Arranging Cover (iSams)

[tben2505]

Hi guys,

 

I was wondering if there were any 3rd party apps which can be used to arrange cover (and which talks to iSams)?

 

I'm doing a review of potential MIS systems and currently looking at iSams whose cover module isn't adequate.

 

Cheers,

 

T

[TechMonkey]

Can I ask what the iSAMS module is lacking?

[tben2505]

What I've noticed with a limited play is (and this might be wrong so don't come at me!):

 

- You can only see 1 day at a time (in SIMS you can look at a list of up to 4 weeks and immediately see which days need attention, here you have to load up each page before knowing)

 

- When going through the free teachers to cover a lesson, you have to click on an icon which opens a pop-up, which you then have to resize, to see what their day looks like. You have to do this for all free staff before deciding if you want to allocate them to the lesson. In SIMS you can see this immediately in another panel on the screen.

 

- You don't appear to be able to split periods. I may wish to allocate a member of staff to the first half of a lesson, and another to the 2nd, or just allocate a staff member to the 2nd half as that's when the teacher is out. In addition we have duties which are assigned to a whole period but only last for half of it - you should be able to split that duty then assign it/see who is free (you can do this in SIMS)

 

- I don't seem to be able to add more than 1 teacher to a lesson (you can in SIMS)

 

- I don't seem to be able to add a teacher to a lesson of a teacher who isn't absent, eg someone is observing a lesson, helping teach a lesson, assigned to a lesson for another reason (you can in SIMS)

 

- I've looked at the suspension section and can't see anywhere how you can suspend a group of pupils by a specific time, it only seems to allow you to do it by a whole day (surely this can't be right) - eg Year 7 are on a trip in the afternoon and I don't need to cover those lessons, and I want to free up all of those teachers.

 

- I can't see anywhere how you can close a room (say for an exam) and then assign teachers to it to invigilate.

 

- You have to pay for the module, surely it should be part of the core of iSams - if not, are there other 3rd party alternatives?

 

Again, this is just from briefly playing with it so I might be wrong.

[TechMonkey]

I would suggest getting a training session, it will really help with some of those questions. I've not had to use Cover for a while but:

 

- My recollection is if you want a long term forecast, run a report. The edit page is exactly for that, to edit that day.

- The icons show what kind of day they have so you can pick the teachers with a freer timetable, the table shows lessons teaching, free tables and timetable load. Even cover per day, week, month and cycle

- Split cover rings a bell so check the documentation, I think it is possible.

- multiple teachers to a lesson I'm not sure about you would have to ask support/a trainer

- Why would you use cover for people that don't need cover?

- Timed suspensions is an issue, iSAMS were meant to be sorting that, no idea how far they got.

- Room closures is under Manage Room Closures, you don't use Cover for invigilation.

- I can't remember if Cover is part of the core or not, speak to your account manager.

 

I'd seriously get some training as you will just be stabbing in the dark, or get on the support site and Community. There are some threads on the community about moving from SIMS to iSAMS.

Moving from one system to another, things will be different you can't just expect to use the same workflow across platforms, especially as it does sound like SIMS allowed some bodges.

[tben2505]

Thanks for that. Though my counters would be:

 

I would resist having to run a report just to see if I have anything which needs attention next week, for example. Seems inefficient.

I know about the icons - but it's not about how free they are - you need to see context of their day when assigning a cover, not just if they're free or how free they are - I odn't want to allocate a lesson to a teacher then find they have no lunch break for example (there are many more)

As I said, there are instances where a teacher needs to be alerted, via cover and therefore email, that they are to be in a lesson at a certain time with a teacher who isn't necessarily absent - cover should be used for this as it is in SIMS.

Timed suspensions is obvioulsy key and necessary so it's a big blow if it's not available.

The point about room closures I made was indeed in the room closures section. If you close a room for an exam, you need to be able to assign teachers to that room.

Cover isn't part of the core - you can check the modules breakdown on the iSams website.

 

As I said I'm just exploring the module - we don't have iSams so training isn't applicable at this stage, which is why I was juse seeking some answers from those who already use it.

 

We moved MIS systems about 8 yers ago so I'm aware that not all systems are the same. I resist arguments from staff who expect the world from an MIS - the point is, it's impossible to find and MIS that is perfect, you simply need to find one that's best for you.

 

But there are elements in this particlar module that are lacking, which I feel are closer to being necessary than preferable.