Handling a School Closure in SIMS – Snow!

It’s starting to look a bit like Christmas with snow falling all around us, but whilst it’s lovely to look at from the comfort of your home, it can also cause havoc for schools and it might be necessary to close your school.

Whilst we can’t help much with that (we’re not the greatest with spades here!) we can at least help you reflect this in your SIMS system.

Creating an Exceptional Circumstance in SIMS

• Select Focus | Attendance (or Lesson Monitor) | Exceptional Circumstances
• Click the ‘New’ button to display the Create an Exceptional Circumstance page
• Enter the dates e.g. from 11/12/2017 AM to 11/12/2017 PM
• By default the Group Type is displayed as Whole School. If a different group is required, select this from the drop down list and then click on ‘Search’ to refresh the display.
• Select the required Attendance code from the drop down list i.e. Y
• Enter the reason in the Description field e.g. School is closed due to snow
• Highlight the pupils/students e.g. Whole School
• Click the ‘Apply’ button; you will see a message confirming that the marks have been applied.

If you require any assistance with this process please call us on 0345 222 1551 • Option 3 or email MISservicedesk@schoolbusinessservices.co.uk

Preparing for your Spring Census 2018

With the spring 2018 Census fast approaching here are some dates and documents to help you get prepared.

We’ll be back to you in the new year with more information as usual along with the production documents.

Read our blog for more details.

Read more...

National Living and Minimum Wage April 2018

The Government have announced that with effect from 1 April 2018 the National Living Wage (NLW) and National Minimum Wage (NMW) will increase.

Read our blog for more details.

Read more...

Changes to statutory maternity and sick pay rates in 2018

The government has recently announced the changes to statutory maternity and sick pay rates in 2018.

This includes maternity, adoption, paternity and shared parental pay.

Read our blog for more details.

Read more...

Important information about your SIMS upgrade

An issue has been found regarding the latest SIMS upgrade and Sophos Intercept X.

With all the excitement around the new upgrade we’ve unfortunately been made aware of an issue that will stop the upgrade from happening correctly.

Read our blog for more details.

Read more...

More information about our Exams Officer training

A reminder about our Exams Officer training which is just a few weeks away!

This blog features screenshots of course content, information about the trainer, booking details and more…

Read more...

SIMS Upgrade Autumn 2017

Sing! Dance! Throw a party! …Okay, maybe don’t get too excited, it’s just the new SIMS Upgrade.

We are starting to contact schools to arrange your upgrade over the next few weeks but there is one thing you must have done before we can do this.

Read more...

School Workforce Census Autumn 2017

With November rapidly approaching and the half term break finishing it’s time to start looking forward to the School Workforce Census Autumn 2017.

Here you are going to find the how to guides, and some of the more common queries and issues for this years return.

Read more...

Exams Officer training delivered by Paula Wood

We’re excited to announce that Paula Wood has recently joined the SBS MIS team. Paula has an outstanding national reputation amongst Examinations Officers and she is well known for offering training which is informative, interactive and enjoyable.

In November and December, Paula is delivering a one-day course that is ideal for schools with individuals new to the role of Exams Officer and experienced Exams Officers looking for a refresher.

Read more...

Importing Updated Exams Results

At this time of the year you may be getting in some updated results and wondering how to get these into SIMS and Exams Organiser.

Read more...