Currently Supported Software Versions
A list of currently supported software versions correct at time of release.
Setup Process for SIMS Online Services (inc. Parent App)
This article details the four steps that are required to complete the on-boarding process for configuring SIMS Online Services. Step One – Requesting Joining the SIMS Online Services To request Parent App Lite please click here. You will be asked for the following information: The School’s Options contact School name School Post Code School LA…
Error: ‘Security package error occurred in the transport layer’ when connecting to the Hosted platform
Error: Security package error occurred in the transport layer for Windows 10 users trying to connect to Scomis Hosted Applications platform. This issue is affecting Windows 10 users that are connecting to the legacy gateway server for Windows 7 machines. The following FAQ http://faq.scomis.org/kb11624/ has more information related to the specific gateway servers. The default…
Creating custom named date range for use in Course Manager / Academic Management
You can create custom date ranges in SIMS for use in Academic Management by browsing to Tools > Setups > Curriculum Setup > Curriculum and then click the New button on the menu bar. You need to enter the name and the from and to dates. Once saved, this will apply for all users in…
Changes to Teacher App
On February 28th there will be an update to SIMS Services Manager and Teacher App. There have been several technical changes made to the SSM package, Teacher App and the Teacher App Administrator websites due to Microsoft retiring their support for the “Access Control Service” (ACS). If the appropriate action outlined below is not taken, Teacher App…
Manually inviting user to Parent App / Parent Lite App
When a user is invited to use SIMS Online Services, it keeps the original email that was invited and doesn’t update when the email is changed in SIMS. There doesn’t appear to be a way to cancel the invitation so what you need to do is to go to https://admin.sims.co.uk and browse to Manage Users…
Identifying addresses modified by CTF import bug
The report can be downloaded by clicking below, please save as to a suitable location, and extract the file so that it shows in your File Explorer as Address change history.rptdef, ready for import into SIMS. Address change history report.zip download For instructions on how to import a report into SIMS, please see the in-depth…
Cannot load or display internet web page
Try a different web browser i.e. Chrome, Internet Explorer, Edge, Firefox Try pinging the web page i.e. ping scomis.org and see if it gets a response and resolved to an IP address (Reply from 37.128.134.205: bytes=32 time=12ms TTL=54). If there is no IP address, there may be a problem with the DNS/Hosts file which is usually…
Clear print queue/print queue stuck
Occasionally a print job may be stuck in the print queue that you cannot clear. You may need to restart the Printer Spooler Service on the curriculum server (or which computer is hosting the printer) and to delete the offending file. The Following should be done by whomever is responsible for Curriculum network: NOTE This will delete all print…
Assigning users additional shortcuts within Hosted SIMS
If you have user management access within SIMS.net, you are able to assign users at the school with additional shortcuts. The shortcuts for the users appear along the left side panel and can be viewed/hidden using the 2 green arrows in the top left of the screen. In order to assign the shortcuts, under the…
Incorrect Connect.ini file / missing connect ini file – External Open VPN Connector
Upon trying to open the local copy of SIMS you may encounter the following error: Incorrect C:\Program Files\SIMS\SIMS .net\connect.ini file : System.Exception When downloading the connector for the first time, it should automatically update the connect.ini file with your schools database information. The file should look like the following: [SIMSConnection] ServerName=SIMSDB12\SIMS2008 DatabaseName=School Name ConnectionType=TrustedAuto CommandTimeout=1000000…
Report for Behaviour/Achievement points over a date range
Current functionality in SIMS makes this almost near impossible or extremely complex to make, so that you can run a report for behaviour/achievement conduct points over a date range. You can download the report definition file below and import into SIMS (Reports > Import), which has made this possible: Conduct Net points over date…
Homepage Quick Search shortcut reporting criteria/tokens
The quick search on the SIMS homepage can be used as a quick reporting tool to help you find information. You can view details of search tokens available in Quick Search by entering the search string ‘help’ – use the scroll bar to view the entire list. Search tokens, starting with #, are used to…
Sending In-Touch messages to applicants – ‘The following recipients do not have any selected communication method’
When sending messages to applicants through In-Touch, you may receive the error ‘The following recipients do not have any selected communication method’. The reason this is not picking up any of the applicants contact details is because its trying to pick up the applicants contact details themselves. Please change the category to ‘InTouch Contacts of…
RTF report not saving changes
When amending an RTF formatted report within SIMS, you may find that the changes you have made haven’t saved. This is due to an RTF report needing to be saved in a different way. Under the ‘Add-ins‘ tab within the toolbar at the top of the page within Microsoft Word, there is an option for…
How to access/login to Hosted SIMS at home
Occasionally, you may need to be able to access your Scomis Hosted SIMS remotely, such as at home. You can access the Scomis Hosted Applications service from anywhere with an internet connection. In order to do this, NOTE: Capita SIMS .net requires Microsoft Office Products for reporting, it is therefore the responsibility of all schools to ensure…
Importing a report into SIMS (RptDef)
The following FAQ demonstrates how to import a Report Definition File (.RptDef) into SIMS.net. If the file is ‘zipped’, download the zip file to a location of your choice or copy the folder and put it somewhere you can find, i.e. your Desktop. Right click on the zip folder and choose ‘Extract all‘ and choose…
Attendance reports for Vulnerable children – Pupil Premium, SEN, FSM or EAL.
The following Attendance/Lesson monitor reports can be run/created in order to show vulnerable groups of children and their attendance figures. This can include Pupil Premium, Special Educational Needs, Free School Meals, Ever6, English Additional Language and others. In order to get a ‘Whole group figure’ for these groups, go to: Reports > Attendance/Lesson Monitor >…
Windows 10 – Map network drive for Admin F & G drives
In order to map a network drive, the user will need an account on both the machine they will be using and the main admin server machine with the same username and password. If the user has already been setup with the same username and password on the server, ignore this step. On the main…
Exporting a SIMS report as a CSV (comma separated) file
There are two ways to create a CSV file from a report, this is usually to import or send the file where it is imported into third party software. After creating the report, on the ‘Default output’ screen at the end of the report, select the Text option under Presentation, in the Format box selected…
CTF removes contact addresses in SIMS
A CTF has been imported into SIMS, however it has removed the address for the student’s contact(s). Generic patch 23690 is available to resolve the issue so that addresses are not removed upon importing CTFs. If you are a Hosted school, please request that this is applied to your data. Extract the zip and apply…
Hosted Applications – Can’t connect to the remote computer using the specified forward proxy configuration
When connecting to the Scomis Hosted Applications service, if you receive the following error: “Can’t connect to the remote computer using the specified forward proxy configuration” Check to see if you can access the internet and one of the following websites in Internet Explorer (not Chrome) : https://gw.scomis.org https://gw-eclipse.rdp.scomis.org https://gw-swgfl.rdp.scomis.org Check that the proxy in…
Can’t connect to Hosted – Error: Remote Desktop Gateway temporarily unavailable
“Your computer can’t connect to the remote computer because the Remote Desktop Gateway server is temporarily unavailable. Try reconnecting later or contact your network administrator for assistance.” This error is usually related to internet connectivity on the workstation, a profile reset for the user will not resolve the error. Test the internet connection, i.e. try…
Creating a new Hosted Applications user account for SIMS
This FAQ will demonstrate how to create a new user for the Scomis Hosted Applications service in order to give staff access to SIMS. Firstly, create the Personnel record for the member of staff under Focus > Person > Staff, click , fill in the appropriate details and click (Ignore this step if you have already created…
Changing a Hosted Applications username (i.e. surname after becoming married)
It is not unusual to request for a Hosted SIMS username to be changed. This is usually due to a change of surname after becoming married. If you wish to change a member of staffs SIMS username, please change the surname in all relevant places of SIMS first, i.e. Personnel and after doing so, please…
Reporting on users SIMS permissions
It is not possible to report on users SIMS permissions groups in the normal reporting/design report area of SIMS, however there is a workaround as below: Go to Focus > System Manager > Manage Users. Click Search. The Print button will become live, click Print and choose the option to Export to a web browser….
Setting proxy server/settings in Microsoft Edge
Go to the … icon in the top right hand of the screen and go to Settings. Scroll down and choose View Advanced Settings Find the button as below under Proxy Setup called Open Proxy Settings Scroll down and find Manual proxy setup and turn Use a proxy server to On. Fill in the details for…
Adding a new/custom permission group to SIMS System Manager
When adding new users or controlling existing users access rights, you may find that you want the user to be able to access a specific area, but the pre-defined permission groups either give them too much or not enough permission to allow the user to do this. Within SIMS, go to Focus > System Manager…
Bulk update Correspondence tick box within a parental record
Within a student record, where the parental contacts are recorded there is an option for ‘Correspondence’. The Parental Correspondence on a contact should be set for those parents who do not live with the student and who wish to receive correspondence and/or a copy of the pupil report. “It is not currently possible to bulk update…
Report for students who live with both parents/only live with one parent
A report to show students who live with both parents or either parent is becoming a common request due to a freedom of information request going around. There is no simple way to produce this report however there is a rptdef (Report Definition File) that can be imported into SIMS under Reports > Import and…