

IRIS Education’s constant innovation and commitment to providing the best-of-breed products to over 13,000 schools and Trusts, helps connect people with data, enabling educators to make informed decisions and improve pupil outcomes. 

Find out more about how integrated systems are helping UK schools in this customer story from Cranbrook School. Case Study: The Complete Package For Cranbrook School (iris.co.uk). For more information about IRIS at BETT, visit: BETT 2024 | IRIS 

*Company of the Year £12m+ category. 

** IRIS Software Groups integrated suite of software tools include: 

  • IRIS Financials Schools Edition 
  • IRIS Central (for reporting and analytics) 
  • IRIS Ed:gen cloud MIS 
  • Every HR, Payroll and Compliance by IRIS 
  • IRIS ParentMail and IRIS Reach 
  • IRIS Biostore