Case study: XCL World Academy’s journey to whole school wellbeing with Komodo Wellbeing
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From annual snapshots to real-time insights: XCL World Academy’s Journey with Komodo Wellbeing.
For this case study, the Komodo team spoke with Claire Rimmer, Dean of Student Life at XCL World Academy.
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Introduction
XCL World Academy in Singapore is a premier international school committed to delivering a transformative, future-focused education that equips students to thrive in a rapidly evolving global landscape. Catering to students aged 2 to 18, their "future-proof" education is designed to prepare students for success in an ever-changing world. XCL provides a comprehensive International Baccalaureate (IB) continuum encompassing the Primary Years Programme (PYP), Middle Years Programme (MYP), and Diploma Programme (DP). The curriculum extends beyond traditional academics to include the arts, music, drama, design, innovative technologies, and sports, ensuring a well-rounded education. Their campus is in Yishun, just 20 minutes from Singapore's city centre, XCL World Academy offers a nurturing, inclusive environment where students from diverse backgrounds unite to "Aspire, Act, and Grow" as tomorrow's changemakers.
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The challenge
Before implementing Komodo, XCL World Academy faced limitations with their existing wellbeing monitoring approach:
- Their previous tool only provided annual snapshots of student wellbeing, lacking the real-time data needed to identify emerging issues.
- The static nature of their wellbeing assessments failed to capture changes in students' internal and external environments as they occurred.
- Data interpretation was difficult, with no clear visibility into wellbeing trends, inclines, or declines.
- School staff lacked a responsive system to track wellbeing consistently throughout the academic year.
As Dean of Student Life, Claire Rimmer explains: "What we liked about Komodo was the continual data collection, not just once or twice a year, but regularly throughout." This continuous monitoring capability was exactly what XCL needed to transform their wellbeing approach from periodic check-ins to ongoing support.
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The process
XCL World Academy implemented Komodo with a strategic, measured approach that ensured successful adoption:
- Pilot implementation: The school started small, focusing on select groups across primary and secondary levels while running their previous monitoring platform in parallel. This allowed for direct comparison and validation of Komodo's effectiveness.
- Staff onboarding: XCL utilised personal development sessions to introduce Komodo to all staff, ensuring everyone understood the platform's purpose and benefits. They also shared Komodo's explainer video to provide visual context.
- Structured survey system: The school established a consistent routine; surveys are assigned on Mondays, with all answers due by Wednesday, creating predictability and boosting completion rates.
- Comprehensive monitoring: XCL embraced Komodo's holistic approach to wellbeing tracking. "We really like how it covers a variety of topics. We can track emotional wellbeing, academic pressures, support levels and even sleep," notes Claire.
- Full-scale adoption: After witnessing the improved insights from their pilot program, XCL fully integrated Komodo into their wellbeing strategy, recognising its value as a centralised, ongoing method to monitor student wellbeing.
A couple of things we've noticed is when students flag up something and then we respond and we have a conversation with them or we follow up with support, they are noticing that it does make a difference. So therefore, they're more willing to flag things up if there are concerns or word of mouth, tell other students this works and people do respond.”
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Impact & result
Enhanced student self-awareness
The regular wellbeing check-ins have fostered greater self-reflection among students. “I think this is a big takeaway that we took even from the first year when we were piloting [Komodo] is that students are more aware of their own wellbeing and mental health, because we're asking them regularly to let us know how they're feeling and thinking.” explains Claire.
Evidence-based interventions
The platform's real-time data has enabled targeted, effective interventions. For example, when Grade 10 students showed poor sleep habits, the school ran a sleep-focused PSHE training session. Post-intervention data in Komodo reflected measurable improvements, validating the approach.
Increased accessibility & engagement
The XCL team has seen the benefit of recent platform updates designed to make Komodo more inclusive. “The fact that it's changed so students can access it in their mother tongue, their own languages has been even better still. We've had even more students using it and feeling that they can actually reach out and share different bits of information.” said Claire.
Enhanced teacher & student connections
The newly added compliments feature has strengthened student and teacher connection: “The students have discovered that they can send stars to teachers to say, thank you, you're supporting me or thanks for being caring. The teachers have loved receiving those. So even though [Komodo is] a way for students to say, I'm struggling or I might need help, they're also acknowledging people who are helping them, which is nice as well.”
Comprehensive student support
Komodo has expanded the school's monitoring capabilities beyond the classroom: ”We do week without walls every year where students travel to lots of different international destinations, and when it comes to this and other fun activities, we see a rise in the data from Komodo. Equally, when it's exam time and more stressful, we can see a dip in some grade levels in the data. It's tracking as we would expect it.” This continuous visibility ensures that no student falls through the cracks but also allows the school to see when students are benefitting from activities within the curriculum.
Integrated into the school culture
The platform has become central to XCL's approach, with data insight discussions integrated into student and parent meetings. “When we meet as head of grades, in pastoral teams, and we meet with parents or if there's a behavioural concern, we always open up Komodo and say, right, let’s have a look and see what the student has shared. Because sometimes they might be presenting as everything's fine, but what we're seeing in the online data is they're not, so then there's a disconnect that we are able to address." Teachers use the platform to validate their observations and identify issues they might have missed.
Proactive identification of at-risk students
“Komodo is where students themselves can flag things up, and even if they're not aware of flagging it up, just the way they answer questions, Komodo then says, hey, there's a concern here. Some of the students who present as being absolutely fine are tracking differently on Komodo. So that gives us an insight and a different picture as to students wellbeing.” “A couple of things we've noticed is when students flag up something and then we respond and we have a conversation with them or we follow up with support, they are noticing that it does make a difference. So therefore, they're more willing to flag things up if there are concerns or word of mouth, tell other students this works and people do respond.”
Strategic planning and resource allocation
Beyond day-to-day interventions, Komodo has influenced higher-level decision-making: “The more we use it… the more we're seeing how we can use it in lots of different aspects of school life.” says Claire. "The data seen in Komodo has had a direct impact on the rollout of key wellbeing initiatives and conversations, such as our PSHE programme, parent/guardian engagement workshops and interactions with families."
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The data seen in Komodo has had a direct impact on the rollout of key wellbeing initiatives and conversations, such as our PSHE programme, parent/guardian engagement workshops and interactions with families."
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Conclusion
XCL World Academy's journey with Komodo illustrates the transformative impact of shifting from periodic wellbeing assessment to continuous monitoring and intervention. By implementing a solution that provides real-time insights, the school has created a more responsive, personalised approach to student wellbeing that enhances both academic and personal development. The success of this implementation stems from XCL's thoughtful, phased approach to adoption and their focus on integrating the platform into existing school processes.
By starting with a small pilot and gradually expanding, they ensured staff buy-in and demonstrated the platform's value through comparative results. Most importantly, Komodo has helped XCL World Academy fulfil its mission of preparing students for an ever-changing world by ensuring their emotional and mental wellbeing needs are met with the same attention given to academic achievement.
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