[sims] SIMS - editing student leaving date

[Claire132]

Hi, sorry if this is a silly question

 

I am new to using SIMS. I was asked to off role a pupil from when the o codes started, however there were several c codes before the o codes and I off rolled the pupil from when the c codes started instead. Is there anyway I can change the students leaving date and input the c codes back on the reg cert. I'm too worried to tell my manager my mistake. Any help would be greatly appreciated. TIA

[ABR82]

In some respects it is a silly question, but only because you need to be able to let your manager know when you stuff up, especially if it's because you're not sure how to do things. Any manager who overreacted to something as simple as this is a poor one indeed. All staff need the ability to make mistakes, own up to them, and fix them, otherwise people end up making mistakes they can't fix and burying them under the carpet, which usually comes back to bite the school later on. I am fortunate that I don't make too many, but when I have dropped a big one, I've just told those who need to know, and then we work out how to fix it. It was a bit nerve racking years ago when I realised there was an error on a good proportion of the reports we'd sent home, which I had printed (I had proofed a dozen picked at random, which was our standard procedure, but just through bad luck hadn't caught any of the dodgy ones). I went to see the Head, having only been in the role a a year and explained what'd happened/apologised. She was excellent, just said "OK, so how do we fix it (full reprint and post) and do we need to luck at how we prevent this happening again?". I appreciate not all management are like that, in many cases as they fear or worry about their own position, but if you aren't like that, then the culture in the organisation will lead to far worse problems in time.

 

However, it is very easy to fix.

 

go onto student details for the individual in question and change the leaving date. Save it. If you look at their attendance you'll see there are now days with missing marks (assuming the current leaving date is after the one previously set). You will now need to fix those missing marks in focus>lesson monitor>edit marks and sort them out.

[Claire132]

In some respects it is a silly question, but only because you need to be able to let your manager know when you stuff up, especially if it's because you're not sure how to do things. Any manager who overreacted to something as simple as this is a poor one indeed. All staff need the ability to make mistakes, own up to them, and fix them, otherwise people end up making mistakes they can't fix and burying them under the carpet, which usually comes back to bite the school later on. I am fortunate that I don't make too many, but when I have dropped a big one, I've just told those who need to know, and then we work out how to fix it. It was a bit nerve racking years ago when I realised there was an error on a good proportion of the reports we'd sent home, which I had printed (I had proofed a dozen picked at random, which was our standard procedure, but just through bad luck hadn't caught any of the dodgy ones). I went to see the Head, having only been in the role a a year and explained what'd happened/apologised. She was excellent, just said "OK, so how do we fix it (full reprint and post) and do we need to luck at how we prevent this happening again?". I appreciate not all management are like that, in many cases as they fear or worry about their own position, but if you aren't like that, then the culture in the organisation will lead to far worse problems in time.

 

However, it is very easy to fix.

 

go onto student details for the individual in question and change the leaving date. Save it. If you look at their attendance you'll see there are now days with missing marks (assuming the current leaving date is after the one previously set). You will now need to fix those missing marks in focus>lesson monitor>edit marks and sort them out.

 

Thank you so much for your help and advice. You are right in that I should have just spoken to my manager, however I felt a little uncomfortable as she doesn’t seem very approachable and I’m new. Definitely will in the future, like you say people are going to make mistakes. Thank you again for replying

[ABR82]

fortunately (!) SIMS is pretty poor on audit trails, so in general if you make a mistake then fix it, nobody can ever find out!

[jmak]

fortunately (!) SIMS is pretty poor on audit trails, so in general if you make a mistake then fix it, nobody can ever find out!

I was going to mention this - but to say that even if the OP fixed the problem, it might be worth documenting who made the change and why. I have a feeling that "off-roling" will become something that's closely looked at and while SIMS' lack of auditing wouldn't show who made the change, it would show that the change was made. It might be helpful for the school to have an explanation of what went on.

 

Owning up to a mistake is always nerve-wracking, but a good manager should definitely support an employee who is honest and learns from mistakes - especially if you go to them with a reason and a solution. Some managers do punish mistakes; then it's time to look for a new job (and be very careful in the mean time!).