[sims] Length of text in coloumn header for an aspect

[Tricky_Dicky]

Hi,

I'm trying to create a whole new set of templates for next year but I'm getting stuck on the amount of text I can have in the Aspect. It's for the non core assessment and so we need quite descriptive text for the coloumn headings but Sims has a 40 character limit. Does anyone know how I can get round this limit or show extra description without having to click and show Aspect properties for each heading?

 

Thanks

[LosOjos]

Hi,

I'm trying to create a whole new set of templates for next year but I'm getting stuck on the amount of text I can have in the Aspect. It's for the non core assessment and so we need quite descriptive text for the coloumn headings but Sims has a 40 character limit. Does anyone know how I can get round this limit or show extra description without having to click and show Aspect properties for each heading?

 

Thanks

 

There's no way around the 40 character limit unfortunately and worse still, there's a 25 character limit on the "column heading" property (the text that is actually displayed on a marksheet).

 

The way we have worked with this is to agree on sets of acronyms and abbreviations where possible, e.g. "Working at Grade" becomes "WaG", "Estimated Grade Based on Current Performance" becomes "EGCuP".

 

There is also a section for comments when you are creating templates (just below the template name). Anything you enter there will be shown at the top of any related marksheet, so you can use that for more in depth explanation where necessary.

 

In my experience, consistency is the most important thing when naming and positioning aspects.

[Tricky_Dicky]

Thanks for the advice.

 

Annoying isn't it! It needs to be a long piece as it's non core assessment so it's very hard to abbreviate. I think the simplest is to make a crib sheet for the staff to look up from.

[Bananas]

Our grades get effectively reduced to CLOP (current level of performance) with the subject and date appended

 

En Aut CLOP

 

for example, bit of a pain but once you get your acronyms sorted out it's not too much of a nuisance

[Tricky_Dicky]

Yes, our main subjects are, but this is non core stuff. For example one of the Aspects for History in Y1 is : To talk about the past by discussing old fashioned toys and the latest types of toys.

I've abbreviated it down, but still looks messy and the staff are going to need a crib sheet to understand it all.

[vikpaw]

Thanks for the advice.

 

Annoying isn't it! It needs to be a long piece as it's non core assessment so it's very hard to abbreviate. I think the simplest is to make a crib sheet for the staff to look up from.

 

It sounds like you want more than a heading and a fuller description, in which case the aspect description box is the best place for it, assuming you have unique aspects and aren't trying to keep them generic and re-use them for different purposes / subjects. If you are doing that, then the template description box is probably your best option as @LosOjos said - there should be enough room there to store your crib sheet, so it is always with the marksheet.