mthomas08

Got another freezer over the weekend to increase our multi/cheap purchases and resort to more freezing (bread etc). So less goes off and less is wasted. Bread alone is barely lasting us a week. Bottles of water in the freezer to be used instead of fans. Birthdays etc for family kids now limited to £10 instead £20/25. We no longer go out for meals. Takeaways are limited to once a month. Our electrical heater (very good eco) will be used for our daughters bedroom. She's also got a new window which will keep a lot more heat in her room. Got draft excluders windows/doors in Autumn (all cheap). Now saving up to replace our cooker, it's terrible and old and burns through electricity. Plus.. some of the sealant has come off leaking heat. Gas hob will go next and need another two small eco heaters. Our house really isn't prepared for a winter without heating.

We've had a few complaints about performances and issues but they do get reported to Bromcom. As for SIMs issues, we had plenty of those over the years. I like to think these outages recently are more down to demand and I hope things are much better next year. Our data manager keeps talking about performance issues but that hasn't impacted me. I am constantly pushing out and dealing with parents for MCAS and barely had any issues. I do get the emails of downtime and I've only noticed performance issues once - which they resolved. BUT, the emails do seem to be coming almost weekly. I can't sit here and compare downtime of SIMs vs Bromcom. SIMs consistently had problems over the years: - Memory issue (which I wasted 5-6 years trying to resolve) which magically fixed itself a year ago just before I migrated the server. - Patch A or B or C or D or even E! has broken SIMs (this happened often and I usually delayed updates/patches until necessary or installed in holidays) - Patch X required for the data manager to fix problem Y - Random crash issue with random error which means nothing - Random crash issue with actual useful error which goes back to SIMs for a patch - Performance issues which means I must run a long list of patches and tweaks and updates (then the data manager does her part) - the result tends to mean nothing I'm not defending Bromcom but I can't sit here and act like SIMs was smooth sailing. SIMs consistently was poor and required a lot of work throughout the year. In a positive note - everyone knew how to use SIMs and where everything was. I won't seriously consider the good and bad of Bromcom for another 6-12 months.

I hope ParentPay doesn't break like it did for us. Make sure you have matched names exactly. Any preferred/legal mix up can cause the current accounts to disable in favour of new ones. Took ParentPay about 3-4 days to admit the issue is their end.....

+EduLink Absolutely fantastic. Very easy to use. Very easy to release to users. VERY easy to send out for parents with a customised email. And very easy to send out to new parents that haven't signed up. Ability to see things from the point of view of each parent. Virtual parent evening - AND it rolls over and shows a timer. It literally just works 10/10. Barely had any problems in the 3-4 years we used it. I can't stress how easy I found EduLink to use, setup and manage. Doesn't link to Bromcom though, which is why sadly we are going to say goodbye.

We got an email with a quote attached. Very strange considering the previous emails all went through the 'Portal' for finance to logon and accept/deny. Our SBM replied saying no thanks we've walked away. And I got the email trail to prove it.

I'm glad the info is on the Gov website, last time I saw an article, it was claiming schools can negotiate a 1 year contract if they pushed hard enough - yet I still don't know a single school that managed this. We're now on our 3rd week of a live system with Bromcom and the dust is starting to settle. We had two major outages - one caused by us (a simple mistake) the other at Bromcom - both resolved very quickly. Now typing up a simple report of the process and how we could have done better or differently etc. I know some staff wish we kept SIMs, they knew how to use it and people don't like change but some are happy we have a new updated system and accessible from home. Parents and students are next !

Yes. Just make sure you send them the right name type (preferred or legal). Hopefully your upload will be smooth compared to ours.

Ah yes.. this happened to us last week. Spent 3 hours trying to work out why some ParentPay accounts screwed up.... for PP to admit they had a technical issue.

Cleared it up a bit. Not blaming Bromcom at all on this one. ParentPay support is and always has been terrible for us. Never getting an ETA on anything doesn't help. More fuel to leave ParentPay in favour of Bromcom.

Yes - I would say success. Problems: -Some staff clearly didn't watch all the training. -Some staff hadn't paid attention to the site info sent out weekly -ParentPay (not Bromcom) - they have a problem with the imports and now we've got inconsistencies all over the place. No ETA on the problem being fixed. This has been ongoing since last Tuesday morning. -Few issues in attendance regarding speed - different browsers seem to be working better and we are replacing their machines. -Other minor problems/questions. The process had a delay but so far so good. Although this morning Bromcom have an issue with our system going very slow. They are looking at it. There is still that EduLink thing but that is serious discussion with Bromcom, this is probably the only negative point no one can hide.

Well the good news is, we've said our good bye to SIMs. Bromcom is live and being used by all staff. The migration process on one side quite positive but on the other negative. I'd say 50/50. Worth it? Yes. Teething issues? Yes. Going home and losing sleep? No. Glad to see SIMs gone? Yes. Still plenty to resolve in the coming days/weeks? Yes. Complaints? Yes but not many.

Our school uses Facebook and 2x Twitter accounts and a YouTube channel. 1 Twitter account is managed by the librarians. The other 3 are managed by the executive assistant/marketing lead. I am pro social media but done properly: -used to promote the school -advertise school subjects -celebrate any positive school news -managed by someone that knows how to use it correctly (plus grammar etc) -not something that is forgotten after 6 months Considering how many letters + texts we send every year, why not use social media or email systems to send out this info.

1) So we didn't go mad and switch everything in the first week 2) the big one - the parents evening section is 10/10 and seamless. Logon - click the event and let it roll on. Automatically goes from one session to another with no input needed. We've not been planning to switch parents over to Bromcom. It was a major point, keep EduLink for a little while longer then switch over (likewise for Parent Pay).

Has anyone managed to connect Bromcom to EduLink?

I had my concerns over SIMs Docs (which we were told could be migrated via 3rd party - but this software ONLY pulls it out of SIMs in a organised fashion). Luckily enough, according to our data manager we just need basic access to them - so we're going to dump them on a network drive. Then there is the alerts (which currently isn't great compared to SIMs) but it can do the job. Our live date is two weeks today.. starting to get a little nervous.

This makes perfect sense thank you. Is there an ETA on this? I only ask because at the moment we're asking volunteers to join the alert/patrols (due to illnesses/staffing problems etc). The current setup isn't too bad for those dedicated on receiving these alerts. I made the poor assumption that the software is needed for those sending the alerts.

I've got an excel sheet that compares modules of Bromcom/Arbor/EdGen - obviously this doesn't compare the specifics like the alert/patrol system which SIMs has & Bromcom is a few steps behind.

We're heading to Bromcom, at the moment we need to keep EduLink - one in particular part is parents evening and ease of it. Once we go live, we can have a look at it more in detail. We don't want to just scrap everything and have multiple brand new systems overnight. We have others to consider: ParentPay / PSFinancials / Asset Management & Library system to put all under 1 roof (my main goal). If they can replace EduLink, even better (which will be a shame - it's been fantastic). At the moment, I don't want to consider signing up to other platforms unless necessary.

For us: -unable to link to EduLink -no homework function/reporting -unable to migrate SIMs docs There were a few other minor things but that was 2 months ago now (I think it was the future development).

Same + the 3 year sign up or leave attitude. I don't see them offering a new version anytime soon with all the modules/bits SIMs.net has.

Good news. Is there any chance of more details? I'm trying to work out if its worth us installing the client or using a temp solution until this is up and running. At the moment, a teacher clicks a button and it sends an alert to the patrol group (8 staff). It will let them know what teacher/lesson/location they're in (literally at a click of a button).

Sorry for bringing this oldish post. We're currently testing Bromcom, I wonder if the live system will have an updated version of alerts? Currently on SIMs: Staff logon do a register and leave it open, this allows them to simply click a button and alert a group of staff that patrol is needed and where (behaviour). There isn't any typing required, the group is predefined and updated whenever necessarily (due to illnesses etc). One of the most simplest/easiest things for a teacher. I'll send this question to Bromcom when we have our list/testing finished. 1) Is the software easily to install sitewide and auto logon for the staff member? 2) Is there any manually configuration needed? 3) Can we setup what notifications are required in the installation? - this allows us to turn off basic notifications for teacher machines (unless we use the emergency ones)

Now this makes sense. Spend 6-12 months on the a steady tender process plus a few more months making sure all relevant parties are in the loop - IF decision is to leave - hand in notice and prepare for the switch. Well under a 2 year process with plenty of spare time for any unknowns/issues/delays. No rush but not wasting a whole 3 years. ESS - Take note.

Yes, count your blessings. SIMs have a habit of denying the problem exists and it must be your school, two hours later "oh yes we do have a problem" OR in the case of a random memory crash, just deny the issue exists for about 2 years then finally admit "oh it is a wider issue".

Might be finance or someone that signs off SIMs (DHT or SBM).