SIMS Year End Procedures 2010

New notes have been uploaded to the SIMS Home Page to guide schools through setting up the next academic year in SIMS.

Click on the links to read these notes now (Release Version 1):

• Helpline End of Year 2010 Notes (Word)


• Helpline End of Year 2010 Notes (PDF)

Please note that these manuals may be subject to change over the course of the next few months, so please check back here regularly for any updates.

FMS Year End Manual 09/10

The latest edition of the FMS Year End manual for 2009/10 has just been uploaded to the SIMS Home Page.

Click here to read these notes now.

These notes and other finance related documents can be found on the Finance Planet of the SIMS Home Page.

Personnel Absences in SIMS .net

Please ensure staff absences are recorded in SIMS .net, these are sent electronically to the ONE database as part of the B2B export which is scheduled to run each week.

Please ensure that the box for working days lost has been completed. SIMS does not automatically calculate this figure, if Personnel Officers do not manually enter the number of working days lost, 0 days will be sent to ONE in the export file. Also ensure the End Date is completed when this is known.

Once absences have been recorded, remember to Review Changes using either the Link from Staff Details, or in Bulk from Routines Data Exchange B2B Personnel Review Changes. Absence information will not be exported unless the school confirms that the information can be sent.

Check the bulk screen is empty - if even one record remains in Review Changes no data will be sent. Please click on Browse and Search when all data has been sent, to double check that there are no names left on the list.

Service Level Agreements - Annual Renewal

School Service Level Agreements (SLAs) are due for renewal from 1st April 2010. SLA packs will shortly be sent to all schools.

This year we are piloting an online sign-up facility which will run alongside the faxback sign-up option. You can use either of these to return your SLA choices but we encourage you to try the online version.

In addition to the paper copy, you will receive an email providing your school’s individual SLA link to the new online form. The online form is pre-populated with information about your school enabling you to view or hide details of all options available, as well as automatically calculating the cost of the options you select and blocking out services you do not need.

If you would like assistance completing your SLA, or would like to discuss your school’s needs, please contact our Customer Service Team who will be happy to come out to your school to offer advice and guidance. Please contact the Helpline.

Weekly and Monthly Tasks in SIMS .net

Below is a suggested list of tasks that need carrying out on a weekly/monthly or a periodical task we are suggesting is carried out during the coming month that over time will lead to improvements in your school’s data quality.

Helpline guidance notes for these tasks can be found on the SIMS Home Page of the Portal - the index offers an easy way of identifying the guidance you are looking for.

Alternatively why not use the Documentation Link from the Home Page in SIMS .net . All the
SIMS Manuals, Quick Reference Sheets etc. can be accessed from the Documentation Centre.

Weekly Checks Tick sheet
[] Personnel - Record Staff Absence
[] Personnel - Review Changes - Send All
[] Attendance - Deal with Missing Marks
[] Attendance - Deal with ‘N’ Codes
[] Dinner Money - Print Debtors & Creditors list

Monthly Checks Tick sheet
[] Run Address Tidy & Merge
[] FMS - Period closure
[] FMS - Print VAT Submittal Form
[] FMS - Check Monthly Bank Statement has arrived
[] Advise ICT Helpline of Staff leavers so accounts can be archived
[] EyeProfile - input data

SIMS .net Academic Management - Preparing for 2010/2011

Secondary Schools will be beginning to prepare for the next Academic Year in SIMS .net.

To help with this process we have posted notes on Preparing for 2010-11 (Using Nova-T6 and Options to Prepare the Timetable) to the Secondary Planet on the SIMS Home Page of the Portal.

SIMS Upgrades

Centrally Hosted schools were updated to the “Autumn” SIMS Update, version 7.126, on 30th January.

This upgrade will only be released to other schools on an ad hoc basis, should they require any of the fixes it contains. The next Main Upgrade is due to be released in April, all schools will need to perform this upgrade as it will contain software necessary for the Summer School Census and the End of Key Stage Wizards for 2010.

Dinner Money 7

Dinner Money 7 is now in use in many Cambridgeshire Primary Schools well ahead of schedule! If you are still using Dinner Money 1.40 and have not had an email about transferring over to the latest version; please contact us as soon as possible.

As a result of our recent demonstrations, we have had several schools who do not currently use Dinner Money but who have expressed an interest in purchasing this product from their 2010/2011 budget; orders have been placed and training is to be organised in the very near future. If you would like to be a part of this; please log your interest with the Helpline.

For those of you who have been using Dinner Money 7 for a while; and would like to know more, we are currently devising a workshop which will include all the latest updates, demonstrations, tips and tricks; ensuring that you get the most out of your Dinner Money package! Watch this space.

WebCat

We have received lots of enquires from schools that have converted to Dinner Money 7 asking when they will be able to upload their CAT forms electronically to WebCat.

The new version of WebCat is current undergoing user testing. As soon as this process has been completed, schools will be advised of the procedure for uploading CAT forms generated by Dinner Money 7 to the new WebCat site.

FMS6 - Year End Procedures

The end of the financial year is rapidly approaching, start planning for it now to make the transition from 09/10 to 10/11 as seamless as possible.

Decide on a cut off date for ordering and ensure that all staff are made aware of this, preferably no later than half term, with a view to clearing all orders and invoices as soon as possible.

Guidance notes for FMS Year End Procedures will shortly be available for download from the Portal. FMS6 Year End Courses are available on 23rd February and 4th March, Centrally Hosted schools will be able to log onto their schools’ database and work on their own year end procedures.

Official Attendance Registers

We would recommend schools that now record all Student Attendance electronically, print off a hard copy of the Official Register Report on a regular basis (monthly/termly).

There have been occasions where attendance records for individuals or groups have been overwritten in error, without hard copy of the Official Registers schools have been unable to manually restore the Attendance/Absence marks that have been lost.

Primary (PUGS) and Secondary (SUGS) User Group Seminars

Attention Headteachers, Senior Leadership Team, Business Managers.

Dates for the next PUGs and SUGs Seminars are as follows:-

• Tuesday 23rd March CPDC - 9.30-12.30 Primary - 13.30-16.30 Secondary
  
• Wednesday 24th March March Library - 9.30-12.30 Primary - 13.30-16.30 Secondary
  
• Thursday 25th March Millennium Hall Buckden - 9.30-12.30 Primary

There will not be any End of Key Stage Seminars this year. Information on EOKS will be included in these User Group Seminars.

Key Dates Feb - Apr 2010

• Reporting for Primary Schools - 9th Feb
  
• RAISEonline for Senior Leaders and Teachers - 11th Feb (WB)
  
• Godmanchester Office & Helpline closed due to essential Electrical works - 17th Feb
  
• FMS6 Year End - 23rd Feb (G), 4th Mar (WB)
  
• Budget Adjustments, Profiling - 17th Mar (WB)
  
• PUGs and SUGs - 23rd (CPDC), 24th (ML), 25th March (BMC)
  
• SIMS Attendance 7 - 1st Apr
  
• Equipment Register - 21st Apr
  
• Managing Student Data (SIMS .net, new users) - 20th & 27th Apr

(G) = Godmanchester; (OC) = Oliver Cromwell, March; (ML) = March Library; (CPDC) = Cambridge Professional Development Centre; (WB) = ICT Service Waterbeach; (BMC) = Buckden Millennium Centre; (OV) = Over Community Centre.

To book on a course listed in Key Dates, telephone 01480 376670.

Preparing the Curriculum for 2010/11

Notes on how to prepare the Curriculum for the next academic year using Nova T6 and Options have now been uploaded to the SIMS Home Page.

Click here to read these notes now.

These and other secondary related processes can be found on the Secondary planet of the SIMS Home Page.