Seb1780

You can add in your pupils via a SIMS report - click on the cog and follow the "Import Pupils" routine.

Not strictly a technical question, more a "how do you do it in real life". We're having to move from our bespoke, Access-based database for issuing textbooks to a new solution. When I have looked around to see what's available the one key thing that stands out is that in all cases the books are numbered *before* being issued. Our current system works by the teacher re-numbering each text book at the point of issue using pre-printed barcode labels. We do things this way because "it minimises the disruption in the classroom and minimises transcription errors whilst being manageable for the teacher". All suggestions that teachers should, at the point of issue, record a predetermined book number have thus far been met with a negative response; yet this is the only way most off-the-shelf solutions will work, including our existing library system. So, my question is how does your school physically hand out and record loans of textbooks? I'm interested in the mechanics of who does what and how the information is captured. I'm not, at this point, concerned about which system you use to record the information *unless* that has a bearing on how you do things. Thanks

I've gone down the new aspects route; expecting everybody to remember every time that they are now on 9-1 is asking too much. Also, because we actually collect data in a third party application, we're used to having one or the other and not both. EDIT: Also, I think you will find that you cannot phase out the A*-U options from the grade set when they're finished because as long as you have one child with that grade assigned to that aspect you will not be able to delete the grade from the grade set.

Thanks for the responses guys. I'm getting quite pee'd off with these people because I advised them in June that we needed a license, reminded them on 1st Sept when I sent in the class lists and again on the 6th when the images arrived on a disk. When I asked again yesterday they said they were waiting on Capita!

PM sent, thanks

I'm being told by our photographers that they can only order the above licence from Capita on a Thursday! Is this really true or are they pulling my plonker?

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You can either create User Defined Groups in SIMS which will import in to Schoolcomms, or you can create groups within Schoolcomms. Either way, you will have to set these up manually because nothing is going to read Mode of Transport and Route Number and create them for you (although you can use the report tool to help generate the lists).

This is getting out of hand Parents are naming their children after Pokemon Go characters - BBC Newsbeat

Have you applied the timetable? Tools / Academic Management / Apply Timetable

Concerned about the increasing number of people appearing on my doorstep, I downloaded the app and had a look. This is the view from my sofa.

Hi @studio - no, I didn't get any answers other than those above which, as you can see, were definitely against the idea. In the end we went with 1/9/16

Thank you for your response. I tried the "Priority 1 contacts and contacts with parental responsibility" option as you suggest but that has made no difference, non-parents can still see their contacts in School Gateway. I'll DM you further details. Yes, I'm aware that wholesale changes to the way we record contact details in SIMS could help in this matter but A) with over 1700 pupils we don't want to have to do that because B) we use priority to determine the priority (who'd have thought!?) as there's no point in having a parent as priority 2 if they're hundreds of miles away. There's also C) we were told the Parental Responsibility flag was our saviour! One of the cases at our school that I know about is a Priority 2 contact who is next-door-neighbour and has her own children at our school. She can see her friend's children and I'd not be certain in your case that there are not contacts who can see other peoples' children. At the moment I'm not sure of the extent of what they can see because I have halted any further use of Schoolcomms until I am happy. We have bought the messaging and payment options and I do know that a non-parent can see the name, year group, registration group and payment basket for the child. I'm concerned about the messaging too, because I can't yet work out who the message is going to (it just says "Parents of").

At an update event last week we were given the impression that it will be late September / early October before there will be any chance of Aspire providing forecasts for the new Y7's

We've just implemented Schoolcomms and have sent out a generic e-mail announcing this to the parental population and encouraging them to get signed up for SchoolGateway and the Schoolcomms app. We've now received several responses from parents saying that when they have signed up for the SchoolGateway they can see their neighbour's kids I know we have numerous examples throughout the school where neighbours and friends are set up as contacts in SIMS, and we are pulling in contacts all the way down to priority 5, but we are keen to have a system where both parents (when appropriate) are kept informed of their child's schooling. We thought we had this covered by ticking the "contacts with parental responsibility" option. However, after a couple of (terse) conversations with the Schoolcomms support, it turns out that "contacts with parental responsibility" doesn't means ""contacts with parental responsibility for that child" but actually means "contacts with parental responsibility for ANY child at your school". Is it only me that thinks this interpretation of "contacts with parental responsibility" is somewhat mis-leading and dangerous? Also, does anyone have any hints or tips on how we can set up our SIMS import to maximise parental coverage and ensure only parents are contactable? Thanks

On this point you are quite right!

There's a lot of mis-understanding. Portable Appliance Testing is not a legal requirement and a visual inspection every five years would suffice in many cases - especially for equipment that is rarely moved and located in "controlled" places. Take a look at the HSE website on the matter, in particular look at the case study and the HSE's own in-house PAT testing schedule (or lack of it!) http://www.hse.gov.uk/electricity/faq-portable-appliance-testing.htm

Spend some money on a proper training course to C&G 2377 and you will find all the answers to your questions - it really does pay for itself when it's time to negotiate a price with the local sparks. I am hesitant to give direct advice on these matters because I believe only a trained person should be carrying out the tests.

As per the Health & Safety Exececutive document HSG107 here "The Regulations do not specify what needs to be done, by whom or how frequently (for example, they do not make it a legal requirement to test all portable electrical appliances every year). This allows the dutyholder to select precautions appropriate to the risk rather than having precautions imposed that may not be relevant to a particular work activity." A lot of money is spent by a lot of people testing things unnecessarily; and if your insurance or auditors are asking you to do it then ask them why!

There is no need to test the output from the charger as it falls outside the requirements of PAT testing, a visual check of the casing and a functional check (does it charge?) will suffice. The earthing needs of the device will determine the type of power cord used, a PAT tester will know what to look for on each type. People pay a lot for PAT - £1 per device is not uncommon - and they pay electricians to do it! PAT testing courses to City & Guilds 2377 can be had for a couple of hundred quid. Even if you don't then do your own testing you will know what does and doesn't need to be tested and can save money that way. Servers and switches are not portable, so do not need Portable Appliance Testing! Source - 20+ years C&G PAT qualified

@Elmer1 Excellent, thank you @CAM, thanks too

Can somebody please tell me (or point me to the appropriate source) which SIMS aspects I should be using for our KS2 data and which KS2 data I need to include so that the Progress8 calculations work correctly. I have a myriad of aspects pertaining to be "KS2" aspects and they have come from several sources. Thanks

At the insistence of my OH (who runs a lot), I got my gait analysed at our local SweatShop store. This was a "free" service but the prices were £10 - £20 higher than the internet. I just took my phone out, googled the shoe they recommended and got them to price match

Precious McKenzie was only 4'9" - he was multiple times Commonwealth Champion (and a seemingly permanent feature of Blue Peter in my youth)

If you're lucky and live in East Anglia (which you do) then you can access the whole of the Broads for £32 per year - this includes the Waveney down to Beccles & Bungay Annual toll If you use the kayak for fewer than 28 days per year it could be free (depending on where you live).