Sivadam

True. If it were me though I would often be wanting the new functionality on Day 1 (even if I have to upgrade SIMS before SLG - which I have now done 4 times with no adverse effect!) For example - the Spring release is due by COB on 18th March. This exactly coincides with the deadline for inputting Ach and Beh incidents for our next Rewards Assemblies and subsequent Rewards Trips etc. Hence I need the new Conduct Area in SIMS Reporting and the new Aggregated Points Repdef that is being delivered via the Spring Release. The current reporting of Conduct points is broken! If schools are in a similar position to us, then they will have the issue we have if the Upgrade is delayed for any reason - major problems with our Rewards procedures.

You may well be pleasantly surprised! Some older and supposedly lower spec machines have proved reasonable. That is why it was hard to produce a minimum spec.

I understand why LAs hold back releases. I was not inferring anything in my statement above. I know that there are good reasons for doing this. I was just pointing out that a SIMS Direct School can make their own decisions as to when to upgrade. When we were an LA Supported school we often took the release via the LA to test it for others in the LA, as even then we were in the vanguard of SIMS Testing.

All releases are available on SOLUS as soon as the new releases are available - unlike the case with some LAs who hold them back for a while. Patches can be either via SOLUS or are mailed directly - depending on the Patch Type and what it is for. As for problems with SupportNet not responding to Cases - this is not the case here although some years ago there were issues when we also had 'part support' for extra modules. The problem with that scenario is identifying exactly where the actual faults lie! This is not always as easy to ascertain as one might think! Having support for different areas from different Support Units is yet another reason why we moved!

We moved from LA Support to Capita Direct support a number of years ago. I cannot praise the level of support we get direct from Capita high enough. The fact that I can record every detail of any issue I have directly into a support case means that they can very easily focus down on the actual issue! It may cost you to move though, as you may have to purchase the SIMS Licences that you require, as well as paying the Annual Support Maintenance costs. If the LA is obtaining the Licences at a discounted rate then they cannot just pass them across to the school. You need to get a quote from Capita on what costs this proposed move might incur.

April 12th is the current scheduled general release date. And I believe that the beta edition is a newer iteration than the last one we tested at UAT!

It ain't for playing with Matt! ...... It's for real! I think you will enjoy it! And the spec has been reduced!

I never publish the figures on here as it is easy to get a quote from Capita. All I will say is that for the past two years we have been paying Capita less than what we would have been charged by the LA. Next year we will be paying slightly more. The reason for this is that we were below 1,000 NOR for the past two years but we have now moved back to just over 1,000 NOR and so have moved into the higher bracket from April 1st.

Does it.............. ? ............ Well so it does ...... !!!!! @scholarpack Maybe it's a good job you ain't trying to follow me on both SupportNet and on here. That may make you dizzy as well. It does me! Roll on Friday .............!!!!!!!!

Less of the 'old' ...... I ain't quite 65 yet! And I am still a long, long way behind SupportNet. No Red Squares there either!

I thought I was laughing!

Exactly! You can help many, many people on here without your reputation changing one iota. Then make one comment that some other Users don't like and the green squares are stripped away if somebody 'reports' you! Not that I need 'reporting' because everything I say here is public! Personally, I do not sneak behind other users backs! Folk can't get their head around that one! I wonder what comments I'll get back now!

Gill is a superstar re. the 'extras' in Primary School SIMS software! Even though she says she isn't! I bet folk are glad she is now posting rather than being a 'lurker', as they describe 'voyeurs' here! See Gill! I knew you would join in eventually! I reckon you should get a few more 'Thanks' though! Just in case you join me if I have to 'mildly' criticise somebody!

And this particular issue is very, very prone to user error - it was my obvious first thought! I had one member of staff in the early days of using this who lost most of work in Profiles - she had been browsing other internet sites at the same time! Ironically she is the very same person who completed her AM7 Assessments on the bus on the way to school via her mobile phone, on the actual deadline day, the very first time we used SLG for AM7 entry!

I have used Dan Clarke's Report (well it's my own now but it originated with Dan - now there was a very knowledable SIMS user!) to export data out of the SIMS Diary, but not the reverse. The information has to be input somewhere so a suggestion could be to start with inputting it into the SIMS Diary and then export for other uses!

That is good news then, teejay. I hope they can sort it quickly for you.

Teejay, Is it ALL of the test group of users that are having problems? Or is it just some of them? I don't think it is a general issue as I have not had it reported and we have just had a live Profiles Reporting Session. It sounds to me like an internet connection. We had the same reports when Profiles first appeared on SLG and it was definitely user error, the most common one being browsing away from the Profiles Window without saving. There is one reported issue on SupportNet but it probably does not apply to you. See KB97539. It may also help if you refer to KB95790 - though that is related to AM7 data entry it may still prove helpful.

Yep, but once you start editing in word then you can no longer edit the data series. In any case it is not the axes that deliver the Grade it is the actual points plotted on the graph. We don't mind the axes showing the points!

The advice is to save often. Our Staff are advised to save as each section of a profiles Report is completed. And never, ever browse away from the page. We don't appear to have any issues that are not down to user error!

Thanks. I agree. Did you not notice that I did not attack the NP. I just backed up Matt becos' he was getting flak. Suspicious posts are nearly all ignored except by those brave enough to say something in public!

A round of applause for Matt! That is exactly one reason why I started posting on here! Often these first time posters do not respond back again. Those are even more suspicious! Some first time posts look extremely suspicious. There are fewer now than there used to be. Probably because a few of us have started react to these suspicious posts in the way we have done! But they are still appearing. Why would anyone in their first post - completely anonymously want to take such an approach? And if you check some of my responses to these intial posts you will see that I have responded by offering help on occasions! And some MIS Systems do handle Assessment Data very well but some schools do not appear to be fully conversant with this fact!

Take a demo copy of Discover with you Phil! There will be a vast market there for you!

Sivadam has been at Bedford today for the Discover FT Closure meeting! And I'll be laughing even louder than you if anybody thinks that they have a better system than that!

This does not really affect me as much as it will do for Independent and foreign-based schools, but it sounds like a very good idea and so it has my votes too. Home based schools may well find it of use anyway. The number of First Languages represented in this school has grown rapidly over the last couple of years and it could prove useful to start recording the Nationality of the Contacts in a more efficient manner.

I admit to being 'slightly' biased about SIMS! But anybody visiting us to see SIMS in action (we are a SIMS Partnership School) gets to see as much as they want to see - warts and all! If there are problems with the system they are not hidden by me for such visits! And you can be assured that any issues that I do make known to any visitor have already been lodged with Capita in one way or another! In the case of SIMS, the negatives are far, far, far, far outweighed by the positives. (not sure I included enough 'fars' there! ) I would have hoped that any other schools recommended for view by any MIS provider would be equally as honest!