[Progresso]: New pupils - Data import and CTF challenges

[Ditto]

I'm interested in understanding how other progresso users manage to get new pupils on the system. I'm thinking about starting to setup incoming pupils soonish for Sept 2018. The process for us has never been that smooth. We have two sources of data, namely CTF files generally for pupils joining the school from another, but also overlapping and additional data via a google form. I've used the google sheet data to import into progresso using the Data Import tool. I've also gone for a straight CTF import. Ultimately what I need to have to be accurate is a mix of both.

 

Generally, I would regard the google sheet as more up to date, so am inclined to let it override the CTF data - things like addresses, phone numbers, contacts etc. The trouble with this approach is I'm stalled until the CTF is sent and this often happens quite late. Also doesn't work for pupils coming from independent without a CTF. Additionally, we close a couple of weeks before other local schools, inevitable forcing me to work in the holiday period more than I should have to. For in-year pupils, the CTF almost never arrives in time for entry date so I'm forced to manage off google sheets or manually enter everything.

 

If I create the pupil record first via a direct data import, when I later import the CTF, the workflow doesn't allow me the level of control I need. For example with contacts, I don't want the CTF data to override the imported sheet data, but I do want other data. One really annoying feature is that the CTF import invariably over-writes the pupil email address after I've set it for the value we use within the school - why would I ever need to know the pupil's previous school's email address - they've left!

 

With in-year joiners, it's much the same and invariably I end up with duplicate contacts where I have to merge the data manually and then delete the unwanted duplicate.

 

So, with an open mind, I'm very interested to know how other progress users manage this phase of work, what issues you hit and how you handle those issues.

[bobsmith]

Could you not use a slightly more granular approach?

 

Import the bare basics to get a record up and running - google sheets

Import the CTFs, but untick those fields you don't want to rely on - commonly contacts and addresses are a mess anyway.

Re-import from google sheets with the full details that you want.

 

I've not used progresso other than in demos, but it's predecessor had options to untick bits of the CTF so I'm assuming it still does.

[djrscally]

I actually don't do this myself so not 100% sure, but doesn't the CTF process let you untick particular sections like contacts?

 

We pay for the LEA to sort admissions for us, which makes this really pretty easy because they give us an ATF containing all our joiners from their DB which is usually nicely up to date. I do have to go and ask for it every year though.

[Ditto]

The workflow allows inclusion of certain sets of data, and within the contact section, for example, it does (with some bugs) allow you to select 'Create new' or overwrite pre-existing data. However, it doesn't really allow you to pick and choose at a sufficiently granular level. Often the correct data set is partly from the CTF and partly from the parent completed form. On reflection, this perhaps us more with in-year entrants, where the CTF comes after the point the staff need parental emergency contact details on the system. @bobsmiths point of loading very basic details, then CTF and then import updates is the route I've taken for new entrants, but even with this is always seems to need too much manual clean-up. I would say the biggest area we hit this is with contacts. I have looked at unticking contacts at the CTF import and only using the data import for contacts. Chuck in a sibling to the picture and things get quickly more complex. We have had a fair few data imports that have no father's details for example, but they come through on the CTF and we may already have a record of the father's details from a sibling record. I guess at the end of the day is my job to sort it out - after all the role is data management! I just keep having this nagging doubt there is a more efficient way, but ultimately it would require a much more sophisticated data import and or CTF import process. It's a challenging scenario to put together so it works for all schools, and I would have to work hard to describe it as a feature request so I don't see this area of the system changing in the near future.