GNewnham

Hi Implementation was not too bad. Is this a senior or prep school? We did both. didnt bring over exam entries though - just started new year on new system. We converted from Pass. Put all the pupil and contact info onto spreadsheets and iSAMS set up all the data. Got to import your timetable - depend on how complicated that is. Ours is only a 1 week timetable. Please ask if there is anything you need to know. My email address is [email protected]

We have had iSAMS for about 5 years.

No, it will be altered eventually but you don't have to do anything.

We used Markbook for years before implementing iSAMS which has its own inbuilt reporting module. I used to export the pupil/classes out of Pass and import into the package. I thought Markbook was great - very flexible report design, good tracking over who had written their reports etc

Have you tried SQL Reporting Services in BIDS (Business Intelligence Development Studio) - that is what we use to access the iSAMS SQL database. If you are not comfortable writing from scratch, you can take an existing extract / report and clone it, alter it and deploy it.

You can also add other exam results which may not appear in the list for a pupil eg ABRSM, Rockschool guitar etc. You do need to have the certificates to back up your claim but they can all add to the total UMS score for a pupil. I think it is about 70 ums for grade 8 instrument. Just finished all mine yesterday! Hope this helps.

Hiya Have you looked at iSAMS at all? It is mainly used by Independent Schools, has a fees and billing module which links with Sage Accounting. If you want to know some more, have a look at their website I am happy to answer any questions which you may have from a school's perspective.

Hi Wibok We have been running iSAMS for several years now and havent come across this problem at all. You say that you saw all the report data was there and now it is not - when you look in "remove unwanted reports" can you see the reports for that particular user / cycle at all? I am just wondering if the template has been changed and that is why you are not seeing the reports in the report wizard but they actually do still exist on the database? Sorry if you have already been through all this thinking but there are a few changes that will make reports "disappear" if they are done in the middle of a report cycle eg template changes, set naming changes etc. I am happy to chat through a few options with you on the phone if you wish - feel free to DM me if you wish to discuss.

Hiya We use Timetabler for designing the timetable. It does produce printouts for teachers. We have a fairly complicated set up with many part time teachers and lots of different blocks which need to be scheduled so that they do not clash for a student and have found it to be very flexible. We then export the info into a format which we import into our MIS (iSAMS) Hope this helps.

We didnt have any March results but for some reason our January results did not come down through A2C from OCR on the 6th of March. I had to retrieve the result files from OCR Interchange myself, if it helps. Perhaps phone them as they can reset your password over the phone so that you can get the info?

We are an independent school in Bath consisting of a pre-prep (ages 2-6; 110 pupils), a prep (ages 7-13; 250 pupils) and a senior school (ages 11-18; 400 pupils) The overlap is because we run 2 years 7 & 8 - one in the prep and one in the senior. This causes many admin nightmares, particularly at census time! MIS - iSAMS This is my 10th year in this job - have seen the implementation of PASS and then we converted and implemented iSAMS about 4 years ago. I support about 100 staff at the senior school and about 20 at the pre-prep. This involves iSAMS training and support, excel support, email support and general keeping them up to date with developments in social media. The prep have their own support. I also support about 1000 parents for their access to our intranet and parent portal, sometimes down to complete handholding on the telphone eg "click on the little yellow envelope"....."now click on the word"..... About 3 years ago, I also took on all the Exams administration too. I work closely with the Exams Officer and our roles are fairly blurred during the exam season - we both do whatever needs to be done to have the exams running smoothly and the kids kept calm in all situations. As he teaches too, much of the daily running of the exams falls on me, including taking them to the toilet (although, that is not specifically mentioned in my job description!). We take a lot of private candidates foir exams, so some of my time is assisting home schooled kids through the mire of exams info, choices , showing them around the school, getting them settled before exams etc. In my previous life in South Africa I was a programmer, then systems developer, then systems designer for the insurance and pensions industry. Then we moved to the UK and I had a couple more kids and took on a "part" time job at a local school. Now I have the inglorious title of "Pupil Records Officer" - there, bet that's made you all jealous! In reality, I am a Data Manager, but I guess they might have to pay me more if I got a better title. ;-)

Many thanks, everyone. I am having a look at PES now.

We are looking for a facility for parents to book their own meetings with teachers for parents evenings. Is there a system which your school is using which works particularly well? Which MIS do you use and how is the pupil/teacher/subject information maintained for meeting bookings? Thanks for looking!

Hi All Are there any suggestions for suppliers of about eight low spec laptops (no disc drive - only needs to run wordpad or equivalent)? What would you suggest would be a good model and price? Thanks

Funny, our OCR results imported successfully.

Our exam candidates use Wordpad and we print the exam script at the end of each exam session on preprinted paper (which has our School logo, a space for the candidate name and number at the top of each sheet. We print 2 copies of each which the candidates write their own name and number at the top, number the pages, collate and bind and sign on the last page (for confirmation that it is complete). These have to be bound together with the word processor cover sheet, signed by the invigilator and head of exams. We keep one copy of the printed exam in our safe (recommended according to JCQ regulations) As far as the rest, I have phoned JCQ and asked them for guidnace but they have said that they are reluctant to give exact specifications of hardware etc. We are currently using a room with 14 thin client machines which have a logon which provides access to wordpad and not to the internet etc. Problem with this is that in the event of a power failure, students cannot continue with the exam unless they continue by writing. Obviously laptops would have a battery which should last for the duration of the exam and they would be unaffected. JCQ were noncommital on this approach. Problem is our room of 14 is now full and we cant really add any more lest they be able to view other screens etc. We also have rising numbers and have to revert to a couple of very old laptops from time to time which are used in the main exam hall. I would love to hear what other schools are doing. How do you handle the need for many concurrent word processor users? Our iT suite has the machines far too close together and is also in the part of the school where there is a lot of noise at lunch and break times - not exactly condusive to exams! Would be good to hear some better practices!

We implemented iSAMS about 3 years ago and are very happy with it. Am happy to chat on the phone if you wish - pm me your number and I will call you. We have implemented most of their modules including parent portal, pupil portal, intranet (which we love, incidentally) and have bought most of the administrative modules.

We are an independent in Bath and implemented iSAMS 3 years ago. Staff have found it very easy to use and our SMT absolutely love it. Am happy to chat with you if you wish - pm me your number and I will call you, or you could come for a visit if you prefer as you are so close!

All parents and guardians have access to our intranet where the sports team sheets, photos of events, news, termly letters and forms are to be found. They also have access to a parent portal for individual information about their own children ie reports (twice a term), detentions received, merits and commendations awarded, teaching sets, exam entries, timetables etc. There is also a termly parent/teacher meeting. Otherwise all other info is communicated via email or sms (if more urgent). Hope this helps.

I have sent you a Message with my phone number to discuss.

Yes, is iSAMS. Is all built in - very easy to use. We use SMS mainly for late changes eg bus late back from a sports fixture, snow warnings, info to 6th form about work etc. Stops parents waiting around for kids to come back late from trips etc - they know any deviations from planned times.

For us as an Independent school, I would say that the biggest benefit has come from targetted communication with the parent base. We are able to direct communication (by email or sms) at individual pupils, sets, forms etc which we were not able to do on our previous MIS. Also the parent portal is a huge benefit to keeping parents informed of detentions, reports etc. We no longer produce any paper reports, letters etc so this makes our administration less onerous, too.

We have just received our cleverly worded invitation to partake in a2c (with apologies to Spike Milligan). Must say I was hoping it would be after the summer exam entries had been submitted. I may just go ahead and submit our GCSE ones on Monday the old way. That then gives me another month to get everything ready before I need to submit the GCE ones.

Yup. Meee! I have sent you a PM with my phone humber is you want to discuss.

It depends where your current MIS is putting the files when they are created or where your current carrier is look for them when you wish to send them. I use a stand alone laptop for RM securenet and it has those folders on my laptop (configured in securenet). What carrier are you using? I would look at its settings and see where it looks for the files to be transmitted (Output) and where it puts your incoming files (Input) Hope this helps.