Spring Census

[newp]

Hi, I'm new to all this and spent a long time getting the information kept in SIMS accurate. Alongside everything else, what needs to focussed on to ensure that I am ready for the Spring census?

[andy_b]

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/complete-the-school-census/data-items-2023-to-2024

[CAM]

I assume you mean the one in January and not the one on now?

 

Spring Census uses Free School Meals data for funding purposes. Ensure you have your Free School Meal eligibility dates recorded and that anyone who has had FSM in the last six years has that eligibility recorded.

 

Pupil numbers also get recorded for funding so check they are right. Make sure UPN numbers are correct and chase any old UPNs from old schools if it is a temporary UPN (ends in a letter) or is generated by your school (the first 7 numbers will match your DFE and Establishment code). Also this census is used to determine your Performance Tables cohort, so absolutely double, triple, quadruple check the Year 11-13 numbers are correct so you don't get a nasty surprise in Tables Checking later in the year! Anyone with an enrolment date that covers the census day will be recorded as on-roll, so make sure anyone you want is on roll by that date and anyone you don't want is off roll.

 

Otherwise it's a fairly easy census compared to October's Post-16 return. Just keep your data up-to-date as your new admissions come in and you should be good.

[Julian]

School Census is a statutory obligation which gets the school funding, no census, no funds, no pay, useful argument for those who are too busy to help you!

 

Make sure that the Learning support department data is fully up to date, no children with needs, no funding for that department!

 

Start the census early, it will take time, you can run the census with partial data to find errors.

 

Do not panic when you get several thousand errors, it usually means one simple error for every child in the school, and is often fixable by a simple bulk edit.