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Scomis - Your ICT Partner. Password: Our News Update.
Scomis July 2018 Newsletter
Issue 90
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Welcome to our Summer 2018 edition of Password, packed with all the latest Scomis news, updates and also a very warm welcome to the following schools:
  • Coades Green (An Daras MAT)
  • Newquay Junior Academy (Newquay Education Trust)
  • Newquay Tretherras (Newquay Education Trust)
  • Brannel School (Newquay Education Trust)
  • Sherford Vale School (Westcountry School Trust)
  • Badsey First School (Gloucester Learning Alliance)
  • Engineering UTC Northern Lincolnshire
  • St Mary's and St John's CofE School (Barnet)
 
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SIMS Summer Upgrade

The Summer Upgrade has been completed and contains a number of enhancements and fixes including:
  • First phase of the bulk deletion of student information to help schools meet GDPR requirements
  • Changes for the Summer exams results and PI reports in Exams Organiser – for more details please read the Exams Bulletin
  • Autumn School Census and School Workforce Census files are included in this release.
We have posted a Summer upgrade bulletin where you can read headline information, download the release note containing all the details, and find useful faqs if you are upgrading onsite.
SIMS Parent Lite
Allows parents to easily update information for their children and contact details.  For more information on SIMS Parent Lite click here

SIMS Primary
For a pilot status update and to find out more about the current status of SIMS Primary click here
 
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Examination Officers Conference

Back by popular demand, we're pleased to announce we're running the Examination Officers Conference again for 2018. 

Feedback from last year was once again excellent!
 
Capita, OCR, WJEC, Pearson and JCQ have all been invited to deliver topical sessions, as well as one available for examination officers to ask questions and share best practice.   If you have any topics or specific areas you would like covered, then please let us know.
 
The conference will take place on Thursday 15th November 2018 at Buckfast Abbey, Devon, TQ11 0EG.
 
The cost of the conference will be:
SLA Schools: £47
Non SLA Schools: £57

 
This will include a two course lunch plus refreshments.
 
To book onto the conference please contact the Scomis Service Desk on 01392 385300 or email scomis@devon.gov.uk using Examination Officers Conference 2018 as the subject title.
 
You will receive confirmation of your booking initially and nearer to the conference we will send you joining instructions to include an agenda and directions.
 
If you haven't already booked there are still spaces on our Examination Results Analysis Workshops.  Details and booking information can be found on our website

Full day: 9.30 am – 15.30 pm
Cost: £170 per person
 
 
12 July 
Oxford Witney Hotel
 Witney

 
 
17 July
 
Bridge Multi-Academy Trust   Bodmin

 
 
18 July
  
The Watermark
Ivybridge

 
 
19 July 
 
Scomis
Great Moor House

 
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Summer Results
 
It's that time of the year again!  As always, there are a number of changes this year. Click on the link if you haven't received a copy of our Summer Examinations Newsletter (with reminders of processes to complete and information about the changes for 2018). 

We have also posted an Exams bulletin to give you the latest documentation and faq's.  We will continually update the bulletin as any updates or fixes are known. 
 
Did you know you can subscribe to the bulletins? – just open it and on the right hand side you'll see a "Subscribe to our blog" option.
 
EXAMINATION RESULTS DAYS – SERVICE DESK OPENING TIMES
 
A-level's:
Wednesday 15th August 2018
Thursday 16th August 2018
 
GCSE's:
Wednesday 22nd August 2018
Thursday 23rd August 2018
 
The Scomis Service Desk will be open from 7.00 am to 5.00 pm on the above days.
 
 
 
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Hardware Procurement

Scomis now offers a free Hardware Procurement Service - helping schools obtain best value for money.  Scomis helps you work out the products you need; providing technical advice to ensure hardware specifications are fit for purpose and meet your requirements. This is a value added service for SLA customers.
 
Scomis obtains quotes from suppliers through our DfE compliant procurement framework – reducing time spent by our customers searching the marketplace and obtaining multiple quotes from suppliers. Prices obtained through Scomis are nationally competitive and can be up to 30% cheaper than buying direct. 
 
Scomis hardware installation services are also available to customers as a chargeable option.
 
For more information please click here
 
 
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The Scomis Desktop

Raise the profile of Attendance with electronic registration!

Still using paper registers?
  • Are you able to monitor attendance daily, effectively and efficiently?
  • Are you able to identify longer-term trends in absence?
  • Are you able to identify persistent lateness?
Find out the benefits of electronic registration here and/or sign up for a free trial of the Scomis Desktop

Latest enhancements can be found here
 
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The Scomis SIMS Audit Service

Do the right people have the right access to SIMS data? (GDPR Compliance)
When did you last carry out any housekeeping in SIMS?
Are you making effective use of SIMS in your school?
 
"The Audit proved to be invaluable, the detailed report following the Audit provided us with clear recommendations and actions for us to take to resolve potential security issues; housekeeping data routines to improve performance of the system; it identified training needs to ensure more effective use of SIMS throughout the school and identified where our data management would not be compliant with GDPR."
 Charmaine Marks at Penrice Academy
 
To find out more about how a SIMS Audit might help you school click
here or contact us on 01392 385300 or at scomis@devon.gov.uk
 
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Scomis has a vast amount of expertise to share and training is complementary to our Service Desk 'How Do I' coaching and 'Frequently Asked Questions' approach.

We understand while staff always need training and continuous professional development schools have significant budget, time and geographical constraints. 
So… we want to modernise our training offer, by first understanding, and then planning how to meet your training needs.

We aim to provide training for new and existing users and for different job roles – for business, classroom and senior leadership teams; through the most effective means, on 'core' and 'hot ''topics. 

You need to use your system effectively and to maximise value for money.  We asked colleagues who attended the Summer Term User Groups for their views and, along with more traditional classroom learning, almost 100% of respondents said they would be interested in E-Learning.

So, 'You Said' and we are working on an approach to develop an e-learning offer for schools.

Meanwhile, we have scheduled classroom-based courses for the Autumn Term aimed at both new SIMS users who may be joining your teams in September and more experienced users who need to develop their skills.  All courses will run in our training room at Great Moor House in Exeter.
 
Schools who would like on-site training can contact us through the service desk or via their account manager to discuss requirements …

Watch this space – and any ideas for topics and target audiences are most welcome – Just email us ….
 
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Please see the link on our website to a clear data security statement and updated terms and conditions to enable schools to populate their data map.

For further information please visit GDPR Information for schools on our website
 
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Does your child play Fortnite?

Are you concerned about the amount of time they spend online?

Did you know the World Health Organisation has officially recognised gaming disorders as a mental health condition?



Read the latest Online Safety Article here
 
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The Scomis Remote Backup Service continues to develop.  Additional features available in the coming months include:
  • Instant Data – instantly recover data from your backups onto another device in the event of a disaster.
  • GDPR search tools – assisting with GDPR compliance and easily search all your device backups for documents. 
  • Free upgrade path from Desktop and Laptop Edition (DL)  / Server Edition (SE) to the Enterprise Server Edition (ESE) of the Remote Backup software.
Enterprise Server Edition (ESE) is the most feature rich version in our Remote Backup software portfolio and is retrospectively compatible to run on most versions of the Microsoft Operating System from Windows 7 to Server 2016. 
 
As Scomis base our remote backup charges on the amount of data protected (with no licencing costs) this means that we will be able to upgrade customers for free to this feature rich version. 
 
Existing backups made via DL or SE can be converted into ESE format.  This will allow customers to upgrade their remote backup software whilst retaining access to their historical backups. To find out more click
here.
 
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Coming to the Exeter Racecourse on Thursday 14th March 2019....
 
 
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....our Showcase event promises to be a thought provoking, engaging and memorable day with content of relevance to everyone in school including the senior leadership team, teaching and administrative staff and governors
 
There will be key note speakers of national notoriety, interactive, hands-on sessions, an exhibition of leading educational providers, prizes and awards.  You'll hear from educational practitioners about how they've successfully addressed key challenges and all delegates will take away ideas to implement in school the very next day that could even save you time and money!
 

Look out for more information during the Summer and Autumn terms when we will start to publish more about the content of the day (which is free of charge to all of our customers); including how to register and the opportunity to join our pre-event competition.
In the meantime please do spread the word and save the date.
 
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Scomis User Groups are scheduled on the dates below.  Further information and booking instructions will be available nearer the time, so please save the date.
 
 
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  • 27th November 2018 - North Somerset User Group
  • 28th November 2018 - Oxford User Group
  • 29th November 2018 - Portsmouth User Group
  • 5th December 2018 - Devon User Group
  • 6th December 2018 - Cornwall User Group
  • 12th December 2018 - Virtual User Group
 
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Scomis Annual Customer Satisfaction Survey Results

We are delighted to let you know, having set ourselves a very challenging target for customer satisfaction of 95%, that we have achieved or exceeded this target in every area, with improved results in many of the criteria versus those achieved last year.
 
 
We would like to thank the 502 customers who took the time to respond to our survey which also included many positive comments. For a ful copy of the report please click here.
 
 
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Dear Grace,
 
My academic year is coming to an end in SIMS.

How do I set up next year so that my students can be promoted into their new year groups?
 
Kind regards,
 
Lily
          Dear Lily,
 
          All notes and useful FAQ's for the End of Year process can be found in our bulletin.
          This can be accessed by going to https://www.scomis.org/sims-end-of-year/
 
          Best wishes,
 
          Grace
 
 
 
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Exeter Head and School chosen for key national role

An Exeter Special School and its Headteacher have become the first in Devon to be apointed to prestigious national role.

Ellen Tinkham School's Head, Jacqui Warne has been appointed as national leader of education; with the school becoming a national support school and a national teaching school. Read the article here


 
 
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Pupil Ryan with Teaching Assistant Caitlin Woodman
 
 
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That's all for this time, except to wish you all a wonderful School Holiday!

Have a lovely break and see you next term!
 
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Phone: 01392 385300
 
scomis@devon.gov.uk
 
scomis.org
 
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  Scomis, Great Moor House,
Bittern Road, Sowton,
Exeter, EX2 7NL
 
 
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