SIMS .net 7.112 (labelled SIMS 2008 11a November Main 2) is now available for supported secondary schools via SOLUS. Primary, special and nursery schools have already been upgraded.

This release contains new functionality to assist with the submission of the School Census Spring Return 2009.

A number of new Assessment features are also included in this latest release. Please click here for further information.

Full details of this update and the previous release (which wasn’t installed by most schools) can be found in the Release Notes, available at the following internet links:

• SIMS .net 7.112 - November 2008 Main (2nd) Release
• SIMS .net 7.110 - September 2008 Update Release

Please note that SOLUS should be at version 2.20 or higher in order to successfully upgrade SIMS .net to version 7.112.

If you require any further assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact any member of the team.

The November release of Assessment Manager contains some useful (and timesaving) new features for assessment co-ordinators. Here’’s a list of the main ones taken from Capita’’s release notes:

New Features

This release includes the following new features:

Marksheets Calculating on Data Entry

Marksheets can now be set to calculate results automatically for all summary rows and formula columns. This occurs when you click the Entry key after entering or editing a result, or when the cursor leaves the cell.

Viewing the Student Teacher View Page from a Marksheet

Clicking a pupil/student’’s name on a marksheet now displays the Teacher View page, which displays an ‘at a glance” summary of their attendance, behaviour, achievements etc.

Displaying Multiple Additional Student Information Columns on a Marksheet

Multiple additional pupil/student information columns (i.e. date of birth, gender, age in registration group, etc.) can now display on a marksheet.

Adding a Marksheet to the Favourites Panel

A marksheet can be flagged as a favourite, so that it can be accessed from the Favourites shortcut panel in SIMS .net.

Setting the Default Width of Narrow Columns on a Marksheet

You can set the default width of marksheet columns when a marksheet is viewed in mode.

Copying and Pasting Additional Pupil/Student Information into an Aspect

The functionality that enables the copying and pasting of column contents can now be used to copy additional pupil/student column details into an appropriate aspect.

Adding Multiple Result Sets to a Template

When adding columns and formula columns for data entry to a template, it is now possible to select more than one result set.

Viewing Template Columns in Full Screen Mode

You can expand the Template Columns panel to the screen, by clicking the Zoom button.

Applying Additional Student Information Columns to a Template

Additional pupil/student information columns can be displayed on all marksheets created from the selected template using the Create Template Columns wizard.

I managed to test a few of these changes yesterday and was very optimistic that they would speed up the process of creating templates.

As ever, if you”d like me to come in to school and discuss these changes, or any other Assessment Manager issues, feel free to email me.