Sivadam

I have now added my school to my Profile. I know that several contributors here already knew that anyway from my involvement on SupportNet and the use of the common avatar. So 'No!' You did not spot a Capita employee - just a very, very satisfied customer! And if you do not think that any MIS is brilliant then you obviously have not grasped the true capacity of SIMS.

And if you check out the SLG Roadmap on SupportNet then you will see that there are exciting things on the horizon! I, for one, have no regrets that we bought into SLG. Having attended the SIMS Partnership Schools Conference earlier this week I am extremely excited by how it is developing. It won't be long before the parents are really interacting with it rather than it just being a way of accessing pupil data, which is the requirement for next year! There are schools around the country that really should be visited to see the full potential of SLG. We are obviously users of SLG. Staff can mark Registers, Complete Assessments and Write Reports online. Parents can access Pupil Data, including Attendance (both Sessions and Class), Behaviour & Achievement and Assessment. But what we are doing pales into insignificance when compared to some other schools, of whom I am very envious!

Matt, The difference in costs is negligible. I was fed up with my Support cases bouncing back and forth via the LA Support team, Capita Support and the school. I was regularly getting back standard answers and routines that I had run before logging a case. The LA has had no expertise in Nova, which I have used since it's DOS days. We had to buy into Lesson Monitor as an extra which meant we had direct Support from Capita for that particular module anyway. We were the first in the city to go for SLG and then obviously had direct support for that. At the time we were one of the Field Trial schools for Cover7 and so that was also supported directly. It seemed stupid to have two different points of reference for different parts of the system - especially when I have more expertise in most areas than existed within the LA Support Team (no offence meant in that statement). Not wishing to sound big-headed, but the expertise I possess meant that I was getting little or no support whatsoever from the LA Team as Cases I usually log are Software faults/errors that I understand better than most and which, invariable, lead to patches being developed for the school, as well as other schools that also experience the same faults. I am deeply involved with UAT Testing for the SIMS software, regulary attend SIMS Software Update meetings and workshops arranged by Capita and wanted to apply for the SIMS Schools Partnership Award, which has since been awarded to the school. The direct support I have received from Capita has been nothing short of excellent. I assume that this is partly due to the fact that I understand the system so thoroughly and any case I log is done so thoroughly, including all the steps I have taken to resolve the particular issue and any workrounds that I have been able to produce. Some of my workrounds have actually become official KBs for the software. Anybody using SupportNet ought to be aware of who I am via my avatar and my contribution there is testamy to my expertise. I have a good working relationship with the LA and withdrawing from LA Support in no way reflects the service that they provide to other schools in the city. Indeed, the LA have recommended to other schools that they come and see how we do things for certain aspects of SIMS. And, as outlined above, reps from the LA visited us in the Summer Holiday to investigate SLG and how we have set up the system for use with Staff & Parents. I have no doubt that we will be consulted further if the LA progress towards an LA Hosted service for SLG.

I concur with the above opinion. We wanted to get away from Phone Calls. Schoolcomms is the perfect answer. And the way it interfaces with Attendance in SIMS is superb!

Well we are a school that has opted out of SIMS Support by the LA to get direct support via Capita. We have opted into a 3 year deal with Capita having using SLG for the past year since SLG2 was released! The LA is now currently looking at providing a hosted SLG Service - partly as a result of our experiences! I think the system is good and getting better with each upgrade!

With Profiles7 it is difficult to give you an example without giving you a copy of an actual report. The Template shows virtually nothing. It is only in the pupil generated report that you will see how it is set up. You can have whatever sections you decide to have but these are controlled in the Comment Banks. I would suggest visiting a school in your area that is using Profiles7 to get a real flavour of what Profiles7 is capable of. If you raise it on SupportNet then I am sure you will get a couple of invites. If such a school also has SLG then so much the better.

Then I would humbly suggest that you seriously consider that option! The Profiles7 Senior Manager Checking procedures should now be able from the Autumn Release as well!

You don't need an alternative system if you have AM7, Profiles7 and SLG Why would you want to look elsewhere?

We have a signing out book for all staff for if they leave the site during their normal hours. We have a list of Hours for those that do not work a 'normal day'. The Cover Manager has the overall view of those off sick. Very unweildy but it does cover most scenarios. We are trying to produce a better system at this moment in time but it ain't easy!

Maybe you should ask this on SupportNet. More likely to be some willing person there to contribute. There may even be some examples on User Posts, File Sharing. The trouble is the Templates are linked to specific Aspects within the school and it would be difficult to give you a working Template. Also - you have not said whether you mean an AM7 Individual Report or a Profiles7 Full Report. For the former, Chris Sherwood has put a couple of examples on File Sharing. You just have to add your own aspects! (Just???)

Would you want this linked to a heat sensor or a smoke censor, or both! Seriously though - I have been trying to work out how to do it as well. So far I have also failed!

You are doing very well at finding and re-opening these old threads, Keith! I will resist the temptation to make further comments this time!

..... or should that be masochist? Or maybe I should no longer be timetabling being as I am now employed as a member of the Support Staff. I wonder how my current head (the most recent of many that I have supported over the years) would react to that ........ Anway - it's time for goodbye to this thread for me!

I wonder how any of you would categorise me then .............. ......... after 42 years of varying roles within a school and somebody who has designed and delivered the timetable every year for nearly 30 years!

SLG is an evolving system and getting better with each upgrade. It has been well accepted here by both staff and parents. So again, I am afraid that I disagree! In fact I cannot think of any part of SIMS that anyone could justifiably castigate! Yes, System7 and Examinations7 are long overdue - but they are being held back by movement within the Examination structures nationally. Something beyond Capita's control!

Mortstar, 'fraid I have to disagree with you about the SIMS Software despite your support for School Support Staff. SIMS is an excellent software suite. It is because of opinions such as yours that I decided to start contributing to these Forums - after reading some very biased and inaccurate comments about the software. I am afraid that such negative and untrue comments may well contribute to others having a lower opinion of School Support Staff than they ought to have. There are some very knowledgeable people on here but I am afraid there are a considerable number who obviously do not really undesrstand how SIMS can be used effectively. Those that do castigate the software should start to read SupportNet more - where there are considerably more expert users!

No need to apologise David. At my age it would be stupid to get upset about a simple misunderstanding on forums such as this. I just wanted you to know the true history and nature of my position.

Just to clarify one point for you David:- I was in Teaching for a Total of 29 years and have been doing 'Admin/IT', as you put it, for a further 12 Years. My Timetabling experience dates back just under 30 Years! So please don't place inappropriate labels on me! I think that my record and the reputation that I have on SupportNet speak for themselves! But, as I intimated in my 'Final Post' on this topic - I have finished discussing the original post. As for the beer - I may see you at a SIMS meeting sometime, be it a UAT Session, a Software Consultation Group meeting, a Field Trial meeting etc. etc. I regularly contribute to these! I can't remember if your school is listed as one of the SIMS Partnership Schools but, if it is, then I could well meet you at the Partnership Schools Conference next week ....

Sounds like pretty standard stuff to me David. Just normal procedures that you would expect any Timetable package to have. What you can't do of course is submit the dummy staff etc. to SIMS without corrupting P7, by creating dummy staff there too. But, if you really did want to do that (and obviously have to exclude them from SWC), then Nova would obviously do this too. Tell me - how does Timetable cope with date-stamping of Maintenance Datasets so that SIMS can hold different versions of the timetable for different points in the year? Or doesn't it? And how does it cope with the concept of 'facilities'? You don't have to answer these questions as I won't be continuing with this thread. I have said enough already! As for leaving you in the lurch - we are all busy as timetablers and with whatever other roles we also have and, in any case, I have not even seen the model you wished to reproduce! I must apologise for one thing though - I do use pencil and paper as well, but obviously in conjunction with paper produced via Nova. When I am building the timetable I produce many, many Selection Printouts which I edit in pencil to ensure that all Groups/Staff/Rooms have an optimum fit. We all know that those last few groups will often not fit according to the wishes of HODs etc. and giving them copies of these draft timetables helps in discussion in resolving the issues. My print-outs from Nova have 35 Periods and 86 Classroom Staff. This all fits into just 2.5 pages of A4. I have some different fonts and font sizes (with a minimum of 8 Point) for each of the Classes, Staff and Rooms in each cell. I also have different colours defined for each of these categories, just in case I want to produce a colour copy! I can think of no reason whatsoever to consider using any other timetable program than the best - which is, of course, Nova. End of topic for me now! We will all always have out own opinions and people who know me will appreciate how strong-willed I am anyway! And before you ask - No! I don't not have any tie up with Capita other than using their, quite superb, software.

All I can say is that it is a pleasure to work with such a brilliant MIS as SIMS. Round the twist? I don't think so. Staff are delighted about how efficient systems are!

NT6 complicated? Of course it is - it is there to produce Timetables as efficiently as possible and, by there very nature, that is exctly what Timetables are! Nova DOS seemed complicated at the time. Nova Windows (eventually NT4) seemed very complicated after DOS - but it had no idea of concepts such as Facilities, Date-Stamping, etc which are now just normal features within NT6. One wonders how we coped before!

Wow! I go away to Italy for a week and look what happens:- 1) I get a challenge! If I had the time then I really would like to accept that - maybe in 3 years when I may well be ready for the timetabling rest home. 2) People saying that Timetabler does what NT6 cannot do! I would like to see some of that! 3) Somebody still wants to build a timetable like they used to do with pen and paper! Thank goodness Nova appeared many years ago (in DOS when I first used it!) - I spent enough years using paper and pencil before that! To paraphrase somebody or other .............. ...................... 'I do not believe it!' As a Timetable with over a quarter of century experience (actually it is now probably closer to a third of a century) I have no time for anything not connected to Nova. What can any other system have that NT6 does not have? And as for not being able to model a structure in NT6 - then I would suggest that the model is just not possible else NT6 would cope with it. Yes - you will get that in Timetable planning - you have to adapt and/or compromise if too many constraints cause unsolvable clashes. I simple do not believe that NT6 will not handle it! If it is possible then it can be done in NT6! Yes that is a challenge isn't it? And those that say Timetabler is easier to use maybe do not quite understand some of the complexities that NT6 uses, which would explain the lack of understanding. Yes it can be difficult, especially for novices, but that is the nature of the Timetable process and NT6 is built to handle extremely complex structures. And the choice is yours as to how much you plan and build yourself and how much you ask NT6 to schedule for you. David - I think you really should look into NT6 a little more deeply. Four sides of A3 sounds a little too large for my liking!!!! Then again - I prefer as few A4 Sheets as possible. I suppose it depends on what you term 'the whole solution'. I won't repeat these comments in the other thread. I reckon I have said enough! Topic closed for me now!

Ditto as per the other thread on this topic! What is the point of not using the best? One of the best things that SIMS ever did was the acquisition of Clive Stott and his Nova suite! I would probably not have been supporting SIMS as fiercely as I do without it!

One wonders why any SIMS users would even contemplate using Timetable packages other than NT6 ................

SM Backups and Tidying Backups works ok for me. And YES they are viable backups. They regularly get sent down to Capita for UAT purposes and I fully working for me when I get there!