Instructions for implementing the new DfES Codes in Attendance

Transcription

1 Instructions for implementing the new DfES Codes in Attendance Published June 06 School IT Systems Support Hertfordshire Development Centre Butterfield Road, Wheathampstead, AL4 8PY Website: Doc Ref S June 2006

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3 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION TO THE NEW DFES ATTENDANCE CODES...1 STEP 1 IMPORTANT NOTES...1 STEP 2 CHECK YOUR VERSION OF SIMS...2 STEP 3 PERMISSIONS REQUIRED...2 STEP 4 PRINTING OUT THE CURRENT ATTENDANCE CODES...2 STEP 5 LESSON MONITOR (SECONDARY SCHOOLS)...3 STEP 6 EDITING THE DESCRIPTIONS AND MEANING OF THE CODES...3 STEP 7 DEFINING THE LATE CODES...6 STEP 8 PRINTING A LIST OF NEW ATTENDANCE CODES...6 STEP 9 CREATING A BACKUP...7 STEP 10 RUNNING THE ATTENDANCE CODE CONVERTOR...7 STEP 11 LESSON MONITOR USERS ONLY REMOVING OLD CODES FOR LESSON MONITOR STEP 12 PRINTING CODE CHANGES REPORT...9 STEP 13 CHANGING OMR SHEETS AND OMR SETUP...10

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5 INTRODUCTION TO THE NEW DFES ATTENDANCE CODES The DfES require all schools to implement the new codes by September This is being enforced by the new School Census return in January 2007, where schools with electronic registration (Attendance) which is part of (or reports back to) the school s MIS system, will be required to report on pupil level attendance from the autumn term The DfES have not specified when the new codes should be introduced, provided they are in use by the start of the new academic year. Academic year 2006/2007 is the absolute deadline for the new code structure. Included in the June upgrade is the functionality to move to the new code structure, this upgrade will only add the new codes F, J and U and change the descriptions of #, X,! and *. When you are ready to start using the new codes you will need to run the code converter utility and manually type the changes to the codes that are enclosed. We recommend that this is done at the end of the academic year 2005/06. Please be aware that once the routine has been run to convert to the new codes, it will alter all existing codes, especially where schools have changed the codes themselves. It is therefore vital that you have completed all of the reporting areas you require for the academic year 2005/06 before implementing these changes. Once the new codes are in place it will not be possible to report on old codes, as it changes them retrospectively for all previous years in Attendance. Within the Schools Census return there will be a validation that will check that the new DfES codes are in place and that only these codes have been applied to pupils Attendance records for the census period. Where schools systems fail this validation, schools will be provided with the facilities to manually enter this information for each pupil. STEP 1 IMPORTANT NOTES The June Upgrade should be completed It is essential that you create a backup If you use OMR sheets to enter attendance you must purchase version 6 of the absence sheets. If your school Attendance data is being used by non SIMS applications, then those applications must be capable of working with the new code structure. All reports have been printed for 2005/2006. All Official Registers have been printed for 2005/2006, (a copy of your old attendance codes should be kept with these registers as they are official documents). 1 of 11 Doc Ref S626

6 STEP 2 CHECK YOUR VERSION OF SIMS 1. Log into Sims.net with your User ID and Password 2. Select the menu options Help/About Sims.net. The version of Sims.net will be displayed. THE VERSION REQUIRED IS If you do not have the required version, please contact the MIS Helpdesk on (Option 5) 3. Click OK to close the About Sims.net screen STEP 3 PERMISSIONS REQUIRED You will need to be a member of the Attendance Manager Group. STEP 4 PRINTING OUT THE CURRENT ATTENDANCE CODES 1. In the Sims Attendance Module select Reports / Attendance Codes to print the current settings for your codes. 2. The following screen will appear 3. Click on the printer icon to print the report. 4. Put this to one side as you will need it later to work out which old codes to replace with new codes. IMPORTANT NOTE: Please check that the codes F J and U appear on this list, if they do not please call the helpdesk on (Option 5). 2 of 11 Doc Ref S626

7 STEP 5 LESSON MONITOR (SECONDARY SCHOOLS) If you are using Lesson Monitor you should ensure that all workstations have synchronised so that all marks are stored in the central database. Similarly, if marks are being held in any 3 rd party software they should be written back to the central database and should not be used again until the process is complete. IMPORTANT NOTE: Ensure that Lesson Monitor is not used again until the process of moving to the new DfES codes is completed STEP 6 EDITING THE DESCRIPTIONS AND MEANING OF THE CODES 1. Return to the Attendance module. 2. To ensure that you have the appropriate descriptions and meanings for each editable code, select Tools/Codes/Attendance Codes to open the Attendance Codes browser. 3. Please change the descriptions and meanings for the new codes as detailed on the next page. Instructions for changing the codes and meanings are detailed on page 5. Please note that the new codes F, J and U appear in the list at the end of any existing codes. 4. Some of the description are slightly abbreviated for the DfES wording, and have been carefully chosen and tested to minimise corruption in the various screens and reports throughout Attendance 6. You MUST copy the descriptions exactly. Please Note: Descriptions for # X! and * have been changed by the upgrade and cannot be amended. 3 of 11 Doc Ref S626

8 Code Description Statistical Meaning Physical Meaning / Present (AM) Present In for whole session \ Present (PM) Present In for whole Do not use Unauthorised Absence Late for session B Educated off site (not Dual reg.) Approved Educational Activity Out for whole session C Other Authorised Circumstances Authorised Absence Out for whole session D Dual registration (attending other estab.) Approved Educational Activity Out for whole session E Excluded (no alternative provision made) Authorised Absence Out for whole session F Extended family holiday (agreed) Authorised Absence Out for whole session G Family holiday (not agreed or days in excess) Unauthorised Absence Out for whole session H Family holiday (agreed) Authorised Absence Out for whole session I Illness (not med/dental appointments) Authorised Absence Out for whole session J Interview Approved Educational Activity Out for whole session L Late (before registers closed) Present Late for session M Medical/Dental appointments Authorised Absence Out for whole session N No reason yet provided for absence Unauthorised Absence Out for whole session O Unauthorised Abs (not covered by other code) Unauthorised Absence Out for whole session P Approved sporting activity Approved Educational Activity Out for whole session R Religious observance Authorised Absence Out for whole session S Study leave Authorised Absence Out for whole session T Traveller absence Authorised Absence Out for whole session U Late (after registers closed) Unauthorised Absence Late for session V Educational visit or trip Approved Educational Activity Out for whole session W Work Experience Approved Educational Activity Out for whole session X DfES #: School closed to pupils Attendance not required Out for whole session Y Enforced closure Attendance not required Out for whole session Z Do not use Authorised Absence Out for whole session! DfES X: Non compulsory school age abs Attendance not required Out for whole session # School closed to pupils and staff Attendance not required Out for whole session * DfES Z: Pupil not on roll Attendance not required Out for whole session All should attend/no mark recorded No Mark No Mark for session 4 of 11 Doc Ref S626

9 1. To edit the descriptions, scroll to the appropriate code, click on the description, say OK to the message and overtype with the new descriptions. 2. To edit the statistical meaning, click in the appropriate cell. Click on the down arrow, which appears in the right of the cell and select as appropriate from the drop down list. 3. To edit the physical meaning, click in the appropriate cell. Click on the down arrow, which appears in the right of the cell and select from the drop down list. 4. When you have made your amendments click on the Save button to save your changes. IMPORTANT note Description, Statistical and Physical Meanings must be exactly the same as the new DfES codes. 5 of 11 Doc Ref S626

10 STEP 7 DEFINING THE LATE CODES 1. Select Tools / Codes / Late Codes to open the Late Codes dialog. 2. Select code U to indicate Late after registration closed. 3. Select code L to indicate Late before registration closed. 4. Click on the Save button to save your changes. STEP 8 PRINTING A LIST OF NEW ATTENDANCE CODES 1. Select Reports/Attendance Codes to view a list of the new settings for your codes. 2. Compare these codes with your original codes (which you printed in Step 4) and decide which code replacements are necessary, for example, Replace with code U. Replace code I with J. Replace code M with I. IMPORTANT NOTE: STEP 10 will perform the replacements throughout pupil/students attendance records for all years in your SIMS SQL database, including Lesson Monitor records. Before you start STEP 10 you must ensure all users are out of sims, including Lesson Monitor, until STEP 13 has been completed. THERE IS A GRID AT THE END OF THIS DOCUMENT FOR YOU TO MAP CODES AS A PAPER EXERCISE BEFORE PROCEEDING. 6 of 11 Doc Ref S626

11 STEP 9 CREATING A BACKUP Please create a back of your SIMS SQL database via System Manager. 1. Double click on the System Icon 2. Close the Welcome Screen 3. Select Tools/Create Backup 4. Type in the description Pre Attendance Code Converter. 5. Click on the create button. 6. The backup will be created, please be patient this could take sometime. 7. Click OK to the confirmation message and close System Manager. 8. Close Sims.Net Before running the Attendance Code Converter Utility, ensure that all other users are logged out of SIMS, as the SIMS database must be locked by the utility in order for the conversion to be run. STEP 10 RUNNING THE ATTENDANCE CODE CONVERTOR To use this utility, you must be assigned the role of Attendance Manager. 1. Select Start/Search from the Taskbar then For Files or Folders the Search Results screen will open. 2. Select All Files and Folders. In the All or part of the file name enter CodeConvertor. (Please check the spelling is correct). In the Look In box click on the down arrow and select My Computer. Click search 3. The CodeCovertor.exe will appear in the list on the right of your screen 4. Double click on the CodeConvertor.exe Icon. 5. A Sims Database login will appear, enter your Login Name and Password and click OK to open the utility. 7 of 11 Doc Ref S626

12 6. The following message appears, click yes to continue. 7. The following screen will appear, click yes to continue. 8. The following screen will appear. 9. Select the old Attendance Code from the From Code drop down list.(please note the description will have changed, as you have already altered it in Step 6). 10.Select the new Attendance Code from the To Code drop down list. 11. Click the Add button to confirm your choice. The details are shown in the list box. If you have added a code change in error, highlight the appropriate line in the list and click the Remove button. 8 of 11 Doc Ref S626

13 12. Once all the required changes have been added, click the Convert button and then confirm that you wish to convert the selected Attendance Codes. Once the conversion has completed successfully, a confirmation message will be displayed on screen. 13. Click the Close button to exit the Attendance Code Converter Utility. STEP 11 LESSON MONITOR USERS ONLY REMOVING OLD CODES FOR LESSON MONITOR 6 If you are running Lesson Monitor 6 you must ensure that all reference to the old codes are removed for the local Access database. This can be achieved by opening Lesson Monitor select Tools/Delete Local Access Database. Read the message that appears on screen, if all data has been saved click Yes to continue. Lesson Monitor will close automatically. THIS HAS TO BE COMPLETED ON THE SERVER AND EVERY WORKSTATION before using Lesson Monitor again. STEP 12 PRINTING CODE CHANGES REPORT The Attendance Code Changes report is used to report any changes made to the description, the statistical meaning and the physical meaning of a code, as well as any code mappings made using the Attendance Code Converter Utility. A new change type Code Additions has been added to the Change types drop down list to enable you to produce a report based on the new DfES code changes. 1. Open Attendance 2. Select Reports/Attendance Code Changes to open the Attendance Code Changes dialog. The following screen will open. Select date range and Change Types, Select All Types choose the user you want to report on and click Print. 9 of 11 Doc Ref S626

14 STEP 13 CHANGING OMR SHEETS AND OMR SETUP If you are using an Optical Mark Reader you will need to buy Absence sheet Version 6 that incorporates the new codes. 1. Open Attendance 2. Select Tools/Options/OMR Setup; select the Additional Settings tab, an extra radio button has been added to the Absence Sheet panel. 3. Select the radio button for Version 6 Absence Sheet. Congratulations you have completed your Attendance Code implementation. 10 of 11 Doc Ref S626

15 Old Code Description Statistical Meaning Physical Meaning New Code Description Statistical Meaning Physical Meaning