Creating a User Defined Group

Please see the following document for advice on how to create a user defined group: Creating a User Defined Group KB13332 – Running reports for user defined group KB23120 – Adding a user defined group to Discover KB19505 – Removing a student from a user defined group.   Reviewed: 27/7/20

How to hide Home language on student record.

Please check with your Local Authority that they are not collecting information on Home language before making this change. With the Spring 2016 release of Sims you can now hide the Home Language from within the Ethnic/Cultural section of the Student record. No data is deleted when making this change it is just simply hidden…

Teacher App crashing on an iPad

User is able to log in but the application closes after a few minutes. Please try resynching with iTunes (Settings > iTunes & App Store) then uninstall and reinstall the SIMS teacher app.

Teacher App Updates

How can schools update Sims Teacher App to the latest release. Each device will need upgrading, it cannot be done centrally. If the school has automatic updates enabled on the iPads the app will update for the user automatically.  Alternatively, users can update the app manually on their device from the App store.   Enable…

View Profiles comments for sessions in review mode

If you want to view a list of comments within Profiles for a session that is in ‘Review Mode’ then you will need to follow these instructions within SIMS: Go to Tools – Performance – Profiles – Batch Printing of Class Check Sheets Search for the Session Select the class and press the Print button Reviewed…

Individual Report – Section with no results still showing the header.

The hide rows with no results is ticked. Remove report sections that contain no results is ticked. The report shows the header for a table with no results.   Please ensure that the section open and section closed tags are inserted at the beginning and end of each table, including the first table on the report….

Duplicate staff in Sims .net

This can happen if staff have been entered in Personnel and separately into Manage Classroom Staff resulting in two staff codes. Also (rarely) if they are in the student focus and that record hasn’t been used as the employee. Usually the issue manifests itself when a teacher cannot see their classes when they logon to…

Benefits of the Scomis Hosted Application Service

Do you spend valuable time and money trying to keep your Management Information System up to date? Our Hosted Application Service removes the burden of managing SIMS onsite with school based servers, so you don’t need to worry about upgrades, patching, backups or keeping server software up to date – we take care of that…

DfE FSM Ever 6 Report “no results for this report”

  Capita have identified that in certain circumstances the FSM report doesn’t show any pupils, even though some are eligible. It seems to be due to N2/R being included in a vertical setup in the pastoral structure, but is still under investigation. In these circumstances changing the year taught in filter to a prompt at…

Introduction to SOLUS 3

  SOLUS 3 is a piece of software which is installed alongside SIMS. It comprises of an SQL database (which will need to be added in to the schools backup routine), a Windows Service and GUI console.     School settings need to be defined in the console.              …

Sending next year’s timetable early (June/July)

Some schools wish to send their next year’s timetable early, i.e. in June or July, so that the students can begin next year’s classes before the end of the academic year.  In order to do this you will need to send a copy next year’s timetable for the appropriate date range, taking care to edit…

Nova T6 : Sending a change to the Cycle mid- year

It is not recommended to send a change to the cycle mid year, but in some cases it is necessary if the times or number of periods must be changed before the start of the new year. If the cycle is changed and sent mid year then the correct date range must be entered.  It should…

School Pupil Tracker within Scomis Hosted Applications

Currently, when using School Pupil Tracker within Scomis Hosted Applications, you will only be able to use the ‘Set Up Helper’. This is the area where you can upload a CTF or a report that has been created in SIMS.You can also use any functions used to update your account within SIMS eg. update classes, attendance, upload…

Error in FPS Budget Companion – “LOCATE LINK-Dll”

Once the user has been set-up in SIMS please log-in to the FPS Budget Companion and select the P7 Link option   Select NEXT   Some schools may see a screen with an error (See Below) – click on the “Locate link dll” button, wait for the files to all populate (takes about 10 seconds)…

FPS Adding CFR Codes to Support Staff

P7 Link Before selecting the P7 Link there are some house-keeping requirements that schools will need to undertake within SIMS Personnel. Each staff member’s contract must be linked to a CFR code; this is a simple process but will take some time to complete, as it requires manual updating of each staff members open contract….

Early Years – Progress Grid Entry – No Students displaying

Pupils are not showing in the ‘Progress Grid Entry’ screen when you click onto the search button. You will need to open the Progress Grid Template: Focus|Assessment|Progress Grid Template Select the template required and double click to open. Click on the browser next to “Course for Template” and remove the Pastoral Overview.   Your students…

Programme of Study Tracking Sheet – “Please import the ResultSet (s)”

  You may receive the message “Please import the ResultSet(s)” after clicking on the Populate icon within the Programme of Study Tracking Sheet. (Route: Focus/Assessment/Programme of Study Tracking Entry)   You will need to import the following templates/aspects from the AMPA folder:   KS4 Assessment mapping Tool aspect PoS KS3 aspect Progress 8 – KS2…

Personnel Absence Analysis report showing high figure

Check the member of staff’s personnel record for absences. Either there is a missing end date or the end date is not correct eg the year has been mistyped. This can occur even if the individual analysis report appears to be correct.   KB16419

School Workforce Census contains no staff

This problem usually occurs when a school has recently converted to an Academy and it does not have URN details entered in SIMS.   To Resolve: Go to Focus>School>School Details You will need to enter the Unique Reference Number (URN) even if this number has not changed since the School became an Academy. You must…

How to show percentage attendance within a marksheet

  This will enable you to colour code the percentage attendance within a marksheet so that you can report on percentage attendance within an Individual Report for parents. Example: Above 95% is green Between 90%-95% is yellow Below 90% attendance is red Create an aspect called “Attendance Traffic Light” (Focus/Assessment/Aspect and click on new) ….

Profiles – Shared Tutors not showing in list entry

You may have the pastoral overview selected, however, Reg Group A is not showing the shared tutors  however Reg Group B is showing both tutors. Check that the Pastoral Overview has been selected in the Report Outline in Session Manager (Focus/Profiles/Session Manager). Without this selected not all registration groups will show in the selected Profiles Session. To…

‘Error: Could not open macro storage.’ when running a SIMS report

‘Error: Could not open macro storage.’ when running a report via Reports > Run Report.     The cause of this problem was a Microsoft Word File Block Setting. To resolve this you will need to open Microsoft Word and click on File -> Options. On this screen select Trust Centre -> File Block Settings….

Replacing a Teacher in Nova T6

If the incoming teacher is replacing an outgoing teacher and is taking over all of the curriculum responsibilities., edit both the code and name of the outgoing teacher in Plan | Teachers | Edit and overtype the outgoing teachers details with the replacing teacher. The timetable will be allocated to the new teacher. The new teacher…

Rooms – Examinations Organiser

Rooms are in SIMS.net but are not appearing in Examinations Organiser In Examinations Organiser: 1. Tools | School Setup | Exam Room. 2. Select ‘ADD’ to add a new exam room. 3. Click on the browser to view the list of rooms available. If the room is not listed in the dropdown menu but has…

Exams – Making Amendments

Once an entries submission has been made, changes to these entries may need to be made. Changes to entries can be made in Examinations Organiser and then an amendment file can be created and sent to the exam board. Focus > Candidates > Internal > Select the Student On the Internal Candidate Details screen, select tab…

Cover Browse Showing In Red When All Periods Have Been Covered

A day in the Cover Diary browse is showing in red but there are no periods requiring cover This is caused by a staff member having two instances of absence, one absence was added and the cover was entered and then another absence has been added which overlaps the original absence. See the example in…

How to add a Superannuation change

Once there has been a new superannuation rate agreed it needs to be entered into Sims .net Go to Tools>Staff>Superannuation Search for the required scheme Click on the New button on the right Enter the date of the agreement and the value – this is a percentage but do not enter the %% character Click…

Unable to send InTouch emails

Send option is greyed out in InTouch so emails cannot be completed. As well as a valid email address in the To field please make sure there is text in both the Subject line and in the main body of the message.