How Cathedral’s IT Team Helped The School Modernise Its Music & Co-Curricular Programs With Clipboard

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“We've got a nice sort of harmony or unison within our data, which just means that it's accurate and everyone knows where to go to find the information that they're looking for, because it's a single point of truth.”‍

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At The Cathedral School of St Anne and St James, tradition runs deep. For more than a century, the school has built its reputation on discipline, balance, and a thriving co-curricular culture. But as its music program expanded, even the most organised spreadsheets couldn’t keep up.

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“It was a lot of work in trying to manage these spreadsheets and 20 something tutors with the 170 kids,” recalls Ben Dallimore, Director of Information and Communications Technology.

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For Ben, the issue went beyond music and was more about visibility. The school’s systems didn’t talk to each other, and every department was managing data in its own way. That lack of integration meant extra work for staff, more room for error, and limited oversight for IT.

What started as a small operational challenge quickly became a test case for something bigger: how technology could bring Cathedral’s co-curricular programs into a single, connected system.

By piloting Clipboard, Ben and his team found a modern way to run lessons, manage staff, and surface data — and in the process, helped shape the very platform they use today.

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How legacy systems couldn’t keep up with modern programs at Cathedral
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Before Clipboard, Cathedral’s music program ran on spreadsheets (and determination). Attendance was logged on paper rolls, often passed between tutors at the end of the week. Accuracy depended on memory, and reconciling missed lessons meant hours of manual follow-up.

When a past employee reached out to Ben Dallimore for help, she was exhausted. Ben recalls. Her days were spent chasing tutors for rolls, updating spreadsheets, and hoping no one’s lesson was missed.

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“Rolls were coming in weekly — scribbles on paper from tutors that someone had to transfer into spreadsheets,” says Ben. “There was so much ambiguity and unknowns in trying to manage it all.”

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That frustration wasn’t isolated to music. “My role from a classroom teaching job… was with the goal of maximising our use of technology and improving technology use across the school,” Ben explains. 

The biggest inefficiencies came from disconnected systems, where staff re-entered the same data in multiple places.

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“One of the things I tried to do in my role was make sure that we have a single point of entry for any data. I don’t like double-up; it creates errors and extra unnecessary work."

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For Ben, those inefficiencies also created risk as fragmented data meant more maintenance, more potential errors, and less visibility for IT. Each department solving problems in isolation made it harder to maintain consistency across systems. Simplifying processes wasn’t just about saving time; it was about improving accuracy and oversight.

So when Renee came forward looking for help, Ben saw more than a department-level problem but an opportunity to model what better could look like.

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“I sent an email saying, if you’ve got problems and processes, let me know and we’ll see what we can do. She grabbed that with both hands.”

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That conversation marked the start of Cathedral’s search for a new solution —one that could unify the school’s programs (music and co-curricular) under a connected system while meeting IT’s standards for data accuracy and reliability.

Piloting Clipboard in the music department
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When Ben began exploring options to ease the pressure on the music team, he approached it like any IT decision, with an eye on systems, scalability, and simplicity. 

He wasn’t just looking for another piece of software, but something that could simplify how staff worked and strengthen the school’s broader technology framework.

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“As a Schoolbox school, I found Clipboard quite quickly because it was a partner,” Ben says.

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That partnership mattered. For IT, the big test was always how well a new tool could integrate with existing systems, and not sit beside them. “The big win for us, and what drew us to Clipboard initially, was the integration with our current systems and LMS,” Ben explains. 

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“Because that just makes life easier when you're already talking, communicating with these other people that provide the foundation of our school. The plug-in and the connection, and then the value added to those systems, is the real win there.”

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Clipboard’s strengths in scheduling, attendance, and visibility aligned perfectly with what the music program was missing, and with Ben’s goal of reducing double-handling and creating a single source of truth. After early conversations, the idea to run a pilot took shape, starting small but aiming to prove what was possible.

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Within weeks, music tutors were marking rolls digitally instead of sending spreadsheets. Attendance updates became live and reliable. For IT, that meant fewer data silos and fewer manual touchpoints, with a single connected system feeding accurate information where it was needed.

When Emma Boughen stepped into the Music Administrator role, she immediately saw the value.

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“I can definitely see the improvements Clipboard would have made because a lot of our processes are still a little bit manual in some of our other functions,” Emma says. 

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“Just the thought of having to manage roll marking and student attendance without Clipboard would be incredibly overwhelming.”

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As Ben recalls, the platform already solved most of their problems, and the few gaps they found quickly became opportunities for collaboration.

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“It did eight of the ten jobs we needed — then the next release had a button that did the other two,” Ben says.

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The rollout that took weeks, not months

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Rolling out a new platform rarely happens without disruption, but Clipboard’s setup required minimal technical lift. Once the decision was made, implementation moved fast. Within weeks, the department had gone from spreadsheets to live interactive dashboards.

Student lists synced automatically, tutors were added in minutes, and the process of marking rolls was intuitive from the start.

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“I’ve found the system quite intuitive — it all makes sense,” says Emma, who helped onboard new tutors after the first term. “I’ve been able to train our other teachers to use it easily, and it just flows.”

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The visibility extended across Cathedral’s three campuses. Teachers could check whether a student was in class or at a lesson, and reports were available within minutes. What used to take hours of follow-up now happened automatically, giving the team back time and focus.

From an IT perspective, the low-maintenance nature of the system was a clear win. Ben noticed the shift almost immediately.

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“It just runs itself now,” he says. “We keep up to date with the new product releases, find some new functionality, and it keeps getting better.”

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What began as a departmental experiment had already proven its value, and word was starting to spread.

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The ripple effect (what happens when one program inspires many) 

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As the music department settled into its new rhythm, other teams began to take notice. The change wasn’t announced with a rollout plan or a training day, but it quietly spread, through word of mouth and visible impact.

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“Once music worked, the rest followed,” says Ben. “Coaches saw what visibility looked like and wanted it.”

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Sport was first to jump in. Cathedral’s netball coordinator began using Clipboard to manage more than 20 teams, each with their own training schedules and a mix of on-staff and external coaches. “She brings on board coaches who some work at the school, some don’t, some are past students,” Ben explains. “She’s able to load them all in, and then we have transparency across teams and training.”

Soon after, the mountain biking academy joined. With sessions held off-site, Clipboard’s mobile access proved invaluable. Coaches could take attendance, access medical information, and update records instantly — small details that made a big difference to safety and oversight.

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“The clash detection is an unsung hero and it’s just there in the background, working away,” Ben says.

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The feature automatically flagged scheduling conflicts across departments, preventing students from being double-booked or missing commitments. That quiet efficiency built trust. Staff didn’t have to wrestle with systems; the systems simply worked.

For Ben, the organic adoption across departments was proof that good technology doesn’t need heavy change management, but just needs to work well enough that people want to use it.

What began as one department’s pilot had evolved into a school-wide framework. Adoption didn’t come from top-down directives, but from staff who saw a better way of working, and chose to follow it.

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When Catherdral became a co-designer with Clipboard

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Beyond the immediate gains, what stood out was the relationship that had formed between Cathedral and Clipboard. The collaboration didn’t end once the rollout was complete, but kept evolving. 

For Ben and his team, that ongoing partnership has been invaluable — regular updates, direct communication, and a product that continues to align with Cathedral’s systems without creating new maintenance work. 

Ben still joins product updates and webinars, looking for new ways the platform can serve the school’s growing programs.

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“It’s in my calendar today at 12,” Ben says, laughing. “I’ll probably have my lunch, sit back and watch to see what’s coming — then get on the phone and say, hey, check this out, they fixed it.”

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Cathedral’s staff know they can raise an idea and see it thoughtfully considered, often built into future releases. That kind of collaboration reflects something larger than feature updates, but a shared sense of progress between a heritage school and a modern platform, each helping the other get better.

That’s why both Ben Dallimore and Emma Boughen have no hesitation recommending Clipboard to others.

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“I’d definitely encourage schools to seek out solutions if they find their day-to-day processes could be done more easily,” says Emma. “Clipboard has allowed us to expand our program because we’re not bogged down in admin anymore.”

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“We’ve rolled out a few different systems,” adds Ben. “Clipboard was the earliest — and arguably the most successful — because it runs itself now.”

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If you’re part of a school looking for a simpler, more connected way to run your co-curricular programs, Cathedral’s experience shows that progress doesn’t have to mean disruption. You can start with one department, one pilot, and the right partner.
Book a demo with Clipboard to see how we can simplify, connect, and elevate every program you run.

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