What every primary school leader needs to know about SIMS

How SIMS helps...

SIMS offers much more than a world-class management information system - we help schools inspire. We’ve worked alongside schools for over 30 years, helping them to drive improvement and support every child to achieve.

We help school leaders make informed decisions and give the whole school the tools to raise attainment; from tracking progress across the new national curriculum and measuring the success of your Pupil Premium spend, to helping you provide comprehensive evidence for inspections.

As schools deal with reduced budgets, time and money is even more precious to them. SIMS provides a cost-effective solution that not only saves your staff time, but also helps you to manage your school finances and work efficiently across many aspects of school life.

This guide outlines how our complete range of services, software and expertise can help your primary school in achieving its goals.

Improving teaching and learning ...............................4

Effective school leadership .......................................7

Whole school communications .......................................8

Saving time and money ...............................................9

Helping you go the extra mile .......................................10

Contents

How SIMS helps...PAGE 2

I wouldn’t go anywhere where I couldn’t have SIMS.

Linda Davis, Headteacher, Wistaston Academy

PAGE 4

Improving teaching and learningWe understand improving outcomes and ensuring every child achieves their potential will always be among your top priorities. With SIMS, you can be sure that every pupil’s progress is tracked, helping to inform lesson planning so that every child’s needs are met.

Making Early Years progress tracking easierWith the requirements to benchmark a child’s learning journey at the start of their education, we understand your primary school wants to keep track of your pupils’ progress as easily and simply as possible.

The SIMS Early Years Assessment Resources, with APP grids and marksheets, allow teachers to effectively record and monitor the ability, attainment and progress of their pupils from nursery through reception and help support their transition into year 1.

With SIMS Aspect Analysis and Discover graphs also included, schools and nurseries can easily track the progress of their early years pupils with a few clicks. So you can get a group overview or build a detailed profile of pupils’ development in a matter of minutes.

As well as saving time for your Foundation Stage teachers, you will have peace of mind that you have a robust tracking solution in place and can measure the impact your school has had on children’s outcomes given their starting points.

For more information visit www.capita-sims.co.uk/EYFS

“With SIMS, we can easily track progress, set targets

and manage interventions to achieve the best possible

outcomes for our pupils.”Rosie Simmonds, Headteacher, Leverington Primary Academy

SIMS helped Wistaston

Academy to raise attendance from

93% to 96.4%

Watch the video: Did you know SIMS can help track pupil performance across Early Years?

PAGE 5

Tracking pupils across the new curriculumAdapting to a life without levels can be challenging for primary schools, but whether you’re choosing to adapt your current assessment strategy, creating a completely new system or using pre-defined material, SIMS Assessment provides an efficient solution to support your school.

The new Programmes of Study screen within SIMS Assessment gives teachers access to the entire national curriculum programmes of study for both the statutory and non-statutory guidance. Teachers can use their professional judgement to enter both formative and summative assessment detail into subject progress grids for each strand of the new national curriculum.

Instant analysis is provided on the data entry screen, so teachers always have sight of an individual’s progress towards end of year or school expectations. Quick access to this information means timely interventions can be introduced to support teaching, learning and pupil progress.

Progress Grids show teachers whether each student is emerging, developing, secure or has mastered a skill in a simple traffic light display. This allows schools to spot if a child is progressing or not, no matter what assessment system they follow.

SIMS Assessment - record and report on pupil progress and highlight against targets through colour coding, so you can see who’s on target

SIMS Discover - see a clear and complete analysis of your school information and receive instant alerts to changes to a pupil’s performance, attendance or behaviour

School Improvement Programme - let our expert consultants review and develop your assessment practices with you

How SIMS helps...

*https://www.gov.uk/government/news/disadvantaged-primary-pupils-to-benefit-from-extra-225-million

*

“We use SIMS all the time - it’s revolutionisedour data and assessment tracking.”

Gail Kirby, Deputy Headteacher, Short Wood Primary School

Read the full case study

PAGE 6

Effective classroom managementWith the number of tasks that teachers have to juggle during a school day, they need the tools that give them the maximum possible time to focus on teaching.

Putting SIMS in the classroom makes it part of every teacher’s daily routine, so they can focus on doing what they do best. Electronic registration, traffic lights on tracking grids, report templates and a teacher view on every pupil are the tools they need for all aspects of classroom management.

Registration made simpleThe SIMS Teacher app makes it effortless for teachers to record attendance data for every pupil. Quickly record present, absent, and late marks or school defined codes with a few simple taps, so that you can get back to your lesson. If you need to mark a pupil late, the app automatically indicates the current number of minutes past the class start time.

The SIMS Teacher app now also includes the Programmes of Study, providing a streamlined view for efficient data entry and allowing teachers to record achievement as it is observed.

Behaviour managementPoor attendance and negative behaviour can disrupt the culture of even the best schools, while rewarding good behaviour makes a significant contribution to helping you raise standards.

With the right information to hand, you can identify problems early and put measures in place for swift improvement. SIMS allows you to keep track of attendance and behaviour and to communicate key issues to staff and parents easily.

With the SIMS Teacher app, you can also enter behaviour information from wherever you are. By recording behaviour incidents electronically, the SIMS communication tools automatically alert other teachers linked to a child when a behaviour incident is logged in SIMS.

How SIMS helps...SIMS Teacher app - quickly and easily access assessment marksheets and then enter grades, comments and marks. Now includes the Programmes of Study

SIMS Homepage - give teachers and school leaders an instant snapshot of current progress and conduct of all pupils

SIMS TeacherView - view a detailed summary screen for each pupil

SIMS InTouch - send messages relating to a pupil’s achievements, behaviour, unexpected school closures, unexplained absences, special educational needs and more

Electronic registration

saves schools

3-6 hours

per week

Watch the video: Did you know SIMS can help you track your pupil premium children?

PAGE 7

Effective school leadershipSchool leaders and governors should know what’s working in a school and what isn’t - but with so much going on, it’s often hard to have everything you need all in one place.

SIMS gives you an overview of everything that’s happening in your school, so you can provide the evidence you need and communicate effectively with your staff, without having to pull lots of information together.

Providing the evidence you needThe SIMS School Report provides you with an instant overview of your school, based on the latest data held in SIMS. This will give school management teams information on their current pupil numbers, attendance, achievement and behaviour information.

There’s the option to view either a long or short version of the report and you can export it into a PDF or Excel® so that you can share it with your governors.

You can also use SIMS Discover to analyse trends and patterns of behaviour and present it in a graphical way. It’s simple to produce overviews of performance data for governors with SIMS Discover, which they can analyse and use to hold the headteacher to account.

Developing your staffEnsuring you’re getting the very best out of your staff is key to the success of any school.

As a senior leader, you need the tools to help you in all aspects of managing your staff – from monitoring the quality of teaching, putting personal development plans in place and tracking CPD, to proving to Ofsted the impact your staff are making across your school. With SIMS, you can make sure all members of staff are fully involved in their professional development.

Helping you to drive school improvementOur School Improvement Programme aims to help every school on its journey to outstanding. Our specialist consultants have all worked as senior leaders and have a proven track-record in helping schools provide evidence of improvement to parents, governors and school inspectors.

Teaching and learning is at the heart of any school’s improvement cycle and our programme is no different - each step has been designed with that in mind. Your programme will be tailor-made for your school and helps you to identify your priorities for improvement.

We offer a variety of packages to suit your school, from strategic planning days, managing assessment without levels, self-evaluation support to governor training.

Call 0800 170 1724 to find out how SIMS

can help with your school improvement journey.

How SIMS helps...SIMS Discover - monitor at risk groups, assess intervention strategies and see the whole picture of your school

SIMS Homepage - monitor what’s happening across your school with key indicators in real time alerting senior staff to what they need to know

SIMS Staff Performance - ensure school leaders can assess teaching quality and identify training needs easily

School Improvement Programme - harness your data to drive improved teaching and learning

SIMS School Report - an instant overview of your school, based on the latest data held in SIMS

“SIMS helps teachers and our senior leadership team to keep on top of

their progress and allows us to easily provide evidence to Ofsted.”

Jayne Mullane, Headteacher, Mersey Vale Primary School

Watch the video: Did you know how the SIMS homepage can support primary leaders and teachers?

Watch the video: Did you know how to generate the new school report?

PAGE 8

Whole school communicationsKeeping parents in the loopWhen it comes to raising attainment, it’s important that parents are involved in their child’s school life. SIMS Learning Gateway gives parents easy online access to daily attendance and attainment records. With their finger on the pulse, parents are more engaged and their children are too.

The right information… at the right timeParents’ evenings should focus on addressing the real issues rather than bringing parents up-to-speed. SIMS holds a vast quantity of information about every pupil, so why not share some of it with parents?

Keep parents informed of their child’s progress, achievements, attendance and behaviour, so parents can give children feedback too.

Safeguarding your pupilsWith the introduction of Ofsted’s latest safeguarding measures, it’s vital that your school has the right tools in place. SIMS enables you to spot where things might be going wrong for pupils, so you can facilitate immediate targeted actions - helping you keep your pupils safe and support your positive learning environment.

The new SIMS Activities module enables schools to manage their extra-curricular activities from any internet enabled device - anytime, anywhere. Whether you are scheduling activities before, during or after school, you can send out invites, manage responses and keep parents regularly updated.

Plus, with the ability to take the register from wherever you are with the SIMS Teacher app, staff can immediately spot in SIMS if a child has gone missing.

Communicate quicklyIt can often be hard to get in contact with parents. Whether parents prefer to receive a discreet text message or an email, SIMS InTouch ensures that they are always kept up-to-date. SIMS also gives you the parent’s information to hand, allowing you to communicate quickly and efficiently.

Connecting people across the schoolBy using SIMS communication tools, your whole school can be connected by the information already held in SIMS. Alerts and information can be broadcast to key stakeholders, quickly and easily.

How SIMS helps...SIMS Learning Gateway - give parents access to information on their child

SIMS InTouch - send messages relating to a pupil’s achievements, behaviour and more

SIMS Agora - an easy and convenient way for parents to make payments online

SIMS Activities - efficiently manage all your extra-curricular activities

£1,500

the amount primary schools

say they’ve saved by using

SIMS Learning Gateway to

report to parents

Watch the video: Transform your school’s communication with SIMS InTouch

PAGE 9

Saving time and moneyWith endless demands placed on all your staff, time and resources are precious commodities. SIMS helps your staff achieve even more, by lightening their workloads.

Improving outcomes with access to SIMS anytime, anywhereHosted SIMS frees schools of the responsibility, effort and cost of running their SIMS servers onsite and managing their own backups by moving SIMS to the cloud. It gives teaching and non-teaching staff the flexibility to access SIMS through any internet connected device, allowing them to work flexibly.

Efficient management of your finances

With school and academy finances growing in complexity, you need a solution to make things easier and to help stretch your budget further. SIMS Financial Management System (FMS) provides a picture of your school’s finances to help ensure that resources are put to the best possible use.

How SIMS helps...Hosted SIMS - access to SIMS from any internet connected device

SIMS Learning Gateway & SIMS InTouch - efficient and instant communication between home and school and flexible working for teachers

SIMS FMS, FRS & FPS Web - school financial management, advanced and graphical financial reporting and multi-year financial planning systems

SIMS Agora - reduce costs by streamlining your payment administration. Parents can pay for school meals, trips, uniform and much more online

SIMS Dinner Money - manage and report on school meals efficiently. Record, monitor and share your pupils’ meal choices

SIMS Teacher app - record attendance, assessment, achievement and behaviour from wherever you are

Simplified admin at the click of a button

Fed up with hours of repetitive administration? SIMS performs countless admin tasks automatically by re-using information already in the system.

You only have to enter pupil information once, saving hours for the admin office and, with SIMS Discover, you can also set up timesaving automatic alerts to inform staff about changes within a dynamic pupil group.

“With Hosted SIMS we access the system more easily so we

are recording more data and can put all our effort into focusing on the pupils and understanding

their needs. ”Paul Pearson, ICT Manager,

St Mary’s RC Primary School

Watch the video: Introducing Hosted SIMS

PAGE 10

Leave the technical work to us

IT issues can sometimes cause headaches for school staff. That’s why we offer technical support for all your software and hardware.

Not only this, but we also provide temporary or permanent staff cover for all elements of SIMS, FMS and your IT infrastructure.

Become SIMS experts

For SIMS to make a real difference to your school, you need to understand everything it can do for you. We want you to become SIMS experts, so why not consider one of our training courses to help you make the most of SIMS?

No one knows our software as well as we do. We can train your staff on any of our 120 courses in 20 locations across the country. Or let us bring the training to you - all courses can be delivered at your school or tailored for your specific needs.

Helping you go the extra mile…

*Calls to 0844/0845 numbers will cost three pence per minute, plus your phone company’s access charge.

95%of delegates would

recommend our training courses to

a colleague

Call us on 0844 893 9000* or visit www.capita-sims.co.uk/training to find out more

PAGE 11

Find the best hardware for your school Having trouble choosing the best hardware and software for your school? Considering introducing tablets and mobile devices? We can help. We provide expert advice on choosing the most suitable solution for all your hardware and software needs and will source IT hardware and software for you at very competitive rates.

We’re here to support youWhen things go wrong or you’ve got a question to ask, you need the very best support. With our support offering, you’ll have a dedicated Customer Services Manager, be invited to regular software update events and benefit from discounted training and consultancy.

Whole support

• Helpdesk support - telephone, email, remote and on-site visits

• Network support for SIMS and other applications

• Support for software packages including Microsoft and anti-virus packages

• Restoration of your database using the data from your most recent viable backup

• Senior leadership team overviews

• Curriculum team support for your curriculum network, including operating systems, software and peripheral devices such as printers, whiteboards, PCs and laptops

• Three on-site visits of up to three hours to meet your additional expert support requirements

• A written SIMS strategy plan

Admin ICT support

• Helpdesk support - telephone, email and remote

• Network support for SIMS and other applications

• Support for software packages including Microsoft and anti-virus packages

• Senior leadership team overviews

• Restoration of your database using the data from your most recent viable backup

SIMS only support

• Helpdesk support - telephone and email

• Support for software packages including Microsoft and anti-virus packages

• Restoration of your database using the data from your most recent viable backup

We offer three levels of support so you can ensure you’ve got the right package to meet your needs. Our flexible support options include:

“We have particularly valued our SIMS whole support since we converted to an academy - the SIMS helpdesk is always supportive and deals with our

calls efficiently.”Sandra McCarroll, School Business Manager,

Cippenham Infant School

To find out more about these packages call 0800 170 1732

Capita SIMS, Franklin Court, Priory Business Park, Cardington, Bedford MK44 3JZ

Tel: 01234 838080 | Fax: 01234 832036Email: info@capita.co.uk | www.capita-sims.co.uk

Registered office: 71 Victoria Street, Westminster, London SW1H 0XARegistered in England No. 22997 47. Part of Capita plc.

Ways to keep in touch

Make sure you don’t miss out on the latest SIMS news, our events and support information. Stay in touch in a way that suits you:

Sign up to receive monthly SIMS news sent directly to your inbox with information and links to case studies and ‘how to’ videos. www.capita-sims.co.uk/stay-in-touch

Find out how other primary schools are using SIMS, view upcoming events, the SIMS training calendar, top tips and video demonstrations. www.capita-sims.co.uk

Follow us @CapitaSIMS for the latest SIMS news.

Visit the SIMS blog for best practice, insight and ideas to drive school improvement.

Sign up to My Account, our free customer portal and join thousands of SIMS users in the online community. You will have access to handbooks, help files, event bookings and discussion forums. www.capita-sims.co.uk/MyAccount

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