Sims office User Top Tips and Techniques – Primary

Running the School Report

Select Reports | School Report to display the School Report dialog.

The Reference Date defaults to today's date but this can be changed by clicking the

Calendar button and selecting an alternative date, if required.
Select the required Assessment Term from the drop-down list. The

Assessment Term is set by default to the most recently completed half term before the reference date. The option to specify a different half term is also available.

Reference Date

Only pupil/students who are registered as on-roll on the Reference Date are included in the report output.

Assessment Term

All pupil/student grades in the selected term or half-term are included but where none are found, the most recent grades recorded as far back as the previous Summer term are included in the report calculations.

Include rows containing only zeros/blanks

Any rows that contain null or zero values are not displayed by default.

However, in certain circumstances, rows with a zero value are displayed to provide a full picture:

• 
  Attendance
  

Rows containing a zero value for unauthorised absence are always displayed in the report output.

• 
  Achievement and Behaviour Types
  

Where an achievement or behaviour type has been marked inactive but has been assigned to an incident involving a pupil/student who is included in the report output, a row is visible. However, any rows for inactive types without data are not displayed.
If you are exporting the report output to Excel and want to include or edit these rows, you can choose to do so. Show Long Version

You can choose between short and long versions of some report areas:

Attendance

Assessment, by Key Stage.

When the Long Version is selected, a sub-group analysis of the report categories data is included, as demonstrated in the following table.

Sub-group	Notes
Male	Both rows are hidden if either Male or Female is an empty category (i.e. in an all-boys or all-girls school).
Female
FSM	Both rows are hidden if no pupils in FSM category.
Not FSM
CLA	Both rows are hidden if no pupils in CLA category.
Not CLA
CLA or FSM	Both rows are hidden if no pupils in CLA or FSM category.
Not CLA or FSM
Pupil Premium	Both rows are hidden if no pupils in Pupil Premium category.
Not Pupil Premium
Sub-group	Notes
Low	All three rows are hidden if all three categories are empty (i.e. if no Prior Attainment data is available).

PA Middle
PA High
EAL	Both rows are hidden if no pupils in EAL category.
Not EAL
SEN	Both rows are hidden if no pupils in SEN category.
Not SEN
Traveller	Both rows are hidden if no pupils in Traveller category.
Not Traveller

• 
  Hiding related pairs of sub-group rows when there is no data in the master category.
  
• 
  Some rows in the report are in pairs, e.g. FSM, Not FSM, CLA, Not CLA, etc. Where there are no pupil/students in the master category, e.g. there are no pupil/students recorded as in receipt of FSM, the related row for Not FSM is not displayed in the report output.
  

Sub-group pairs are not expected to add up to 100%, e.g. SEN and Not SEN, Traveller and Not Traveller, etc.
Key to Abbreviations Used

• 
  CLA = Child Looked After
  
• 
  EAL = English as an Additional Language
  
• 
  FSM = Free School Meals
  
• 
  PA = Prior Attainment:
  
  • 
    PA Low = Below 2B
    
  • 
    PA Middle = 2B
    
  • 
    PA High = Above 2B.
    

• 
  SEN = Special Educational Needs.
  

Show Coverage

The content of the data that is not Assessment based reflects the situation at the Reference Date or the range of dates between the reference date and the start of the academic year that it falls within. The Assessment-related data is based on results recorded for the selected Assessment term or earlier. If a result is not found for a pupil/student in the selected term, a retrospective search is conducted for the most recent result, as far back as the previous Summer half-term.

The Coverage figures inform you of the basis of various calculations used in the report. There are three coverage figures: N is the number of pupil/student results found, T is the total number of pupil/students and R is the number of results found in the selected Assessment term. When R is less than N, it means that a retrospective search has been conducted to find some results. The calculation is N (R) / T, where:

• 
  N = the number of pupil/student grades considered in the calculation. This can also
  

include data from previous terms.

• 
  R = the number of pupil/student grades identified within the selected report half- term.
  

• 
  T = the total number of pupil/student grades that could have been considered.
  

Key Stage Assessment Relationships

Your school may serve one or more Key Stages. After specifying the run time settings for the School Report, only data for the relevant Key Stages that are supported by your school is displayed. The following table displays the relationship between National Curriculum years and Key Stages for England and Wales.

Pupil Ages	Key Stage	NC Year England	NC Year Wales
7-8	2	3	3
8-9	2	4	4
9-10	2	5	5
10-11	2	6	6
11-12	3	7	7
12-13	3	8	8
13-14	3	9	9
14-15	4	10	10
15-16	4	11	11
16-17	5 (L6)	12	12
17-18	5 (U6)	13	13

Key Stage 2 Assessment

Pupil/students are expected to make two Levels of Progress during Key Stage 2 (6 sub levels, 12 points). It is possible to calculate the regressed target for a half-term during Key Stage 2, based on the End of Key Stage 1 target and the expected progress across the Key Stage.

Key Stage 2 is four years long so the End of KS2 target regresses by 0.5 points for each half-term. For each subject in National Curriculum Year groups 3, 4, 5 and 6 for example, Mathematics, Reading and Writing, the number and percentage of pupils achieving or surpassing the regressed target in each-sub band is displayed.

For Key Stage 2, looking back at Key Stage 1 Prior Attainment (PA), the pupil/student's average point score is calculated for Reading, Writing and Maths:

PA Low = Less than 12

PA Middle = Between 12 and 17.99 PA High = 18 or above.

P Scales

The P Scales are descriptions of attainment levels below Level 1 of the National Curriculum. They have been developed for use in the monitoring of attainment and progress of pupils with Special Educational Needs. The scale runs between P1i and P18. P Scales represent a range of grades from the Gradeset TPNC Fine Levels.

EAL Steps

EAL Steps can be used as an extension to the National Curriculum below Level 1. EAL Steps represent a range of grades from the Gradeset: TPNC Fine Levels.

Other

These measures include W = Working towards, A = Unable to assess or exempt.

Key Stage 2 Attainment

Aspects for Reading, Writing and Maths.

Aspect Name	Subject
TP Maths Actual	Maths
TP Reading Actual	Reading
TP Writing Actual	Writing

Key Stage 2 Attainment vs Target for Reading, Writing and Maths

Aspect Name	Subject	Mode
TP Maths Actual	Maths	Actual
TP Maths Target	Maths	Target
TP Reading Actual	Reading	Actual
TP Reading Target	Reading	Target
TP Writing Actual	Writing	Actual
TP Writing Target	Writing	Target

The report locates the next recorded target for each pupil/student in or after the selected Assessment term, looking forward as far as the end of the academic year, and regresses it by 0.5 points per half-term for Key Stage 2. A comparison is then made with the grade recorded in or before the selected Assessment term.

Only pupil/students with both a recorded grade between the Assessment term and the previous Summer term, and a recorded target are included in the figures for Above, On or Below target. It is suggested that pupil/student data is revisited and targets assigned if you want to see meaningful data in this column. The % denominator is the number of pupil/students who are being considered. The Average Point Score represents the mean points score attainment for each subject. Please refer to Specifying the Run Time Settings for further information.

Progress from Key Stage 1 for Reading, Writing and Maths

Aspect Name	Subject
EN AT2: Reading KS1	Reading
EN AT3: Writing KS1	Writing
MA TA: Mathematics Subject Level KS1	Maths

Progress from Summer Aspect - Results achieved in the last Summer term

Baseline Aspect Name	Subject
TP Maths Actual	Maths
TP Reading Actual	Reading
TP Writing Actual	Writing

1. 
   
   

Printing the report

1. 
   Click the Print button to display the Print dialog.
   

2. 
   Click the Page Setup button to display the Page Setup dialog.
   

3. 
   Change the settings to your own requirements and click the OK button to print the report.
   
4. 
   Click the Scale button, change the settings and click the OK button.
   

5. 
   Click the Magnifier button to enlarge the report display, then click the Zoom In and Zoom Out buttons until you have restored the display to the default size of 100%.
   

6. 
   You can scroll through the pages of the report by clicking the First Page, Previous Page, Next Page and Last Page buttons.
   

7. 
   Click the Multiple Pages button and select the required page configuration for the report output.
   

8. 
   Click the Color button to display the Color Palette.
   

9. 
   Select the required colour from the Custom, Web or System tabs to customise the report output to your own requirements.
   

Exporting the School Report

The School Report output can be exported in a variety of formats, depending on your requirements.

1. 
   Click the Export Document button and select the applicable option from the drop-down list.
   

2. 
   Select the PDF File option to display the PDF Export Options dialog.
   

3. 
   Specify the required preferences and click the OK button to display the Save As dialog.
   

4. 
   Navigate to a suitable storage location, assign an appropriate File name to the .PDF and click the Save button.
   
5. 
   Alternatively, select either the XLS or the XLSX option from the Export Document drop-down list to display the relevant Export Options dialog.
   

The preferences available for selection from the XLS and the XLSX Export Options dialogs are the same.

6. 
   Specify the required print preferences and click the OK button to display the Save As dialog.
   
7. 
   Navigate to a suitable storage location, provide an appropriate File name for the document and click the Save button.
   

CTF – Adding a new Destination School
Select Tools | Other schools

Then select new. This will take you to the screen below:-

Enter the school name, LA, Establishment Number (DFE Number) & School Phase then save. You will need to close all CTF screens if they are open. The school should now appear in the ‘destination’ drop-down list.
Dinner Money 7 – Recording online payments

1. 
   Select Focus | Dinner Money | Pupil Payments (or Staff
   

Payments) to display the Select Payment Date and Type dialog.

2. 
   Enter the Payment Date or click the Calendar button and select the
   

appropriate date.

NOTE: Dates in the past can

be entered, but future dates

cannot. The Payment Date

must fall within the current

academic year.

3. 
   Select a radio button to indicate
   

the required Payment Type. If the

Other Payment Type radio

button is selected, select the type from the drop-down list, which is displayed when this radio button is selected.

NOTE: Where an Other Payment Type is selected, only the Amount

column is displayed.
Enter the amount then select the Save button. This records the payment against the pupil but the amount will not appear on the banking return.