Census - Is it a NM responsibility?

[Heggy]

Our Data Manager has just left, she isn't being replaced. Her responsibilities have been divided up amongst the rest of the admin team.

 

I've ended up with a few tasks, which i'm not over-the-moon about, but can understand (Creating reports, assessment, user mgmt rights, troubleshooting). One i'm pretty annoyed with: the Census. I can't understand why it's not our Bursar, with support of Admin dept.

 

How many NM's have to do the census?

If it isn't your Data/MIS Manager, who does the Census return in your place?

I hate it when people pass of their jobs/responsibilities onto other people, so i don't want to do that if i'm being unreasonable. Should i fight this one?

[bodminman]

Data Manager / Senior Admin me thinks!

 

Edit: Forgot to add that this is another example of something that you'll only see happening to school support staff. "The person who is employed and specialises in X and Y is leaving, what are we going to do with their workload?" "The NM appears just to sit at his/her desk all day so they'll have time to do X and prob part of Y too!"

Edited January 13, 2011 by bodminman

[mdrabble]

+1 for Data Manager / Senior Admin..... our Head's PA does census as she is the Senior Admin person

[Heggy]

Don't have one now that she's left, there is currently no Senior Admin which is why it's fallen to me. Our Bursar/Finance Manager is line manager to all of Admin, so i see it falling under his remit.

[bodminman]

Failing the Senior admin role then definately the Bursar should be doing this!

[Hecate]

senior admin person - I do some SIMS support and did the census once when the head's PA left and no-one else had a clue. I made it clear I thought it was an Admin task and passed it back as soon as I could

[LosOjos]

It's most definitely an admin task, it has absolutely nothing to do with the network, nothing to do with IT (short of the fact it's done a computer, which some people seem to think immediately makes it an IT Tech task!) and ultimately results in an auditing and funding task.

 

(BTW, I'm a data manager, and I hate the census!)

[Sivadam]

I do it here.

I am 'Curriculum and Administration Services Manager' (whatever that means). I have a thorough working knowledge of all aspects of the SIMS Software and so the Census is a relatively simple job.

If you do not have a SIMS Manager then you are heading for massive problems with SIMS. It is far too comprehensive to try and manage efficiently without such a person! This can lead to the Census being a totally overwhelming task!

[Vegas]

We've recently been discussing this at length (myself, Office Manager & Business Manager), we as support staff are continually given additional tasks/roles to complete within our 37 hours a week but a teacher when given a new role (yearleader, head of paperclips etc.) is given extra salary and loses some teaching time to complete these tasks....doesn't make any sense, whats the difference. The business manager has been quite pro-active and has told the rest of LT that they cannot asign any additional tasks to any member of support staff, they must take on more staff instead.......of course i'll believe it when I see it.

[Sivadam]

....... and I have just seen a pink elephant fly past my office window ..............

[Vegas]

....... and I have just seen a pink elephant fly past my office window ..............

 

As it passes my window..........

[elsiegee40]

Our Data Manager has just left, she isn't being replaced. Her responsibilities have been divided up amongst the rest of the admin team.

 

I've ended up with a few tasks, which i'm not over-the-moon about, but can understand (Creating reports, assessment, user mgmt rights, troubleshooting). One i'm pretty annoyed with: the Census. I can't understand why it's not our Bursar, with support of Admin dept.

 

How many NM's have to do the census?

If it isn't your Data/MIS Manager, who does the Census return in your place?

I hate it when people pass of their jobs/responsibilities onto other people, so i don't want to do that if i'm being unreasonable. Should i fight this one?

 

What size school are you at?

 

The answer is very different for your average small to medium primary than in a large secondary.

 

At secondary schools you have defined roles and departments and a lab technician, for example, would never dream of deputising answering the phones.

 

In a small school like mine, you have to do more than is obvious in your role... The bursar was serving at lunch today, I deputised on lollipop duty last week (I am trained), the registrar is standing in for the school secretary who has flu...

 

We have to be flexible otherwise the school falls apart - we have so few staff. Our English Co-ordinator tells the tale of the day she came for interview: The front door was opened by a floury, apron-clad Headmistress who welcomed her and apologised... the cook was ill and she was helping prepare school lunches.

 

So, in a secondary, I wouldn't expect Data to become part of your role... in a smaller school anything's possible.

 

I am sole IT tech/NM, Librarian and although I've ditched the Marketing to someone who actually knows what they're doing, I'm still involved in that too on a regular basis... all on 20 hours a week.

[Sivadam]

Good Point! I had assumed Secondary!

[Heggy]

@sivadam: You were correct, we are a secondary with around 600-650 on roll.

 

@elsiegee Fully accept your point, working in education, you have to be flexible. But this one is knowing where is reasonable to draw the line, i've never turned work away because my dept is too busy, i don't agree with the principle of it. But we have a dedicated attendance officer, a bursar, exams/cover, head's pa, administrator, finance etc etc etc.

[Sivadam]

Then it sounds like Administrator is the person to do it!

How can the NM be asked to understand whether the pupil data is accurate and up-to-date!

It simply is not their task!

[Heggy]

that's kind of where my mind is going to. I've assumed it's because our only remaining administrator isn't on a high scale, and may struggle with the 'technical' side of doing it.

I haven't done one before, so not quite sure what i've been let in for. I've just run a dummy to get the error's; things like student's primary language, travel means etc.

Might end up having to fight my corner on this.

[elsiegee40]

I think you will... helping a member of staff comprehend the technical side of the job is one thing. Doing the stats is another.

[soveryapt]

At my school, it's the bursar who does the cenus, but the technical side of that (machines for pupils, machines for staff, etc) she asks me to do as I have all those figures, but I simply e-mail her the figures she needs and she does the rest.

 

You can't be expected to know the various pupil details and all that, that is something the the SLT or 'office' admin staff would know.

[neilenormal]

You also might like to point out to the leadership team that the pupil census is done three times a year and the workforce census once per year so it is not a mere trifle in time and effort. Oh and if the LT are happy that the NM sees all their salaries, when completing the workforce census......., this concentrates their minds to the fact that the Business Manager or Bursar might be a far more natural choice for these tasks!! The NM can always offer help to the Bursar. I used to be the NM who pressed all the buttons for the census but would badger SENCO and other "data inputters" before the event to keep the data up to date in a secondary school. In my experience of multiple schhols now, there are a lot of very good admin people in Schools who look after the census, who may turn to NM if they need (rare) help.

[Cache]

At my old spot it was the Network Manager who did it, here it's the SIMS Manager although ours has been off sick since September.

 

The Autumn Census I helped the SIMS Admin do it with regards to running through the guide and resolving the errors, the Workforce Census the SIMS Admin and Bursar did and this next Census the SIMS Admin is going to do it and I'll help out if needed.

 

This did mean however in the Autumn Census (and made quite clear to people) that any other jobs were put on hold unless it was essential from my point of view and people just had to like it or lump it but also that we are now at the stage where the SIMS Admin is going to do it from now on. If they insist that you do it then I would make it clear the points raised in this thread and that you'd work along side someone so that in the future they would be in a position to do it, but also that you aren't in the position to correct the issues that arrise due to errors in the data and play the game of printing the error list off and passing it on to someone else to resolve.

[CAM]

Ahhh the census. I have had run-ins with this as the school SIMS tech support. It's FUN!

 

(In the sarcastic sense).

 

SWC was carried out by the Bursar with assistance from the Admin Officer for Personnel. This is turn required digging around inside paper archives looking for Teacher Numbers and prising details of staff from the former School Secretary who handled their input into SIMS. That was a good day, we cleaned up a lot of errors within Personnel along with the duplicate staff, missing details, etc. Took a while but had help from the LA and their guides. Felt like programming when you compile code, thats wrong, fix, no thats wrong too, now thats wrong, where the hell is that error? Back again and again...

 

Then we have the pupil census. I daren't touch this, our admin employee handles it OK and tends to go directly to the LA if anything happens. It still sucks up a lot of her time though.

 

Lastly, when I talk to the guys at the LA, they mention it eats up plenty of time too.

 

Also beware of the upcoming changes to funding for this coming census period. Free School Meals will be used to determine a scheme called Pupil Premium and those details MUST be correct or the school will lose a lot of potential money. More kids on FSM the better as many families are too embarrassed to admit they need FSM and thus don't get recorded.

 

It'd make sense for someone of a technical capacity to support the Census and it's worth reading up on as it involves CTF files, exports, secure transfer of said files and other stuff. But if you do get lumbered with the whole lot, seek some training.

[bossman]

@heggy:

 

Our head of admin returns the census and runs other reports. Our DHT is the data manager who also does the timetable and stats.

[Sivadam]

At my school, it's the bursar who does the cenus, but the technical side of that (machines for pupils, machines for staff, etc) she asks me to do as I have all those figures, but I simply e-mail her the figures she needs and she does the rest.

 

You can't be expected to know the various pupil details and all that, that is something the the SLT or 'office' admin staff would know.

You will be pleased to know that the numbers of Computers & Interactive Whiteboards is not present on this year's Census. Therefore no technical help is required at all!

[soveryapt]

You will be pleased to know that the numbers of Computers & Interactive Whiteboards is not present on this year's Census. Therefore no technical help is required at all!

 

And that's why I like Friday's .. they always come with good news! lol ..

[jdoyle]

 

Our Data Manager has just left, she isn't being replaced. Her responsibilities have been divided up amongst the rest of the admin team.

 

I've ended up with a few tasks, which i'm not over-the-moon about, but can understand (Creating reports, assessment, user mgmt rights, troubleshooting). One i'm pretty annoyed with: the Census. I can't understand why it's not our Bursar, with support of Admin dept.

 

 

just stepping away from the Admin vs Techie side of this, how do grades compare? Are you being given the work of a higher grade, same grade, or lower grade job?