Bromcom_John

Been going on a bit of a retro vibe lately. Caves of Qud Dwarf Fortress Interspersed with Oxygen Not Included and the somehow massively compelling game of Anthropomorphic beavers in a post apocalyptic mankind absent world that is Timberborn.

Shame the upgrade didn't also update @ZeroHour's 8 bit avatar Seriously though, great work all round!

RTFM John, RTFM

I am a bit of a mythology nut so had heard of all of those. The Grindylow got a relatively recent popularity buff due to their inclusion in Harry Potter. Used to be mad for getting first day covers when I was a much younger human!! Also, bit unfair on the "other side" of the giants causeway that only one of the big fella's involved in that tale gets a name drop!

and in a very trivial question... are we all starting from scratch with the badges etc. or is there an appropriately slow bot chonking away in the background and slowly applying all of the requisite 'chieves??

Have to concur, very slick new look. Looking forward to playing with all the new features and earning all those ranks and badges :D

And you can probably use the template you create whether or not the LA do the report definition work for you!

You can also try to import the attached report definition into the MIS. Took me around 5 minutes to put together, prodigious use of the "find data item" icon within Quick reports.. cuts down on tree diving as Marci put it. I have called it tutor details by student but it ought to give you the output you have asked for. Just go into your AdHoc reports area, click actions - Import Report Definition Bit of advice with the Classes domain. It is entirely correct to retrieve this data from there but you will need to add in the Group Type Description or Group Type Code column in order to include a column filter to 'just' the "Tutor Group" Tutor details by Student_20250314124424.xml

In addition to the above Mitchell, there was a "web wednesday" drop in session that covered this. You ought to be able to review it from the below link https://bromcom.teachable.com/courses/web-wednesday-webinars/lectures/49626317

Hey, don't diss paper.. paper has been a stalwart ally in the education sector for longer than any of us have been alive Paper deserves all the respect that a seasoned veteran like it is due!

Hi Gareth, The basic process is 1 Design the report in a word docx format, including unique data keys to plot where you want the data to appear 2 Design your data retrieval webmerge Quick report in the MIS 3 Complete the steps of the Webmerge execution a: The first time you run the webmerge report you upload the template, subsequent first steps are to review the template for changes a : Map the data from your data report to the fields in the template b : Decide any complicated bits such as "remove empty data rows from any tables for subjects the students doesn't take£ c : Generate and review and/or publish the output to the parent portal and/or the student portal This is a very simplified guide but the below link contains more detail https://docs.bromcom.com/knowledge-base/how-to-use-quick-reports-to-create-a-web-merge-document/?search=web%20merge

happy to offer any additional assistance if it is still needed

Just want to say thanks to everyone engaging with @garethedmonson on here. Its all good. But I would say that we are always striving to improve each and every one of our products and, if you are from a school that has been dissatisfied with something in the past then please do reach out. Whether it is so that the product teams can take your experience on board and fold it into future improvements or, as is regularly the case when the MIS has been around for a while, features have moved on "since" any decisions to use alternates were made. A school wouldn't need to pay any extra if the product remains in the tier of product that they subscribe to. Use it or don't use it, it is still part of your service provision and can be implemented quickly and easily.

I have to reiterate all the good advice given already. There is no best time to move (easter nudges it a bit but it has its own issues with volume as EVERYONE and their dog wants to move in Easter), just a least worst time and that is different for every school. Use our support as much as you feel comfortable with. Let your deployment contact know your concerns and they will try to assist as much as they possibly can. Use your early access to your cloud instance to build familiarity, your staff can have access as early as you need them to. Refer to the system throughout your training, building that technical muscle memory is well worth it. Probably the only unique benefit of a September launch from the technical side is you will have longer to get used to things than with an in year transfer. Because we tend to recommend 12 weeks as a comfortable onboarding time frame, but that "won't" include the summer break. So those of you who actually work through the summer break will get an additional six weeks to further familiarise yourselves with the new MIS. Its not a massive silver lining but it is one none the less.

On the subject of other 3rd parties, we are always happy to speak with any 3rd party who wants to communicate with the MIS. We don't charge a penny for the 3rd party accreditation. The list of current 3rd party partners can be accessed from http://www.bromcom.com/partners. it is about being as flexible as possible as we are aware of a number of reasons why schools want to keep any particular partner on board. I have to agree that Edulinks Oscars style auto cutoff is a really nice feature for busy parents evenings (we are working on something similar). Should you need to retain a 3rd party then we do our utmost to ensure that the data transfer from our solution to theirs is as easy as it can be without compromising any security. @TheCookieMonster hit the nail on the head. Let us know which 3rd parties you use and we can evaluate which ones you can easily keep, which ones may no longer be needed and also, if you have a partner who "isn't" yet an accredited technical partner then we can talk to them and help them get to a place where they can continue providing you with their preferred service, be that with a new direct link or using Wonde/Groupcall or similair..

Hi all, there is no need to continue with NOVA T at all, as we include our own Timetable package, wTimetable (1st true cloud & AI powered timetable solution) as part of the core system and there are other 3rd party options to choose from as well.

Well there are also Edval and Keith Johnson Timetabler (now owned by the Key Group) We have our own built in Timetable solution but, as the question was regarding cross platform, that doesn't apply. I have personal experience with Timetabler (as part of learning it for our partners program) and have nothing but good to say about the software put together by Keith, Chris and the team.

Yes, relative to the academic week is the right choice. So if you set the start and end dates within the schedule to relative to academic week +0 then this would do the current week only. It determines "current week" from the date the report is being run on. So you could get the same result if you schedule it to run on the Monday with Academic week -1

Entirely above my pay grade unfortunately I do get involved in the technical presentation side of these tenders sometimes but not the specifics.

Morning everyone, Thought I would post these in the interests of transparency. It does relate to the subject of this thread and I wanted to assure any NI related personnel who may be on this thread of our (Bromcom's) commitment to the project moving forward. First the unfortunate news https://www.whichmis.com/485-million-fujitsu-contract-with-the-education-authority-northern-ireland-eani-will-not-continue/ Second our mission statement, which remains unchanged despite the information at the above link. https://bromcom.com/northern-ireland Thirdly, the communication which was sent out to our NI principals (it is repeated from the WHICH article) Dear Principal, I am writing to you with regards to the ongoing development of the EdIS Programme’s Strategic Partner Service and School Management Solution. As you are aware, this contract was awarded to Fujitsu in December 2023 following a robust procurement process. After an extensive negotiation period between EA and Fujitsu, the parties have mutually agreed on a no-fault basis not to continue with this contract with immediate effect. We thank our colleagues in Fujitsu for their support and partnership over the course of the negotiations. I would like to provide reassurance that you will not experience any disruption to services as a result of this decision. All existing services delivered through the current managed service will continue to be delivered and supported. We are pleased to share that schools will still benefit from a new School Management System provided by Bromcom as planned. EdIS staff are continuing with their implementation schedule and the first schools will be migrated onto the new system in this academic year as previously communicated. Regular updates will follow throughout 2025. Due to the extensive package procured with Bromcom, EdIS will continue to work to bring additional services, such as Online Payments, to schools. We are confident that this process will ultimately be of most benefit to Children and Young People. Work to deliver EdIS benefits will continue to push forward, ensuring best fit solutions for schools in the long term.

Thanks for the update @Marci, I am pursuing the team on that case reference.

Hi Bezingatron, There was a release on Friday evening to address an issue with visibility of data, especially with Vision users. Can you confirm if the problem still persists this morning?

Given Bromcom and Migration-X got a mention in the ESS email earlier in the thread, I thought it was worth explaining what Migration-X is, particularly as ESS have incorrectly claimed that it infringes their IP. Migration-X is a new portal, see below, that uses a combination of Report Generator and APIs to automatically extract data from SIMS. It enables schools with their SIMS hosted by ESS to migrate to Bromcom, and as it uses ESS’ recommended methods for migrating data, they can switch with confidence knowing they’re not breaching their contract. You can find out more on the Bromcom website This is more about defending against an inaccurate statement than anything else though. Additional edit - A colleague did just point out I ought to add the below for completeness. you never know who is watching. Please read the next bit in your best hurried radio announcer at the end of an advert voice. Note: Bromcom’s position on use of SIMS SQL backup and claim by ESS for infringement is as per Bromcom’s earlier statement that Bromcom “uphold, migrating to Bromcom via SQL backups from SIMS is safe, legal, and authorised, as well, and in the highly unlikely event ESS does take legal action against an education establishment that provides Bromcom with an SQL backup, we are offering indemnification against any legal costs (subject to terms and conditions). You can learn more here.

How to tell everyone you are a fan of 40k without telling everyone you are a fan of 40k

While I won't mention names (as its obvious they are going to do this), but a lot of the other support providers are looking to see what happens with SCOMIS. I think the term "waiting with baited breath" is appropo So this isn't just affecting the schools who SCOMIS support, it it going to continue to have impact across the sector. The next 6 months, and beyond, are going to be VERY interesting.