Why ‘best in breed’ works best for schools
IN Partnership with
Schools shouldn’t have to choose between the best tools and one coherent system. Education tech leader Sentral discusses how schools can have both
More
WHEN ANTONY MAWER co-founded Sentral in 2006, he wasn’t just looking to build another school administration platform. He saw a system that wasn’t working for the people who needed it most – teachers – and set out to fix it.
Now, as Sentral’s new general manager, Mawer continues to drive the company forward with an expanded mission: making life easier for educators, administrators and school communities by giving them the best possible tools without the technical headaches. It’s an approach that made Sentral’s technology revolutionary at the time of its founding and continues to shape its future.
Sentral began with our founders stepping directly from the education sector. Having identified a need for affordable, quality technology services, Sentral is designed to meet the needs of schools in a simple-to-use platform.
A proven software solution that leads the way in comprehensive and uncomplicated technology, Sentral seamlessly manages school administration, student data and more. Our tailor-made solutions for schools help administration staff, teachers and school leaders save valuable time so they can focus on improving school and student outcomes.
Find out more
Mawer’s journey into education technology was driven by first-hand experience. As a technology specialist supporting schools, he saw just how frustrating the existing systems were. Instead of helping teachers, their complex nature only created more work.
Share
From IT expert to education innovator
Published 22 Apr 2025
Share
Subscribe
best in education
Events
Resources
technology
business
tv
News
K/12
Higher Education
Copyright © 2025 KM Business Information Australia Pty Ltd.
Companies
People
About us
Privacy
Terms of use
Terms & Conditions
Contact us
RSS
K/12
Higher Education
K/12
Higher Education
Subscribe
Best in Education
Events
Resources
technology
business
TV
News
Copyright © 2024 KM Business Information Australia Pty Ltd.
Companies
People
About us
Privacy
Terms of use
Terms & Conditions
Contact us
RSS
K/12
Higher Education
K/12
Higher Education
Subscribe
Best in Education
Events
Resources
technology
business
TV
News
Copyright © 2024 KM Business Information Australia Pty Ltd.
Companies
People
About us
Privacy
Terms of use
Terms & Conditions
Contact us
RSS
K/12
Higher Education
“The systems schools were using were fragmented, disconnected and not particularly easy to use if you’re not an IT expert”
Antony Mawer,
Sentral
“When schools use [Sentral’s] technology effectively, they have a much better understanding of what’s happening with their students. [It] makes it so much easier than if you’re relying on manual systems”
Antony Mawer,
Sentral
“Sentral was started because we saw an opportunity to solve a problem,” Mawer tells The Educator. “The systems schools were using were fragmented, disconnected and not particularly easy to navigate if you weren’t an IT expert.
“Teachers were often the last ones thought about when developing these products, which were mainly form-based systems designed for the back office,” he adds. “The concept of Sentral came about through trying to simplify the user experience at the same time as unifying all of these products into one ‘centralised’ place.”
For Sentral’s founders, two of whom were former teachers, the ultimate goal was to give teachers back more of their time to focus on the students. Whether teachers needed to look up a student’s basic information, take attendance or maintain behaviour records, Sentral’s aim was to have all this information in one place while still giving schools access to the best tools in the field.
Mawer points out that administrative work is not the reason teachers enter the profession, but over the years growing compliance burdens have led to it taking up increasingly large chunks of their time. Without the right systems in place to support those obligations, even something as simple as accessing vital student information can become a time-consuming process. This is where the ‘student profile’ came in – or as many called it, “the Principal screen”.
“If you were a principal being contacted by a parent wanting
an update on your child, it would mean a school staff member going around staffrooms, speaking to different staff who might have to look up information on multiple different systems,” Mawer says.
“You can spend hours on one student that way. The idea of a student profile was to bring that information together so that anyone in the school – be it a teacher or a principal – can get a good handle on what’s going on with a particular student at a moment’s notice.”
Why ‘best in breed’ works for schools
One of Sentral’s biggest differentiators is its ‘best in breed’ approach – something Mawer is deeply passionate about. Unlike the ‘one size fits all’ school administration systems of the past, Sentral was designed to work seamlessly with other best-in-class tools, rather than forcing schools into a single system.
The student profile was a key part of that vision, bringing together scattered information into one accessible place. But Sentral wanted to take that idea even further, ensuring schools could integrate their preferred tools without the burden of managing multiple disconnected systems.
For Sentral, a key aim was to allow schools and classrooms to use the tools that suited them best, without having to navigate the technical aspects of disparate systems alone.
“We know that no classroom we walk into will be using exactly the same thing as the classroom next door,” Mawer says. “Every classroom has its own unique needs, as does every school – and embracing those differences is core to our approach.
“Our philosophy was that we don’t want the schools to worry about the plumbing of bringing different products together,” Mawer explains. “We want them to be able to simply turn them on and have them work.”
While an integrated best-of-breed approach may have been pioneering when Sentral first introduced it for schools, it’s become the norm in most industries where SaaS-based cloud products routinely focus on what they do best and integrate with other products to allow seamless interoperability of best-of-breed platforms.
The future of school technology
As Sentral continues to evolve, big technological shifts are on the horizon. Few topics are generating more buzz than artificial intelligence, and Mawer sees both huge potential and significant risks in its adoption.
With AI offering new ways to automate tasks and improve efficiency, it’s becoming the next major transformation in school technology – one that brings as many risks as rewards.
“AI is incredibly topical in education right now, as it is everywhere,” he says. “It’s an exciting opportunity to help schools save time, and that’s ultimately what we’re all about.
However, it does open up significant privacy questions when dealing with sensitive student data if it isn’t implemented properly. For us, that’ll mean balancing the opportunity while building stringent guardrails to keep student data safe.”
Security has always been at the core of Sentral’s approach, and moving to a cloud-based system has only strengthened this. With a dedicated team actively monitoring for threats, schools don’t have to worry about managing security on their own – Sentral takes care of it, ensuring their data is both protected and accessible when they need it.
For Mawer, the impact of Sentral’s work isn’t just theoretical. As both a tech leader and parent, he’s seen first-hand how the right systems can make life easier for teachers, students and families.
“When schools use this technology effectively, they have a much better understanding of what’s happening with their students,” he says.
“In a high school where each student might see five or six different teachers a day, the ability for each of those teachers to stay up to speed with each child is a real challenge. Technology makes it so much easier than if you’re relying on manual systems – and crucially, it doesn’t introduce an extra workload, which is very relevant for school staff.”
After more than two decades at Sentral, Mawer has worn nearly every hat in the business. He’s been deep in the tech side as chief technology officer, and now, as general manager, he’s leading the company’s future. It’s a role that allows him to bring everything he’s learned over the years into one clear vision.
“I’ve had the opportunity to wear practically every hat at some stage during my time in the business,” he concludes. “Now, I’m able to bring that knowledge together and influence how we work together, because I have a perspective across the entire organisation – and that’s really exciting for me.”
Education management (attendance, wellbeing, reports, etc.)
School business management
End-user engagement (parent, teacher and student portals)
School management
(admin, communication, etc.)
How Sentral supports schools
2006
20+
Founded in
Comprehensive, uncomplicated technology
Years of experience working with schools
Sentral at a glance
“We know that no classroom we walk into will be using exactly the same thing as the classroom next door,” Mawer says. “Every classroom has its own unique needs, as does every school – and embracing those differences is core to our approach.
“Our philosophy was that we don’t want the schools to worry about the plumbing of bringing different products together,” Mawer explains. “We want them to be able to simply turn them on and have them work.”
While an integrated best-of-breed approach may have been pioneering when Sentral first introduced it for schools, it’s become the norm in most industries where SaaS-based cloud products routinely focus on what they do best and integrate with other products to allow seamless interoperability of best-of-breed platforms.