ntm1275

Sorry, I was assuming that @PhilNeal's comment would be the definitive answer as he works for Capita So your saying that the [current_roll_mode] field can also identify former roll pupils by the the NULL value Perhaps Phil can comment on this

Thanks for the information It's interesting to see how different systems deal with this question So if SIMS uses leave dates to identify 'former roll' pupils, I assume that a school cannot pre-populate the leave date field before the the pupils has physically left or otherwise the pupil will be seen as no longer in the school. I can see a scenario where this might happen If a school has a lot of pupils leaving their school at the end of year 6 to move to a secondary school, the school might pre-populate the leave date field before hand, which would mean they are no longer in the school If this is correct, then a SIMS school would have to make sure that the leave date is only filled in on the day the pupil leaves the school

I am not accessing or trying to read from the SIMS SQL database at all, no 'poking about' going on here and as a non-SIMS user, I have no access to any of the SIMS tools to achieve this I am just trying to understand how SIMS identifies current roll and former roll pupils We have a project on the go with GroupCall using Xporter and we need a few modifications to what is extracted out of SIMS, but as I don't have access to a SIMS database to look for myself, I thought I'd ask the question here

I've never used SIMS before, so I need to know whether there is a field within the database that identifies whether a pupil is a current member of the school or is a former member of the school. Does SIMS have some kind of 'RollStatus' field that identifies this 'current' or 'former', or does it just use a 'leave date' to identify children not on roll In other MIS systems I've used, they have a separate field that is populated with either C for current roll or F for former roll If there is such a field, can you tell me what the field is called in the SQL database and what format the data is in Any help would be much appreciated

I was about to post the same question I would like to query the sql database directly, but only using a read only sql login. If using read only, you cannot 'bungle it up' so I would have thought this would be OK I would totally understand Capita not being happy if read/write access was used. Perhaps @PhilNeal can clarify whether a read only access is allowed

Our LA have a mix of Secondary schools using SIMS and Integris and all appear happy with the system they've got The SIMS schools host on site and the Integris school are hosted with RM From an LA point of view, SIMS is the more feature rich system, but it also costs considerably more, where as Integris does all the things you would expect an MIS to do but without the bells and whistles The one thing that our Integris schools love is access to Integris from outside of the school network i.e from home, where as the SIMS schools can only access from the school itself The other thing that the Integris schools love is not having to deploy updates themselves and manage the MIS servers. This is all done by RM If you are happy to continue paying Capita prices, then by all means stay with them, but if you want a MIS that does all the basics well at a cheaper price, then go with RM From an LA point of view, we prefer Integris because we have a simple to use login to access the data (Integris is web based) With the SIMS schools we have to request data from the schools as we have no direct access to the school servers

@GREED is correct There is no write back facility in to G2/S2 from a 3rd Party - much to the annoyance of us Integris users

There is no direct scanning in to Integris G2/S2, but you can scan things and save them as various file types like .doc .jpg etc and then upload those documents to a student record within G2/S2 using the built in document storage functionality

RM used OMNIS for their old Admin Manager, Budgeting, Integris Classic, Cash Accounts and RM Classic Finance before moving to web based products in about 2008 The Admin Manager, Budgeting and Cash Accounts were originally under a subsiduary of RM called Key Solutions before they came under the one RM banner in approximately 2001 If you get to the login screen, it should state the name of the product (if you aren't sure, a screenshot would help) If the database is either of those, I can give you the default Usernames and Password, PM me if needed This is assuming that the default password hasn't been changed If that doesn't work I could ask RM Support for you if there is another way to get in but I'd need to know which product it is

I've PM'd you

@PaulHarrington Do these delays also cover schools wanting to move to Progresso from another system - SIMS etc

Forgot to mention in my previous posts that the make of browser can influence the speed that the web pages display in a web based MIS As mentioned previously, our IT Dept like to stick with all things Microsoft, so our Primary schools (who have an SLA with IT), are not allowed to use anything other than IE - the Secondary schools however control what they can use In testing I have done, there can be a massive difference in the speed depending which browser you have to use Chrome is the outright winner opening pages in 1 second or less, with Firefox a close second in just over 1 second IE (all versions) on the other hand is much slower, opening the average page in 4 to 5 seconds The difference becomes more evident when you ask the MIS to do something more complex like bulk fill/speed edit 1200 student records Chrome will do it in 1 to 2 seconds, Firefox in 2 to 3 seconds, and IE will take 10 to 15 seconds Because of this difference, I have pleaded with our IT Dept to change their policy on Microsoft IE only use, but they are a stubborn bunch, so I may have to take it to the Senior Management Team to put the case forward to change to Chrome Chrome makes G2/S2 feel like it is a local install, and each click is almost instantaneous

Please excuse me, my previous post was not supposed to be from and RM fan point view, it was more about the virtues of a fully web based system I was only giving our LA's view from our own RM experience I'm sure the experience would have been similar with any of the other fully web based MIS systems Yes it is fully web based, and can be accessed with all the major browsers like IE, Firefox, Chrome and Safari etc I know our runs on SQL, but our IT Dept appear to have a contract with Microsoft, so this might be why we went down this route (all workstation, servers etc are all Microsoft OS's, with Microsoft Office etc, etc, etc) As for the question whether it will run with mySQL or other back end db, that is a question I don't know the answer to I'm afraid, as that side of things were just 'sorted' by the IT Dept and RM

Our LA has been using RM's Integris G2/S2 for the last 4 and a half years, and from an LA point of view, this has been the best thing we ever did as far as cost savings on support and maintenance is concerned It is installed in our LA data centre, with the hardware maintained by our corporate IT Dept and the software maintained by RM When there is an update to the MIS, RM VPN in to our data centre and install the update once, which covers every single school There is no need for separate MIS servers in schools with the associated IT staff visiting to update/configure etc Our schools love the web based interface they get via all the popular browsers, and they know that they don't have to maintain backups of the data or deal with any of the technical issues associated with it It means that we just need one MIS support person (who also has 'live' access to every school), and the IT Dept just fit in any hardware work that needs doing in with their normal everyday work As an LA, it saves us tens of thousand of pounds every year, and our schools are more than happy to just let the LA and RM deal with the technical side of things For loss of internet access issues, our Secondary schools have a redundant line which they can switch to if the need arises, but the Primary schools just use a single line If the last 4 and a half years, we have had certain Primary school loose their internet access for a few hours, but this has never caused any real hardship for them To tell you the truth, I have been surprised how robust the internet connections have been, with less than 10 Primary schools loosing internet access in 4 and a half years The only thing that may cause concern for some people is that schools need a connection of 2Mbit or more for a comfortable experience Below that, there may be issues with the speed that the system runs, but it is by no means unbearable and a school on a half a meg connection is still usable, but may take a couple of extra seconds to display the pages Since switching to fully web based product, we as an LA will never go back to a client based MIS again We will always choose a fully web based MIS whether it remains with RM, or the other main suppliers like Bromcom, ASPEN, ScholarPack, Fronter or Progresso etc

Thanks for your replies If any other MIS Representitives are reading this and I have missed you from my original list, please reply as I don't want to miss anybody out

I need a list of which MIS Systems are fully web based, which would be suitable for mainstream Local Authority Primary and Secondary schools and whether they are on the IMLS Framework Our current MIS contract will be coming to an end in the not too distant future and my Director of Service has asked me to find out what else in on the market, so that we can arrange to have demonstrations of their systems The list I have so far is:- Bromcom Serco Progresso ScholarPack ASPEN Integris G2 ISAMS (seems to be mainly independent schools but I may be wrong) Phoenix E1 Can anyone add to my list please? Many thanks

Hi Graham Would Follett be prepared to travel to an LA to demonstrate the system if asked, sometime over the next couple of months

The thing that concerns me here, is when a pupil transfers from a Primary School to a Secondary School The pupil will still be living at the same address, and will keep all their contacts the same, which may be 3, 4, 5 or more contacts So when the Primary school create the CTF file, it will not contain all the contacts in the file, and the Secondary school would have to re-enter them manually If this is correct, then SIMS is not creating a Full CTF file as per the CTF specification Having looked at the specifications of CTF version 11, there is no mention of limiting the number of contacts or anything else like Parental Responsibility (PR) On average, our schools have at least three contacts - Mother (with PR), Father (with PR), Granny (without PR) - plus there may also be a Step Father/Mother (without PR) All of these should be included in the CTF file @PhilNeal Can you check why SIMS is not including all contacts in the CTF file - is this Capita's interpretation of the CTF specs, or is it Capita's individual choice to not include all contacts

I know this isn't going to help you, but the CTF specification should allow any number of Contacts, so as your getting this problem this is either a SIMS problem or the export is not being done correctly by the school To SIMS users: Is this 'only two contacts' a standard feature when exporting a CTF file from SIMS The reason I'm asking is that our contract with our current supplier will be ending soon, and changing to SIMS would be an option (as would Scholarpack), but if this 'two contacts' issue is standard for all CTF files, then that would be a big black mark against choosing SIMS

Our LA have been using RM's Integris G2 in Primary and Secondary schools for the last four years, and it is used successfully over split sites as it is fully web based It is also very reasonably priced compared to other MIS systems Is has all the Secondary functionality that would be used in an MIS - Assessment, Behaviour, AM/PM Attendance, Lesson by Lesson Attendance, Census, Exams, Reporting to Parents, Staff Absence Cover, Timetable, etc

Am I correct in assuming that Capita One can import CTF files - if that is the case, just ask the school to create a CTF for the whole school. Integris G2 does have other ways to export, including setting up customised adhoc reports which can be set to output as csv files We are in the opposite position to you - almost all our schools are on G2 and we use RM's Centris central system, but we have a couple of SIMS schools We just ask the SIMS schools to send us a CTF file for all the pupils on the current roll

Is your expertise in Primary, Secondary or LA support level, or other? Do you also have experience with RM's Controller, Dashboard, Kaleidos, Finance and Centris, and the use of Tucasi, GroupCall and Crystal Reports, along with some knowledge of SQL?

There is an option for XML in interactive mode click Tools/Report/Export to/XML

Are you using Integris Classic or Integris G2? If it's Integris G2, then go to:- Reports/Administration/Student Reports/Student Photographs From here you can print directly to PDF with the Quick Print, or change to Interactive and you can export to Excel or Word To save them to Excel just click the Excel button at the top For Word, click Tools/Report/Export to/RTF I would advise doing it in smaller chunks (i.e. by Year Group), as doing it for the whole school at once may take some time to download all the pictures If doing it in Integris Classic, I can't remember, as our schools haven't used it for a few years, so my memory has faded a little, but it may be in a similar path to G2, but as far as I can remember, you can only print them to paper, not export them

From experience, there can be huge differences in speeds depending on the browser that is used for the cloud MIS All version of Internet Explorer are pitifully slow, including IE9 which Microsoft claim is their fastest ever browser Firefox is faster, but the champion at the moment is Chrome I have found that Chrome can display the MIS at up to 70% faster than IE can Even on a 0.5Mbit connection, Chrome makes the cloud MIS feel like it's installed locally, where as IE needs at least a 4Mbit connection to be comparable Cloud MIS's can be fantastic for Primary schools that do not have dedicated IT staff, as all server hardware, software and backups are managed centrally - also saving on the cost of separate hardware From dealing with Secondary schools, cloud MIS's can take away the burden of managing the technicality of the hardware and software, so that the IT staff can get on with managing other school IT systems, which there are plenty Yes there is the question of the Internet connection going down, but our Secondary schools have backup connections to cover this possibility, which 'touch wood', they haven't had to use