Bromcom_John

While I am sure @CAM has already found this link (off of Vik's advice) I thought it would be useful for anyone else stumbling around for advice. Learning Records Service ULN advice This should take you to the LRS page with a pretty detailed set of steps to follow toward the bottom of the page.

This is certainly a nice to have Graham but with ULN's the application for a number goes through central authority (LRS in this instance) in an effort to maintain absolute uniqueness. So it's a lot less likely, in this case, that the data would be coming from another party. But I note that you were generalising on the import facilities Aspen offers.

To be more specific any MIS provider that is delivering the CTF version 12 specification will be able to import this data. The import of ULN is included as one of the types of partial CTF, backed up within the CBDS data definition framework item D00211. If the Key2Success output is also using the new partial CTF naming conventions then it should also be possible to auto-detect the purpose for which the file was created (it should have ULN instead of CTF in it's file name). Hopefully this won't change much between now and the live date, although we are due a finalised CTF 13 specification between now and then...

I suspect he intends to use the existing Capped 8 APS measure. Essentially the total score for the best 8 GCSE (or equivalent) results achieved. This is already a quantifiable and defined measure and is most certainly already possessed of an exact criteria. You should be able to find information regarding its measurement on the DFE website. Data, research and statistics - Data, research and statistics also try here http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/performance/secondary_11/PointsScoreAllocation2011.pdf it is the 2011 scoring but I think it should certainly give you a heads up on the calculation framework. and of course the outcomes detailed in the Wolf report will have an ongoing effect on the changing framework of which qualifications actually count towards any finalised framework and how much they contribute (short courses not counting etc.) http://www.education.gov.uk/childrenandyoungpeople/youngpeople/qandlearning/a00202523/reform-of-14-to-16-performance-tables

Nice to see a new MIS representing face on here. Us providers are woefully outnumbered and get shamelesly picked on by these so called "users". Welcome to the boards John. Should really have welcomed you back in December... better late than never.

plus, after a few weeks of operation that living room is going to look like Miss Haveshams place from Great Expectations... DUST!!!!!

None taken Dave, its just something that has always started me scratching my head

You should contact Graham direct, I am sure he would jump at the chance for his team to arrange a demo for you. I know we certainly would

It all depends on what services you are used to receiving from your LA. We provide direct support to the majority of our user base so, except for a handful, they get all their supoort and service updates direct from us, no LA support needed. I know that with the "dominant" market player there is a lot more shall we call it "distributed support" but we happen to take pride in delivering an excellent service direct. There are already processes in place to assist each MIS supplier in conforming to certain criteria for the purposes of statutory returns and reporting, so what else do you look to your LA for support with? This is an honest query from myself because I've always wondered what it is that convinces schools that they need their LA team for the management of their MIS? ps. This is no way a denegration of what most LA support teams actually provide, I've had many communications with the various teams over the years and they do a good job. It's just not hat much different to what I see our helpdesk delivering day in day out.

Yeah, we're still here Difficult decision by all accounts to not attend 2 years on the trot. I was personally looking forward to seeing the new setup at ExCel. Ah well, always next year.. have fun those of you who are in attendance.. and get the d*mn camera working

Gatt, did you steal my childhood? Or is this a rerun of some really low key Total Recall. I had exactly the same thing, difference is "somehow" i've managed to retain some 3d vision. Opticians insist I shouldn't have but all the tests I did.. both at Great Ormond Street when I was ickle and, more recently, watching films like Avatar and getting the effect (at least after a minute or two as it seems my eyes do need to adjust) indicate to the contrary. Actual prescription still results in lenses heavy enough to sink small seagoing vessels though.

Well according to the quotes they claim the "Core business is still profitable"... read into that what you will. To be honest the only firms that appear to be making money at the moment are accountants and firms (like Delloitte) who administer bankruptcies.

It certainly would have been interesting to have been a fly on the wall during "those" negotiations. Most of the existing suppliers will be more than capable of interfacing with the products you mentioned. Don't allow "received wisdom" or "someone elses experience" to colour your expectations. It's always worth at least making the enquiries with alternate suppliers, even if you don't intend to go with them. You might be surprised at the replies you get and, worst case scenario, you may get some market research ammunition you can use to strong-arm a better deal out of your chosen supplier (even if it comes via the LA).

Have to agree with Graham here. Direct support is a very real strength of our own delivery. It would be extremely worth your while to have your head enquire with the LA exactly what their reasons are for taking this stance. If only for the clarity. What have you got to lose? Worst case you get a new MIS system which may suit your school requirements. Best case you get to shop around and get the system best suited to your schools requirements. You may find that the LA is going to tender soon anyway...

Hmm, not sure what strings your searching on.. Anyway, the list of "approved" suppliers for MIS systems from the UK Government IMLS framework also includes Lot 1: Management Information and Finance systems Bromcom Computers Capita Group Histon House Novatia (Aspen) Pearson Education RM Education Serco Limited Tribal Wauton Samuel This is not a complete list of MIS suppliers. merely those whom are listed on the IMLS Framework.

I cannot stress how important it is to ensure that you're infrastructure suits the purpose. In our case it's less bandwidth and more resiliency. The data packets transferred are small but at peak times there are a LOT of them. So we always recommend that redundancies are in place. That includes on "our" (the MIS providers) side as well. Last thing you want to happen if you go Cloud based is to find that your school connection is all running fine but the datacentre has gone down. Response times, Disaster Recovery and contingencies should be checked for inclusion in the contract/SLA with your prosepctive supplier.

and he isn't talking about the Windows 8 installer.. bdum tish...

The above points are all valid. Just to reiterate that no system will be able to delvier everything you want so interactivity is of paramount importance to ensure that you're choice of other products is not truncated. SIF Compliance (either natively or via someone like GroupCall), conformance to the CBDS framework and an accessible API layer are all good things to include in your requirements.

Heavy frost in the London outskirts. So much so that the various railings look like they have been festooned with silly string. It is actually frost lined cobwebs, quite stunning.

Someone mentioned Neil Gaiman.. So American Gods needs to get a mention. Again a tad old so he may have already read it.

Peter Hamiltons, Nights Dark trilogy is over a decade old but extremely good.. Chances are that MrWitch will already have read it. Unless you've read them yourself don't dismiss Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones is the title of the first book and the TV Series NOT teh book Series ). They are as far removed from Fantasy Fiction as anything I have ever read. I know people (some in my own family) whose previous reading material ran the breadth from Wilbur Smith, Jackie Collins or that Bridget Jones woman.. and they STILL couldn't put Game of Thrones down when they started reading it. If you have read them and still think they are not hubbies cup of tea then I obviously bow to your spousal knowledge

If its alien life of the probe-centric variety does that mean we are about to be Colon-ised?

Life? The Universe? or Everything? (started out inquisitive and ended all Douglas Adams)

I read an inciteful and very much tongue lodged fully in cheek tweet related to that sentiment that made me giggle the other day "Its funny to think that before the invention of photography, nothing happed!"

Gotta love classic Telegraph Knee-Jerk reporting.