Serco's Facility Attendance Data

[ComputingData]

Hi All,

 

We have a school using 'Serco's Facility' and they are trying to output data from the system as a CSV file for import into (the new) ReportAssist (my program! ).

 

The problem is that they are saying the program outputs the data as sessions for the total possible in the year and days for other data such as present and absent. It outputs percentages for all the other figures such as unauthorised.

 

They say there is no way to output the data all as one type, either all sessions, all days, etc..

 

Is this right? Or is the option to do this buried in the program settings or something?

[SkywOrca]

The simplest way of getting data out of Advanced Learning's Facility system (Serco no longer have any involvement with the product) is by creating a report and using the export option on the generated data. You can even set up the report to have csv as the default export method. You should be able to get data out from a report in almost any format you need (subject to some limitations of the reporting engine built into the product). You haven't specified what sort of format you're expecting to get the data in, but you should be able to create reports that display the data by day or session, counts or percentages, groups/years/individuals - in fact almost any format you might need.

[ComputingData]

Thanks for the info - that's what I thought should happen. Looks like the school can't get support from Serco and haven't bought the latest version so can't get support from 'Advanced Learning' either - so they are relying on us to add what they have been able to export. I'll get back to them and get them to type things in by hand.

[NotSoFast]

They must have a contract with Advanced in order to be using Facility, I think...

[ComputingData]

I'll send them an email today and let them know that to output the correct data should be possible with Facilty, they should contact the support there in order to get the correct data. (it really shouldn't be our problem to fix it).

[michael2k6]

It may be that the main contract (which includes support) has now expired and the school are running on a RTU (right to use) contract, in which case, they will have the version of the software which was 'latest' when their main contract ended, and will not have a support contract. If the school do not have the knowledge to export the data in the format required, then it may be consultancy can be purchased. The database will still be there on site in SQL and the software is completely usable, but you'd have to have the knowledge in order to use it. If this is the case then no support contract exists which would be why they don't have support.

 

I think we ought to just stop speculating; ComputingData, if you have agreed to supply them with a software and included data transfer and not specified prior to that the data format you need, it probably is your problem. If they have agreed to supply it in a particular format then surely it is their problem.

[ComputingData]

We say you can import pupil data from most MIS, but we don't exactly specify what pupil data. We will have to tighten that up I think just in case.