Are you using SIMS Lesson Monitor ?

[amacken]

We are currently using SIMS and Bromcom, but looking to the SIMS only route which will hopefully save a few headaches.

 

A good question from one staff member....what do we do when a fire alarm goes off ?

 

At the moment this is easy, we just take the bromcom handsets out with us, but with Lesson Monitor this isn't so (and I have no intention going down the PDA route and buying another module for what is essentially the same thing.

 

Anyway, any ideas for you users ? Do you simply take out a paper copy of your lists ?

 

Thanks

[alan-d]

We have them printed at the start of the day after 1st registration. Any students leaving the school after that have to sign out and any late arrivals have to sign in.

[amacken]

Thanks Alan, this seems to be the general consensus

[PhilNeal]

I'm very interested in this myself because I'm not convinced that there is a better answer than a paper print. With the folders option - don't you need to connected to the server which will be in the burning building? In pouring rain or bright sunlight electronic screens aren't great.

 

At Capita when we have a fire practice we all leave and assemble in much the same way as a school - we don't however a today's register we have a permanent list and we know who wasn't there.

[MkII]

I'll have to ask my school - we register every lesson, but reporting doesn't let us know who isn't there - well it's supposed to but the reports can take so long that the system hangs first.

 

This was one of our first requirements of Lesson Monitor, to be able to report quickly those pupils missing from lessons. We have logged calls for this but so far there is no satisfactory answer.

 

Seems a bit daft - but we're unable to use most data collected on the day (IIRC).

[PhilNeal]

Mark, I'm wondering if you are using LM? LM has a local database to allow off-line working - the central database is not updated until a re-sync. The menu route Take Register records directly to the SIMS SQL database so info is available.

 

Reports should not be running slowly - if you have a case reference number I will get someone to follow this up.

[alan-d]

We did think about using a PDA - syncronised as the alarm went off, but that assumes the servers are up and running and is also fiddly when using it in daylight. It was the general concensus that the paper trail was quicker and easier to administer.

 

The admin staff just pick up the lists and signing in/out book then distribute the lists to form heads outside. Works very well and is just as accurate as the electronic version.

[ICTsupport]

we use a reg.bok for all form teachers then when we get back in open sims and fill in

[kxv2020]

Teachers use Lesson Register. Finance and Information Staff print out a report every morning after the first 10 minutes of a lesson so if there is an emergency evacuation those are used and handed out to tutors.

 

We did use Bromcom before, and found it the fire drill module was very useful and this feature is one which I must admit SIMS is lacking to a certain extent. Basically Phil, with your PDA/Folder, you register your fire drill group [ususally this the tutor's, tutor group OR it can be a support tutor]. Every time Bromcom is syncd with the server when taking NORMAL class registers , the fire group register is also syncd so you have a rolling up-to-date register and fire drill register ready to use without a server which is burning in the building!!!

 

@ICTSupport by the way what is Reg.Bok :?:

[t_guest]

a reg.book is a Lesson Register book what we use to take register when the drill sounds ......

[kxv2020]

a reg.book is a Lesson Register book what we use to take register when the drill sounds ......

 

Sorry to sound stupid but is it literally a "manual" book or a piece of software?

[ICTWizard]

a reg.book is a book what teachers or staff fill in when the Fire Alarm

has been sounded then when they return they fill in on sims.net....

 

 

 

ict.support you should Explain more as some members didnt know what you was writing about..... 8O

[MkII]

Case ref PM'd Phil... thanks for taking an interest!

 

Yes we use LM - that's what we were instructed to do by yourselves. We were told, and i've gone through the process slowly and painfully with one of the support team who proved it couldn't be done, that it is not possible to pull up attendance reports as Kiran (above) says he does!?!

 

We're hugely inconvenienced by this so if you or Kiran could enlighten me I'd be very happy!!

 

Mark, I'm wondering if you are using LM? LM has a local database to allow off-line working - the central database is not updated until a re-sync. The menu route Take Register records directly to the SIMS SQL database so info is available.

 

Reports should not be running slowly - if you have a case reference number I will get someone to follow this up.

[kxv2020]

Case ref PM'd Phil... thanks for taking an interest!

 

Yes we use LM - that's what we were instructed to do by yourselves. We were told, and i've gone through the process slowly and painfully with one of the support team who proved it couldn't be done, that it is not possible to pull up attendance reports as Kiran (above) says he does!?!

 

We're hugely inconvenienced by this so if you or Kiran could enlighten me I'd be very happy!!

 

Mark, I'm wondering if you are using LM? LM has a local database to allow off-line working - the central database is not updated until a re-sync. The menu route Take Register records directly to the SIMS SQL database so info is available.

 

Reports should not be running slowly - if you have a case reference number I will get someone to follow this up.

 

What report are you actually trying to print and from where?... we use Today's Register in the Attendance Module for the fire register every morning [although there has been a sorting problem recently - but sorted now].

[Gatt]

We have them printed at the start of the day after 1st registration. Any students leaving the school after that have to sign out and any late arrivals have to sign in.

 

This is what we do as well, but I'm looking into the possibility & feasability of having a series of WAP's near the assembly area that can be used for Form tuturs & SLT to do fire registers via Lesson Monitor via either PDAs with LM loaded onto them or a set of Tablet PC's that are used exclusevily for such checks

 

The big problem with my school is WAPs arent always accessibly and that Portable PCs (a la Tablets) are very easily "re-assigned" for other needs.

 

If the Tablet PC method works then I'll probably have them marked as being for fire evac use only and that they are kept with our fire officer or Site Managers

[amacken]

As a side line, and something that has just occurred to me.....isn't there a danger of relying too much on digital solutions ?

 

What I'm trying to say is that if there is a fire/flood/whatever, it's possible that the digital solution would be rendered useless. Should it be a part of the risk management policy that there is always a backup plan, especially when we are talking potential danger to life ?

[Gatt]

IIRC, then by law there needs to be a sign-in fire book where all employees must sign in and out of the building

 

Not sure how this works with schools though...

[MkII]

@Kiren - Ah I see - that gives you a global first lesson AM and PM. perfect for fire register yes. We really want to report on absconding students.

___

 

Thanks Phil - had a call today obviously prompted by yourself - extremely useful.

 

I was told about the extra functionality expected of Alerts - although we agreed this isn't quite designed for the purpose we wanted.

 

I was told notification of absentees was in the design specification for the new version of Lesson Monitor.

 

I was recommended a method to report on missing students - Attendance > lesson Absence reports ...these are a bit lengthy, and can take a long time to run, with a minimum of 300+ results, even in 2nd lesson, due to all the extraneous information.

 

The May update will see the data moved to SQL and available for reporting from the main interface, with a few pre made templates. I'm passing the information on to our Attendance Team to see if this satisfies them (boy they're hard to please!! )

 

Mark, I'm wondering if you are using LM? LM has a local database to allow off-line working - the central database is not updated until a re-sync. The menu route Take Register records directly to the SIMS SQL database so info is available.

 

Reports should not be running slowly - if you have a case reference number I will get someone to follow this up.

[smc]

We are currently using SIMS and Bromcom, but looking to the SIMS only route which will hopefully save a few headaches.

 

A good question from one staff member....what do we do when a fire alarm goes off ?

 

At the moment this is easy, we just take the bromcom handsets out with us, but with Lesson Monitor this isn't so (and I have no intention going down the PDA route and buying another module for what is essentially the same thing.

 

Anyway, any ideas for you users ? Do you simply take out a paper copy of your lists ?

 

Thanks

WEe ditched bromcom 2 years ago for lesson monitor. No regrets. Bromcom had become too expensive. Everyone loves lesson monitor.What do you do when the fire alarm goes off....run !!!!

[penfold_99]

One feature that would be great for lesson monitor is a Single Click Fire Register, this would automatically print the latest attendance information of a tutor group with an extra column for teacher to check against.

 

This will quickly allow staff to check who was missing without the need to compare to a absence report.

 

This was a very good feature of CMIS.

[bossman]

When fire alarm goes off all staff and students assemble at the appropriately marked areas in the school yard well away from the buildings, all form teachers are given a printed list from the attendance officer (she has a very fast HP4250 printer 60 pages a minute) and then they register the children via these lists to find out who is missing.

All this can be done in minutes and is regularly tested.

When we have the webparts for Sims the teachers will be able to log in to the sims via HSDPA mobile broadband and take registers the normal way using lesson monitor much cheaper than Bromcom and PDA route. :)

[Quackers]

When fire alarm goes off all staff and students assemble at the appropriately marked areas in the school yard well away from the buildings, all form teachers are given a printed list from the attendance officer (she has a very fast HP4250 printer 60 pages a minute) and then they register the children via these lists to find out who is missing.

All this can be done in minutes and is regularly tested.

When we have the webparts for Sims the teachers will be able to log in to the sims via HSDPA mobile broadband and take registers the normal way using lesson monitor much cheaper than Bromcom and PDA route. :)

 

How is the printer going to work? The fire has burnt through the network cables.....

 

The best solution i think, is to have PDA's in docking stations that just sync every X minutes with the most upto date registration info. Fire alarm goes off, they are just grabbed whilst leaving.

[Sylv3r]

The best solution i think, is to have PDA's in docking stations that just sync every X minutes with the most upto date registration info. Fire alarm goes off, they are just grabbed whilst leaving.

 

I know this is an important subject and a Health and Safety issue, but the cost of "x" number of PDA's sitting waiting for a fire drill sounds excessive to me. Unless you plan to use these PDA's thoughout the day for lessons.

 

I think there is a licence cost if you are to use Lesson Monitor with the PDA's also.

[PhilNeal]

I would check with the fire service. They will almost certainly ignore any records that the school has and search every room.

[Tiger]

I know this is an important subject and a Health and Safety issue, but the cost of "x" number of PDA's sitting waiting for a fire drill sounds excessive to me. Unless you plan to use these PDA's thoughout the day for lessons.

 

Teachers are mobile workers hence mobile device (PDA) makes real sense. There are now sensible cost devices on the market. Hence all you need is to use sensible thin client software to achieve the goal. Lesson Monitor is 'thikckest' there is - no good at all for this. Have a look at Bromcom's WinFolder which is the thinest of all avialable client software (not browser) for PDAs, Laptops. PE- teachers can run it over GPRS on smart phones. Also you will find a variant which now also runs on Linux and iMacs!