WAUTON SAMUEL USER GROUP, Autumn 2008

CONTENTS

• Language in Common
• Where has the house gone?
• Wauton Samuel user group
• Changes to our web site
• Early Years Foundation Stage
• Web Services
• IT SLA
• Have you been approached by a Wauton Samuel competitor
• Text Messaging
• Lewisham School Workforce arrangements
• News about Wauton Samuel staff
• Case Study
• Learning Platforms

LANGUAGE IN COMMON

One of the biggest changes this term for many schools will be the adoption of a new method of assessing language acquisition for children whose first language is not English. For most schools, it will replace the Hilary Hester Stages of English Fluency in September. Languages In Common uses the following levels: Step 1, Step 2, Level 1 Threshold, Level 1 Secure, Level 2, Level 3 and Level 4. The new assessment is used to track pupils’ progress as they move into the English National Curriculum main scale (level 1 threshold) and beyond.

For most schools, when you next upgrade PASAPP your Stages of English Fluency will automatically be changed over to Languages in Common. The new version is available now on our web site. Over the next few weeks, the levels for Languages In Common will have to be input for those children whose first language is not English. Your EMAG coordinator should be able to supply this information. Full instructions to help with this are on our web site.

Southwark schools

“A strategic decision has been made by the Leadership, innovation and learning support division of Children’s Services to update the EAL assessment categories in line with the required format which was introduced nationally through the ‘Language in Common’ document (QCA) a few years ago. This step will uniform our approach and allow us to monitor and record progression in English language development for EAL learners more accurately and facilitates the ‘moving over’ to National Curriculum levels once learners have progressed though Level 1 Threshold and Secure.” - Elvira Gregory, EMA Manager, Southwark LA.

Lewisham schools

Lewisham LA would like to have this information recorded in an assessment. The Stages of English Fluency on each pupil’s record will remain the same as the LA would like schools to be able to continue to maintain this information if they wish to do so. Any pupils whose first language is not English will need to be assessed each term in the following four areas, Speaking, Listening, Reading and Writing. These levels will then need to be loaded as an assessment and returned to Ermine Benjamine. Full instructions to help with this are on our web site.

Other LAs

Schools in other Local Authorities are already using Language in Common and should be familiar with it. If you need any help please call 020 8691 6622.

WHERE HAS THE HOUSE GONE?

If you have upgraded recently you may have noticed the picture of the house behind the menu has disappeared. For the first time in the history of Wauton Samuel it will not be on our mouse mats either. The ‘house’ is in fact Gordonbrock Primary School in Brockley who were our very first client in 1992.

WAUTON SAMUEL USER GROUP

Towards the end of the Summer term invitations were sent to all our clients inviting you to attend the inaugural meeting of the Wauton Samuel user group. This will take place on 25th September, if you would like another copy of the invitation please contact Jasmine on our helpdesk who will arrange for one to be sent to you. We have already had 110 acceptances and there are only 10 places remaining. We intend to hold another meeting next term and first refusal will go to those who applied unsuccessfully for a place at the Autumn term meeting.

The purpose of the group is to provide a forum in which we can give you information about our latest developments and future plans and, most importantly, to receive feedback and suggestions from you. It will also provide an opportunity for you to meet our other clients both from within your own LA and the others in which we operate. Representatives from some local authorities will also be present.

Regardless of whether you will be attending, you can submit questions or issues which you would like to be raised at the meeting by emailing them to jasmine.heather@wautonsamuel.co.uk. There will also be lots of opportunities to ask questions and make comments on the day. Minutes will be taken and these will be placed on our website along with copies of handouts and presentations used at the meeting.

CHANGES TO OUR WEB SITE

We have completely redesigned our website over the summer break. You can access the original website from a link in the top right corner called ‘Existing Clients Information’. There will be further changes in the future, we’ll keep you updated.

EARLY YEARS FOUNDATION STAGE

Adoption of the new framework for assessment throughout the Early Years Foundation Stage becomes a statutory requirement from 1st September 2008. This applies to all settings which provide care for children from birth to the age of five and includes nursery schools, children’s centres and nursery and reception classes in primary schools.

We have worked closely with several nursery schools and local authority Early Years teams to develop software to support the implementation of this new framework. Wauton Samuel is one of the few providers in the country with software ready to be used from September.

If you would like further information about the new EYFS software please contact Jayne Steel.

WEB SERVICES

Our School Web Based Software has really taken off. We trialled the software in the Autumn term of 2007 and released it for general use in January of this year. We now have new schools adopting it on an almost weekly basis. Schools are saving time because registers are being updated electronically in the classroom and saving money because they don’t need to buy OMRs. Teachers can retrieve information such as attendance, SEN, assessments and much more about their pupils without the need to bother the office staff. If you would like to see a demonstration of School Web Based Software or would like to find out more details please contact Jayne Steel.

IT SLA

Many schools have now taken out our IT SLA. This means they can either arrange for us to visit regularly to attend to all their IT Issues or they can use us for a call out service when something goes wrong in school. We can care for your admin network and your curriculum network. We have experience in looking after lots of different types of networks including Windows Server and RM CC3. We can supply new equipment and have installed completely new networks for a number of schools. If you would like a quote from us please call Steven Krishnan. He will visit your school to carry out a survey and recommend the best option for the provision of an SLA. We are also happy to quote for one-off jobs such as the installation of a new network.

HAVE YOU BEEN APPROACHED BY A WAUTON SAMUEL COMPETITOR?

We firmly believe that Wauton Samuel offers the best products and service on the market. If you are approached by a competitor and told that an even better service can be offered, please call us straight away. We have discovered that in this situation, the extra services most customers ask for are already available from us. If this happens, please call Jayne Steel who will make sure that you are getting the best from the services and products which we offer. One of our great strength has always been the fact that the development of our software has been driven by our clients. So if there is anything you would like the software to do which it doesn’t already then all you have to do is ask.

TEXT MESSAGING

More and more schools are taking our text messaging service, they are finding it is saving them lots of time and lots of money. The main use for this service is to alert parents that their children have not arrived in school but it can be used for many other useful purposes. Many schools use it to tell parents when an after school club has been cancelled and they must collect their children. Some schools use it to remind parents of an INSET day and find it stops children turning up.

“Carole and I are so happy we made the decision to choose Wauton Samuel SMS text messaging service. We use the SMS text messaging in instances of children’s absence, school closures, after school activity cancellation and general reminders. Not only does it save time, it also saves money on paper, photocopying costs and telephone costs. It is so easy to use. We have developed a system to update our database on a regular basis – every September we send contact information sheets to all the parents and carers to update. We also remind parents/carers to provide contact information changes through our regular newsletters. By regularly updating our database means that all of our parents/carers can receive text messages.” Rose Webber and Carole Gardner - St Mary Magdalene Primary School

LEWISHAM SCHOOL WORKFORCE ARRANGEMENTS

Wauton Samuel have been appointed by Lewisham LA to project manage the implementation of the new School Workforce Census for all schools in the authority. This means that even if you don’t use our School Workforce software or our finance module we will be contacting you to advise and train you ready for your first return. We have arranged a meeting on 11th September in Catford and any Lewisham school is invited to come along. The meeting will explain what School Workforce is and explain how you need to prepare for it. We will also be asking for volunteers to take part in the first pilot return. Please email tony.gordon@wautonsamuel.co.uk if you would like another copy of the invitation letter which was sent to all Lewisham schools in July.

NEWS ABOUT WAUTON SAMUEL STAFF

After three years, Sue has left Wauton Samuel. She returned to work in a primary school. Since the last Newsletter we have been joined by Bob who is responsible for our marketing activities and during the summer break we recruited Chris B who is joining client support. Because of the extra business we are taking on we currently have a vacancy to join our Client Support team. If you know anyone who might be suitable for this please ask them to email their C.V. to jayne.steel@wautonsamuel.co.uk.

CASE STUDY: JOHN BALL PRIMARY SCHOOL

John Ball Primary School which is located in Blackheath in the London Borough of Lewisham recently decided to review the way in which they made use of assessment data. Jenny Hill (SENCO and Assistant Head) felt that the school had very good procedures in place for recording the termly assessment data which they gathered. The data was input by a member of the admin team directly into the Wauton Samuel database. Although some limited use was made of the reporting facilities which are built into PASAPP, nearly all of the analysis and reporting which was used by the teaching staff was produced manually.

Jenny and Gill Hunt (Deputy Head) investigated other available options. There was a spreadsheet system promoted by the local authority which had some strengths but its major disadvantage was that it was disconnected from the main Wauton Samuel database and required re-entry of information. They also felt that it was much more difficult to use than PASAPP. It seemed to Jenny and Gill that they ought to be able to make use of all of the contextual information which PASAPP contains rather than having to produce the analyses manually. They were also keen to come up with a solution which gave teachers direct access to data on the children who they taught. It was decided to contact Wauton Samuel to see how they could help and exactly what solutions they could offer.

During an initial consultation with Jayne Steel, the client support manager at Wauton Samuel, it became very clear that there were many reporting facilities already available of which the school were unaware. There was a whole suite of web based reports which the school could make use of and would give teachers access to information about the children who they taught. It was decided to install these facilities and to run some INSET for the teaching staff to introduce them to the new reports. Jayne also identified that the school could save lots of time by making use of the Behaviour module instead of the manual system which the school were following at that time.

After an evaluation period, the school decided that they would like to have Wauton Samuel make some changes and enhancements to the reports. These were developed and installed at the school within a few weeks.

Jenny is really pleased with the results:

“It used to take the senior management team hours and hours to produce the reports which we then supplied to teachers. Now teachers can produce the reports themselves at the touch of a button. “The system allows class teachers to work with their year group partners in order to look all of the children within the year group. We are then able to allocate resources in the most efficient way to ensure that all the needs of the children are met. This simply was not possible before. We can monitor the impact of interventions on the attainment and progress of those children involved. The support from Wauton Samuel has been fantastic. They have listened to our needs and then produced solutions which exceed our expectations. “Coincidentally, a couple of months after we brought the new system into use we were notified of a forthcoming Ofsted inspection. Wauton Samuel helped us prepare for the inspection by showing us how to produce reports which highlighted particular issues within our school and demonstrated evidence of our efforts to address these issues.

“Our school was judged to be an outstanding and happy school. Ofsted wrote: ‘They know the needs of pupils well and carefully track their progress. They are making innovative changes to the way they use computer data to help them with this.’ I am sure that Wauton Samuel have played an important part in helping us achieve this. We are so pleased with the outcome of working with them that we are now going to implement the modules they have developed for Early Years Foundation Stage. We would thoroughly recommend Wauton Samuel and their software to any school.”

LEARNING PLATFORMS

Wauton Samuel are working with suppliers of learning platforms and VLEs to provide integrated solutions for schools. Data is automatically uploaded to the learning platform so that changes in the roll entered via PASAPP are reflected in the learning platform as soon as they are needed. This was successfully trialled and rolled out with the learning platform supplied by Fronter. An interface to LP PLUS is also available. If you are aware of any other learning platforms that your school would like PASAPP to integrate with, please contact our office. We can develop the interface at no cost to your school within a few of weeks.

LEWISHAM BUSINESS AWARDS WINNERS 2008, Summer 2008

CONTENTS

• LEWISHAM BUSINESS AWARDS WINNERS 2008
• School Web Services
• News about Wauton Samuel staff
• Summer School Census
• School Workforce
• Summer Term Assessments
• Finance Module
• Data Protection
• Schools Backup
• A Language in Common

LEWISHAM BUSINESS AWARDS WINNERS 2008

We are very, very proud to tell you Wauton Samuel were a winner in the Lewisham Business Awards. The ceremony was held at the Blackheath Halls and was hosted by Tim Campbell who was the winner of the first series of BBC’s The Apprentice. We came first in the category Best Use of Innovation and were awarded a silver plaque in recognition of this. The judges said that they were very impressed by our range of innovative data management solutions for schools and the glowing testimonials we received from our clients.

You may remember we also were a runner up in the category of Best Customer Service when these awards were last held in 2006.

School Web Services

The introduction of web based technology is our most recent and exciting development. One of our main aims is to create a tool for teachers which gives them secure access to the data about the children they teach.

Using web-based technology means that the device which is used to access this data needs no software other than a standard web browser such as Safari, Firefox or Internet Explorer. It can be run from a PC, a Mac or a laptop.

Each user has their own user name and password and the whole system is securely contained within your school meaning that there is no possibility of unauthorized access from the outside world.

Data that can be accessed this way includes

• Assessments
• Attendance and Dinners
• Ethnicities and Languages
• Pupil Details
• SEN

E Registration is proving to be one of the most popular features. Many schools display and update the register on the classroom whiteboard. This has made the registration process more accurate as pupils can see their register entry for today. There is also an on screen message to wish a pupil “Happy Birthday” on their birthday which can be switched on or off depending on religious beliefs. Once the register has been called they are electronically ‘sent’ to the school office who can then send dinner numbers to the kitchen. This saves valuable time in the school office and removes the need for OMR forms.

“Teachers no longer bother us for class lists and assessment results as they can display and print these themselves. The teaching staff have found that it is really simple for them to track the progress of the children in their class.”
Anne Sanders, Brunswick Park Primary School

School Web Services costs £300 per year. You can book your free, no obligation demonstration by phoning Jayne Steel on 020 8691 6622 or emailing info@wautonsamuel.co.uk.

News about Wauton Samuel staff

Abdul and Chris both became fathers for the first time last term. Abdul’s wife gave birth to a 6 pounds and 6 ounces girl who they have named Tahani. Chris’s partner had a baby boy who weighed 7 pounds 14 ounces and they have named him Tierré

Natalie decided to leave us in March – she went back to hair dressing. To replace Natalie we have employed Ines, she has already began her training and will be helping you when you phone in soon.

Summer School Census

Your next School Census date is 15th May. Your Local Authority will tell you the latest date you can send in your return and how to send it in. Our instructions are already on our web site – if you need any help please call our Client Support Team.

School Workforce

School WorkForce will be a new mandatory return in 2010. Schools in some Local Authorities have been trialing this for the DCFS including some of our clients in Bromley and Southwark. Wauton Samuel was one of the first suppliers in the country to have software ready to make this return.

The return collects comprehensive data about all teaching and support staff. It will eventually replace the 681G return and some elements of the School Census return. The census comprises six modules - Staff Details, Contract, Absence, Curriculum, Qualification and Vacancies. Basic Staff Details include Teacher Number, Family Name, Given Name, Former Names, NI Number, Gender, Date of Birth, Ethnicity, QT Status and HLTA Status. In 2009 some schools from all LA’s will be required to make the return and the first live return in which all schools will be required to participate will take place in January 2010.

The DCSF are happy that our software meets their specifications and the software is available to any school that would like to start using it. If you already have PASAPP and FINANCE from us you can have SCHOOL WORKFORCE free under our current offer. If you would like to take advantage of this offer or book a demonstration please call our Client Support Team on 020 8691 6622 or send an email to info@wautonsamuel.co.uk.

Summer Term Assessments

The usual statutory assessments will take place this term. They are Key Stage 1 Teacher Assessments, Key Stage 2 Teacher Assessments and the Foundation Stage Profile. Our instructions to help you with these are on our website – your Local Authority will tell you how to return your data to them.

If you would like any training on how to use this data to track attainment, progress and value added please phone our client support team.

Finance Module

It’s not too late to change your Finance software and use ours. If you’re using Cash Accounts, FMS or any other supplier we can take your closing balances and any other necessary data out of these systems and put them into ours. Full training is given and support is provided by the Client Support Team you are already familiar with.

Data Protection

There have been many reports on the news and in the press about organisations losing data. When Wauton Samuel take a copy of your schools data we have several procedures in place to prevent it from going missing. All our data connections are secure, data is stored on a secure server and when we are transporting data using a USB key there are passwords in place to prevent access if the key is lost.

If you ever take a copy of your school’s data to work on at home you might want to think about ways to protect the data. If you are a member of our IT SLA service we can advise you on secure methods of taking data home and keeping it safe while there.

Schools Backup

Please can you remind your IT Support to check that your new WS database is being backed up. You need to do this because when your new database was created it was also put in a new location. Your current backup arrangements might not be looking in the correct location to make a successful backup.

A Language in Common

Did you know that in 2000, QCA produced 'A Language in Common' tool to unify the approach to the assessment of bilingual learners across the country. Did you also know that you can record the Language in Common using PASAPP? The assessments module has been adapted to allow all schools to record languages in common so that they may track skills for each pupil from September. Language In Common uses steps and levels to identify a pupil’s skill in four areas which are speaking, listening, reading and writing. Lewisham EMAS team is advising that all schools use this assessment tool as it supports teachers in their differentiated planning for pupils with English as an additional language, thereby accelerating their progress in English language acquisition. For further information please contact your Local Authority or Wauton Samuel. If you are in Lewisham, you can contact Ermine Benjamin on 020 8314 6372 for more details.

Our New Logo

We’ve had a lot of positive feedback on our new logo. We chose the new logo to launch our new sales web site. You can have a look at www.wsEDUit.com. We will continue to maintain the site at www.wautonsamuel.co.uk as a resource for existing clients.

Happy New Year to all our clients

CONTENTS

• School Web Services
• School Census
• Assessments in 2008
• SLAs for 2008/2009
• IT SLAs
• Wauton Samuel Personnel
• New Upgrade Function
• End of Year Finances
• Buy Two, Get One Free
• Client Satisfaction Survey
• Children's Centre Software

School Web Services

Over the past few months, several schools have been trialling the new functions we have developed to allow teachers to have access to data about the children in their class. These functions use web based technology which means that no software needs to be installed on the teachers’ computers – they simply need access to the internet. They can use the functions to complete attendance registers, and enquire on a range of information such as assessments and special educational needs. They can produce their own class lists and get contact information for the children in their class. These trials have been a great success. A big thank you to all who took part.

Anne from Brunswick Park Primary School in Southwark said the following…. “Wauton Samuel’s Web Services are greatly appreciated by both teaching and administrative staff at Brunswick Park Primary School.

“E-registration was introduced across twenty-three classes within a fortnight and it was positively received by all concerned. Registration has become much more inter-active - not only do the children enjoy participating in the E-registration process, but teachers find taking the register a much less onerous task which can be completed in a matter of minutes with only a few clicks of the mouse. As the register can be displayed on the whiteboard, the potential for errors is reduced, as the children are able to see what meal option is being recorded for them. The children also enjoy the recent add-on which highlights any child whose birthday it is.

“We no longer use OMR sheets which is saving us lots of time and money. There was always a worry that an OMR sheet might go missing on its way from the classroom to the office.

“All that is left for the staff in the office to do is to record how much dinner money has been received. The introduction of e-Registration has certainly saved the office staff a great deal of time.

“Teachers no longer bother us for class lists and assessment results as they can display and print these themselves. The teaching staff have found that it is really simple for them to track the progress of the children in their class.

In the near future, we are looking forward to developing our use of the other web services available as we know teaching staff will find the tools invaluable in their planning and recording.

“We would thoroughly recommend this new product to any school that wishes to make the most effective and efficient use of both teaching and support staff time.”

Wauton Samuel’s web based services are now available to any school. If you are interested in introducing them into your school please contact Jayne Steel.

CHRISTMAS CARD

We hope you enjoyed this years card – we enjoyed making it! If you have any requests or suggestions for next year please let us know.

SCHOOL CENSUS

This term’s return date is 17th January. Your Local Authority will tell you how to send the return to them as well as the deadline for you to send it. Full instructions for using our system are available on our web site. These instructions also contain information on the versions of our software which can be used to produce the return. If you need a new version please make sure you get one in good time. If you have not already done so, we strongly advise you to have a practice run as soon as you can. If you would like us to health check your data for School Census please contact us. Nearer to the return date please check our web site for any last minute updates.

ASSESSMENTS IN 2008

The usual statutory returns will be due this year. These are: Foundation Stage Profile, Key Stage 1 Teacher Assessments and Key Stage 2 Teacher Assessments.

Instructions will be available on our web site soon. Your Local Authority will tell you how and when you need to return the data to them.

SLAs FOR 2008/2009

William will be contacting you all soon to discuss your SLA or Licensing requirements for the new financial year. We have included our new pricing structure in this Newsletter.

You will notice that some of our prices have increased slightly more than usual. This is mainly due to the considerable amount of extra work which we have had to carry out for the termly School Census and the new School Workforce return which will become a statutory requirement on all schools by January 2010. The DCFS are encouraging all suppliers of school management information systems to be explicit about the reasons for these increases.

The only other option which was available to us was to increase our prices in line with inflation and to place a virtual embargo on all development work other than that which was required to complete statutory returns. We have set our prices for 2008/2009 so they are fair and transparent. We believe that they still represent excellent value and remain competitive in the market.

Please talk to William if you have any comments about these increases.

IT SLAs

Our IT SLA service is now well established. It was originally set up in response to many requests from schools. They wanted us to provide support for their hardware and system software of the same high quality as that which we provide for PASAPP and the Finance Module. It has been very successful and we now support 25 schools as well as a number of clients that aren’t schools.

Zarah Persaud, the SAO at St Mary Magdalen RC Primary in Brockley said she “found the IT support service team very helpful and efficient”.

Wauton Samuel support the admin office’s IT network. In the last year we have sourced and installed new hardware and helped with the upgrade and maintenance of the older computers. We have also been called to the school in emergencies on occasions when the network has gone down.

Zarah said “It’s reassuring to know that Wauton Samuel are there. They have really helped us out a lot in the last year”

Wauton Samuel can support your admin network, your curriculum network or both. The level of support is tailored to your school’s needs. This means that you can choose to have a visit weekly, bi-weekly, monthly or just when you need it. The charges vary according to the level of support which you buy into but as a guide the daily rate is based on the same level as for our other services, ie £275 per day in the financial year 2007/2008.

If you are interested in our IT SLA please call William. He will arrange a visit to your school to carry out a site survey. Your school’s requirements will be discussed and we will look at the IT equipment you would like us to support. You will be sent the findings of the survey and then you can decide if you would like to sign up for the service.

NEWS ABOUT WAUTON SAMUEL PERSONNEL

We were joined by three new members of staff in October. They are Chris, Jasmine and Tony.

Chris says “Working for Wauton Samuel is fantastic. I’ve moved from a small office to a bigger office and I feel that everyone I work with is my friend. I’m looking forward to building relationships with everyone at the schools.”

Jasmine said “There is such a lovely atmosphere at Wauton Samuel – everyone gets on really well. It’s also a nice feeling when you pick up the phone and help someone at the other end”.

Tony’s comments were “Joining Wauton Samuel was a big decision for me personally and professionally. It has provided me with a very big challenge to overcome. I look forward to the good times ahead”.

WSUPG AVAILABLE FOR EVERYONE

Our simplified upgrade function is now available for clients to download from our web site. If you don’t already have this function installed then read on. Once installed, this new function allows you to upgrade your version of our pupil administration software with the click of one of the buttons in the Housekeeping menu. This has already been installed in over 100 schools making upgrades simple

END OF YEAR FINANCES

January marks the beginning of the final quarter of the school financial year. If you would like help with end of year finances or would like us to Health Check your data please contact us and let us know.

Schools interested in switching to our Finance software for 2008/2009 should contact us to arrange a timetable for taking the closing balances from your current system and loading them into your new data base.

BUY TWO – GET ONE FREE

FREE Did you know that if you already have our pupil administration software and our finance software you can have School Workforce Software free. School Workforce is the new return that will be statutory in 2010. Schools in Bromley and Southwark are using the software now as they are both running trials for the DCFS. We’ve had lots of very positive feedback about this new software.

CLIENT SATISFACTION SURVEY

We now have the results for the survey which was recently carried out for the academic year 2007/2008. We very much appreciate the time which you spend helping us complete these surveys. The results for this year’s survey show that you rate our software and our services very highly. You also supplied us with some great ideas for enhancements to the software as well as ideas for other services which we could supply. We treat your comments very seriously and feel that they make a very positive contribution to our development as a company which is primarily focussed on its customers. A big thank you for all the good things you have said about us.

CHILDREN’S CENTRE SOFTWARE

If your school has a Children’s Centre you may be interested in using our new software to manage the data.

Several Centres have already signed up for this service with even more telling us they are interested.

If you have a Centre and have not already seen a demonstration of the software please contact Jayne to arrange this.

WELCOME BACK, Autumn Term time again already.

CONTENTS

• TEXT ALERT 01
• WEB BASED E-REGISTRATION 01
• APPLICATION FOR STAFF 01
• CHANGES 02
• WAUTON SAMUEL PERSONNEL 02
• WSUPG 02
• WEB BASED CLIENT SUPPORT 02
• PRU CENSUS 02
• SCHOOL CENSUS 02

YOU CAN NOW SEND TEXT MESSAGES STRAIGHT FROM PASAPP

We have developed a facility to generate SMS Text Alerts to any telephone number in your school’s database – it doesn’t even have to be a mobile number. This will mean that you can send text messages to parents/carers and any other contacts you have recorded for pupils. For example, you can send a text asking the parent/career to contact the school office with reason for absence. If the school is going to be closed because of bad weather or a club is cancelled, send a text instead of telephoning dozens or even hundreds of parents. You can save standard messages so they are ready for use when needed and select which number you want to text. Alternatively, you can create one off messages. Future developments will include if parents reply directly to the texts they will be received by you in the form of an email. Obviously, you can request that they call the office instead.

By using these facilities you should be able to save considerable amounts of time and money. For example, the job of contacting the parents of all children who are absent on a particular day should be achievable in a matter of seconds. The texts will be charged at 10p per message. There is no monthly fee and no minimum commitment from you. We will invoice you at the end of each month for the texts which you have used during that month. If you are interested in this service please call Jayne.

WS WEB BASED SERVICES – E REGISTRATION

This term three schools are piloting a new ‘web based e-reg’ application. This allows authorised employees to log on securely and complete their register regardless of the type of computer they have in the classroom. All that is needed is a connection to the Internet. The web-based application is linked to the main pupil database. It generates dinner and attendance information identical to that which already comes from existing input screens or OMR forms.

E reg has already proven to be a time saving way of generating dinners and attendance information, the creation of web based e-reg saves even more time as it does not need to be installed or upgraded on every machine. We will keep you informed on how the trial is going. If you would like more information or would like to sign up for this service when it is available please call Jayne.

APPLICATION FOR STAFF

Would you like teaching staff to have information about their class without the need for PASAPP to be installed in each classroom? We are creating a web based application where members of staff can access data without needing to use computers with our software installed. Attendance statistics, assessment results, progress charts, mobility report and SEN information are examples of what could be built into this application. Each school will be able to control the functions and data which are actually available to individual members of staff. As with web based e-reg, the only thing that will be needed is a device with access to the internet and a user name and password. We would welcome suggestions for the functions which schools would find useful so please call or email any suggestions.

DID YOU KNOW?

Last academic year we received over 7000 telephone support calls totalling nearly 2000 hours. The top three topics covered were Dinners, Upgrades and School Census. So what else have we been doing other than handling these calls? We have spent over 625 days developing and testing our software, over 500 days on administration, 386 days working on data for schools, 219 training members of WS, 204 days IT/hardware support, 164 days in meetings with organisations like the DCSF, BECTA and your local authorities and 120 days using PC Anywhere.

CHANGES

From this term Jayne will be spending a couple of days a week concentrating on helping schools get the best from our products and services. She will be making sure that schools know about the functions which are already available and raising awareness on how they can be tailored to meet each school’s needs. This will be achieved through a variety of mechanisms including: meetings with admin staff, teaching staff and managers; training sessions and seminars; emails, etc.

She will be investigating training needs and canvassing opinion on how our software could be improved. When new functions are released, Jayne will be responsible for introducing them to schools.

She will be contacting schools in groups and individually over the next few months to pursue these aims. If you feel you would like to contact her first, for example, to have some refresher training or to find out whether you could get more out of the facilities for tracking progress or improving attendance, then please give Jayne a call or email her: jayne.steel@wautonsamuel.co.uk

NEWS ABOUT WAUTON SAMUEL PERSONNEL

David Bickerton who had been with the Company for four years, left on 31st August. Deji who had been with us for six years left on 7th September. Jayne, our Client Support Manager has been with Wauton Samuel for ten years in September – congratulations Jayne.

SCHOOL SECURITY

We are now working with a company expert in security entry systems. This means that as well as choosing our swipe card system to monitor who’s in the building you will also be able to use it to open your security gates. We’ll let you know more about this as it is developed.

WSUPG AVAILABLE FOR EVERYONE

Our simplified upgrade function is now available for clients to download from our web site. If you don’t already have this function installed then read on. Once installed, this new function allows you to upgrade your version of our PUPIL software with the click of one of the buttons in the Housekeeping menu. This has already been installed in over 100 schools making upgrades simple.

WEB BASED CLIENT SUPPORT LOGGING

Soon you will be able to ask for support for our products using the Internet. Our website will have a function to record any support requests and give you an issue number. When a request is received in the office the most appropriate Client Support person will contact you by email or telephone to help you. We hope this will help you, especially with non-urgent issues as it will mean that you do not have to wait on the ‘phone until an answer is found to your question. It will also help us to route your query straight to the most appropriate person who can deal with it. You can, of course, still use the telephone if you prefer!

PRU CENSUS

During April and May, Lewisham were involved in a trial for a PRU School Census. Wauton Samuel were the only software supplier in the country to make changes to their Pupil MIS system that was able to produce an electronic file in accordance with the specification given by the newly named DCSF, formerly DFES. This meant that no extra work on the file was needed by Lewisham and it could be sent straight to the DCSF.

SCHOOL CENSUS

Don’t forget you must produce a new return on 4th October and return it to your Local Authority. This return is slightly different from the two you have already submitted earlier this year. Instructions are on our website in the downloads area. This will be the last School Census return you have to do this year.

DID YOU KNOW?

Our main competitors software still does not have functions for Applications, Clubs, Mentoring, Children Centre Software and School Workforce.

Summer 2007 WELCOME TO THE SUMMER EDITION OF OUR NEWSLETTER

It’s going to be a busy term – remember we are here to help you.

CONTENTS

• Client Support Issue Numbers 01
• Support by Email 01
• Telephone Stats 02
• Web Based Stuff 02
• Client Questionnaire 02
• News about Wauton Samuel Staff 02
• IT SLA 02
• Children’s Centres 03
• School Workforce 03
• Statements of Achievement 03
• New Upgrade Procedure 04
• Training Days 04
• New Finance Version 04

CLIENT SUPPORT ISSUE NUMBERS

For several years we have operated a system whereby we allocate all unresolved queries from clients an Issue Number. If you call our helpline for assistance and your query isn’t answered during that ‘phone call we allocate a unique number to the issue and record it in our contacts log. The contacts log is monitored by the person managing client support whose job it is to make sure that all of these issues get dealt with appropriately. You can use the Issue Number as a quick way to get information on the status of any outstanding query.

You should be given the Issue Number at the end of any call which leaves something unresolved. We do sometimes forget, especially when it is busy – so please ask for the number if it isn’t offered to you. The great advantage to you of taking a note of the Issue Number is that you can be sure your query has been properly recorded in our contact log and will not be overlooked. The use of these Issue Numbers has been a great success in improving the service which we provide.

We also allocate Issue Numbers to any requests which you make for enhancements to the software. Again, by taking a note of the Issue Number you can be sure that it has been recorded in our contacts log and you can ring in at any time asking for a progress report. The What’s New document which is released with all new versions includes the Issue Numbers of all of the development requests which have been included in the latest version.

Incidentally, there are now a number of schools who use our contacts log themselves. It is shareable across your network and can be used to record outstanding issues which need to be dealt with, such as people who need to be called back or tasks which need to be carried out on a particular day. It can also be used to record appointments and meetings. It means that everyone who uses it can have access to a common diary, message board and ‘To Do’ list. Managers can monitor the workload across their area of responsibility. If you would like any further information on how you could use this within your school please contact William or Michael.

SUPPORT BY EMAIL

We are considering the launch of a new facility which would allow you to use email to raise issues for which you would currently make a telephone call to client support. The existing client support service would remain unchanged. We will use a new email address: support@wautonsamuel.co.uk

If you had a query which wasn’t urgent or you wished to raise a request for a change to the system you could send an email to this address. We would reply to your email within one working day with a resolution or the Issue Number which we had allocated to your query or development request. We hope that this service could save you time, leave our telephone lines free to deal with more urgent queries and allow us to manage client support issues even more efficiently. Your views on this topic are sought in one section of the attached questionnaire.

TELEPHONE STATS

Statistics for the Autumn term are on our web site – figures for the Spring term will appear in the next few weeks. The address is http://www.wautonsamuel.co.uk/telephoneStatistics.htm

WEB BASED STUFF

We are investigating the possibility of making some or all of the functions which form PASAPP and the finance module available over the internet. For example, allowing teachers access to assessment reports from home or allowing parents to access their child’s attendance or dinner money balance. There are many different ways in which we could implement this new way of working. At one extreme is the scenario where all of your data and all of the software which you use could be located on a secure web site located on a server outside of the school. The other extreme is for us to leave things exactly as they are with your data sitting on the school’s server and the software on each machine which uses it.

There are several reasons for us to consider making these changes, the most important of which is that a number of schools have asked us to do so. Another compelling reason is the pace and direction in which technological developments are likely to drive us. Without getting too technical, it seems unlikely that we will be able to keep our software in Microsoft Access for more than another couple of years. It has served us all very well, but it has limitations that mean we are not able to take advantage of many functions which could be of great benefit. Your views on this topic are sought in one section of the attached questionnaire.

CLIENT QUESTIONNARE

As mentioned elsewhere in this newsletter, we are considering the introduction of some significant innovations to the support we provide and the functions which our software offers. Your views on these issues are of paramount importance to us. We recognise that a crucial factor in our success to date has resulted from the fact that we have listened to your views and where possible used them to inform how we structure our services and our software.

Attached is a questionnaire covering various issues which should only take a few minutes to complete. We are very keen to have views from as many people as possible so please feel free to copy the questionnaire and distribute it to colleagues within the school. We are happy to receive partially completed questionnaires from people who feel that certain sections do not apply to them. We will publish the results of this survey with the Autumn term newsletter. Please return the completed questionnaires to support@wautonsamuel.co.uk by Monday 30th April if this is possible.

NEWS ABOUT WAUTON SAMUEL STAFF

Natalie is still away in Australia, she is due back with us in June. A new member staff, Stefan, joined the Client Support team in March. At the moment he is going through his training plan and soon you will get the opportunity to talk to him when you call in for support.

IT SLA

Our IT SLA service is now entering its third year. It was originally set up in response to many requests from schools. They wanted us to provide support for their hardware and system software of the same high quality as that which we provide for PASAPP and the Finance Module. It has been very successful and we now support 25 schools and a number of clients that aren’t schools. We can support your admin network, your curriculum network or both. The level of support is tailored to your school’s needs. This means that you can choose to have a visit weekly, bi-weekly, monthly or just when you need it. The charges vary according to the level of support which you buy into but as a guide the daily rate is based on the same level as for our other services, ie £275 per day in the financial year 2007/2008.

In our last client satisfaction survey the service was rated very highly and most clients are returning year after year.

If you are interested in our IT SLA please call and speak to Adam. He will arrange to visit your school and carry out a site survey. He will discuss your school’s requirements and look at the IT equipment you would like us to support. You will be sent the findings of the survey and then you can decide if you would like to sign up for the service.

CHILDREN’S CENTRES

We have been approached by several schools who want to us develop software to support the operation of their Children’s Centre. We intend to start this project in the Summer term and we are inviting any school which is interested to contact us so that we can discuss the facilities which we will include in the new software module and how the software will be made available to schools.

If you are interested but have not yet contacted us, please can you send an email to info@wautonsamuel.co.uk including the name and contact details of the person in the school with whom we should liaise. We have already arranged a meeting at our offices on 1st May. There are a limited number of places left if anyone would like to attend.

SCHOOL WORKFORCE

SCHOOL WORKFORCE is a completely new data return which is due to replace several others, such as 618G and parts of the School Census over the next few years.

By 2010, which is when it becomes fully operational, it will consist of a termly collection of a wide range of information about employees and other individuals who regularly work within your school. This information will include terms and conditions of employment such as spine points and pay scales; qualifications; and attendance. Not everything is collected about everyone every term. However, it is clear that there will be a considerable amount of work needed to get ready for the first return.

There are approximately 35 LAs participating in a trial which starts in September 2007 and has its first return in January 2008. Included in this list are Bromley, Islington and Southwark. The pilot in Southwark, which currently includes over 20 schools, begins in the first week of the Summer term. Additional schools in Southwark are welcome to join if they wish.

You can start to record the information which is needed for the School Workforce data collection regardless of whether your school is in one of the pilot LAs. Please email info@wautonsamuel.co.uk if you would like any further information about School Workforce.

STATEMENTS OF ACHIEVEMENT

STATEMENTS OF ACHIEVEMENT is now being used in many schools. We have worked very closely with several schools to develop a new facility in the assessments module called Statements of Achievement. It can be used to record progress from the very earliest stages of development in the nursery through to Key Stage 2, Key Stage 3 and beyond.

Its use is not limited to areas of the National Curriculum although it is fully integrated with the rest of the assessment modules. For example it could be used to record and track progress in the acquisition of English as an additional language. Many schools are in the process of adopting it to record progress in the Stepping Stones and the Foundation Stage.

Child friendly statements can be generated which describe the learning goals a child needs to achieve in order to secure a particular milestone such as a level of the National Curriculum. These statements can be shared with the child and their parents. Progress for any child or group of children can be clearly shown over weeks, months or years.

The strengths and weakness of groups of children can easily be demonstrated and these analyses can be used to inform planning. You can view a case study and download a PowerPoint Presentation from http://www.wautonsamuel.co.uk/StatementsOfAchievement.ppt

NEW UPGRADE PROCEDURE

Whenever we survey you about what you would like to be improved or changed, the only issue which crops up amongst a significant number of schools is the process of getting new versions of the software. Approximately 25% of schools say that they experience some problems in the process of downloading and installing new versions of PASAPP and the Finance module.

As a result, we have totally rewritten the process so that it caters for as many different network configurations as possible. During the Spring Term we have been piloting the new procedure. So far the results are very encouraging. The process has run successfully in all 37 schools which have been included in the pilot. If this hasn’t already been installed in your school we will be contacting you to arrange to install the new upgrade procedure during the Summer term. Alternatively, you can install the new procedure yourself by following the instructions which will appear on our web site in the next few weeks.

TRAINING DAYS

We have arranged the following days: FSP, KS1 and KS2 – 24th and 25th April (AM and PM sessions), Class Changes and Transfers and S2S – 2nd and 3rd May (morning and afternoon sessions). The training will be given by Jayne and William. If you would like to reserve places please contact us and let us know your preferred date and session. Places are limited – nearly all of the session which we arranged in the Spring term were fully booked.

FINANCE VERSION 6.6

Version 6.6 of the Finance Module is available to download from http://www.wautonsamuel.co.uk/downloads.html. This version is required as it includes changes to producing a CFR return for the financial year 2006/2007, updated Year End Reports and Pay Scales & National Insurance Rates for 2007/2008. If you require Outer London or England Pay Scales, please contact Wauton Samuel for assistance.

Spring 2007 HAPPY NEW YEAR AND WELCOME to the Spring Term edition of our Newsletter.

We received lots of positive feedback about the first edition.

• CONTENTS
• News about Wauton Samuel 01
• School Census 01
• Statements of Achievement 01
• New Language Codes 02
• School Workforce 02
• Wauton Samuel Personnel 02
• Training Days 02
• Client Satisfaction Results 02

News about Wauton Samuel

WAUTON SAMUEL are very proud to be included in the group of software suppliers that were chosen by the DfES to be signatories of their Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The MoU is an agreement between the DfES and BECTA and the major suppliers of pupil administration software concerning statutory returns such as School Census. It puts proper procedures in place which should minimise changes to these returns and reduce the demands which are made on schools for extra data. As a result, we should be able to devote more of our efforts to developing things that schools want rather than meeting the requirements of Central Government. Only seven companies in the country were chosen to be included - the TES reported that this group now represents the “official suppliers list” This is a remarkable achievement for Wauton Samuel. The other members of the group are all considerably larger companies such as Capita and Research Machines.

SCHOOL CENSUS PLASC

SCHOOL CENSUS PLASC has been replaced by a new data collection called School Census. The first live run of the School Census took place on January 18th 2007. There are some important differences between PLASC and the Census, not least of which is that Census is run three times a year as opposed to once a year for PLASC. There are detailed instructions on our website on how to prepare for and run the Census. You will also find the DfES guidelines there. Past experience has shown us that schools which undertake practice runs ahead of the real census have little or no difficulty when the actual day arrives. The process of running the Census is very straight forward. You will need version 57.2 or later in order to do this.

STATEMENTS OF ACHIEVEMENT

We have worked very closely with several schools to develop a new facility in the assessments module called Statements of Achievement. It can be used to record progress from the very earliest stages of development in the nursery through to Key Stage 2, Key Stage 3 and beyond. Its use is not limited to areas of the National Curriculum although it is fully integrated with the rest of the assessment modules. For example it could be used to record and track progress in the acquisition of English as an additional language. Many schools are in the process of adopting it to record progress in the Stepping Stones and the Foundation Stage. Child friendly statements can be generated which describe the learning goals a child needs to achieve in order to secure a particular milestone such as a level of the National Curriculum. These statements can be shared with the child and their parents. Progress for any child or group of children can be clearly shown over weeks, months or years. The strengths and weakness of groups of children can easily be demonstrated and these analyses can be used to inform planning.

NEW LANGUAGE CODES

Last September, the DfES issued a new set of language codes which they require to be used for returns such as the School Census and for Common Transfer Forms. Each Local Authority has taken a different approach to the use of these codes. Some have decided that schools should resurvey all of their pupils and record the new codes against each child. Others have not yet made a decision and for the moment at least are leaving things as they are. This is possible because we are able to automatically map the codes which you currently use to the new set of DfES codes when we generate data returns. We are working with Lewisham, who have decided that all children should be resurveyed and the new codes will be recorded in the database after the end of January. If you are in a Local Authority other than Lewisham and receive notification that you are to resurvey your children could you please contact us so that we can ensure that the software is changed accordingly. NB It may be that your LA intends to leave things as they are for the foreseeable future so don’t worry if they do not contact you about this.

SCHOOL WORKFORCE

SCHOOL WORKFORCE is a completely new data return which is due to replace several others, such as 618G and parts of the School Census over the next few years. By 2010, which is when it becomes fully operational, it will consist of a termly collection of a wide range of information about employees and other individuals who regularly work within your school. This information will include terms and conditions of employment, such as spine points and pay scales; qualifications; and attendance. Not everything is collected about everyone every term. However, it is clear that there will be a considerable amount of work needed to get ready for the first return. There are approximately 40 LAs participating in a trial which starts in September 2007 and has its first return in January 2008. Included in this list are Bromley, Islington and Southwark. If yours is one of these LAs you should be contacted in the next few months with their plans for the trial. Our software for loading the necessary data and making the pilot returns will be ready by the end of January 2007. Please contact us if you wish to know more about the School Workforce.

NEWS ABOUT WAUTON SAMUEL PERSONNEL

Vania left the company in October having worked with us for over 5 years. After the birth of their daughter in July, she and her husband decided to move to Gloucester. In February, Natalie will be taking four months off to travel round Australia.

OUR CHRISTMAS CARD

We all hope you enjoyed our Christmas card. We’re open to suggestions about next year’s theme. If you have any ideas please let us know.

TRAINING DAYS

We have arranged the following days: FSP, KS1 and KS2 – 24th and 25th April (AM and PM sessions), Class Changes and Transfers and S2S – 2nd and 3rd May (morning and afternoon sessions). The training will be given by Jayne and William. If you would like to reserve places please contact us and let us know your preferred date and session. Places are limited. You will receive an email from us if you are a voluntary aided school about the arrangements for Co-ordinated admissions training.

CLIENT SATISFACTION SURVEY

Thank you to everyone who took the time to take part in this years survey. We are very pleased with the results which you will see at the end of this Newsletter. There are also some graphs demonstrating how long it took us to complete requests for changes to our software.

Number of Development Requests in 2006

Month	Requests received from clients	Requests completed
Jan	31	20
Feb	20	24
Mar	36	42
Apr	23	32
May	31	14
Jun	14	16
Jul	18	27
Aug	3	18
Sep	18	28
Oct	25	33
Nov	34	24
Dec	10	Figures not yet available
Total	263	278

Autumn 2006 WELCOME to the very first edition of our newsletter.

CONTENTS

• Welcome 01
• School Census 01
• New Attendance Codes 01
• New Language codes 02
• New Upgrade Procedure 02
• Price of OMRs 02
• ID Cards 03
• Statements of Achievement 03
• I.T. Support 03
• E-Registration 04

Welcome

The purpose of the newsletter is to keep you up-to-date with developments in our software and our services. NB This does not replace the WHAT’S NEW document which is available on our web site and is included with every new version of our software. The WHAT’S NEW document includes detailed instructions on how to use new functions. We also want to use it to notify you of any important changes which are likely to affect you. For example, the introduction of the new School Census from January 2007 or the requirements placed upon you for monitoring Equalities in Employment. We hope to bring you news that will assist you and ideas to support you. We intend to publish a newsletter every term.

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SCHOOL CENSUS PLASC

School Census Plasc has been replaced by a new data collection called School Census. The first live run of the School Census will take place in January 2007. There are some important differences between PLASC and the Census, not least of which is that Census is run three times a year as opposed to once a year for PLASC. We are still waiting for some final information from the DfES which will, unfortunately, mean that the current version 57.0 may need some minor changes before you can run the census for real. However, you can do practice runs on 56.9 or 57.0. Our user instructions are available on our web site and the DfES guidance notes. Past experience has shown us that schools which undertake practice runs ahead of the real census have little or no difficulty when the actual day arrives. The process of running the Census is very straight forward.

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SCHOOL CENSUS – NEW DATA Although it may appear to be very similar to PLASC you should be aware that there is a lot of extra information collected in Census. This includes: attendance information for children and fixed term, temporary and lunchtime exclusions If you’re using the system to record attendance then it will be picked up automatically. From 1st September 2006 you need to start using the new attendance codes. You should also start recording fixed term and lunchtime exclusions in your database from 1st September 2006. NB There are a few additional items of data which you must load in preparation for School Census. Please consult the DfES guidance and our user instructions for further information.

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NEW ATTENDANCE CODES

The new national attendance codes must be used from 1st September 2006. Some schools switched on 1st September 2005 – if you’re in that group you don’t need to take any further action. If you haven’t already switched and you are using version 56.9 or later you will be forced to change to the new codes when you first use the system on or after 1st September 2006. If you have an earlier version then you need to switch to the new codes manually. You should do this after you have generated attendance in the last week of the Summer term but before you generate any attendance for the Autumn term. You can make this switch by clicking on the button labelled SWITCH TO NEW CODES. From the MAIN MENU click on ATTENDANCE then MISCELLANEOUS then SWITCH TO NEW CODES. If this button does not appear there then you are already using the new codes.

NEW LANGUAGE CODES

On 1st September 2006 a new national list of language codes is being introduced. Unlike the attendance codes, you do not have to do anything except to ensure that by the end of the calendar year you are using version 56.9 or later. In due course, your local authority may advise you that they wish you to use some or all of these new codes. It is possible that you may have to resurvey some of your parents and carers to establish which of the new languages are in use at home. In the meantime, we have built in an automatic mapping from the codes which you use on a day–to-day basis to the new national list. It would be a good idea if you could go to the EMAG menu and then click on the button labelled MAINTAIN LANGUAGE CODES. It is here that you will see the mapping which we have generated. You should check the mapping for any language which has been given a DfES equivalent of OTHER LANGUAGE to see whether there is a match in the list.

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NEW UPGRADE PROCEDURE

Whenever we survey you about what you would like to be improved or changed, the only issue which crops up amongst a significant number of schools is the process of getting new versions of the software. Approximately 25% of schools say that they experience some problems in the process of downloading and installing new versions of PASAPP and the Finance module. As a result, we have totally rewritten the process so that it caters for as many different network configurations as possible. Over the next term or so we will be contacting all schools to arrange to install the new upgrade procedure. Part of the installation will include downloading and installing a new version of PASAPP to ensure that the new process works in every school. So far the results are very encouraging and the process has run successfully in every school which has been included in the pilot. If yours is one of the schools which experiences problems and you would like to have the new process installed at your school sooner rather than later than please call us. Otherwise we will be in touch by the end of the calendar year.

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HOW ONE SCHOOL SAVED TIME AND AROUND £5,000 A YEAR BY USING WAUTON SAMUEL

St Anthony’s Primary School in the London Borough of Southwark uses PASAPP from Wauton Samuel to handle its school administration needs and their FINANCE package to manage all the school’s finances. Stephen Owens, headteacher at St Anthony’s, is full of praise for the FINANCE module, as it has enabled the school to save around £5,000 per annum. Previously this money was spent on buying in external expertise to carry out finance functions such as the production of end of month reports and planning budgets for future years. Now that the school uses Wauton Samuel’s FINANCE package this expertise is no longer required as the system caters for all their needs. Our finance module has now been in use for nearly 5 years and there are more than 60 schools which use it. We have worked hard to make sure that it meets the needs of schools, the LA and the DfES. For example, all of the period end reports can be produced by clicking on a single button. The finance module does a lot more than your existing software – it will even calculate the expected costs of your employees and generate budgets accordingly. We are very keen to expand the number of schools which use the finance module. It costs £225 per year. Telephone support is available to everyone. Training and on-site support can be purchased via a service level agreement. We also have a team of people in the office who are able to help with more general finance queries, for example in connection with Consistent Financial Reporting. If you employ an independent bursar, we would be happy to train and support them in the use of the software at your school. We have also been involved in training school admin staff who have no previous experience of school finances. If you would like more information please call our office. We would be happy to demonstrate the software to you or put you in touch with any of the other schools who use it.

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THE PRICE OF OMRs

will increase from 1st October. The new price will be £ 115 per box. Unfortunately this increase is unavoidable due to increased production costs. WE CAN NOW SUPPLY ID CARDS with your school’s logo and any other information which you would like to appear including photographs and signatures of the adults who work in your school. These cards can be used as identity cards. They can also be swiped against readers like an Oyster card to log people in and out of your school. The reader links to your pupil database and generates adult attendance information automatically. There is a new enquiry screen which can be used to check who is in at any time. We are currently in discussion with a company which supplies door entry systems. Hopefully these discussions will result in a system whereby you can also use our ID cards to control access to the site. If you wish to use the cards as simple identity cards they cost £3.50 per card. Alternatively, if you want to have the swipe card system, the basic set up and installation cost is £600. This includes cards for 50 adults and 1 card reader provided that you can supply us with suitable photographs etc and the reader is within five metres of the admin computer. We can quote you separately for different setups. Once set up, additional cards can be purchased in blocks of ten at a cost of £3.50 per card. Additional card readers can also be purchased for a cost of £190 per reader

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NEWS ABOUT WAUTON SAMUEL PERSONNEL

In July, Vania and her husband Matt had a baby girl who they have called Kayla. William formed a civil partnership with his partner of ten years, Jon in August. Deji and his partner Helen are to marry on Saturday 16th September. More details will follow in the next edition.

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WE PUBLISH OUR PHONE STATISTICS MONTHLY on our website. Jayne Steel our Client Support Manager has a target that calls must be answered in eight seconds or less. Our statistics are provided by BT.

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STATEMENTS OF ACHIEVEMENT

We have worked very closely with several schools to develop a new facility in the assessments module called Statements of Achievement. This allows schools to use the database to record continuous assessment using a single unified scale against which progress can be measured from the very earliest stages of development through to Key Stage 2, Key Stage 3 and beyond. Its use is not limited to areas of the National Curriculum although it is full integrated with the rest of the assessment modules. For example it could be used to record and track progress in the acquisition of English as an additional language. The module can be used to generate child friendly statements which describe the learning goals a child needs to achieve in order to secure a particular milestone such as a level of the National Curriculum. These statements can be shared with the child and their parents. Progress for any child or group of children can be clearly shown over weeks, months or years. The strengths and weakness of groups of children can easily be demonstrated and these analyses can be used to inform planning. A pack of information has been included which describes this exciting new facility in greater detail. Please could you pass this information to your school’s assessment co ordinator.

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CONTACT LOG

Over the past few years we have been using our contact log to keep track of the work which you ask us to do. We record requests for development as well as messages and appointments. It is available to all members of the company and is a vital resource for ensuring that we effectively manage our workload. The system warns us when a message or contact has become overdue and prompts us to deal with the issue. Several schools have made enquiries about whether we could make this system available to them for their own use. If you would like to find out more then please get in touch with us.

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INVESTORS IN PEOPLE

You may have noticed our headed notepaper change this year. This is because we were successful in our accreditation under our assessment against the Investors in People standard.

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I.T. SUPPORT

Wauton Samuel have been helping schools with I.T. for over a year now. Use of this service has grown rapidly. We have worked very hard to ensure that we offer the same standard of support with I.T. as we do with our Pupils Administration System and the Finance Module. We support all Windows based curriculum and administrative networks, including Peer-2-Peer and Domain, and RM Connect Community. We have designed and installed completely new networks in a number of schools. Schools have found using one supplier for all their needs a major advantage as it removes the need to liaise with multiple parties to get the simplest of jobs done. I.T. support contract requires signing up to a two day minimum SLA at £265 a day. Many schools book in a confirmed monthly or weekly visit just to have that peace of mind that everything is working. We are also happy to discuss ad hoc requests for support from schools who do not have a contract with us to support their networks. If you’re thinking of switching your I.T. support or upgrading your system then please call Adam Barnsley or Steven Krishnan to discuss what we can offer you.

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PLEASE PASS ON THIS NEWSLETTER to anyone else you might think would be interested in its contents.

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LEWISHAM BUSINESS AWARDS

Wauton Samuel were pleased to be a finalist in the “Best Customer Care” category in the Lewisham Business Awards ceremony held by the Mayor of Lewisham at the town hall.

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E-REGISTRATION

Did you know that PASAPP can be installed on almost any computer which is connected to your network? This means that Pasapp can be used by Admin Officers, Head Teachers, Teachers and Specialist Staff for a very wide range of purposes. One such use is E Registration which allows teachers or teaching assistants to record dinners and attendance in classrooms. The benefits of this are appreciated in many schools that already use E registration and include the following:

• More time for Admin Officers to carry out their duties
• No need to record information twice i.e. once in the class room and once in the office; instead the database is updated directly from the classroom.
• No requirement for pieces of paper or attendance registers to be transported round the school.
• The office can instantly monitor which registers are completed and those still being updated.

We have made changes to PASAPP so that it’s even easier for those in the classroom to record dinners and attendance by only clicking absent or present. This means that the person taking the register in the classroom does not need to know what meal the pupil normally has. If you think that you would like to save more time in the office and provide those in the classroom with a powerful tool please contact Wauton Samuel. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF IT SO FAR? It would be really useful if you could let us know what you think of the first edition of our newsletter. Are there any topics which you would like to see included? Do you have any views you would like to share with other schools? We would be happy to include contributions from schools in future editions. You can email the editor at newsletter@wautonsamuel.co.uk with your views.

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IDEAS FOR OUR CHRISTMAS CARD

Wauton Samuel Christmas cards have grown to be very popular. Even in September we still encounter copies of last year’s cards on the walls of many school offices. We hope not to disappoint in 2006. If you have any suggestions for a theme for this year’s card please let us know.