[sims] Pupil Premium Indicator Missing From Marksheet Export Routine

[LosOjos]

I have to admit, this one caused the air to turn blue in my office this morning. After spending about an hour updating the Pupil Premium indicator field ready to add in to marksheets, I came to export my marksheets (our staff are still insisting on paper copies - I know, I know!) via the usual routine (Tools > Performance > Assessment > Utilities > Marksheets) only to realise that although you can add the Pupil Premium field to templates and makrsheets manually, it's not available as an option via this routine.

 

Please, vote my change request up, it seems like an oversight rather than intended functionality to me: 1309-1212434

[vikpaw]

Got my +2. Might be worth a name drop for such an oversight - to speed up the tracking - ahem, @PhilNeal

[LosOjos]

Got my +2. Might be worth a name drop for such an oversight - to speed up the tracking - ahem, @PhilNeal

 

Cheers @vikpaw - how could I forget to prod @PhilNeal!

[PhilNeal]

I'm not sure that I should encourage the use of paper

[LosOjos]

I'm not sure that I should encourage the use of paper

 

If you can convince my staff, please do, I've been trying for years!

[vikpaw]

I'm not sure that I should encourage the use of paper

It is also useful for adding data online to a marksheet, then being able to re-import

[LosOjos]

Just upgraded to 7.159 - still not fixed. Come one, this has to be an easy one, right?!

[PhilNeal]

I come back to my original point - why encourage the use of paper? As soon as anything goes onto paper it is out of date.

[matt40k]

So you'll be removing the marksheet export routine in 4 years then

[PhilNeal]

Will it be there in the next gen? Probably not!

[LosOjos]

I come back to my original point - why encourage the use of paper? As soon as anything goes onto paper it is out of date.

 

I'm sorry Phil, but that's a poor excuse. There are many more reasons than printing that we export marksheets. It's a feature that SIMS provides and we make use of, and this missing field is clearly just an oversight.

[ChrisH]

Our teachers still have planners and this is what I use the export for, there's no sign of that changing in the near future.

[localzuk]

I'm not sure that I should encourage the use of paper

 

If a teacher finds it efficient to operate in a certain manner, then I don't think you really have the right to say "do this differently". We, including Capita SIMS, are here to enable teachers to work efficiently, not to force changes upon them.

 

The thinking that "we know best", counter to the actual demands of users is one reason why people get so frustrated with computers in the first place!

[PhilNeal]

I'd say this is a driver for us to make things simpler.

 

Schools cannot run effectively or efficiently on paper. We will try harder.

[localzuk]

I'd say this is a driver for us to make things simpler.

 

Schools cannot run effectively or efficiently on paper. We will try harder.

 

The fact that schools have run effectively and efficiently on paper for centuries kinda renders your comment demonstrably false...

[PhilNeal]

If I believed that I wouldn't be so passionate about what I do!

[TheScarfedOne]

While we are on the subject of "missing" fields...can we do something about the new FSM...so you have the gov funded one and the applied for disadvantaged background one. Either I'm misunderstanding (quite possible bearing in mind where this is being explained to me from), or there isn't a way of distinguishing them without custom fields? I might have this completely wrong, so over to you @PhilNeal. I wish we could all go paperless, and there are plenty that do...but there will always be some that like the good old fashioned markbook. I remember seeing one thrown at a kid in my class at school once for looking out of the window all lesson!

[PhilNeal]

@TheScarfedOne We're working on what the "right" solution is. Technically there is no need to flag the universal free school meal as this is age related (Reception, Yr 1 & 2) but it might be necessary for processing dinner money.

 

If you're using SIMS Dinner Money then resource 23007 gives advice on how to handle the new requirement. There will be permanent changes made to DM to make this more straight forwards.

[TheScarfedOne]

@PhilNeal Ah, that makes sense, use multiple filters on a report to get the information rather than complicate the choices

[LosOjos]

It's now *almost* February 2015 and still no fix