[sims] Alternative Curriculum questions & reports

[crispybits]

Hi all

 

We run two alternative provisions at our school. We have SSC (student support centre) - this is where our kids go when they have extra needs such as dyslexia, ADHD, etc; and ACE (alternative centre for education) which is where the kids who have behavioural issues not caused by a diagnosable condition go to prevent disruption to classes when they start acting out.

 

I've set up Alternative Curriculum in SIMS for the SSC kids no problem. That side of things is actually quite simple as they are being removed from regular lesson blocks in the main curriculum and attending the alternative curriculum session effectively as a regular part of their normal timetable.

 

I'm thinking of setting up similar for ACE but I have some questions, I'm just wondering if anyone else has done similar and can provide some insight:

 

1) If a kid hasnt been removed from their normal timetabled lessons via Focus - School - Curriculum Assignment (by Scheme or Student) and they are allocated to a session of alternative curriculum, can the clash be left in place with the AC over-riding the normal lesson, or will we need to resolve the clash every time we add a session (ACE sessions can last anywhere from a single period to a full week depending on the situation and context)? If an ACE session is due to last more than a single period I don't want that kid to appear on normal class registers - only on the AC register for those extra periods.

 

2) Is there a way of reporting on the AC sessions such that I could get the date(s) and period(s) a student has been assigned to the AC, even if that assignment only lasts a single period on a single day? Even better if the report could also still include the regular timetabled lesson they would have been in had it not been for the AC assignment.

 

I wish there was a way of having a sandbox mode on SIMS where I could just mess with the data and try things out knowing that when I close SIMS none of the changes get saved because I'd be more than willing just to experiment with stuff like this but I don't just want to start adding sessions in case there's no easy way to remove them again.

 

Before anyone suggests it, we have looked at using interventions, detentions and behaviour events for tracking this but they've all come up short for various reasons. I will happily look at suggestions involving these again as left-field alternatives to using AC but don't be offended if I shoot them down because we've already trodden that road a bit in various staff meetings about this...

 

Thanks in advance for any hints, tips and shared experiences.

Edited September 11, 2020 by crispybits