Editorial

More time to teach WingTsun students

When we started our EWTO Leadership programme, it quickly became obvious that optimised software would be essential for professional work as a school owner. So we went in search of a suitable programme in the convoluted software market.

But back to the very beginnings: a few years ago, the EWTO began its regular Leadership training programme for school owners and instructors. This was because more and more EWTO school owners wanted to turn their WingTsun into a profession. The Leadership programme was conceived to ensure that they could not only show a top standard with respect to their WingTsun capabilities, but could also manage their EWTO school just as effectively.

Thanks to the additional seminars, which are free for school owners and their instructors, they were given professional tools with which to administer their schools with the same efficiency as their WingTsun. These tools included bookkeeping, training structure, tax affairs, time management, etc. etc. Furthermore, these joint seminars built up a comprehensive communication network between the school owners.

It soon  became apparent that the school owners wanted and needed software that would make the entire school administrative process simpler, clearer and more time-efficient. The idea immediately caught hold at managerial level in the EWTO.

We therefore made our painstaking way through the software jungle to find something for our school owners, but in the end we became convinced that no really suitable product was available in the market. So the logical conclusion for us was to develop and programme software that was tailored to the needs of our school owners.

That was not the end of the matter, however. To put the whole thing on solid foundations, we first had to start restructuring our EDP system in the membership administration at headquarters, to which could then link the software for the individual EWTO schools and school associations at the interfaces. This step was the foundation stone for the entire concept, so to speak. It not only made the workflow at head office more efficient, but also improved and simplified communication with our members.

We then started on the second stage, developing the programme for the school owners. This too has now been completed, and the first tested version of the software for the school owners can prove its work in day-to-day school administration. This "EWTO school-owner software" makes life much easier for our school owners when running their schools – very much to the advantage of the EWTO students. Because all the tedious paperwork is reduced to a minimum, there is more time to teach the EWTO students, which is undoubtedly a very decisive advantage …

Many of the basic tasks of school owners have already been incorporated into the starting version. This allows clearer planning of the teaching curriculum, even for several schools at once. Individual class sessions can be planned and stored both by the school owner and the instructors, so that they are quickly available next time or can be rapidly modified. An attendance record can also be produced to find out when what classes are attended by students. This allows the training time or number of instructors to be adjusted at short notice.

Administration and backup for existing members is considerably simplified, and the school owner has a clearer overview. Members are able to obtain information about their membership and payments more rapidly, taking into account and ensuring compliance with legal requirements such as e.g. the latest data protection provisions.

The entire procedure for taking care of potential and new students is incorporated into the software, making it unnecessary to go through step by step "on foot". Everything important can be seen at a glance, and time savings in other areas leave more time for intensive, personal attention to potential and new students to familiarise them more easily.

Naturally the bookkeeping aspect is of great importance to the school owners. They are also given a simplified profit & loss account so that they are always abreast of their finances.

The EWTO school-owner software also acts as a communication platform. On the one hand it improves cooperation between head office and our school owners, and on the other it allows communication with and between the members. Information about time and date changes, teaching programmes, seminars and other school events can be quickly and easily passed on here.

This is the current state of affairs, but the development work is not complete yet. The third stage has yet to follow, namely continuous adaptation to external and EWTO in-house requirements. Current examples are the new data protection requirements or the introduction of the new BlitzFight and Zhong Xin Dao departments.
As is perfectly normal in WingTsun, there will be constant adaptations for necessary changes and new tasks in the future. As it is multilingual, use of this software is incidentally not restricted to the German-speaking countries, and it can be used by all EWTO school owners throughout the organisation.

When it comes into "general use", i.e. when the vast majority of EWTO schools are using it, we will be able to make the standard version of this school-owner software available free of charge. Adapting the software to take more individual wishes into account will however make a contributory fee for the programming work unavoidable, but this is generally possible.

And finally, I am confident that in the final analysis, all EWTO members will benefit directly or indirectly from this school-owner software. It makes the tedious business of school administration easier and more pleasant for everyone, and allows more time to teach WingTsun students and for the instructors' own further development, which in turn improves the teaching quality!

I wish you a pleasant summertime.
Your Andreas Groß