FFS Another Patch!!!!!!

[Mr_T]

How many times do we need to see this!


Dear KS3 ICT test school,



The 2007 summative test window is now underway and we would like to remind schools of some checks that should be made between test sessions to ensure that your tests run as smoothly as possible.



Upon checking the current status of test sessions run so far we have noticed that there are a number of schools who may not have allowed their pupils’ first test session to run for its full 50 minutes, allowing it to close correctly. Once the first session of the test has been run the status of each pupil’s test session at the flightdeck should show as ‘Completed’.



If a pupil’s first test session has not been allowed to run for its full 50 minutes to closure then the consequence of this may be one of the following:



Either pupils will be presented with their first test session again at their next logon as the first test session has not run for its full 50 minutes to closure.


Or at their logon to commence session two, the pupil will be advised that they cannot take part in the session as their first session remains incomplete.


Therefore, we advise all schools to regularly review and check that the status of a pupil’s test session at the flightdeck is correct, particularly prior to commencing any second sessions of the test.



On accessing the flightdeck, any pupil not showing a status of Completed or Finished will need to be recovered, and their session allowed to finish successfully.



A full explanation of all statuses within the flightdeck can be found on page 24 of the Test Administration Guide.

Full details on how to recover test sessions can be found in the Test Administration Guide, chapter 8.



In the unlikely event that you are unable to recover the test session, please contact the Support team on 0870 870 1025 (Option 2) with the Pupil ID and flightdeck Status of the affected pupil and any error message displayed during the recovery process.


Affected pupils will not be able to continue with the summative test until their first session has been successfully recovered, and allowed to complete successfully.



As indicated in previous communications we would also like to remind you that it is essential to ensure that all pupils have finished both 2 x 50 minute test sessions, and that each session has been allowed to run for its full 50 minutes. Pupil responses will not be returned to the CPS unless both sessions have a status of ‘Completed’. If the pupil responses are not returned to the CPS the pupil will not receive a result.



After completing both test sessions, you can check that the pupil responses have been returned to the CPS by viewing the Pupil Test Status, as detailed in Page 65 of the Pupil and Test Management Guide.

[localzuk]

The question I have is: did RM actually do *any* testing of this software before rolling it out to schools? These problems seem to be pretty major and should have been ironed out during testing stages!

[enjay]

Follow that message with last night's one releasing a new version of the APS and suddenly I become incredibly glad that our first session isn't until tomorrow morning.

The thing which concerns me with the updated APS is how they can be confident that they have fixed a bug which by their own admittance is intermittent and unpredictable...

RM have just posted on their own Forum about the rigorous testing which their Office packs undergo - shame they couldn't apply similar principles to these tests.

I know this is my first post of the day and therefore typically even more angry or cynical than I normally am, but words like "disgrace", "shambles" and "p*** up in brewery" are flooding in to my head.....

[Chafftech]

We are in the process of finishing up the tests today. I found out that last night we are going to lose the results of 17 pupils through no fault of our own.

Everyone please be aware that session1 can fataly not save its data properly not allow the pupil to start session2 and it cannot be solved.

I cannot believe this is happening as last year I managed to get every pupil a result. And to think they were going to roll this out next year as the replacement to SATS - what would have happened if no result came back for say 10% of pupils?

I am very angry with this software and will drop it no matter what, it is not technically feasible to put so much effort in and get so little back.

[Domino]

They're just saying you need to let all pupils run the full 50 mins before they're allowed onto session 2...which is understandable.

This is the 2nd year we've run it, and the only pupils who've not recieved a grade are the ones Who've been disruptive and I've removed.

Personally, I've not had a single big problem with the software, its run fine, and if we've had an issue, we've run through the instructions in the documentation and been able to resolve it.

[russdev]

first email is about making sure you run test out that is reminder that test needs to finish it is designed that way for good reasons.

As for bug people talking about fix is being released in next day i think and to be fair don;t think it has effected lot of schools.

Trust me the test has been trailed as we trailed it and remember after all what your talking part in is the trail hence why it is called ks3 ict sats trail.

Russ

[Chafftech]

first email is about making sure you run test out that is reminder that test needs to finish it is designed that way for good reasons.

As for bug people talking about fix is being released in next day i think and to be fair don;t think it has effected lot of schools.

Trust me the test has been trailed as we trailed it and remember after all what your talking part in is the trail hence why it is called ks3 ict sats trail.

Russ

I respect your opinions a lot, but please be aware this is effectively to me a new bug that has not been experienced before - that is not good enough for a software in its fourth official pilot. I have alway been supportive of the concept of this software (this is my third pilot) but it is so over complicated and has so many problems this software really is not worth it.

[enjay]

first email is about making sure you run test out that is reminder that test needs to finish it is designed that way for good reasons.

As for bug people talking about fix is being released in next day i think and to be fair don;t think it has effected lot of schools.

Trust me the test has been trailed as we trailed it and remember after all what your talking part in is the trail hence why it is called ks3 ict sats trail.

Russ

The fix has been released - we got an email about it last night and installed it this morning.

I accept that this is a trial and that some bugs are to be expected, but surely TWO different scenarios which cause students to be unable to complete a session should have been identified in testing? I'm not asking for a flawless product, but errors of that magnitude making it through suggest a hole in the testing process somewhere.

[Domino]

Well, does it matter?

Isn't it being scrapped...I've heard on the grape vine they're thinking of a web-based app

[enjay]

Well, does it matter?

Isn't it being scrapped...I've heard on the grape vine they're thinking of a web-based app

It matters if you're trying to sit the tests at the moment, yes!

Also, I don't know how many of the problems a web-based app will address. Will it still be a HUGE drain of technician and teacher time? Will it still be a totally alien interface which requires specific teaching in order to achieve? Will it still crash randomly? Will it be so flawed that some students are unable to complete the tests?

[webman]

Will it still be a totally alien interface which requires specific teaching in order to achieve?

This shouldn't be a problem if students are taught general, transferrable methods of working - not just one application.

[enjay]

Will it still be a totally alien interface which requires specific teaching in order to achieve?

This shouldn't be a problem if students are taught general, transferrable methods of working - not just one application.

To which I would, largely, agree although even with transferable skills, it takes a little while to transfer them, i.e. familiarise yourself with the new interface. This is obviously what the familiarisation sessions are for and is why we do them, but that comes at the cost of spending more time teaching other (more advanced) transferable skills.

[Domino]

Hmmm, we've found a couple of sessions of familiarisation is all the kids need to get to grips with it.

Some of them have even shown me things i didn't expect to see in there (did you know Alt-Tab works in this too?)

I think as a whole we don't credit the kids with the right level of adaptability that the actually have, they use such a large array of messengers, social apps and the like, that most of them are fairly good at swapping apps - its just getting them to apply that same mentality to a school scenario

[bossman]

Hi Russ,
just come in on this post and yes you are right in what you say it is a trail alright, the bl**dy lonesome trail is what i feel it is (no disrespect meant to you russ but i just had to capitulate on this). bin a hectic morning and needed a bit of a laugh but honestly not at your expense (hope you see the humour intended).

[Mr_T]

I didn't pick that one up till you mentioned it. I would be no good as a proof reader.