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Scomis Autumn 2019 Newsletter |
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Welcome to our Autumn Edition of Password Newsletter, and welcome back to the new school year. We are delighted to announce that a number of new schools have joined Scomis since the last issue and we extend a very warm welcome to all of you: |
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► Westover Green Community School, Somerset ► Willowdown Primary Academy, Somerset ► Woolavington Village Primary School, Somerset |
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Preparing for a No-Deal Brexit |
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The Government has published an article on how to prepare your school for the event of a no-deal Brexit from the EU on October 31st. Have a read of it here. |
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Congratulations to the following analysts for all completing and passing the recent SDI Analyst Training: Ashley Radford-Finch Blair McLarnon Brandon Turner Chris Sellick Dan Gill Heidi Miller Matt Dinsdale Sam Callard Sarah Hart Vanessa Foweraker
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This training qualification course equips the support analyst with the skills and knowledge essential to delivering excellent levels of customer service and support.
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We are delighted that the Scomis Group has successfully maintained compliance with the Customer Service Excellence (CSE) standards. Our certification has been extended for another year, and this time we have achieved Compliance Plus in two areas! Compliance Plus means that we have surpassed the level that must be achieved in that area!
"Scomis has a good understanding of what its customers want to see from its services. It has a justifiably excellent reputation for the high quality of services which it delivers to its Education customers. It is working to ensure that it delivers the same quality of services to its newer, Corporate and Contact Centre customers. It was pleasing to see Scomis continue to achieve such high levels of customer satisfaction. " - Nigel Hunt, CSE Assessor |
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Many schools will be reviewing the system that they are currently using to track pupil attainment and progress, taking into account the new Ofsted Education Inspection Framework on workload and use of internal data. Many schools are unaware that SIMS offers a complete pupil tracking system as part of the core product, with formative and summative assessment options.
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At Scomis we have been working with a large number of schools to help them make the most of the SIMS Assessment modules. We have also helped schools move from School Pupil Tracker Online (SPTO) to having a system in SIMS which meets the school's needs. We have a mantra of 'enter data once, use many times' and can follow data through from entry to presentation to Governors and Trust Boards. In addition, class teachers are able to analyse their data and provide a narrative on key groups, utilise tools to facilitate pupil progress meetings, and produce graphical analysis through Discover. Reports can provide in-depth analysis of internal data as well as the key Statutory data points EYFS, Phonics, KS1 and KS2. |
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Reporting to parents is also made easy and these reports can be sent in electronic format in conjunction with other technologies, such as InTouch and Parent App. We don't mandate a pre-configured solution, but use our expertise in SIMS and knowledge of schools to work with you to design a system that works for your school. If you would like to have a discussion with us about the ways in which we can help schools and trusts make use of assessment, contact Scomis on: 01392 385300 or email scomis@devon.gov.uk to speak to your Account Manager for FREE advice.
Have a look at our "Using SIMS to Track Pupil Attainment" flyer here. |
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Are you considering implementing or changing your Parental Engagement system?
Looking for a single sign on solution for parents?
Whatever the current level of parental engagement in your school, Scomis can work with you to help you communicate more effectively and work with parents to improve pupil outcomes.
As a Capita SIMS Engagement Product Partner, we are able to offer our schools a discount of up to 30% on their engagement products until 31/12/2019.
To find out more, give your Account Manager a call on 01392 385300 or email at scomis@devon.gov.uk. |
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Microsoft has published that after 14th January 2020, technical support and automatic updates which protect devices will no longer be available for the above operating systems. Running Windows 7 and Server 2008/2008 R2 after this date runs the risk of your school network being vulnerable. Scomis strongly recommends that customers move to Windows 10 / upgrade legacy servers before January 2020 to continue to benefit from security updates available to fully supported operating systems. Things to consider:
- Are you able to upgrade your devices to Windows 10 and your servers to a supported platform?
- Can your existing servers support devices running the Windows 10 operating system?
- Do you have the resource to upgrade your devices and servers to supported operating systems?
- Do you require new hardware? (Windows 10 has different hardware requirements from Windows 7)
- Have you thought about moving some of your services to the cloud to reduce the requirement for on-premise servers?
For advice and guidance on the above, please refer to our FAQ and contact your Account Manager to arrange a free consultation. |
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Are you efficiently and effectively recording and tracking Pupil Progress?
A few weeks ago we hosted two webinars discussing Assessment and Pupil Tracking in SIMS. if you missed them, you can register and gain access to this webinar for FREE by clicking here.
We have also scheduled two further Assessment and Pupil Tracking in SIMS webinars, click below to register:
►Friday, November 8th 2019, 11:00 - 12:00 GMT
►Friday, November 8th 2019, 14:00 - 15:00 GMT
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. | |
From September 2019, schools and academies will be inspected under the new Inspection Framework as published by Ofsted in May 2019 after a period of consultation. The framework focuses on four areas: |
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· Quality of Education · Behaviour and Attitudes · Personal Development · Leadership and Management
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To find out more, click here. To understand how SIMS can be used to generate evidence for Ofsted, click here for our checklist. If you require any advice or guidance from Scomis, please contact your Account Manager. |
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We are increasingly working with school leaders to help ensure effective use of the systems already in school. This in turn can help save money, achieve greater efficiencies and reduce staff workload as well as improve outcomes. |
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Our new School Improvement Pages will focus on the challenges faced by school leaders and suggest how Scomis can support you through a Policy Strategy Implementation cycle.
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We will also continue to look at how effective use of SIMS can support a school in being ready for Ofsted by monitoring key groups, tracking the success of interventions and promoting good behaviour.
For more information on School Improvement, call your Scomis Account Manager on 01392 385300 or email us at scomis@devon.gov.uk. |
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The DfE is recommending that schools perform due diligence on their IT service providers - to ensure that data flows remain unaffected in the event of a no-deal Brexit. The good news is that Scomis Remote Backup Service (powered by Redstor) is purely hosted in UK based datacentres. This means that customers who have subscribed to the Scomis Remote Backup service are able to prove that their data does indeed reside in the UK. |
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This removes the requirement for schools to carry out additional due diligence; unlike other cloud backup vendors who may be storing and sharing data within the EU/EEA. There are no contractual issues with sharing and transferring of Scomis Remote Backup data, as no data is shared or transferred between the UK and the EU/EEA and vice versa. All data is securely encrypted prior to transmission and stored on ISO 27001 accredited UK datacentres - giving you reassurance that you are compliant with data protection guidelines from the DfE and the Information Commissioners Office (ICO). A Redstor statement confirming the above position can be found via: https://www.redstor.com/blog/what-about-protection-your-data-now-uk-no-longer-forms-part-eu/ For more information about Scomis Remote Backup service please visit: https://www.scomis.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Remote-Backup-Literature.pdf |
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We are pleased to announce Scomis will be running the Examination Officers Conference again for 2019.
Capita, OCR, WJEC and JCQ have all been invited to deliver topical sessions and updates. We are making this year's conference more interactive and welcome your input on what you would like covered! Please include any information when you make your booking. |
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The conference will take place on Thursday 5th December 2019 at Exeter Racecourse, Kennford, Exeter, EX6 7XS.
The cost of the full day conference will be:
SLA Schools: £50
Non SLA Schools: £60
This includes lunch and 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 2019 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. In previous years the conference has been fully booked so booking early is highly recommended!
We look forward to seeing you again and welcoming new Examination Officers! |
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We are pleased to have announced the dates of our Autumn Term 2019 User Groups which are as follows: ►26th November 2019- Cornwall User Group The Royal Showground ►27th November 2019- Devon Combined User Group Exeter Racecourse ►3rd December 2019- North Somerset User Group Clevedon Hall ►4th December 2019- Oxfordshire User Group The Oxford Witney Hotel ►5th December 2019- Portsmouth User Group The Marriott Hotel, Portsmouth ►11th December 2019 Virtual User Group (Webinar)
Look out for your invitation in your inbox soon! |
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We'll be exhibiting at a couple conferences this term, so if you happen to be attending do make sure you visit us and say hello! We'll be at: ►DAPH Conference 2019 - ►10th October (Stand G8) -Saunton Sands Hotel, North Devon ( https://www.daph.org.uk/news-and-events/conferences/) ►Babcock EYFS Conference ►14th October - Sandy Park, Exeter►ISBL National Conference 2019 ► 20th - 21st November - NEC, Birmingham (https://isbl.org.uk/Event-Details-Local.aspx?ID=341) At the ISBL National Conference we will be hosting a Parental Engagement Workshop with Matt Burrell from Honiton Community College. |
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Scomis' popular classroom courses are now available for schools nationwide through our new online digital learning service, giving customers the ability to learn any time, any place and at their own pace. The service gives access to high quality flexible learning alongside our classroom-based training, remote training, webinars and bespoke on-site consultancy. Until October 25th you can get a full day course (usually £99) or a half-day course (usually £69) for only £49 when you apply codes EarlyBird99 or EarlyBird69 respectively at the checkout. |
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With ScoLearn Digital you can: - Get the information you need when you need it and where you need it
- Have a varied learning pace
- Revisit content as many times as you like
- Receive certification on completion of courses
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To view or purchase a course, simply visit https://scomis.learningpool.com and visit the Quick Buy option at the top of the page. More courses will be added based on customer feedback and demand. | | Power BI Education uses academic data to create visually stunning analysis and reports for any school / academic institution. Scomis is now able to offer a 1-day training course to anyone interested in developing their understanding of Power BI and how they can use Power BI to develop analysis and communicate business information in an academic setting. Delegates are required to have an understanding of SIMS.net reporting so that they can produce reports from SIMS containing the data which they want to report on using Power BI. A working knowledge of Excel would be advantageous but not essential as you are led through the structured exercises. For more information visit our website https://www.scomis.org/training/course-timetable/ Click here for the course Syllabus in more detail. Power BI for Education Syllabus | | To view our upcoming classroom courses find our timetable here.To discuss any further training needs, give us a call on 01392 385300 or email scomis@devon.gov.uk. | |
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Scomis, Great Moor House,
Bittern Road, Sowton,
Exeter, EX2 7NL |
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This message was sent to austin.m.robison@devon.gov.uk by Scomis. Follow this link to . |
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