StevieTSS

Agreed!

Thanks for that link JB. I foolishly thought they'd got rid of the big bugs before Summer 2, but if there is a big patch due too hopefully that will help.

Thanks Cache. I have checked and we have got the ones on the Capita link, I will keep my eye out for the new one when it appears! I will have a look at our Course Manager, we spent alot of time last year when I first came tidying it up, but it is worth a check. Thanks for all your advice!

Hi Cache I think so, unless there is another one due? Our support team suggested that (after telling us to update them weeks ago and forgetting to mention they were updated), but unfortunately it hasn't fixed the problem.

Morning folks.. How is everyone else finding the Summer release? We were hoping to get organised ready for Exams Results Days, but seem to be having all sorts of issues with it. The Exam result aspects are not showing the correct points values attached when put into a marksheet - so I can't calculate total points scores/capped 8/ work out the best 2 BTEC grades etc. No Welsh Board results from previous seasons are coming through Maths - If modular and linear were taken in the same season (mainly Nov 2013) the discounting is not working Some Cambridge Technical IT qualifications are being discounted, even though the student hasn't taken any other qualification with the same discount code. Is anyone else having similar problems, or has anyone heard if patches/v3 are on the way? Thanks Steve

Hi I was wondering if anyone can help me figure out my options for a task that, in theory, sounds relatively simple. I am tasked on a regular basis with creating large numbers of Transition Matrices, as seen in the RAISE documents, that compare students levels of progress. This is usually done as a export of a subject marksheet, and a bit of work in Excel to compare certain columns. I have recently made a new Excel template which combines VB and SQL to do all the calculations, but I still seem to be limited by the raw data I can easily export out of SIMS. Since we do transition Matrices at class level, I need the class name within the raw data. This seems to limit me to one export per subject per key stage, because SIMS needs the course link at marksheet level to be able to show me the class name. I have started to try and find out more about SIMS Reporting Engine or Third Party SDK to read data, but haven't got much so far. All i really need is some Student Information (Pupil Premium, Ethnicity & such) and some grades stored within assessment aspects for my start and end points, then I can manipulate them. Has anyone tried to do anything similar? What are my options? Thanks! Steve

Thanks Wes & Penfold. It sounds like moodle has moved on since the school last used it. Luckily enough teachers and SLT are going to get behind it, it has been requested by teachers in a strategy group run by SLT. But if we do it, we want to do it right and make something that will work for everyone. When it was tried before it didn't really work, so demand just faded away.

Hi Matt It has been tried before in my school, but before I joined. They mentioned having trouble getting the data back into SIMS, lots of converting to and from spreadsheets. Do you use moodle? Has this improved? How do you find it? Thanks

Hi all My school is looking to introduce a new VLE, and I was wondering what experiences (good or bad) anyone has had? We are looking for a VLE that allows students to undertake homework/exams etc. online, and the results can go easily back into SIMS mark sheets in ‘live time’. The VLE needs to know class structures/memberships etc. and offer the correct options to the correct groups. Any thoughts welcome! Thanks

It's good to know i'm not the only one who has dreamt of seeing SIMs elusive SQL code. I get frustrated when SIMs doesn't act like I expect, and because we used mainly SQL in my old industry job it is almost a reflex reaction to see what is actually happening behind the scenes. SQL management studio sounds like a good place to start for better interrogation... how do I get it? Is it just the case that our in house IT technicians are guarding it fiercely, and I just need to bribe them? and can I run it on my laptop?!

I too have asked this question, of both Capita and our 3rd party support - unfortunately the resounding answer seems to be that it is manual update only - what a pain! Sometimes it's as long as it is broad, but if you take the aspects out and put them back in, it uses the new default values. It does of course depend on how many you are changing in a marksheet (and how complicated the formulas are). I had to rename some Geography assesment data entry columns this morning, and it was quicker to remove and add 5 columns than rename them individually - but they are just simple ones.

Hi all I'm Steven. I started working in Education @ 6 months ago after too many years working as a data analyst in the financial sector. It's been a steep learning curve so far, I think i'm starting to get my head around what SIMs can do but i'm sure there is so much more to it. Looking forward to being able to share ideas and grumble about the frustrations with like minded edugeeks..