Capita SIMS Guidebook
Marksheet Entry
Contents
Data Protection and the use of this guide
The need for SIMS
Introduction to assessment
Accessing the Marksheet
Entering Grades
Entering comments
Data Protection and the use of this guide
This document is designed to offer advice on best practice on the input, format and retrieval of data from the SIMS database. It is not designed to be and exhaustive list of the capabilities of SIMS however it will demonstrate that by inputting data in a timely and structured manner the SIMS database can be a powerful tool for both SLT and all members of staff.
This guide can be seen as a training aid for new users to SIMS and as a reference guide for others, in order to make the guide as simple to follow as possible it contains screen shots of the live database. It is not practical to redact information contained in these screenshots. It is therefore imperative that this guide should not be shared with any person who does not have access to our SIMS system – to do so would be breach of data protection legislation and safeguarding procedures.
If you have any questions concerning sharing this document, please contact the Data Manager.
This guide should be read in conjunction with the SIMS Guidebook.
The need for SIMS
Capita SIMS is used at EOTAS as the main repository of data concerning our young people including their personal identifiers, SEN needs, attendance information, assessment information, behaviour profiles and communications with parents / carers.
SIMS acts as a tool to inform and direct the actions of a number of roles within EOTAS and how we interact with external government bodies and agencies; the list below is far from exhaustive but should be indicative that every member of staff within EOTAs is reliant on the information held within SIMS.
All Staff
Attendance Officer
Behaviour Specialists
Data Manager
DFE
DSL
EWO
Exams Officer
Finance and HR
Governors
Heads of Centre
Health and Safety
LA
Ofsted
Outreach workers
Parents
Police
PSA
Reintegration Officers
School Nurse
SENCO
SLT
TA
Teacher
Tutors
In addition to SIMS being a powerful tool to aid all staff in their day to day jobs it contains information that helps us strive for the best possible outcomes for our young people and satisfies an important Ofsted perquisite.
With so many people with different responsibilities reliant on SIMS it is essential that the information we enter into SIMS is accurate and consistent. As with all databases the information we can retrieve is only as good as the information we enter.
Introduction to assessment
EOTAS records assessment six times a year. These Progress Points (PP points) enable us to demonstrate progress external auditors, Management Committee and help to focus resources etc. best support our students. The information obtained at each PP point feeds in to a wealth of other reports as well as producing reports home to parents. It is therefore vital that information entered at PP points is accurate and professionally presented.
Stratton Education Centre produce two different styles of reports throughout the year. Terms 1, 3 & 5 are short reports with grades only and 2, 4 & 6 contain grades, teacher comments and head of centre comments. The principle of entering information is the same.
Accessing the Marksheet
Go to FOCUS>ASSESSMENT>MARKSHEET ENTRY
In the template name field type either ‘short’ or ‘long’ depending on what PP point we are on and click search.
Double click the correct Year Group and PP point e.g. Year 10, PP3
You are presented with a grid to complete. On long reports you are asked for a Working Grade and a comment about pupil performance and how to improve.
Entering Grades
Enter the grades in the correct column. Please do NOT leave any gaps when entering grades and this will effect average grade scores across the subject. If a pupil does not take a particular subject because of a reduced timetable, then the code RT can be used.
Please do not use n.a : this grade is historical and will be removed for the forthcoming academic year.
Entering comments
Double clicking on a comments cell will expand the box making it easier to write meaningful comments
Please ensure that comments are entered is a professional fashion and that spelling / typo errors are corrected. Errors are underlined in red - Right click on the underlined word to correct.
Once finished click Apply and NEXT to enter a comment for the same subject. i.e for the same subject for the next pupil in the list.
Click Apply and Next Comment to move to the next subject comment for the same pupil.
IF ANY OF YOUR ENTRIES ARE IN RED THEN THEY HAVE NOT BEEN SAVED
Click save before exiting.