SIMS End of Year Tips 2024
Here are some tips and pointers for preparing for the New School Year
End of year tips - Academic
The full end of year process with links to SIMS documentation can be found below.
This post is intended to spotlight the timetable aspects of your end of year processes with some tips on how to ease into next year with the minimum effort.
We can help with individual issues via our help desk. If you need help completing the tasks we can provide consultancy time to get you though it.
Tasks to complete...
Create the new academic year
You can’t export the timetable until this has been done. All you need is the start and end dates of each term (remember, the school is ‘open’ even if you are planning to have a training day) as well as the start and end dates of your half term holidays. You can add and training days later.
Promote the school
You can’t assign students to classes until students have a promotion path for next year. Checkout the SIMS documentation for full details.
Export the new timetable
The timetable is often being worked on right up to the end of term. This does not mean that the admin team cannot get on with the task of populating classes. Students are assigned to bands, blocks and classes, the teacher lesson and room detail is only relevant when you print the timetable. This means that so long as the block and band details do not change (ie the timetable Model in Nova), the timetable can be exported to SIMS so you can get to work on the class memberships. When the timetabler finishes the scheduling, it can be exported again (and again as minor changes occur) so you can print the timetables when all the changes have been made and all classes assigned.
Assign students to classes
If you use the routines SIMS have included for this task, you can massively reduce the time it takes to assign all the students to their classes.
Academic Promotion Rules
For any band, block or class whose members are staying together for another year…
Routines, School, Academic Promotion Rules
This lets you create a link between this years and next years schemes. Once created, you can execute the rule and transfer the memberships to next years schemes. It’s is most useful on Y10 to Y11 sets (and Y12 to 13) but anything that stays the same can be easily transferred.
New Options Classes (Y10 and Y12)
If you have used either SIMS Options 5 or Options Online…
Take the time to export your Options class membership data to SIMS, there are hundreds of class memberships held there that can be imported back into SIMS with just a few clicks.
Classes delivered in registration groups
Where classes are delivered in registration groupings, you can display next years Reg group as a column on the Curriculum Assignment by Scheme tick grid (you can display other data columns that might help too). It is then straightforward to sort the students by next years form groups in Curriculum Assignments by Scheme then select blocks of students on the tick grid and assign them to their class.
Any new setted classes
Where new classes are setted, you can export the scheme to a sylk file (an Excel friendly spreadsheet file). These can be sent out to departmental heads and the class assignments made (just type a T for true in the right column). The updated file can then be imported back into SIMS to populate the classes. If you display other columns on the tick grid before export (eg SEN, EAL) they will also be visible in the spreadsheet.
If you have transferred memberships from the old year (eg using an Academic Promotion Rule) you can also export the schemes to sylk files with the existing memberships included to allow department heads to make minor adjustments to setting (just move the T for True into the correct column). Simply import the updated file when they have finished.
Check everyone has a Timetable and there are no clashes
It is difficult to create a report for this, particularly if you have a sixth form who will have free periods on their timetable. However if you go to…
Focus, School, Academic Structure, Curriculum Assignment by Student
On the browser there is an ‘Academic Status’ filter that allows you to filter by
Students with ‘Missing Memberships’ and students with ‘Timetable Unresolved Clash(es)’
You can check and fix each student's memberships as you go.
Finishing Touches
Check Lesson Monitor is set up correctly
Go to Tools, Setups, Lesson Monitor Options, Lesson Monitor Setup
Apply the Timetable for 2024/25
Swap to Academic Year 2024/25 (click on the link on the top of your homepage)
Go Tools, Academic Management, Apply Timetable
Check Lesson Monitor and Cover will work when you open next year
If you have done the previous two items, you should be able to go to
Focus, Lesson Monitor, Take Register
Set a date in next term and click on the teacher browser and click Search. You should be able to see classes on the list as well as Reg groups
Print timetables
This should be the last of the tasks you carry out. If the timetable isn’t finished yet, wait until it is. Remember to set an effective date to capture the right timetable and class memberships.
Via the links below you will find detailed guidance for all the year end SIMS processes, with separate booklets for both Primary and Secondary phases. These notes take you step by step through the tasks you need to undertake and they also include a handy tick list, so you can remember where you left off.
Here are the links for the primary and secondary user guides for ESS SIMS:
Primary schools
Secondary schools
If you would like an answer to any questions you may have, please call us on 0345 222 1551 • Opt 3 or email misservicedesk@schoolbusinessservices.co.uk
