PARS - User contributions [en-gb]

Contacting parents

2020-11-30T14:50:20Z

LiamBell: /* Stage 3 */

PARS can be used to contact parents for a variety of different reasons. Messages can be sent to parents as Emails, Letters or SMS messages. You can also type the details of telephone calls or meetings into PARS. All of this information is automatically stored in the PARS contact log for each student, and can also be written back to the SIMS Communication Log if desired. 

=Accessing the External Contact screen=

There are a variety of reasons you may want to contact parents from PARS. The External Contact page is always used to send the messages, but the method for accessing the External Contact page changes, depending on the reason you are contacting parents. 

The following '''[[permissions]]''' are required to access the External Contact page: 
''Contact management > Access notices management screen'' (On) 
''Contact management > Manage and review external communications'' (On) 

==For General Messages==

The page is simply accessed via: 
'''Main Menu > Contact Management > External contact''' 

You can also click the External Contact button on the Quick Launch Bar at the top of PARS. 
[[Image:quick_launch_external_contact.jpg]] 

The External Contact page can also be accessed via the '''Contacts''' tab of the '''[[Pupil information]]''' page. When using this method you will only be able to type the details of a conversation or meeting you have had with a parent. The Pupil Information page is accessed via the PARS quick launch bar: 
[[Image:quick_launch_pupil_information.jpg]] 

==For Absence==

You should use the '''[[Attendance view|Attendance View]]''' page to identify the absent students (see the Attendance View page for instructions to do this). You would then click '''Contact > External Contact''' on the Attendance View page. 

==For Behaviour Incidents==

This is to contact parents about individual behaviour incidents i.e. contact all the parents of students who received a Head Teacher's Award this week; contact all the parents of students who received a C4 today; etc. Parents receive one message per behaviour incident and the messages can include information about the behaviour incidents, such as the grounds or the comments. 

The '''[[Edit behaviour incidents|Edit Behaviour Incidents]]''' page is used to select the behaviour incidents for which you will contact parents (see the Edit Behaviour Incidents page for instructions to do this). You would then click the '''External Contact''' button on the Edit Behaviour Incidents page. 

==For Detentions==

This is to contact parents about specific detentions. The messages sent to parents can include information such as the reason that the detention was given, or the date and time it is going to take place. 

The '''[[Edit scheduled detentions|Edit Scheduled Detentions]]''' page is used to select the detentions for which you will contact parents (see the Edit Scheduled Detentions page for instructions to do this). You would then click the '''External Contact''' button on the Edit Scheduled Detentions page. 

==For Assignments (Homework)==

You can contact parents about a homework assignment, either to notify the parents and/or students that homework has been set (and email any attachments). Alternatively, you can notify the parents of students who have not completed the homework. 

Open the '''[[Assignment diary|Assignment Diary]]''' and select the Assignment, then click the '''External Contact''' button. See the Assignment Diary page for more information. 

==For Low Attendance==

You first need to run an Attendance Report to identify the students with low attendance (e.g. lower than 85%). '''Attendance Summaries > Individual Percentages > Selected Individual Session Attendance''' is a good report for this purpose. 

Attendance Reports are accessed via: 
'''Main Menu > Attendance > Attendance Reports''' 

The report then needs to be filtered to show only those students with less than a certain percentage attendance. The '''[[Reports]]''' page explains how to filter reports. Once the report is filtered click the '''External Contact''' button at the top of the report. 

=Using the External Contact Screen=

==Batch send messages / batch generate letters==

Click the generate batch button at the top left of the page. You will be taken to a new page with 3 tabs.

===Stage 1===
[[Image:external_contact_batch_stage1.jpg|thumb|The Stage 1 tab when batch sending messages]]

''Note:''
*''Please click the Check Credits button in this screen BEFORE attempting to send a batch SMS to parents'' 

On the left side of the page, you will see a list of students whose parents are to be contacted. Deselect any students whose parents you do not want to contact. 

In the middle column select the type of person you are going to contact. There are four options:
* Students 
''Contact the students themselves. Emails will be sent to their 'work' email addresses (as set in SIMS)''
* Priority 1 contact with Parental responsibility 
''Contact people who are both priority 1 and have parental responsibility''
* Priority 1 contact regardless of Parental responsibility 
''Contact people who are priority 1''
* All contacts with Parental responsibility 
''Contact people who have responsibility'' 

On the right side of the page select the method you wish to use to send your messages. Some of the options include the phrase '''falling back to'''. In these cases, the second method will only be used if the recipient does not have any details to use for the first method e.g. When SMS falling back to email is selected, parents will only receive an email if they do not have an SMS number in SIMS. 

''Note:'' 
*''There are some settings that will affect the options shown on this tab. If some options appear to be different or missing, see the [[#Frequently Asked Questions|Frequently Asked Questions section of this page]].''
*''If a parent has multiple email addresses, only their '''Main''' email address will be used.'' 

===Stage 2===

This tab will check that, for each student, there is a person in SIMS who can be contacted based on the options selected on the previous tab. 

Each student will be listed and any valid contacts (according to their Priority Number and Parental Responsibility) will be shown next to the student. Students are highlighted in red if they cannot be contacted for any reason. 

[[Image:external_contact_batch_stage2.jpg]] 

*If a student has a contact with a Court Order, the contact's name will appear with a warning symbol. By default contacts with Court Orders will not be contacted. See Archie Ansell above.
*If a student does not have any contacts with valid Priority and/or Parental Responsibility, then no names will appear next to the student's name. See Adrienne Frost above.
*If a student has a valid contact but that contact does not have appropriate contact details (e.g. no SMS number or no email address) then the contact's name will appear with a black icon. See Hilda Boson above. 

===Stage 3===

This tab is used to enter the message that will be sent. If you have messages saved in the message bank, dropdowns will appear allowing you to select these messages. Click the relevant button (Email, SMS or Letter) to edit your template message or manually compose a message. 

''For instructions to add messages to the message bank, see the [[#Message Banks|Message Bank section of this page]]''. 

After clicking the SMS, Email or Letter buttons, a Compose Message window will open. You can add merge fields to your message by clicking '''Insert > Field > ...''' 
When sending emails or SMS messages, there is a '''Send at''' field which is used to delay sending the messages until a later time. This can be useful when sending large volumes of emails. When sending Emails you will see an additional tab to add attachments to your email. Every recipient will receive the same attachment(s). 

When sending emails, there is an option to upload a mail merge document. This allows you to include additional mail merge fields for the recipients. The document must be a CSV file and be in the format (including the example below as headers): 
'''ADNO, Field1, Field2''' 
These fields can then be used in the email in the following format: 
'''<nowiki>[[Field1]]</nowiki>''' 

If your letter includes General Attendance or General Behaviour merge fields, a '''Range button''' will appear on the top toolbar. This button is used to select the date range from which the attendance data will be gathered. 

When sending a letter there is an option to Upload a copy of the letter to the student's linked documents in SIMS. 

Click the '''Generate''' button at the top left of the screen to send your messages or download your letters. 

==Sending single messages and recording phone calls==

[[Image:external_contact_page.jpg|thumb|The External Contact page]]

The External Contact screen has two 'modes'; the normal External Contact screen and the Batch Sending screen. If you can see three tabs labelled "Stage 1", "Stage 2" and "Stage 3 you are on the Batch Sending screen. Click '''Close''' at the top right to access the normal External Contact screen. 

You will see a list of students on the left side of the page. The External Contact page shows the details of one student (and their parents) at a time. Click on a student's name on the left to view that student's details. 

The student's details are listed on the left side of the page, such as the student's email address and the student's mobile telephone number. These details are taken from Section 3 and Section 4 of the Student Details page in SIMS. On the right, the student's parents' details are displayed. This information is taken from Section 5 of the Student Details page in SIMS. 

===Send single message===

To send a message, find the email address or mobile telephone number you want to use and click the '''Email''' or '''SMS''' button next to it. This will open a window where you can compose your message. You can access the message bank by clicking '''Insert > Template'''. Click '''Send''' when finished. 

===Record meetings or phone calls===

For telephone calls, find the telephone number that was used then click the '''Call''' button next to it. A window will appear in which you can type the details of your phone call. There is a '''Contact type''' dropdown near the top of the window. This is used to record whether the call was successful, or whether there was no answer, a voicemail was left, etc. 

For meetings click the '''Ad-Hoc''' button next to the contact's name. A window will appear where you can type the details of the meeting. 

When recording either meetings or telephone calls, there is an option to record the information as '''Private'''. When information is recorded as private, only the staff member that recorded the information and people with the following permission will be able to view it: 
''Contact management > User can view external contacts set to private'' 

When recording meetings and telephone calls most information will be recorded on the contact log. This includes the date, time, the name of the staff member recording the information, the person contacted and the student. In the case of telephone calls, the telephone number is also recorded. If a telephone call or meeting has been recorded as Private then the '''Log Confidentiality''' in SIMS will be set to "Private", in any other case "Public" will be used. 

==View contact log==

All emails, SMS messages and letters sent by PARS are automatically recorded on the student's contact log. Any telephone calls and meetings are also recorded on the contact log. 

There '''Contact History''' and '''History Report''' buttons are used to access a student's contact log. 

Contact History shows a summary of contacts made, but to see the details of each contact you must click the '''view button''' (this is the button that looks like a sheet of paper). This report is easier to read at a glance but requires more clicks to see the details of a message. The Contact History report can also be used to edit and delete items from the contact log, using the pencil and cross buttons. 

The History Report shows all information from the contact log. It is not possible to view the details of letters using this report. Items on the contact log cannot be edited or deleted using this report. 

There are two other methods for accessing the contact log outside of the External Contact page. Contact Reports are available via: 
'''Main menu > Contact management > [[Contact reports]]''' 
''Note the '''[[permissions]]''' needed to access Contact Reports are:'' 
''Contact management > Access notices management screen'' (On) 
''Contact management > Report on contacts made'' (On) 

An individual student's contact log can also be viewed in the '''[[Pupil information|Pupil Information]]''' screen. This is accessed by clicking the '''Pupil Information''' button on the PARS quick launch bar. 

[[Image:quick_launch_pupil_information.jpg]] 

=Configuration=

==Emails==

===SMTP details===

In order to send emails, PARS needs to be given the SMTP details of your email server. These settings are entered into PARS via: 
'''Main menu > System management > Preferences > Email''' 

At the bottom of this section, there is a Send Test Email link which you can use to test the details you have entered. We cannot tell you what these details are; if you do not know your SMTP details, you must find them yourself. 

===Sending rate===

Emails in PARS are sent by the PARSKeepAliveService, which is a Windows Service that runs on the IIS server hosting PARS. There are various settings in PARS that instruct the KeepAlive service to send emails at a certain rate. This is important as many ISPs and email providers impose sending limits on emails, such as 30 emails per minute, or 500 emails per day. 

The settings that control the rate of emails sent from PARS are accessed via: 
'''Main menu > System management > Preferences > Email''' 

The relevant settings are: 
'''Number of emails send per time span''' 
'''Time span for email sending in seconds''' 
'''When an email fails number of minutes to wait before retrying (Important queue)''' 
'''When an email fails number of minutes to wait before retrying''' 
'''When an email fails number retries''' 

The top two settings are the most important as these control the rate of emails sent from PARS. If an email fails to send for any reason, PARS will attempt to resend it if instructed to do so, according to the final three settings. 

===Email replies===

By default email replies will be sent to the From Address listed in the '''Email Preferences''' (Main menu > System management > Preferences > Email). If you would like users to receive email replies to their own email address instead, each user will need the following '''[[permissions|permission]]''' enabled: 

''Contact management > Use own email address as email reply address if available'' (On) 

==SMS==

===SMS Account===

To send SMS messages, you must have an account with TextAnywhere and enter those account details into PARS. If the details have not been entered into PARS you will not be able to select SMS as a method of contact. 

The details of your TextAnywhere account are entered into PARS via: 
'''Main menu > Contact management > Configure > Configure SMS''' 

Clicking the '''here''' link on the Configure SMS page will take you to TextAnywhere's website. 

===SMS replies===

Replies to SMS messages will be sent as emails. The reply emails can be sent to a central email address, to the person that sent the SMS, or both. To decide where the replies will be sent, go to 

'''Main menu > System management > System > Automation''' 
''Note - to access this screen you need the following permissions:'' 
''Automation > Access automation control'' (On) 
''Automation > Setup automation jobs'' (On) 
''System management > Access PARS management options'' (On) 

Click on the '''Jobs''' tab at the top of the page. You will see a list of the automatic tasks that PARS performs. Look for a row on this page called '''Check for, and send outstanding batch SMS messages'''. Click the Magnifying Glass next to this row. 

Enable the '''Email originator''' option for the sender of the SMS messages to receive replies to their email inbox. 
Enable the '''Email this address''' option for email replies to be sent to a central email address. You will also need to enter the email address you want to use. 

The '''Add details of SMS's''' option should be enabled. Also, make sure that every day of the week is ticked. Once done, click '''OK'''. 

==Message Banks==

PARS allows the use of Message Banks so that you can pre-configure message templates to be used on the External Contact page. 

The Message Banks are accessed via: 
'''Main menu > Contact management > Configure > Email / SMS / Letter message bank''' 
''Note to access these screens you need the following permissions:'' 
''Contact management > Access notices management screen'' (On) 
''Contact management > Allow access to contact management comment bank'' (On) 

All existing message templates will appear on the screen. Click the '''Add''' button to create a new message template. 

A Compose Message window will open in which you can type your message. You can add merge fields to your message by clicking '''Insert > Field > ...''' 
Images can be added to Email or Letter templates by clicking '''Insert > Image'''. 

==Writing to the SIMS Communication Log==

PARS will automatically store all communications in the PARS Contact Log. This information can also be copied to the SIMS Communication Log if desired. For this to happen you need to enable the following preference: 

'''Main menu > System management > Preferences > External contact > Add copy of contact history to SIMS contact log''' 

=Frequently Asked Questions=

==One or more of my templates are not available when composing a message==

This will happen if your template contains merge fields that are not valid for the type of message you are sending. For example, your template may contain the merge field <nowiki>{{TYPE}}</nowiki>. This field refers to the type of detention that a pupil has been given. Therefore it does not make sense to use this template message unless you are sending a message about detentions. 

So if your template is not available, it is for one of the two following reasons: 
*You have an incorrect merge field in your template. Edit the template and remove the offending merge field(s). See the [[#Message Banks|Message Banks section of this page]] for information regarding the configuration of Message Bank templates.
*You are accessing the External Contact page using the wrong method. See the [[#Accessing the External Contact screen|Accessing the External Contact screen section of this page]] for further instructions. 

==Some options are missing from the Stage 1 tab when sending a batch message==

You may find that some options are missing from either the Recipients section or the Method section. 

'''Recipients''' 
[[Image:external_contact_batch_contacts.jpg|thumb|The Recipient options when sending a batch message]]

Up to four options can be shown in this section. Your permissions define which options are shown here. "Students" will always be visible in the Recipients section. This option is used to contact the students themselves. The additional three options are controlled by permissions. 

'''Priority 1 contact with Parental responsibility''' 
The '''[[permission]]''' needed to access this option is: 
''Contact management > User can contact highest priority parent'' (On) 

'''Priority 1 contact regardless of Parental responsibility''' 
The '''[[permission]]''' needed to access this option is: 
''Contact management > User can contact highest priority contacts'' (On) 

'''All contacts with Parental responsibility''' 
The '''[[permission]]''' needed to access this option is: 
''Contact management > User can contact all parents'' (On) 

'''Method''' 
[[Image:external_contact_batch_method.jpg|thumb|The Method options when sending a batch message]]

The Letter option will always be available. Any of the options involving Email or SMS may be hidden for the following reasons. 

'''Email''' - The user does not have sufficient permissions 
The '''[[permission]]''' needed to access this option is: 
''Contact management > Prevents user from sending emails'' (Off) 

'''SMS''' - The user does not have sufficient permissions 
The '''[[permission]]''' needed to access this option is: 
''Contact management > Prevents user from sending SMS messages'' (Off) 

'''SMS''' - PARS has not been given the details of your TextAnywhere account, used to send emails 
You need to create an account with TextAnywhere and enter the account details into PARS to send SMS messages. See the [[#SMS Account|SMS Account section of this page]] for more information. 

[[Category:Communications]]

Contacting parents

2020-11-30T14:49:35Z

LiamBell: /* Stage 3 */

PARS can be used to contact parents for a variety of different reasons. Messages can be sent to parents as Emails, Letters or SMS messages. You can also type the details of telephone calls or meetings into PARS. All of this information is automatically stored in the PARS contact log for each student, and can also be written back to the SIMS Communication Log if desired. 

=Accessing the External Contact screen=

There are a variety of reasons you may want to contact parents from PARS. The External Contact page is always used to send the messages, but the method for accessing the External Contact page changes, depending on the reason you are contacting parents. 

The following '''[[permissions]]''' are required to access the External Contact page: 
''Contact management > Access notices management screen'' (On) 
''Contact management > Manage and review external communications'' (On) 

==For General Messages==

The page is simply accessed via: 
'''Main Menu > Contact Management > External contact''' 

You can also click the External Contact button on the Quick Launch Bar at the top of PARS. 
[[Image:quick_launch_external_contact.jpg]] 

The External Contact page can also be accessed via the '''Contacts''' tab of the '''[[Pupil information]]''' page. When using this method you will only be able to type the details of a conversation or meeting you have had with a parent. The Pupil Information page is accessed via the PARS quick launch bar: 
[[Image:quick_launch_pupil_information.jpg]] 

==For Absence==

You should use the '''[[Attendance view|Attendance View]]''' page to identify the absent students (see the Attendance View page for instructions to do this). You would then click '''Contact > External Contact''' on the Attendance View page. 

==For Behaviour Incidents==

This is to contact parents about individual behaviour incidents i.e. contact all the parents of students who received a Head Teacher's Award this week; contact all the parents of students who received a C4 today; etc. Parents receive one message per behaviour incident and the messages can include information about the behaviour incidents, such as the grounds or the comments. 

The '''[[Edit behaviour incidents|Edit Behaviour Incidents]]''' page is used to select the behaviour incidents for which you will contact parents (see the Edit Behaviour Incidents page for instructions to do this). You would then click the '''External Contact''' button on the Edit Behaviour Incidents page. 

==For Detentions==

This is to contact parents about specific detentions. The messages sent to parents can include information such as the reason that the detention was given, or the date and time it is going to take place. 

The '''[[Edit scheduled detentions|Edit Scheduled Detentions]]''' page is used to select the detentions for which you will contact parents (see the Edit Scheduled Detentions page for instructions to do this). You would then click the '''External Contact''' button on the Edit Scheduled Detentions page. 

==For Assignments (Homework)==

You can contact parents about a homework assignment, either to notify the parents and/or students that homework has been set (and email any attachments). Alternatively, you can notify the parents of students who have not completed the homework. 

Open the '''[[Assignment diary|Assignment Diary]]''' and select the Assignment, then click the '''External Contact''' button. See the Assignment Diary page for more information. 

==For Low Attendance==

You first need to run an Attendance Report to identify the students with low attendance (e.g. lower than 85%). '''Attendance Summaries > Individual Percentages > Selected Individual Session Attendance''' is a good report for this purpose. 

Attendance Reports are accessed via: 
'''Main Menu > Attendance > Attendance Reports''' 

The report then needs to be filtered to show only those students with less than a certain percentage attendance. The '''[[Reports]]''' page explains how to filter reports. Once the report is filtered click the '''External Contact''' button at the top of the report. 

=Using the External Contact Screen=

==Batch send messages / batch generate letters==

Click the generate batch button at the top left of the page. You will be taken to a new page with 3 tabs.

===Stage 1===
[[Image:external_contact_batch_stage1.jpg|thumb|The Stage 1 tab when batch sending messages]]

''Note:''
*''Please click the Check Credits button in this screen BEFORE attempting to send a batch SMS to parents'' 

On the left side of the page, you will see a list of students whose parents are to be contacted. Deselect any students whose parents you do not want to contact. 

In the middle column select the type of person you are going to contact. There are four options:
* Students 
''Contact the students themselves. Emails will be sent to their 'work' email addresses (as set in SIMS)''
* Priority 1 contact with Parental responsibility 
''Contact people who are both priority 1 and have parental responsibility''
* Priority 1 contact regardless of Parental responsibility 
''Contact people who are priority 1''
* All contacts with Parental responsibility 
''Contact people who have responsibility'' 

On the right side of the page select the method you wish to use to send your messages. Some of the options include the phrase '''falling back to'''. In these cases, the second method will only be used if the recipient does not have any details to use for the first method e.g. When SMS falling back to email is selected, parents will only receive an email if they do not have an SMS number in SIMS. 

''Note:'' 
*''There are some settings that will affect the options shown on this tab. If some options appear to be different or missing, see the [[#Frequently Asked Questions|Frequently Asked Questions section of this page]].''
*''If a parent has multiple email addresses, only their '''Main''' email address will be used.'' 

===Stage 2===

This tab will check that, for each student, there is a person in SIMS who can be contacted based on the options selected on the previous tab. 

Each student will be listed and any valid contacts (according to their Priority Number and Parental Responsibility) will be shown next to the student. Students are highlighted in red if they cannot be contacted for any reason. 

[[Image:external_contact_batch_stage2.jpg]] 

*If a student has a contact with a Court Order, the contact's name will appear with a warning symbol. By default contacts with Court Orders will not be contacted. See Archie Ansell above.
*If a student does not have any contacts with valid Priority and/or Parental Responsibility, then no names will appear next to the student's name. See Adrienne Frost above.
*If a student has a valid contact but that contact does not have appropriate contact details (e.g. no SMS number or no email address) then the contact's name will appear with a black icon. See Hilda Boson above. 

===Stage 3===

This tab is used to enter the message that will be sent. If you have messages saved in the message bank, dropdowns will appear allowing you to select these messages. Click the relevant button (Email, SMS or Letter) to edit your template message or manually compose a message. 

''For instructions to add messages to the message bank, see the [[#Message Banks|Message Bank section of this page]]''. 

After clicking the SMS, Email or Letter buttons, a Compose Message window will open. You can add merge fields to your message by clicking '''Insert > Field > ...''' 
When sending emails or SMS messages, there is a '''Send at''' field which is used to delay sending the messages until a later time. This can be useful when sending large volumes of emails. When sending Emails you will see an additional tab to add attachments to your email. Every recipient will receive the same attachment(s). 

When sending emails, there is an option to upload a mail merge document. This allows you to include additional mail merge fields for the recipients. The document must be a CSV file and be in the format (including the example below as headers): 
ADNO, Field1, Field2 
These fields can then be used in the email in the following format: 
[[Field1]] 

If your letter includes General Attendance or General Behaviour merge fields, a '''Range button''' will appear on the top toolbar. This button is used to select the date range from which the attendance data will be gathered. 

When sending a letter there is an option to Upload a copy of the letter to the student's linked documents in SIMS. 

Click the '''Generate''' button at the top left of the screen to send your messages or download your letters. 

==Sending single messages and recording phone calls==

[[Image:external_contact_page.jpg|thumb|The External Contact page]]

The External Contact screen has two 'modes'; the normal External Contact screen and the Batch Sending screen. If you can see three tabs labelled "Stage 1", "Stage 2" and "Stage 3 you are on the Batch Sending screen. Click '''Close''' at the top right to access the normal External Contact screen. 

You will see a list of students on the left side of the page. The External Contact page shows the details of one student (and their parents) at a time. Click on a student's name on the left to view that student's details. 

The student's details are listed on the left side of the page, such as the student's email address and the student's mobile telephone number. These details are taken from Section 3 and Section 4 of the Student Details page in SIMS. On the right, the student's parents' details are displayed. This information is taken from Section 5 of the Student Details page in SIMS. 

===Send single message===

To send a message, find the email address or mobile telephone number you want to use and click the '''Email''' or '''SMS''' button next to it. This will open a window where you can compose your message. You can access the message bank by clicking '''Insert > Template'''. Click '''Send''' when finished. 

===Record meetings or phone calls===

For telephone calls, find the telephone number that was used then click the '''Call''' button next to it. A window will appear in which you can type the details of your phone call. There is a '''Contact type''' dropdown near the top of the window. This is used to record whether the call was successful, or whether there was no answer, a voicemail was left, etc. 

For meetings click the '''Ad-Hoc''' button next to the contact's name. A window will appear where you can type the details of the meeting. 

When recording either meetings or telephone calls, there is an option to record the information as '''Private'''. When information is recorded as private, only the staff member that recorded the information and people with the following permission will be able to view it: 
''Contact management > User can view external contacts set to private'' 

When recording meetings and telephone calls most information will be recorded on the contact log. This includes the date, time, the name of the staff member recording the information, the person contacted and the student. In the case of telephone calls, the telephone number is also recorded. If a telephone call or meeting has been recorded as Private then the '''Log Confidentiality''' in SIMS will be set to "Private", in any other case "Public" will be used. 

==View contact log==

All emails, SMS messages and letters sent by PARS are automatically recorded on the student's contact log. Any telephone calls and meetings are also recorded on the contact log. 

There '''Contact History''' and '''History Report''' buttons are used to access a student's contact log. 

Contact History shows a summary of contacts made, but to see the details of each contact you must click the '''view button''' (this is the button that looks like a sheet of paper). This report is easier to read at a glance but requires more clicks to see the details of a message. The Contact History report can also be used to edit and delete items from the contact log, using the pencil and cross buttons. 

The History Report shows all information from the contact log. It is not possible to view the details of letters using this report. Items on the contact log cannot be edited or deleted using this report. 

There are two other methods for accessing the contact log outside of the External Contact page. Contact Reports are available via: 
'''Main menu > Contact management > [[Contact reports]]''' 
''Note the '''[[permissions]]''' needed to access Contact Reports are:'' 
''Contact management > Access notices management screen'' (On) 
''Contact management > Report on contacts made'' (On) 

An individual student's contact log can also be viewed in the '''[[Pupil information|Pupil Information]]''' screen. This is accessed by clicking the '''Pupil Information''' button on the PARS quick launch bar. 

[[Image:quick_launch_pupil_information.jpg]] 

=Configuration=

==Emails==

===SMTP details===

In order to send emails, PARS needs to be given the SMTP details of your email server. These settings are entered into PARS via: 
'''Main menu > System management > Preferences > Email''' 

At the bottom of this section, there is a Send Test Email link which you can use to test the details you have entered. We cannot tell you what these details are; if you do not know your SMTP details, you must find them yourself. 

===Sending rate===

Emails in PARS are sent by the PARSKeepAliveService, which is a Windows Service that runs on the IIS server hosting PARS. There are various settings in PARS that instruct the KeepAlive service to send emails at a certain rate. This is important as many ISPs and email providers impose sending limits on emails, such as 30 emails per minute, or 500 emails per day. 

The settings that control the rate of emails sent from PARS are accessed via: 
'''Main menu > System management > Preferences > Email''' 

The relevant settings are: 
'''Number of emails send per time span''' 
'''Time span for email sending in seconds''' 
'''When an email fails number of minutes to wait before retrying (Important queue)''' 
'''When an email fails number of minutes to wait before retrying''' 
'''When an email fails number retries''' 

The top two settings are the most important as these control the rate of emails sent from PARS. If an email fails to send for any reason, PARS will attempt to resend it if instructed to do so, according to the final three settings. 

===Email replies===

By default email replies will be sent to the From Address listed in the '''Email Preferences''' (Main menu > System management > Preferences > Email). If you would like users to receive email replies to their own email address instead, each user will need the following '''[[permissions|permission]]''' enabled: 

''Contact management > Use own email address as email reply address if available'' (On) 

==SMS==

===SMS Account===

To send SMS messages, you must have an account with TextAnywhere and enter those account details into PARS. If the details have not been entered into PARS you will not be able to select SMS as a method of contact. 

The details of your TextAnywhere account are entered into PARS via: 
'''Main menu > Contact management > Configure > Configure SMS''' 

Clicking the '''here''' link on the Configure SMS page will take you to TextAnywhere's website. 

===SMS replies===

Replies to SMS messages will be sent as emails. The reply emails can be sent to a central email address, to the person that sent the SMS, or both. To decide where the replies will be sent, go to 

'''Main menu > System management > System > Automation''' 
''Note - to access this screen you need the following permissions:'' 
''Automation > Access automation control'' (On) 
''Automation > Setup automation jobs'' (On) 
''System management > Access PARS management options'' (On) 

Click on the '''Jobs''' tab at the top of the page. You will see a list of the automatic tasks that PARS performs. Look for a row on this page called '''Check for, and send outstanding batch SMS messages'''. Click the Magnifying Glass next to this row. 

Enable the '''Email originator''' option for the sender of the SMS messages to receive replies to their email inbox. 
Enable the '''Email this address''' option for email replies to be sent to a central email address. You will also need to enter the email address you want to use. 

The '''Add details of SMS's''' option should be enabled. Also, make sure that every day of the week is ticked. Once done, click '''OK'''. 

==Message Banks==

PARS allows the use of Message Banks so that you can pre-configure message templates to be used on the External Contact page. 

The Message Banks are accessed via: 
'''Main menu > Contact management > Configure > Email / SMS / Letter message bank''' 
''Note to access these screens you need the following permissions:'' 
''Contact management > Access notices management screen'' (On) 
''Contact management > Allow access to contact management comment bank'' (On) 

All existing message templates will appear on the screen. Click the '''Add''' button to create a new message template. 

A Compose Message window will open in which you can type your message. You can add merge fields to your message by clicking '''Insert > Field > ...''' 
Images can be added to Email or Letter templates by clicking '''Insert > Image'''. 

==Writing to the SIMS Communication Log==

PARS will automatically store all communications in the PARS Contact Log. This information can also be copied to the SIMS Communication Log if desired. For this to happen you need to enable the following preference: 

'''Main menu > System management > Preferences > External contact > Add copy of contact history to SIMS contact log''' 

=Frequently Asked Questions=

==One or more of my templates are not available when composing a message==

This will happen if your template contains merge fields that are not valid for the type of message you are sending. For example, your template may contain the merge field <nowiki>{{TYPE}}</nowiki>. This field refers to the type of detention that a pupil has been given. Therefore it does not make sense to use this template message unless you are sending a message about detentions. 

So if your template is not available, it is for one of the two following reasons: 
*You have an incorrect merge field in your template. Edit the template and remove the offending merge field(s). See the [[#Message Banks|Message Banks section of this page]] for information regarding the configuration of Message Bank templates.
*You are accessing the External Contact page using the wrong method. See the [[#Accessing the External Contact screen|Accessing the External Contact screen section of this page]] for further instructions. 

==Some options are missing from the Stage 1 tab when sending a batch message==

You may find that some options are missing from either the Recipients section or the Method section. 

'''Recipients''' 
[[Image:external_contact_batch_contacts.jpg|thumb|The Recipient options when sending a batch message]]

Up to four options can be shown in this section. Your permissions define which options are shown here. "Students" will always be visible in the Recipients section. This option is used to contact the students themselves. The additional three options are controlled by permissions. 

'''Priority 1 contact with Parental responsibility''' 
The '''[[permission]]''' needed to access this option is: 
''Contact management > User can contact highest priority parent'' (On) 

'''Priority 1 contact regardless of Parental responsibility''' 
The '''[[permission]]''' needed to access this option is: 
''Contact management > User can contact highest priority contacts'' (On) 

'''All contacts with Parental responsibility''' 
The '''[[permission]]''' needed to access this option is: 
''Contact management > User can contact all parents'' (On) 

'''Method''' 
[[Image:external_contact_batch_method.jpg|thumb|The Method options when sending a batch message]]

The Letter option will always be available. Any of the options involving Email or SMS may be hidden for the following reasons. 

'''Email''' - The user does not have sufficient permissions 
The '''[[permission]]''' needed to access this option is: 
''Contact management > Prevents user from sending emails'' (Off) 

'''SMS''' - The user does not have sufficient permissions 
The '''[[permission]]''' needed to access this option is: 
''Contact management > Prevents user from sending SMS messages'' (Off) 

'''SMS''' - PARS has not been given the details of your TextAnywhere account, used to send emails 
You need to create an account with TextAnywhere and enter the account details into PARS to send SMS messages. See the [[#SMS Account|SMS Account section of this page]] for more information. 

[[Category:Communications]]

File:Consecutive-absence-report.jpg

2020-11-30T14:14:18Z

LiamBell:

Attendance reports

2020-11-30T14:14:03Z

LiamBell: /* Absence reports */

{{permissions|Attendance|Access Attendance menu|Report on attendance}}

Attendance reports provide information about pupil attendance within school. There are many different reports that display various information about pupil attendance - see below for screenshots of all available Attendance reports. 

This page is accessed via: 
'''[[PARS main menu]] > [[Attendance]] > Attendance reports''' 

''Click this link to see our guide to using Attendance reports: [http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/ATT%20Run%20an%20attendance%20report.pdf Run an Attendance Report]

=Attendance displays=

==Registration group or class==

===One week per page===

[[Image:ATEN1.png|900px]] 

===Markbook style===

[[Image:ATEN3.png|900px]] 

===One student per page===

[[Image:ATEN2.png|900px]] 

==Group==

===Session marks only===

[[Image:ATEN4.png|900px]] 

===Session marks only with year to date total attendance===

[[Image:ATEN5.png|900px]] 

===Session marks only - official register with record of changed marks===

[[Image:ATEN6.png|900px]] 

===Sessions and lesson marks, one week per page===

[[Image:ATEN7.png|900px]] 

===Session and lesson marks, one week per page with extra line===

[[Image:ATEN8.png|900px]] 

===Session and lesson marks, absent students with present session mark===

[[Image:ATEN9.png|900px]] 

===Session or lesson marks, single period register===

[[Image:singleperiod.jpg|900px]] 

==Individual==

===Session marks only, markbook style===

[[Image:ATEN10.png|900px]] 

===Session marks only, weekly statement===

[[Image:ATEN11.png|900px]] 

===Session and lesson marks, one week per page===

[[Image:ATEN12.png|900px]] 

===Session and lesson marks, same day absent with a present mark===

[[Image:ATEN13.png|900px]] 

===Session and lesson marks, one student per page timetable===

[[Image:ATEN14.jpg|900px]] 

===Session and lesson marks, one student per page reduced detail===

[[Image:ATEN15.png|900px]] 

===Session and lesson marks, physically absent===

[[Image:ATEN16.png|900px]] 

===Session and lesson marks, code instances===

[[Image:ATEN17.png|900px]] 

==Registration certificates==

===Session only===

[[Image:ATEN18.png|900px]] 

===Lesson only===

[[Image:ATEN19.png|900px]] 

===Session and lesson===

[[Image:ATEN20.png|900px]] 

=Attendance summaries=

==Individual percentages==

===Selected individual session attendance===

[[Image:ATEN21.png|900px]] 

===Selected individual session attendance - by weekday===

[[Image:ATEN22.png|900px]] 

===Selected individual lesson attendance===

[[Image:ATEN23.png|900px]] 

===By subject (statistical)===

[[Image:ATEN24.png|900px]] 

===By subject (physical)===

[[Image:att_subject_phys.jpg|900px]] 

===Classes taken attendance (Statistical)===

[[Image:ATEN25.png|900px]] 

===Classes taken attendance (Physical)===

[[Image:ATEN26.png|900px]] 

===Year to date and current week comparison===

[[Image:ATEN27.png|900px]] 

===Session attendance by AM/PM===

[[Image:ATEN28.png|900px]] 

===Persistant absences, year to date===

[[Image:ATEN29.png|900px]] 

==Individual actual figures==

===Selected individual session attendance===

[[Image:ATEN30.png|900px]] 

===Selected individual session attendance - by weekday===

[[Image:ATEN31.png|900px]] 

===Selected individual lesson attendance===

[[Image:ATEN32.png|900px]] 

===By subject (statistical)===

[[Image:ATEN33.png|900px]] 

===By subject (physical)===

[[Image:at_sub_phys1.jpg|900px]] 

===By subject - Lates===

[[Image:ATEN34.png|900px]] 

===Classes taken attendance (statistical)===

[[Image:ATEN35.png|900px]] 

===Classes taken attendance (physical)===

[[Image:ATEN36.png|900px]] 

===Attendance by teacher===

[[Image:ATEN37.png|900px]] 

===Session attendance by AM/PM===

[[Image:ATEN38.png|900px]] 

==Group percentages==

===Session attendance===

[[Image:ATEN39.png|900px]] 

===Lesson attendance===

[[Image:ATEN40.png|900px]] 

===Single class attendance===

[[Image:ATEN41.png|900px]] 

==Group actual figures==

===Session attendance===

[[Image:ATEN42.png|900px]] 

===Lesson attendance===

[[Image:ATEN43.png|900px]] 

===Single class attendance===

[[Image:ATEN44.png|900px]] 

==Year group percentages==

===Session attendance year group comparision===

[[Image:ATEN45.png|900px]] 

===Lesson attendance year group comparison===

[[Image:ATEN46.png|900px]] 

===Session attendance year group comparison by AM PM===

[[Image:ATEN47.png|900px]] 

===Lesson attendance year group comparison by AM PM===

[[Image:ATEN48.png|900px]] 

==Year group actual figures==

===Session attendance year group comparision===

[[Image:ATEN49.png|900px]] 

===Lesson attendance year group comparison===

[[Image:ATEN50.png|900px]] 

===Session attendance year group comparison by AM PM===

[[Image:ATEN51.png|900px]] 

===Lesson attendance year group comparison by AM PM===

[[Image:ATEN52.png|900px]] 

=Attendance summaries for groups=

==Percentages==

===Group attendance - Session===

[[Image:ATEN53.png|900px]] 

===Group attendance - Lesson===

[[Image:ATEN54.png|900px]] 

===Group attendance - Broken down by subject===

[[Image:ATEN55.png|900px]] 

===Group attendance - Taken in selected group===

[[Image:ATEN56.png|900px]] 

===Group attendance - Single period===

[[Image:groupattendancesingleperiod.jpg|900px]] 

===Group attendance - Week by week===

[[Image:ATEN58.png|900px]] 

===Group attendance - Week by week - One group per page===

[[Image:ATEN59.png|900px]] 

===Group attendance - Attendance bands===

[[Image:ATEN60.png|900px]] 

===Group attendance - Week-by-week - Persistant absentees (Year to date)===

[[Image:ATEN61.png|900px]] 

===Group attendance - Half termly===

[[Image:ATEN62.png|900px]] 

===Persistent absences group based===

[[Image:PA_group_based.png|900px]] 

==Actual figures==

===Group attendance - Session===

[[Image:ATEN63.png|900px]] 

===Group attendance - Lesson===

[[Image:ATEN64.png|900px]] 

===Group attendance - Broken down by subject===

[[Image:ATEN65.png|900px]] 

===Group attendance - Taken in selected group===

[[Image:ATEN66.png|900px]] 

===Group attendance - Single period===

[[Image:singleperiodactual.jpg|900px]] 

===Group attendance - Week by week===

[[Image:ATEN68.png|900px]] 

===Group attendance - Week by week lateness===

[[Image:ATEN69.png|900px]] 

===Group attendance - Week by week - One group per page===

[[Image:ATEN70.png|900px]] 

===Group attendance - Attendance bands===

[[Image:ATEN71.png|900px]] 

===Group attendance - Half Termly===

[[Image:ATEN72.png|900px]] 

=Attendance code analysis=

==Percentages==

===Lesson code analysis===

[[Image:ATEN73.png|900px]] 

===Groups lesson codes analysis===

[[Image:ATEN74.png|900px]] 

===Session codes analysis===

[[Image:ATEN75.png|900px]] 

===Group session codes analysis===

[[Image:ATEN76.png|900px]] 

==Actual figures==

===Lesson code analysis===

[[Image:ATEN77.png|900px]] 

===Groups lesson codes analysis===

[[Image:ATEN78.png|900px]] 

===Session codes analysis===

[[Image:ATEN79.png|900px]] 

===Group session codes analysis===

[[Image:ATEN80.png|900px]] 

==Student days==

===By year group and gender - Actual figures===

[[Image:actualstudentdays.jpg|900px]] 

===By year groups and gender - Percentages===

[[Image:percentstudentdays.jpg|900px]] 

===One row per group===

[[Image:ATEN83.png|900px]] 

==Week by week==

===Sessions only - week by week code usage===

[[Image:ATR_wbwcu.jpg|900px]] 

=Attendance miscellaneous=

==Latecomers==

===Latecomers into school===

[[Image:ATEN84.png|900px]] 

===Latecomers into sessions and lesson with comments===

[[Image:ATEN85.png|900px]] 

===Latecomers into lessons with comments===

[[Image:ATEN86.png|900px]] 

===Latecomers into lessons with comments - one group per page===

[[Image:160218a.png|900px]] 

===Latecomers into schools - Minutes late with comments===

[[Image:ATEN87.png|900px]] 

==Missing reasons==
===Missing reasons - Sessions===

[[Image:ATEN88.png|900px]] 

===Missing reasons - Lessons===

[[Image:ATEN89.png|900px]] 

===Missing reasons - Sessions - One group per page===

[[Image:ATEN90.png|900px]] 

===Missing reasons - Lessons - One group per page===

[[Image:ATEN91.png|900px]] 

==Single day's registers==
===All forms===

[[Image:ATEN92.png|900px]] 

===Groups===

[[Image:ATEN93.png|900px]] 

===Individuals===

[[Image:ATEN94.png|900px]] 

==Hours attended/lost==
Key: 0.0:00:00 week:day:hour:minute (eg. 1.01:08:15 1 week, 1 day: 8 hours: 15 minutes)
Total = Total possible hours of education in time measurement / Tcount = total possible number of classes to attend
===Classes===

[[Image:ATEN95.png|900px]] 

===Individuals===

[[Image:ATEN96.png|900px]] 

===Individuals with classes===

[[Image:ATEN97.png|900px]] 

===Sessions (overall)===

[[Image:ATEN98.png|900px]] 

===AM/PM/Lesson counts and totals===

[[Image:ATEN99.png|900px]] 

==Absence reports==
===N'th day absence report===

[[Image:ATEN100.png|900px]] 

===N'th day unauthorised absence report===

[[Image:nth_unauth.jpg|900px]] 

===Consecutive absence report===

[[Image:consecutiveabsence.jpg|900px]] 

===Broken weeks===

[[Image:ATEN102.png|900px]] 

===Consecutive absence report===

[[Image:consecutive-absence-report.jpg|900px]] 

==Absence scan==

===Joint absence scan===

[[Image:ATEN103.png|900px]] 

===Joint absence scan (Year to Date)===

[[Image:ATEN104.png|900px]] 

===Joint lesson absence detection===

[[Image:ATEN105.png|900px]] 

===Patterned lesson absence===

[[Image:ATEN106.png|900px]] 

==Unexpected arrivals==

===By date===

[[Image:ATEN107.png|900px]] 

===One student per page===

[[Image:ATEN108.png|900px]] 

==Missing registers==
===Summary===

[[Image:ATEN109.png|900px]] 

===Summary sessions only===

[[Image:ATEN110.png|900px]] 

===Summary lessons only===

[[Image:ATEN111.png|900px]] 

===Summary by subject===

[[Image:ATEN112.png|900px]] 

===Summary by period===

[[Image:ATEN113.png|900px]] 

===Summary by time of day===

[[Image:ATEN114.png|900px]] 

==Days of the week==
===Days of the week percentages===

[[Image:ATEN115.png|900px]] 

===Days of the week actual figures===

[[Image:ATEN116.png|900px]] 

==Attendance comments==
===Attendance Comments===

[[Image:ATEN117.png|900px]] 

==Attendance count==

===Attendance count===

[[Image:ATEN118.png|900px]] 

==Seating plans==

===Lessons with missing seating plans===

See a list of teachers and classes that do not have seating plans. 

[[Image:missingseatingplan.jpg|900px]] 

===Seating plan group notes===

[[Image:SPgroupnotes.jpg|900px]] 

=Paper registers=

==With photos==

All of the reports in this section look the same, but allow for different selections of pupils. 

[[Image:ATEN119.png|900px]] 

==Without photos==

All of the reports in this section look the same, but allow for different selections of pupils. 

[[Image:paperregisters.jpg|900px]] 

=Signing in=

==Signing in==

===Report with comments===

[[Image:SIOcomments.jpg|900px]] 

===List of pupils currently signed IN===

[[Image:SIOin.png|900px]] 

===List of pupils currently signed OUT===

[[Image:SIOout.jpg|900px]] 

[[Category:Attendance]]
[[Category:Reporting]]

Preferences

2020-11-30T14:11:33Z

LiamBell: /* Diary */

{{permissions|System Management|Access PARS management options|Access PARS preferences}}
[[Image:configure_preferences1.jpg|thumb|The configure preferences screen accessed via [[System management]]]]

Unlike user [[permissions]], preferences are global; they affect all PARS users. Some preferences will have a noticeable affect on performance. 

This page is accessed via: 
'''[[PARS main menu]] > [[System management]] > Preferences'''

==Assignments==
*'''Alternative name for [[Assignment diary|assignments]]'''
::Rename '[[Assignment diary|assignments]]'. Homework is a common alternative name.

*'''Assignments this many days late are considered as exceptions (0=ignore preference)'''
::Assignments that were due to be handed in more than X days ago are no longer considered missing.

*'''Upload attachments to Assignment emails so they are available in Insight'''
::If this setting is off, then any attachments for [[Assignment diary|Assignments]] will only be available in the email to recipients. If this setting is on, then a copy of the attachment is uploaded to the database, meaning the attachment can be accessed via PARS and Insight at a later date.

*'''Force Assignment category selection'''
::This option affects whether or not a category must be selected when a homework assignment is created

==Attendance==

*'''Colour attendance squares based on physical meaning.
::Attendance marks on [[Register|registers]] and the [[Attendance view]] screen will be coloured green for physically present, red for physically absent and yellow for late.

*'''Count approved educational activity code as present'''
::Attendance codes defined in the SIMS Attendance module with the statistical meaning "Approved educational activity" will count as a present mark when running [[Reports|reports]].

*'''Allow user-defined colour markers on attendance view screens'''
::Allows user to access and apply user-defined colour markers on 'Attendance view' screen'''

*'''Save marks chunk size'''
::When saving large numbers of marks via [[Attendance view]], the marks will be broken down into groups. This setting defines how many marks are in each group; the recommended number is 1000. You can increase this number, meaning each group will have more marks in so there will be less groups. This can increase the speed of saving marks, but if the groups are too large then PARS may time out.

*'''Logs every save of lesson marks'''

*'''Logs every save of [[Session]] marks'''
::These two settings increase the amount of data that is recorded whenever a lesson/[[Session|session]] mark is saved. The settings should only be used under advice and when it has been established that there is a problem that requires further investigation. The extra data gives information about the user who changed the mark, the person associated with the user and the time when it was saved. In addition it is possible to find out the following information via [[Repair console|SQL statements]] that will return the value of a column headed "Annot":

{|cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" border="1" align="center"
|'''U'''||Mark is being updated (i.e. a mark already exists at the time the mark is saved)
|-
|'''I'''||Mark is being inserted (i.e. no mark exists to be overwritten)
|-
|'''R'''||Rules applied. The various [[Registration preferences]] available are being followed indicating that the mark was saved via a [[Register|register]].
|-
|'''r'''||Rules not applied. The various [[Registration preferences]] available are '''not''' being followed indicating that the mark was not saved via a [[Register|register]] screen.
|-
|'''H'''||A change has been made to the attendance mark history.
|-
|'''h'''||No change has been made to the attendance mark history.
|-
|}
A "Jump to history" button will appear on the [[Attendance view]] screen where this information is available.

*'''Include current registers as missing'''
::When this preference is on, registers are considered missing as soon as the lesson has started (and if the register has not been taken). When this preference is off, registers are not missing until the lesson has finished. 

==Automation==
*'''Email automation status reports to this address'''
::You can enter an email address, which will receive daily reports showing the automation module's status.

*'''Set whether or not a running [[Automation Module|Automation Service]] logs fully to the Windows Application Event log.'''
::If any problems are encountered with the [[Automation Module]], turn on this option then check the Windows event log after 24 hours. This log may be viewed by selecting "Event Viewer" under Administrative Tools on the Windows Control Panel or by adding the Event Viewer snap-in to the MMC console (Start-> run -> mmc).

==Detentions==

*'''Use behaviour recorders identity when adding a detention to a behaviour'''
::If a behaviour incident is recorded by one member of staff, and then a detention linked to that behaviour incident is recorded by another member of staff, the detention will appear to have been added by the first member of staff. This is useful when admin staff assign detentions via behaviour referrals but do not [[Take detention, removal or extra class registers|Take detentions registers]].

*'''On detention scheduling screen reduce the number of days'''
::By default the [[schedule detentions]] page will show upcoming detentions for the next 7 days. For schools with many unscheduled detentions this can cause performance issues. Use this preference to reduce the number of days shown to 2.

*'''Automatic scheduling will be allowed during scheduled lessons'''
::If this preference is on then a student can not be given a detention that would overlap one of their timetabled classes.

*'''Require a detention type to be selected'''
::When adding a detention, the dropdown list of detentions will start empty instead of containing a default. Staff must manually choose a detention.

*'''Suppress push notifications for in-school detentions'''
::PARS can trigger push notifications for Insight app users. If push notifications are being sent for detentions, this preference will prevent the notification from being sent for detentions that end before the end of the school day. 

==Diary==

*'''Shows reminders for due assignments on the home page'''
::If this option is switched on, staff will receive notices from PARS telling them the names of pupils who have outstanding homework assignments.

*'''Show reminders for missing [[Grading|grades]] on [[homepage|diary]] screen'''
::Reminders will appear in the notices panel at the bottom of the [[homepage]] page indicating when [[Grading|grades]] are due to be entered.

*'''The number of days before the grade is due to open that warnings are shown.
::PARS will begin sending reminder messages this many days before a [[Configure grading elements|Grade Element]] opens, for teachers to enter grades.

*'''Exchange EWS service URL''' (required if you want PARS to access your Exchange Web Services, so the exchange calendar can be viewed in PARS)
::The URL of your EWS service

*'''Optional Exchange EWS service public calendar name'''
::An optional name to be used fro your Exchange calendar

*'''Exchange EWS service service user account''' (required if you want PARS to access your Exchange Web Services, so the exchange calendar can be viewed in PARS)
::A username to access the EWS service

*'''Exchange EWS service service user password''' (required if you want PARS to access your Exchange Web Services, so the exchange calendar can be viewed in PARS)
::A password for the username specified above

*'''The number of days after a detention register is missed that warnings are hidden from the homepage'''
::The PARS homepage has a To-Do list which includes incomplete detention registers. This preference hides old incomplete detention registers from the To-Do list. 

==Email==
*'''SMTP server name or IP address'''
::The name or IP address of your SMTP server. NB this is needed to send [[Email|emails]] via PARS.

*'''SMTP port'''
:: NB this is needed to send [[Email|emails]] via PARS.

*'''Use SSL when sending emails'''
::Your SMTP server may require Certificates to encrypt emails before it will allow them to be sent.

*'''Trust any certificate implicity'''
::Ignore certificate warnings when accessing PARS, so that the site does not look unsafe and users are not advised to leave the page.

*'''Use authentication settings when sending emails'''
::Your SMTP server may require this security setting in order to send emails.

*'''SMTP Username'''
::A username that can be used to access the SMTP server. NB this is needed to send [[Email|emails]] via PARS.

*'''SMTP Password'''
:: The password for the user specified below, that can access the SMTP server. NB this is needed to send [[Email|emails]] via PARS.

*'''Reply address to use for emails sent from PARS'''
::[[Email|Emails]] sent from within PARS will appear to come from this address.

*'''Name to use when for emails sent from PARS'''
::The 'From' field that will be used for emails sent from PARS. This is often set as the name of the school.

*'''Use Reply To address as From address
::When emails are sent from PARS, they will be sent from the sender's email address, not from the address specified in the "Reply address to use for emails sent from PARS" preference (above)

*'''BCC external contact emails to this address'''
::Send a blind copy of [[External contact]] emails to a specified address.

*'''Disclaimer to appear on the bottom of all emails sent from PARS'''
::Specify a message to appear at the foot of all [[Email|emails]] sent via PARS.

*'''Logs all attempts to send emails in Connect'''
::All attempts to send emails via Connect will be recorded in a table in the database. This is a diagnostic setting that should be switched off, unless you are advised otherwise.

*'''Number of asynchronous emails to be sent at once'''
::The number of emails that PARS will try to send at the same time. The higher this number, the faster PARS will be able to send large batches of emails. However if the setting is too high, the email server will refuse to send some emails. 

==External Contact==
*'''Use Primary flag to indicate main'''
::In SIMS, if a method of contact (telephone number, email, etc.) is marked as "Primary" PARS will consider this as if it were the "Main" method of contact.

*'''Prefer emails to SMS on external contacts, batch selection screen'''
::When this setting is used, [[Email|emails]] will be the favoured method of communication from PARS, followed by [[SMS]] then postal mail. The alternative is [[SMS]] then [[Email]] then postal.

*'''Default to only contacting once where contactee has multiple children'''
::By default, the box to send a message per household instead of per pupil will be ticked.

*'''Default to not adding contacts with a Court Order'''
::By default, the box to exclude contacts with court orders will be ticked, from the [[External contact]] screen.

*'''Add copy of contact history to SIMS contact log'''
::Send a copy of all communications to the SIMS contact log.

*'''When adding to SIMS contact log also upload attachments to SIMS document manager'''
If the setting ''' ''Add copy of contact history to SIMS contact log'' ''' is active, then when copying communications to the SIMS contact log, any attachments will also be uploaded to the pupil's linked documents.

==General==
*'''Show initial in place of forename for staff'''
::This may be useful where whiteboards are used to take registers or for other reasons where teachers' first names are to be hidden.

*'''Allows you to view Saturdays and Sundays'''
::Weekends will be visible in PARS on certain [[Reports]] and on the [[Attendance view]] week view batch entry screen.

*'''Use chosen name in place of legal name'''
::Pupils with a legal surname that is different to their chosen name will have the preferred name displayed within PARS.

*'''Number of records to store before writing to Rules Based Behaviour log'''
::When saving large numbers of behaviour incidents via [[Rule based behaviours]], the incidents will be broken down into groups. This setting defines how many incidents are in each group; the recommended number is 100. You can increase this number, meaning each group will have more incidents in so there will be less groups. This can increase the speed of running [[Rule based behaviours]], but if the groups are too large then PARS may crash.

*'''Include teacher names on student selection screens'''
::The supervisor(s) for each group will be displayed next to the name of the group in PARS student selection windows.

*'''"Limit to today's membership" starts selected on student selection screens'''
::The option to only show today's members will be on by default.

==Grading==
*'''Force a particular rounding direction for [[Grading|grade]] averaging.
::See below for a detailed description of grade rounding.

*'''Round grades up'''
::See below for a detailed description of grade rounding.

*'''Single view only on grade screen'''
::Have only one view containing all [[Configure grading elements|grade elements]] on the grade entry screen, instead of multiple views.

*'''Initial grading view'''
::When the [[enter grades]] screen is initally loaded, it will default to either display core, student review, gradebook or active grades as set here.

*'''Any missing grades scans will base memberships on end dates'''
::When checking to see which pupils have missing grades, a pupil will not be considered 'missing' if their membership in the class ended before the [[Configure grading elements|Grade Element]] closed.

*'''Use grade priority in preference to element date'''
::Order [[Configure grading elements|grade elements]] by their priorities instead of their data entry dates.

*'''Maximum number of characters allowed in a grading comment'''
::Place a limit on the number of characters allowed in grading comments.

*'''Default to Performance based comment bank'''
::Sets whether the default type of comment offered when accessing the comment bank is performance based or target based.

*'''Hide reg groups from class selection screens'''
::When choosing a class to enter grades, reg groups will not be displayed for selection.

*'''Include comments column when exporting to Excel'''
::Add a column to the Excel sheet for comments when exporting grade sheets.

*'''Use colour coding from ASM marksheets'''
::Any colour coding found in SIMS marksheets will be visible on PARS grade entry screens (but not anywhere else in PARS).

*'''Use NC Year when checking element-year group links'''
::Use pupils' National Curriculum year when to decide which year group they are in. This is only needed when some pupils are in a different year group to the one that would be normal for their age.

*'''Hide colour coding on custom grading reports'''
::This prevents custom grading reports from automatically colour coding themselves based on the data in the report.

*'''Log each attempt to save grades'''
::All attempts to save grades will be logged in a [[Management reports|management report]]. This will increase the amount of time taken to save grades and should only be used where instructed by TASC Software staff.

*'''Show student data columns on grade entry screen'''
::Display columns showing pupils': 
- Free School Meal (FSM) status 
- FSM within the last 6 years status 
- Pupil premium status 
- English as an Additional Language (EAL) status 
- Special Education Needs (SEN) status 
- Gender

*'''Allow grade element links to be unselected after data has been entered. Warning, doing this means those grades will no longer be visible in PARS'''
::This setting '''should be switched off''' at all times unless advised by TASC Software support staff.

*'''Custom grade reports colour coding based on first grade column'''
::Custom grading reports will colour the columns red, amber or green. if this preference is used, the each grade column will be compared the furthest left column on the report. If the preference is off the each column is compared to the column immediately to the left.

==Notices==
*'''Include SIMS notices when fetching notices'''
::SIMS notices will be displayed in PARS if this is on.

*'''The default lifespan in days of a notice (0 means never)'''
::After this many days, [[Homepage#Notices|notices]] will expire and be deleted from the database.

*'''Send an email where possible when sending all notices'''
::If [[Email]] has been set up and the recipient of a notice has an email address in SIMS, they will receive an SMS message with the [[Homepage#Notices|notice]] content every time a notice is sent via PARS.

*'''Send an SMS where possible when sending a notice.
::If [[SMS|text messaging]] has been set up and the recipient of a notice has a mobile phone number in SIMS, they will receive an SMS message with the [[Homepage#Notices|notice]] content every time a notice is sent via PARS.

*'''When sending messages in missing registers send as instant popups notices'''
::[[Missing registers]] notices will pop-up on recipients screens as well as waiting in their inbox.

*'''When sending messages in missing register send an email where possible'''
::If sending a notice regarding missing registers, a copy of that notice will be sent as an email to the recipient.

*'''Send a Missing Register notice to form tutors when sessions are mapped.
::When a [[Session|session]] register is [[Mapped periods|mapped to a lesson period]], it is still the responsibility of the tutor to ensure that a mark is recorded for each of their pupils. Most of the time with mapped periods, a teacher other than the tutor is the person who actually records the session mark. This means that the tutor will receive notices for missing marks in registers that they don't normally take. This setting can be used to toggle between sending and not sending notices to tutors where they are not the person who actually records the attendance mark.

*'''Send a notice to the student when a detention is scheduled'''
::When a pupil is placed in detention, PARS will send a notice to that student with the details of the detention.

*'''Maximum total size in MB for notice attachments (0=disable attachments)
::When adding attachments to notices the maximum size of the attachments can be set from here. If this is set to 0 then users cannot add attachments to notices.

*'''Prevent potentially unsafe files from being sent as attachments
::This will stop any files that are deemed to have unsafe extensions from being sent. A list of files that are seen as dangerous can be viewed from [[Dangerous files|here]].

*'''Prompt user to confirm sending of SMS messages when sending notices.
::When sending a notice if a user has a mobile image next to their name this will ask the sender when the notice is accepted "Do you wish to send SMS messages with this notice?"

*'''The default subject message for emergency alerts'''
::In here the subject message to be displayed when the [[Assistance request|Emergency alert]] button is used.

*'''Mute warning sound when displaying popup alerts'''
::[[Notices]] that are sent as popups will, by default, also make a beep sound. Use this preference to disable the beep. 

==On Report==
*'''Show warning message about pupils on report when register opens'''
::Show a summary message of which pupils are on report when a register opens.

*'''Show warning message about pupils on report when register closes'''
::Show a summary message of which pupils are on report when a register closes.

==Personal==
*'''Cura login URL'''
::This allows staff to record child protection incidents into Cura, via PARS. For more information about Cura - software for Child Protection and Safeguarding - [http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/software-titles/cura/cura-features/ follow this link]

==Pupil info==
*'''Only show this year's [[Behaviour]] on [[Pupil information]] screen.'''
::Previous year's data is not shown on the [[Pupil information]] behaviour tab.

==Reviews==
*'''Filter output.xml to only contain single class data when generating a review for a single class'''
::When generating Student Reviews for only one class, only use the data that was recorded in that class. The alternative is to use data from all classes, for the pupils within the class selected.

=A more detailed explanation of rounding grade averages=

Two of the options mentioned above ("'''Force a particular rounding direction for grade averaging'''" and "'''Round grades up'''") may be used in combination to alter the way that grades are averaged when running reports and summaries.

[[Image:grade_score1.jpg|thumb|Adding a grade to a [[Configure grade schemes|grade scheme]]. Note the "score" which is used when averaging and rounding grades.]]
Note that when referring to rounding "up", PARS will round to the "higher grade score" (as defined in the grade scheme) and NOT "higher grade rank". So your grade scheme may define an "A" grade as the earliest ranked grade but with a score of 1, whereas an "E" may have the latest rank but a score of 10. In this case rounding a grade up will result in the pupil receiving a later grade.

{|cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" border="1" align="center"
|colspan="2" align="center"|'''Preferences selected?'''||colspan="3"|'''Averaged grade score*
|-align="center"
|rowspan="2"|'''Force rounding||rowspan="2"|'''Round up'''||<0.5||0.5||>0.5
|-align="center"
|colspan="3"|'''Resulting grade score'''
|-align="center"
|No||No||0||0||1
|-align="center"
|Yes||No||0||0||0
|-align="center"
|No||Yes||0||1||1
|-align="center"
|Yes||Yes||1||1||1
|}

* This refers to the non-integer part of the grade. To find out how a score of (e.g.) 7.2 will "behave", refer to the <0.5 column (i.e. 0.2 < 0.5). A resulting grade score of "0" in this case means 7.0, a score of "1" means 8.0.

[[Category:Configuration]]
[[Category:System management]]

Preferences

2020-11-30T14:08:12Z

LiamBell: /* Detentions */

{{permissions|System Management|Access PARS management options|Access PARS preferences}}
[[Image:configure_preferences1.jpg|thumb|The configure preferences screen accessed via [[System management]]]]

Unlike user [[permissions]], preferences are global; they affect all PARS users. Some preferences will have a noticeable affect on performance. 

This page is accessed via: 
'''[[PARS main menu]] > [[System management]] > Preferences'''

==Assignments==
*'''Alternative name for [[Assignment diary|assignments]]'''
::Rename '[[Assignment diary|assignments]]'. Homework is a common alternative name.

*'''Assignments this many days late are considered as exceptions (0=ignore preference)'''
::Assignments that were due to be handed in more than X days ago are no longer considered missing.

*'''Upload attachments to Assignment emails so they are available in Insight'''
::If this setting is off, then any attachments for [[Assignment diary|Assignments]] will only be available in the email to recipients. If this setting is on, then a copy of the attachment is uploaded to the database, meaning the attachment can be accessed via PARS and Insight at a later date.

*'''Force Assignment category selection'''
::This option affects whether or not a category must be selected when a homework assignment is created

==Attendance==

*'''Colour attendance squares based on physical meaning.
::Attendance marks on [[Register|registers]] and the [[Attendance view]] screen will be coloured green for physically present, red for physically absent and yellow for late.

*'''Count approved educational activity code as present'''
::Attendance codes defined in the SIMS Attendance module with the statistical meaning "Approved educational activity" will count as a present mark when running [[Reports|reports]].

*'''Allow user-defined colour markers on attendance view screens'''
::Allows user to access and apply user-defined colour markers on 'Attendance view' screen'''

*'''Save marks chunk size'''
::When saving large numbers of marks via [[Attendance view]], the marks will be broken down into groups. This setting defines how many marks are in each group; the recommended number is 1000. You can increase this number, meaning each group will have more marks in so there will be less groups. This can increase the speed of saving marks, but if the groups are too large then PARS may time out.

*'''Logs every save of lesson marks'''

*'''Logs every save of [[Session]] marks'''
::These two settings increase the amount of data that is recorded whenever a lesson/[[Session|session]] mark is saved. The settings should only be used under advice and when it has been established that there is a problem that requires further investigation. The extra data gives information about the user who changed the mark, the person associated with the user and the time when it was saved. In addition it is possible to find out the following information via [[Repair console|SQL statements]] that will return the value of a column headed "Annot":

{|cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" border="1" align="center"
|'''U'''||Mark is being updated (i.e. a mark already exists at the time the mark is saved)
|-
|'''I'''||Mark is being inserted (i.e. no mark exists to be overwritten)
|-
|'''R'''||Rules applied. The various [[Registration preferences]] available are being followed indicating that the mark was saved via a [[Register|register]].
|-
|'''r'''||Rules not applied. The various [[Registration preferences]] available are '''not''' being followed indicating that the mark was not saved via a [[Register|register]] screen.
|-
|'''H'''||A change has been made to the attendance mark history.
|-
|'''h'''||No change has been made to the attendance mark history.
|-
|}
A "Jump to history" button will appear on the [[Attendance view]] screen where this information is available.

*'''Include current registers as missing'''
::When this preference is on, registers are considered missing as soon as the lesson has started (and if the register has not been taken). When this preference is off, registers are not missing until the lesson has finished. 

==Automation==
*'''Email automation status reports to this address'''
::You can enter an email address, which will receive daily reports showing the automation module's status.

*'''Set whether or not a running [[Automation Module|Automation Service]] logs fully to the Windows Application Event log.'''
::If any problems are encountered with the [[Automation Module]], turn on this option then check the Windows event log after 24 hours. This log may be viewed by selecting "Event Viewer" under Administrative Tools on the Windows Control Panel or by adding the Event Viewer snap-in to the MMC console (Start-> run -> mmc).

==Detentions==

*'''Use behaviour recorders identity when adding a detention to a behaviour'''
::If a behaviour incident is recorded by one member of staff, and then a detention linked to that behaviour incident is recorded by another member of staff, the detention will appear to have been added by the first member of staff. This is useful when admin staff assign detentions via behaviour referrals but do not [[Take detention, removal or extra class registers|Take detentions registers]].

*'''On detention scheduling screen reduce the number of days'''
::By default the [[schedule detentions]] page will show upcoming detentions for the next 7 days. For schools with many unscheduled detentions this can cause performance issues. Use this preference to reduce the number of days shown to 2.

*'''Automatic scheduling will be allowed during scheduled lessons'''
::If this preference is on then a student can not be given a detention that would overlap one of their timetabled classes.

*'''Require a detention type to be selected'''
::When adding a detention, the dropdown list of detentions will start empty instead of containing a default. Staff must manually choose a detention.

*'''Suppress push notifications for in-school detentions'''
::PARS can trigger push notifications for Insight app users. If push notifications are being sent for detentions, this preference will prevent the notification from being sent for detentions that end before the end of the school day. 

==Diary==

*'''Shows reminders for due assignments on the home page'''
::If this option is switched on, staff will receive notices from PARS telling them the names of pupils who have outstanding homework assignments.

*'''Show reminders for missing [[Grading|grades]] on [[homepage|diary]] screen'''
::Reminders will appear in the notices panel at the bottom of the [[homepage]] page indicating when [[Grading|grades]] are due to be entered.

*'''The number of days before the grade is due to open that warnings are shown.
::PARS will begin sending reminder messages this many days before a [[Configure grading elements|Grade Element]] opens, for teachers to enter grades.

*'''Exchange EWS service URL''' (required if you want PARS to access your Exchange Web Services, so the exchange calendar can be viewed in PARS)
::The URL of your EWS service

*'''Optional Exchange EWS service public calendar name'''
::An optional name to be used fro your Exchange calendar

*'''Exchange EWS service service user account''' (required if you want PARS to access your Exchange Web Services, so the exchange calendar can be viewed in PARS)
::A username to access the EWS service

*'''Exchange EWS service service user password''' (required if you want PARS to access your Exchange Web Services, so the exchange calendar can be viewed in PARS)
::A password for the username specified above

==Email==
*'''SMTP server name or IP address'''
::The name or IP address of your SMTP server. NB this is needed to send [[Email|emails]] via PARS.

*'''SMTP port'''
:: NB this is needed to send [[Email|emails]] via PARS.

*'''Use SSL when sending emails'''
::Your SMTP server may require Certificates to encrypt emails before it will allow them to be sent.

*'''Trust any certificate implicity'''
::Ignore certificate warnings when accessing PARS, so that the site does not look unsafe and users are not advised to leave the page.

*'''Use authentication settings when sending emails'''
::Your SMTP server may require this security setting in order to send emails.

*'''SMTP Username'''
::A username that can be used to access the SMTP server. NB this is needed to send [[Email|emails]] via PARS.

*'''SMTP Password'''
:: The password for the user specified below, that can access the SMTP server. NB this is needed to send [[Email|emails]] via PARS.

*'''Reply address to use for emails sent from PARS'''
::[[Email|Emails]] sent from within PARS will appear to come from this address.

*'''Name to use when for emails sent from PARS'''
::The 'From' field that will be used for emails sent from PARS. This is often set as the name of the school.

*'''Use Reply To address as From address
::When emails are sent from PARS, they will be sent from the sender's email address, not from the address specified in the "Reply address to use for emails sent from PARS" preference (above)

*'''BCC external contact emails to this address'''
::Send a blind copy of [[External contact]] emails to a specified address.

*'''Disclaimer to appear on the bottom of all emails sent from PARS'''
::Specify a message to appear at the foot of all [[Email|emails]] sent via PARS.

*'''Logs all attempts to send emails in Connect'''
::All attempts to send emails via Connect will be recorded in a table in the database. This is a diagnostic setting that should be switched off, unless you are advised otherwise.

*'''Number of asynchronous emails to be sent at once'''
::The number of emails that PARS will try to send at the same time. The higher this number, the faster PARS will be able to send large batches of emails. However if the setting is too high, the email server will refuse to send some emails. 

==External Contact==
*'''Use Primary flag to indicate main'''
::In SIMS, if a method of contact (telephone number, email, etc.) is marked as "Primary" PARS will consider this as if it were the "Main" method of contact.

*'''Prefer emails to SMS on external contacts, batch selection screen'''
::When this setting is used, [[Email|emails]] will be the favoured method of communication from PARS, followed by [[SMS]] then postal mail. The alternative is [[SMS]] then [[Email]] then postal.

*'''Default to only contacting once where contactee has multiple children'''
::By default, the box to send a message per household instead of per pupil will be ticked.

*'''Default to not adding contacts with a Court Order'''
::By default, the box to exclude contacts with court orders will be ticked, from the [[External contact]] screen.

*'''Add copy of contact history to SIMS contact log'''
::Send a copy of all communications to the SIMS contact log.

*'''When adding to SIMS contact log also upload attachments to SIMS document manager'''
If the setting ''' ''Add copy of contact history to SIMS contact log'' ''' is active, then when copying communications to the SIMS contact log, any attachments will also be uploaded to the pupil's linked documents.

==General==
*'''Show initial in place of forename for staff'''
::This may be useful where whiteboards are used to take registers or for other reasons where teachers' first names are to be hidden.

*'''Allows you to view Saturdays and Sundays'''
::Weekends will be visible in PARS on certain [[Reports]] and on the [[Attendance view]] week view batch entry screen.

*'''Use chosen name in place of legal name'''
::Pupils with a legal surname that is different to their chosen name will have the preferred name displayed within PARS.

*'''Number of records to store before writing to Rules Based Behaviour log'''
::When saving large numbers of behaviour incidents via [[Rule based behaviours]], the incidents will be broken down into groups. This setting defines how many incidents are in each group; the recommended number is 100. You can increase this number, meaning each group will have more incidents in so there will be less groups. This can increase the speed of running [[Rule based behaviours]], but if the groups are too large then PARS may crash.

*'''Include teacher names on student selection screens'''
::The supervisor(s) for each group will be displayed next to the name of the group in PARS student selection windows.

*'''"Limit to today's membership" starts selected on student selection screens'''
::The option to only show today's members will be on by default.

==Grading==
*'''Force a particular rounding direction for [[Grading|grade]] averaging.
::See below for a detailed description of grade rounding.

*'''Round grades up'''
::See below for a detailed description of grade rounding.

*'''Single view only on grade screen'''
::Have only one view containing all [[Configure grading elements|grade elements]] on the grade entry screen, instead of multiple views.

*'''Initial grading view'''
::When the [[enter grades]] screen is initally loaded, it will default to either display core, student review, gradebook or active grades as set here.

*'''Any missing grades scans will base memberships on end dates'''
::When checking to see which pupils have missing grades, a pupil will not be considered 'missing' if their membership in the class ended before the [[Configure grading elements|Grade Element]] closed.

*'''Use grade priority in preference to element date'''
::Order [[Configure grading elements|grade elements]] by their priorities instead of their data entry dates.

*'''Maximum number of characters allowed in a grading comment'''
::Place a limit on the number of characters allowed in grading comments.

*'''Default to Performance based comment bank'''
::Sets whether the default type of comment offered when accessing the comment bank is performance based or target based.

*'''Hide reg groups from class selection screens'''
::When choosing a class to enter grades, reg groups will not be displayed for selection.

*'''Include comments column when exporting to Excel'''
::Add a column to the Excel sheet for comments when exporting grade sheets.

*'''Use colour coding from ASM marksheets'''
::Any colour coding found in SIMS marksheets will be visible on PARS grade entry screens (but not anywhere else in PARS).

*'''Use NC Year when checking element-year group links'''
::Use pupils' National Curriculum year when to decide which year group they are in. This is only needed when some pupils are in a different year group to the one that would be normal for their age.

*'''Hide colour coding on custom grading reports'''
::This prevents custom grading reports from automatically colour coding themselves based on the data in the report.

*'''Log each attempt to save grades'''
::All attempts to save grades will be logged in a [[Management reports|management report]]. This will increase the amount of time taken to save grades and should only be used where instructed by TASC Software staff.

*'''Show student data columns on grade entry screen'''
::Display columns showing pupils': 
- Free School Meal (FSM) status 
- FSM within the last 6 years status 
- Pupil premium status 
- English as an Additional Language (EAL) status 
- Special Education Needs (SEN) status 
- Gender

*'''Allow grade element links to be unselected after data has been entered. Warning, doing this means those grades will no longer be visible in PARS'''
::This setting '''should be switched off''' at all times unless advised by TASC Software support staff.

*'''Custom grade reports colour coding based on first grade column'''
::Custom grading reports will colour the columns red, amber or green. if this preference is used, the each grade column will be compared the furthest left column on the report. If the preference is off the each column is compared to the column immediately to the left.

==Notices==
*'''Include SIMS notices when fetching notices'''
::SIMS notices will be displayed in PARS if this is on.

*'''The default lifespan in days of a notice (0 means never)'''
::After this many days, [[Homepage#Notices|notices]] will expire and be deleted from the database.

*'''Send an email where possible when sending all notices'''
::If [[Email]] has been set up and the recipient of a notice has an email address in SIMS, they will receive an SMS message with the [[Homepage#Notices|notice]] content every time a notice is sent via PARS.

*'''Send an SMS where possible when sending a notice.
::If [[SMS|text messaging]] has been set up and the recipient of a notice has a mobile phone number in SIMS, they will receive an SMS message with the [[Homepage#Notices|notice]] content every time a notice is sent via PARS.

*'''When sending messages in missing registers send as instant popups notices'''
::[[Missing registers]] notices will pop-up on recipients screens as well as waiting in their inbox.

*'''When sending messages in missing register send an email where possible'''
::If sending a notice regarding missing registers, a copy of that notice will be sent as an email to the recipient.

*'''Send a Missing Register notice to form tutors when sessions are mapped.
::When a [[Session|session]] register is [[Mapped periods|mapped to a lesson period]], it is still the responsibility of the tutor to ensure that a mark is recorded for each of their pupils. Most of the time with mapped periods, a teacher other than the tutor is the person who actually records the session mark. This means that the tutor will receive notices for missing marks in registers that they don't normally take. This setting can be used to toggle between sending and not sending notices to tutors where they are not the person who actually records the attendance mark.

*'''Send a notice to the student when a detention is scheduled'''
::When a pupil is placed in detention, PARS will send a notice to that student with the details of the detention.

*'''Maximum total size in MB for notice attachments (0=disable attachments)
::When adding attachments to notices the maximum size of the attachments can be set from here. If this is set to 0 then users cannot add attachments to notices.

*'''Prevent potentially unsafe files from being sent as attachments
::This will stop any files that are deemed to have unsafe extensions from being sent. A list of files that are seen as dangerous can be viewed from [[Dangerous files|here]].

*'''Prompt user to confirm sending of SMS messages when sending notices.
::When sending a notice if a user has a mobile image next to their name this will ask the sender when the notice is accepted "Do you wish to send SMS messages with this notice?"

*'''The default subject message for emergency alerts'''
::In here the subject message to be displayed when the [[Assistance request|Emergency alert]] button is used.

*'''Mute warning sound when displaying popup alerts'''
::[[Notices]] that are sent as popups will, by default, also make a beep sound. Use this preference to disable the beep. 

==On Report==
*'''Show warning message about pupils on report when register opens'''
::Show a summary message of which pupils are on report when a register opens.

*'''Show warning message about pupils on report when register closes'''
::Show a summary message of which pupils are on report when a register closes.

==Personal==
*'''Cura login URL'''
::This allows staff to record child protection incidents into Cura, via PARS. For more information about Cura - software for Child Protection and Safeguarding - [http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/software-titles/cura/cura-features/ follow this link]

==Pupil info==
*'''Only show this year's [[Behaviour]] on [[Pupil information]] screen.'''
::Previous year's data is not shown on the [[Pupil information]] behaviour tab.

==Reviews==
*'''Filter output.xml to only contain single class data when generating a review for a single class'''
::When generating Student Reviews for only one class, only use the data that was recorded in that class. The alternative is to use data from all classes, for the pupils within the class selected.

=A more detailed explanation of rounding grade averages=

Two of the options mentioned above ("'''Force a particular rounding direction for grade averaging'''" and "'''Round grades up'''") may be used in combination to alter the way that grades are averaged when running reports and summaries.

[[Image:grade_score1.jpg|thumb|Adding a grade to a [[Configure grade schemes|grade scheme]]. Note the "score" which is used when averaging and rounding grades.]]
Note that when referring to rounding "up", PARS will round to the "higher grade score" (as defined in the grade scheme) and NOT "higher grade rank". So your grade scheme may define an "A" grade as the earliest ranked grade but with a score of 1, whereas an "E" may have the latest rank but a score of 10. In this case rounding a grade up will result in the pupil receiving a later grade.

{|cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" border="1" align="center"
|colspan="2" align="center"|'''Preferences selected?'''||colspan="3"|'''Averaged grade score*
|-align="center"
|rowspan="2"|'''Force rounding||rowspan="2"|'''Round up'''||<0.5||0.5||>0.5
|-align="center"
|colspan="3"|'''Resulting grade score'''
|-align="center"
|No||No||0||0||1
|-align="center"
|Yes||No||0||0||0
|-align="center"
|No||Yes||0||1||1
|-align="center"
|Yes||Yes||1||1||1
|}

* This refers to the non-integer part of the grade. To find out how a score of (e.g.) 7.2 will "behave", refer to the <0.5 column (i.e. 0.2 < 0.5). A resulting grade score of "0" in this case means 7.0, a score of "1" means 8.0.

[[Category:Configuration]]
[[Category:System management]]

Job list

2020-11-30T14:02:14Z

LiamBell: /* Create PupilPremium, FSM6 and Service child groups */

{{permissions|Automation|Access automation control|Setup automation jobs}}

This page shows a list of the jobs that the automation module performs. Once you have automation installed on your IIS server you should decide which jobs are going to run, and at what day and time they should run. In PARS Connect this page is accessed via: 
'''[[PARS main menu]] > [[System management]] > [[Automation]]''' 

=The Automation Module=

The [[Automation Module]] can be set to run various different jobs as detailed below. To access the Automation job list, from the PARS Connect Main menu, click "System management" then "Automation". At the top of this screen, click the "Jobs" tab. 

[[Image:newauto01.jpg|1000px]] 

Each job has its own settings that are accessed by highlighting the name of the job then clicking "Job Properties". 

Some jobs have parameters that need to be configured (see below) and all have a "Cycle" (the days of the week on which the job runs) and a time when they are set to run. Make sure that the time and cycle for each job does not clash with a time when the server is likely to be busy/unavailable (e.g. during a backup/defrag etc). 

The [[Automation Module]] can also be set to regularly run any report from PARS and have it [[Email|emailed]] or printed. For example, a report job could be set up to email the Deputy Headmaster every Monday morning with a list of all the pupils with one or more unexplained absences for the past week. See [[Job list#Report Jobs|section 3]] below to find out how to do this. 

=The Automation Module's Jobs=

==Continuous jobs==

===Check for, and send outstanding batch SMS messages===

This job has multiple purposes:
#Sends purposely delayed SMS messages. If you click the magnifying glass button, you can delete messages from the queue before they are sent. 
#Collects replies to SMS messages sent from PARS and adds the replies to the student's contact log.
#Sends the SMS replies to school email addresses. There are options to send the email to the member of staff who sent the original SMS and/or to send the email to a central email address. These options will be overruled if an email address is specified on the [[configure SMS]] page. 

===Pupil scan===
This job scans for marks entered by pupils, if you are using a biometric system where pupils can sign in to their lessons or sessions using either a swipe card or finger print scanner. Once pupils have signed in, the automation job will give the pupils their attendance marks. 

See the [[pupil scan]] page for more information about configuring biometric systems. 

==System jobs==

===Deferred behaviour mirroring===
This job will copy any behaviour incidents from PARS to SIMS in an overnight synchronisation, and will only take effect if you have the following [[Behaviour preferences|behavioural preference]] active: 

''Defer SIMS writing to Automation'' 

This is useful as saving incidents to SIMS increases the amount of time taken to save a behaviour incident. Doing this job late at night means that staff are not inconvenienced by this increased saving time. 

===Refresh School Info===
This job is used to process and fill a data table used to generate graphs on the School Information screen. If you are also running any "Bonus behaviour points" jobs, make sure this job runs after them. 

===Remove mark owners===
This job deletes the ownership record of a mark (i.e. who last altered it) after X number of days (set in the job properties). This stops the mark ownership table from becoming too large and also prevents any marks older than X number of days from being edited by a user via a register (if the "Allow changes to existing marks" [[Registration preferences#Operational preferences|preference]] is set). The marks can always be edited via [[Attendance view]] if necessary. 

===Clear sync table===
When reports are run, copies are sent to the database. This job will remove those copies - it is recommended that this job runs to improve performance. 

===Rule based behaviours===
Every time this job runs, it will generate all active rules, from the [[Rule based behaviours]] screen. 
Rule based behaviours will automatically award behaviour incidents to pupils whenever they hit certain criteria, such as 3x late or 0 demerits, in a date range you choose e.g. a week. 

===Detention reminder notices===
Bulk creates detention reminder notices. 

===Create/update is gifted or SEN groups===
Creates and maintains a [[group manager#PARS Medical, Bus route, Consent, Gifted, SEN & Pupil premium groups|PARS special group]] for Gifted and Talented students, regardless of subject area. Also creates separate groups for each of the SEN statuses. 

===Create Pupil Premium, FSM6, EAL, Service child and Young Carers groups===
Creates and maintains [[group manager#PARS Medical, Bus route, Consent, Gifted, SEN & Pupil premium groups|PARS special group]] for for the listed groups of students. 

===Temporary Group Housekeeping===
[[Image:Temporary_groups.jpg|thumb|A list of PARS temporary groups obtained from [[group manager]]]]
Every time a report is run where a selection of pupils is made (rather than the selection of a whole group), a temporary group is created in the database. The pupils are added to the group then analysis is performed. Once the report has been finished with and closed, the temporary group remains. Over time in a busy school, hundreds of used groups will be left in the database which could eventually lead to performance issues. 
This job will find all of the temporary groups each day and delete them. Like the "Refresh All years" job, it cannot be unscheduled but can be set to run at a different time. 

===Create bus route groups===
Creates and maintains [[group manager#PARS Medical, Bus route, Consent, Gifted, SEN & Pupil premium groups|PARS special groups]] for Bus Routes. 

===Create consent groups===
Creates and maintains [[group manager#PARS Medical, Bus route, Consent, Gifted, SEN & Pupil premium groups|PARS special groups]] for pupils with the various SIMS consents. 

===Clear Expired Notices===
When a [[Homepage#Notices|notice]] is created, an expiry date can be set by the user. By default this is set to "Never". 
When this job runs it will delete all notices that have been created that have an expiry date before today's date. If [[Homepage#Notices|notices]] are used in PARS then this job should be regularly run to ensure only relevant notices are available to users. 

===Update medical groups===
Creates and maintains [[group manager#PARS Medical, Bus route, Consent, Gifted, SEN & Pupil premium groups|PARS special groups]] for pupils with Medical Conditions. 

===Refresh All Years===
This is by far the most important job that the Automation module runs. The All Years group can become corrupt leading to a range of problems in PARS. This job will recreate the All Years group every night to ensure this doesn't happen. The job can not be turned off but the time when it runs may be altered. 

==Report Jobs==
Customised report jobs can be set up using the "Automate" button at the top of most reports. Before setting up an automated report, ensure that your PARS [[Email]] system is set up and working. 

Please see our training guide on report usage for more details:
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS/files/basic%20reports.pdf A guide to using reports] 

[[Category:Technical]]
[[Category:Reporting]]
[[Category:Automation]]
[[Category:Configuration]]

Behaviour preferences

2020-11-30T11:41:02Z

LiamBell: /* Miscellaneous */

{{permissions|Behaviour|Access ___ behaviour incidents|Configure behaviour schemes}}

Behaviour preferences will apply to all users in PARS. Once you have made any changes to behaviour preferences, you should log out of PARS and back in again for them to take effect. 

Behaviour preferences can be accessed via: 
'''[[PARS main menu]] > [[Behaviour]] > Configure > Behaviour preferences''' 

=Setup=

==Titles==

Positive, negative and neutral behaviour incidents can all be given alternative names to match the terminology you use. Some schools have "Credit(s) and Sanction(s)" or "Red card(s) and Green card(s)" as part of their behaviour policy. These words will be used in place of Merit(s) and Demerit(s) in PARS.

There are two fields per behaviour type, one for singular use and one for plural.

[[Image:titles1.jpeg]]

==Attendance based behaviour==

These preferences take effect when adding a behaviour incident to multiple pupils via a [[Register]]. To do this, click on the merit or demerit [[Register#What do the columns on the register screen mean?|column header]] to add a behaviour incident for multiple pupils.

[[Image:attendancebased.jpg]]

'''Bulk student selection begins blank''' 
Initially no students will be selected. 

'''Bulk student selection based on physical Register attendance''' 
All pupils who are physically present will be selected. 

'''Bulk student selection based on statistical Register attendance''' 
All pupils who are statistically present will be selected. 

'''Count L-code as absent''' 
When selecting pupils based on statistical attendance (see previous preference), do late pupils count as present or absent?

 

==SIMS link==
Behaviour incidents can be written back to your SIMS database if required, or they can be stored in PARS only. Please note that writing an incident back to SIMS takes ~2 seconds whereas writing a behaviour incident back to PARS only takes ~0.1 seconds. When saving large numbers of incidents, this can have noticeable effect on performance.

[[Image:SIMSlink2.1.jpg]]

 

'''Create a SIMS Attainment/Behaviour for initial Merit/Demerit''' 
This enables PARS to write behaviour incidents back to SIMS. You must choose more settings below. 

'''Send Merits / Send Demerits''' 
Define whether to send positive, negative or all incidents. If neither are ticked, no incidents will be copied to SIMS. 

'''Hide Behaviour details from comments when SIMS match found''' 
The Ground and Outcome of incidents copied to SIMS will be stored in the comments section, unless there are Types and Outcomes in SIMS that exactly match the names of the Ground and Outcome in PARS. If this option is ticked then PARS will attempt to save using the appropriate Type and Outcome in SIMS, instead of recording the details as a comment. 

'''Defer SIMS writing to automation''' 
Saving behaviour incidents back to SIMS will not happen when the user saves a behaviour incident, but will be done in bulk overnight by the [[Automation]] module. This is useful because it reduces the amount of time needed to save [[Behaviour]] incidents for staff. 

'''Default status for SIMS behaviour''' 
Behaviour incidents in SIMS have a status of either "Resolved" or "Unresolved". The status selected in this preference will be used for all behaviour incidents written from PARS back to SIMS. 

==Comment entry rules==

[[Image:commententryrules.jpg|left]]

'''Require ground comment''' 
Forces the user to input a ground comment when adding a behaviour incident 
'''Require outcome comment''' 
Forces the user to input an outcome comment when adding a behaviour incident 
'''Require support comment''' 
Forces the user to input a support comment when adding a behaviour incident 

''We do not advise that you use these three settings, as they force staff members to enter a comment every single time they try to add a behaviour incident. This can make the system feel clunky and onerous. Instead, certain Grounds and Outcomes (usually the more serious ones) can force users to enter comments.''

 

'''Check Spelling?''' 
This will give an option to spell check any ground and outcome comments when saving a behaviour incident. 
'''Merit comment not required''' 
If any of the 'require ground/outcome/support comment' preferences are enabled then this will override the rule for a Merit incident - therefore comments for Merit incidents will not be required. 
'''Demerit comment not required''' 
As above - comments for Demerit incidents will not be required. 
'''Neutral comment not required''' 
As above - comments for Neutral incidents will not be required. 
'''Cash-in comment not required''' 
As above - comments for Cash-in incidents will not be required. 

==Miscellaneous==

[[Image:miscprefs.jpg]]

'''Warn on failed referrals''' 
If a staff type is selected as a referral and there is no corresponding staff member to send the referral to, alert the user when they save the behaviour incident. A typical example is referring incidents to Form Tutors and Form Supervisors; not every form may have a supervisor. 

'''Default to demerit''' 
A demerit is the default selection whenever a [[Add a behaviour incident|behaviour incident is recorded]], if unticked a merit is the default selection. 

'''Notify the originator when an incident is edited''' 
This will send a [[Homepage#Notices|Notice]] to the member of staff who initially recorded a [[Add a behaviour incident|behaviour incident]] whenever that incident is edited. 

'''House points are ON by default''' 
When adding a behaviour incident, the tick box to also issue [[House points]] will automatically be ticked. There is a [[Permissions| permission]] that affects whether or not users can tick/untick this box themselves. 

'''Maximum points per incident (+/-)''' 
Limit the maximum number of merit/demerit points that can be added at one time. Enter the absolute value for the maximum number of points. 

'''Cancel email/SMS''' 
If a [[Add a behaviour incident|behaviour incident]] is referred to members of staff, then a message can automatically be sent to them if that behaviour incident is deleted. PARS will use the same method of communication (SMS or Email) to contact the staff member as was originally used when referring the incident to them. 

'''Include grounds comment on referral messages to parents''' 
When behaviour referrals are sent to parents, should the comments written by staff be included in the email sent to the parent. 

==Selection defaults for categories==

[[Image:categoryprefs3.jpg]]

'''Hide "All Grounds Category"''' 
This hides the "All Grounds" category, which is a behaviour category that contains every single ground. 

'''Do not use default category''' 
When adding a behaviour incident, by default no category will selected. Staff members will always need to choose a category when adding a behaviour incident. 

'''Default merit category''' 
If "Do not use default category" is not selected, the category chosen here will be pre-selected whenever a merit is added. There is a separate option for behaviour incidents added via the [[assignment diary]]. 

'''Default demerit category''' 
If "Do not use default category" is not selected, the category chosen here will be pre-selected whenever a demerit is added. There is a separate option for behaviour incidents added via the [[assignment diary]]. 

'''Default neutral category''' 
If "Do not use default category" is not selected, the category chosen here will be pre-selected whenever a neutral behaviour incident is added. There is a separate option for behaviour incidents added via the [[assignment diary]]. 

==Selection defaults for outcomes==

[[Image:outcomeprefs1.jpg]]

'''Hide "No Outcome Decided"''' 
This hides the "No Outcome Decided" outcome, meaning staff must choose one of the outcomes you have configured. 

'''Do not use default outcome''' 
When adding a behaviour incident, by default no outcome will selected. Staff members will always need to choose an outcome when adding a behaviour incident. 

'''Default merit outcome''' 
If "Do not use default outcome" is not selected, the outcome chosen here will be pre-selected whenever a merit is added. There is a separate option for behaviour incidents added via the [[assignment diary]]. 

'''Default demerit outcome''' 
If "Do not use default outcome" is not selected, the outcome chosen here will be pre-selected whenever a demerit is added. There is a separate option for behaviour incidents added via the [[assignment diary]]. 

=Entry rules=

[[Image:entryrules01.jpg]] 

Use these options to limit the number and type of behaviour incidents that can be [[Add a behaviour incident|recorded]] in each lesson.
First tick the "Limit per lesson" tickbox then choose one of the following:

Set the "Amount" (X) then choose:

'''X per student''' 
X merits or demerits of any type can be added to each pupil in each lesson. 

'''X per ground per issuer''' 
X of each type of ground can be awarded in each lesson, per member of staff. 

'''X per category per issuer''' 
X of each type of category can be awarded in each lesson, per member of staff. 

'''X per issuer''' 
X incidents can be issued per staff member in each lesson. 

'''Specific number incidents per ground per issuer'''* 
Each ground has a specific number of times it can be used in each lesson. This limit applies to the whole class and each teacher gets their own 'allowance'. 

'''Specific number incidents per ground per issuer per student'''* 
Each ground has a specific number of times it can be used in each lesson. This limit applies separately to each pupil and each teacher gets their own 'allowance'. 

''* The last two rules do not use the "Limit per lesson" setting from the top of the page, instead using a separate limit for each ground. When you select either of these settings you will be able to set limits on the number of times each ground can be used.'' 

'''Allow override''' 
This will warn the user when one of these rules are being broken but will still allow the merit/demerit to be saved. 

[[Image:entryruleswarning.jpg]] 

[[Category:Behaviour]]
[[Category:Configuration]]

File:Miscprefs.jpg

2020-11-30T11:36:51Z

LiamBell: LiamBell uploaded a new version of File:Miscprefs.jpg

Assignment diary

2020-11-30T11:33:46Z

LiamBell: /* The assignment diary */

{{permissions|Assignment diary|Access assignment diary}}

This page is accessed via: 
'''[[PARS main menu]] > [[Assignment diary]] > Assignment diary''' 

==The assignment diary==

This is the assignment diary in PARS Connect. You can see a list of previously set homeworks, with the title, category and description of each. You can also see the start date and end date, as well as which teacher set each assignment. There are buttons on the right that allow you to add, edit and delete assignments, and another button for grading assignments. 

The Completed tick box is for staff use only. Tick this when you are finished dealing with an assignment. This helps organise assignments so only those outstanding are shown at the top of the page. 

[[Image:assign01c.jpg|900px]] 

==Adding or editing an assignment==

To create a new assignment, click the "Add" button on the right. You can also edit assignments by selecting one then clicking "Edit". When you do this, a window will open with three tabs. 

===Details tab===

Here you can configure the basic details of your assignment. It must be given a title, start date and end date. The start date is when the assignment is given and the end date is when it is due. 

You can categorise your assignments if you like. This is only used for reporting purposes. 

You can also set a gradebook element to be used so that you can grade this assignment. You must have a gradebook element configured and the end date for the assignment must fall on the same date as the class takes place (i.e. if the Maths class is only on Mondays, then the end date must be a Monday). 

An estimate for the amount of time that the assignment will take can be set at the bottom of the window. 

[[Image:assign02.jpg]] 

===Assignees tab===
Here you can see a list of the pupils in the class, and details about the work assigned to them. There are columns to show alternative start and end dates, the status of the pupils' homework, to add comments, and to show the grades that pupils achieved. 

[[Image:assign03e.png]] 

The alternative dates are used where you want specific pupils to have a different start or due date to the rest of the class i.e. because there were absent when the homework was assigned, or to give them an extension. 

The received column is where you record the status of the homework. If none of the statuses are selected then the homework is still outstanding. Once a status has been selected, clicking it again will deselect it and reset the status to pending. 

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| '''Icon'''
| '''Meaning'''
|-
| [[Image:ass_warning.png|24px]]
| '''Exception'''; the pupil is not required to complete the homework
|-
| [[Image:ass_tick.png]]
| '''Complete'''; the pupil has handed the homework in on time
|-
| [[Image:ass_clock.png]]
| '''Late'''; the pupil completed the homework but it was handed in late
|-
| [[Image:ass_cross.png]]
| '''Incomplete'''; the pupil has not submitted the homework
|} 

Once you have recorded whether or not pupils have handed in their homework, you can issue behaviour incidents to them. Click "Add demerits" or "Add demerits" to pupils. You will then be able to choose which pupils should receive a behaviour incident. The title of the homework will be added a ground comment to the behaviour incident. 

[[Image:ass_behaviour.jpg]] 

===Attachments tab===

[[Image:assign04.jpg]] 

Click the "Add" button to attach documents to the assignment - if you have [http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/web/products/insight/insight.aspx Insight] then these attachments will be available to pupils and parents online. You can delete existing attachments by clicking the cross symbol next to their name. 

==Uploaded work from Insight==

If the Allow Uploads From Insight option was enabled, then students will be able to upload their work via Insight. Any work uploaded in this way will be visible on the Assignees tab. An [https://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/INSIGHT/index.php?title=API_keys API Key] will need to be configured in Insight before this feature can be used. 

==Cloning an assignment==

You can reuse old assignments and issue them to new classes if desired. To do this, select the old assignment that you want to reuse. Then click the Clone button - you can then choose a class to issue the assignment to. 

==Deleting an assignment==

To delete an assignment, simply select it from the homework diary and click "Delete". 

[[Image:deleteassignb.jpg]] 

==Entering grades==

If the homework has had a [[Configure grading elements|gradebook element]] assigned to it, then staff can gives pupils grades for their homework. To enter the grades, click the "Grades" button while in the assignment diary. You will then be taken to the [[enter grades]] page. 

When entering grades for an assignment, any students whose assignment has not been given a status will be converted to submitted. 

==Sending SMS messages, emails or letters==

Messages can be sent to either students or parents by clicking the External Contact button. The following options are then available: 

[[Image:ass_ex_con.jpg]] 

Note that attachments can only be sent via email. Once the options have been selected, the [[external contact]] page will open for the relevant students. 

==Reporting on assignments==

You can track how many homework assignments are being given using assignment reports. Data can be analysed to see which subjects give the most/least homework, and this can be broken down by teacher. You can also view reports to see how much homework is being given to certain pupils, and how well they are doing with it. 

For screenshots of all the available assignment reports as well as instructions on how to access them, please see our [[Assignment diary reports|assignment reports wiki page]]. 

[[Category:Assignment]]

Assignment diary

2020-11-30T11:33:34Z

LiamBell: /* The assignment diary */

{{permissions|Assignment diary|Access assignment diary}}

This page is accessed via: 
'''[[PARS main menu]] > [[Assignment diary]] > Assignment diary''' 

==The assignment diary==

This is the assignment diary in PARS Connect. You can see a list of previously set homeworks, with the title, category and description of each. You can also see the start date and end date, as well as which teacher set each assignment. There are buttons on the right that allow you to add, edit and delete assignments, and another button for grading assignments. 

The Completed tick box is for staff use only. Tick this when you are finished dealing with an assignment. This helps organise assignments so only those outstanding are shown at the top of the page. 

[[Image:assign01c.jpg]] 

==Adding or editing an assignment==

To create a new assignment, click the "Add" button on the right. You can also edit assignments by selecting one then clicking "Edit". When you do this, a window will open with three tabs. 

===Details tab===

Here you can configure the basic details of your assignment. It must be given a title, start date and end date. The start date is when the assignment is given and the end date is when it is due. 

You can categorise your assignments if you like. This is only used for reporting purposes. 

You can also set a gradebook element to be used so that you can grade this assignment. You must have a gradebook element configured and the end date for the assignment must fall on the same date as the class takes place (i.e. if the Maths class is only on Mondays, then the end date must be a Monday). 

An estimate for the amount of time that the assignment will take can be set at the bottom of the window. 

[[Image:assign02.jpg]] 

===Assignees tab===
Here you can see a list of the pupils in the class, and details about the work assigned to them. There are columns to show alternative start and end dates, the status of the pupils' homework, to add comments, and to show the grades that pupils achieved. 

[[Image:assign03e.png]] 

The alternative dates are used where you want specific pupils to have a different start or due date to the rest of the class i.e. because there were absent when the homework was assigned, or to give them an extension. 

The received column is where you record the status of the homework. If none of the statuses are selected then the homework is still outstanding. Once a status has been selected, clicking it again will deselect it and reset the status to pending. 

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| '''Icon'''
| '''Meaning'''
|-
| [[Image:ass_warning.png|24px]]
| '''Exception'''; the pupil is not required to complete the homework
|-
| [[Image:ass_tick.png]]
| '''Complete'''; the pupil has handed the homework in on time
|-
| [[Image:ass_clock.png]]
| '''Late'''; the pupil completed the homework but it was handed in late
|-
| [[Image:ass_cross.png]]
| '''Incomplete'''; the pupil has not submitted the homework
|} 

Once you have recorded whether or not pupils have handed in their homework, you can issue behaviour incidents to them. Click "Add demerits" or "Add demerits" to pupils. You will then be able to choose which pupils should receive a behaviour incident. The title of the homework will be added a ground comment to the behaviour incident. 

[[Image:ass_behaviour.jpg]] 

===Attachments tab===

[[Image:assign04.jpg]] 

Click the "Add" button to attach documents to the assignment - if you have [http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/web/products/insight/insight.aspx Insight] then these attachments will be available to pupils and parents online. You can delete existing attachments by clicking the cross symbol next to their name. 

==Uploaded work from Insight==

If the Allow Uploads From Insight option was enabled, then students will be able to upload their work via Insight. Any work uploaded in this way will be visible on the Assignees tab. An [https://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/INSIGHT/index.php?title=API_keys API Key] will need to be configured in Insight before this feature can be used. 

==Cloning an assignment==

You can reuse old assignments and issue them to new classes if desired. To do this, select the old assignment that you want to reuse. Then click the Clone button - you can then choose a class to issue the assignment to. 

==Deleting an assignment==

To delete an assignment, simply select it from the homework diary and click "Delete". 

[[Image:deleteassignb.jpg]] 

==Entering grades==

If the homework has had a [[Configure grading elements|gradebook element]] assigned to it, then staff can gives pupils grades for their homework. To enter the grades, click the "Grades" button while in the assignment diary. You will then be taken to the [[enter grades]] page. 

When entering grades for an assignment, any students whose assignment has not been given a status will be converted to submitted. 

==Sending SMS messages, emails or letters==

Messages can be sent to either students or parents by clicking the External Contact button. The following options are then available: 

[[Image:ass_ex_con.jpg]] 

Note that attachments can only be sent via email. Once the options have been selected, the [[external contact]] page will open for the relevant students. 

==Reporting on assignments==

You can track how many homework assignments are being given using assignment reports. Data can be analysed to see which subjects give the most/least homework, and this can be broken down by teacher. You can also view reports to see how much homework is being given to certain pupils, and how well they are doing with it. 

For screenshots of all the available assignment reports as well as instructions on how to access them, please see our [[Assignment diary reports|assignment reports wiki page]]. 

[[Category:Assignment]]

File:Assign01c.jpg

2020-11-30T11:32:26Z

LiamBell: LiamBell uploaded a new version of File:Assign01c.jpg

File:ATEN29.png

2020-11-30T11:28:33Z

LiamBell: LiamBell uploaded a new version of File:ATEN29.png

(recovered file, missing upload log entry)

File:Ssp usage.png

2020-11-30T10:50:07Z

LiamBell:

File:Proximity report.png

2020-11-30T10:49:52Z

LiamBell:

Personal reports

2020-11-30T10:49:42Z

LiamBell: /* SSP Usage */

{{permissions|Personal|Access to Personal section|Access to Personal Reports}}

Personal reports are designed to provide 'personal' information about students. There are many different reports that analyse and display personal data in different ways - see below for screenshots of all available Personal reports. 

This page is accessed via: 
'''[[PARS main menu]] > [[Personal]] > Personal reports''' 

=Personal=

==SEN==

===Full SEN report===

The Full SEN report displays all SEN data held for one or more students. 

[[Image:PERS1.png|900px]] 

===Short SEN report===

The short SEN report shows a limited amount of SEN information from SIMS. 

[[Image:SENshort.jpg|900px]] 

===Gifted and Talented in subject report===

The Gifted and Talented in subject report displays information about students who are Gifted and Talented for specific subjects. 

[[Image:PERS2.png|900px]] 

===Gifted and Talented report===

The 'Gifted and Talented report' displays any Gifted and Talented information about one or more selected students. 

[[Image:PERS3.png|900px]] 

==Student Retention==

===Retention of students===

The 'Retention of students report' displays information about retention of students in a selected Year Group. 

[[Image:PERS4.png|900px]] 

===Retention by group===

The Retention by group report displays information about retention of a student/s by subject. 

[[Image:PERS5.png|900px]] 

===Subjects taken===

The Subjects taken report displays information about the subjects taken by a student/s in a Year Group. 

[[Image:PERS6.png|900px]] 

===Retention by subject===

The Retention by subject report displays information about students retention by selected subjects. 

[[Image:PERS7.png|900px]] 

==Star Field Reports==

===Star Field Reports===

Star Field Reports can be configured to display various Personal information about groups of students and can be used to also display attendance information (Split by Boys/Girls).

[[Image:PERS8.png|900px]] 

==Misc==

===Person IDs===

The Person IDs report displays the PersonIDs for selected students. 

[[Image:PERS9.png|900px]] 

===Parental permissions===

The Parental permissions report details of all configured parental permissions for selected students. 

[[Image:PERS10.png|900px]] 

===Contacts and medical information===

This report shows student photographs, contact information, medical conditions and medical contact details. 

[[Image:contacts_and_medical.jpg|900px]] 

===Contacts and medical info with consents===

This report shows a list of the selected pupils, their photographs, contact information, medical details and parental consents. 

[[Image:PERS_med_consent_contact.jpg|900px]] 

===Highlighted symbols pupils===

The Highlighted symbols report displays details of any [[Group manager#Highlight symbols|Highlight symbols]] that are associated to pupils within PARS. 

[[Image:MANA4.png|900px]] 

===Highlighted symbols groups===

The Highlighted symbols report displays details of any [[Group manager#Highlight symbols|Highlight symbols]] that are associated to groups within PARS. 

[[Image:highlight_groups.jpg|900px]] 

===Common non-contact time===

This report will find periods and rooms during the day when selected staff members are free. This is useful for arranging times and places for meetings. 

[[Image:common_non_contact.jpg|900px]] 

===Proximity Report===

This report shows a Proximity and Joint Attendance figure for students in a class. The proximity number is found by working out the distance between every seat and the pupil's seat. It then scores those in the closest 10% by distance with a 10, the next closest 10% a 9 etc. Joint attendance is a count of the number of times both pupils attended a class for this seating plan at the same time. 

[[Image:proximity_report.png|900px]] 

===SSP Usage===

This report shows which SSP designs have been used by students. 

[[Image:ssp_usage.png|900px]] 

=Rooms=

===Rooms in use===

The 'Rooms in use' report displays information about room usage within the school.

[[Image:PERS11.png|900px]] 

===Rooms not in use===

This report shows a list of available rooms, per period. 

[[Image:roomsnot.jpg|900px]] 

===Room timetable===

This report shows a weekly timetable for every room in the school. 

[[Image:roomtt.jpg|900px]] 

[[Category:Personal]]
[[Category:Reporting]]

Personal reports

2020-11-30T10:49:33Z

LiamBell: /* Proximity Report */

{{permissions|Personal|Access to Personal section|Access to Personal Reports}}

Personal reports are designed to provide 'personal' information about students. There are many different reports that analyse and display personal data in different ways - see below for screenshots of all available Personal reports. 

This page is accessed via: 
'''[[PARS main menu]] > [[Personal]] > Personal reports''' 

=Personal=

==SEN==

===Full SEN report===

The Full SEN report displays all SEN data held for one or more students. 

[[Image:PERS1.png|900px]] 

===Short SEN report===

The short SEN report shows a limited amount of SEN information from SIMS. 

[[Image:SENshort.jpg|900px]] 

===Gifted and Talented in subject report===

The Gifted and Talented in subject report displays information about students who are Gifted and Talented for specific subjects. 

[[Image:PERS2.png|900px]] 

===Gifted and Talented report===

The 'Gifted and Talented report' displays any Gifted and Talented information about one or more selected students. 

[[Image:PERS3.png|900px]] 

==Student Retention==

===Retention of students===

The 'Retention of students report' displays information about retention of students in a selected Year Group. 

[[Image:PERS4.png|900px]] 

===Retention by group===

The Retention by group report displays information about retention of a student/s by subject. 

[[Image:PERS5.png|900px]] 

===Subjects taken===

The Subjects taken report displays information about the subjects taken by a student/s in a Year Group. 

[[Image:PERS6.png|900px]] 

===Retention by subject===

The Retention by subject report displays information about students retention by selected subjects. 

[[Image:PERS7.png|900px]] 

==Star Field Reports==

===Star Field Reports===

Star Field Reports can be configured to display various Personal information about groups of students and can be used to also display attendance information (Split by Boys/Girls).

[[Image:PERS8.png|900px]] 

==Misc==

===Person IDs===

The Person IDs report displays the PersonIDs for selected students. 

[[Image:PERS9.png|900px]] 

===Parental permissions===

The Parental permissions report details of all configured parental permissions for selected students. 

[[Image:PERS10.png|900px]] 

===Contacts and medical information===

This report shows student photographs, contact information, medical conditions and medical contact details. 

[[Image:contacts_and_medical.jpg|900px]] 

===Contacts and medical info with consents===

This report shows a list of the selected pupils, their photographs, contact information, medical details and parental consents. 

[[Image:PERS_med_consent_contact.jpg|900px]] 

===Highlighted symbols pupils===

The Highlighted symbols report displays details of any [[Group manager#Highlight symbols|Highlight symbols]] that are associated to pupils within PARS. 

[[Image:MANA4.png|900px]] 

===Highlighted symbols groups===

The Highlighted symbols report displays details of any [[Group manager#Highlight symbols|Highlight symbols]] that are associated to groups within PARS. 

[[Image:highlight_groups.jpg|900px]] 

===Common non-contact time===

This report will find periods and rooms during the day when selected staff members are free. This is useful for arranging times and places for meetings. 

[[Image:common_non_contact.jpg|900px]] 

===Proximity Report===

This report shows a Proximity and Joint Attendance figure for students in a class. The proximity number is found by working out the distance between every seat and the pupil's seat. It then scores those in the closest 10% by distance with a 10, the next closest 10% a 9 etc. Joint attendance is a count of the number of times both pupils attended a class for this seating plan at the same time. 

[[Image:proximity_report.png|900px]] 

===SSP Usage===

This report shows which SSP designs have been used by students. 

[[Image:ssp_usage.jpg|900px]] 

=Rooms=

===Rooms in use===

The 'Rooms in use' report displays information about room usage within the school.

[[Image:PERS11.png|900px]] 

===Rooms not in use===

This report shows a list of available rooms, per period. 

[[Image:roomsnot.jpg|900px]] 

===Room timetable===

This report shows a weekly timetable for every room in the school. 

[[Image:roomtt.jpg|900px]] 

[[Category:Personal]]
[[Category:Reporting]]

Personal reports

2020-11-30T10:49:02Z

LiamBell: /* Misc */

{{permissions|Personal|Access to Personal section|Access to Personal Reports}}

Personal reports are designed to provide 'personal' information about students. There are many different reports that analyse and display personal data in different ways - see below for screenshots of all available Personal reports. 

This page is accessed via: 
'''[[PARS main menu]] > [[Personal]] > Personal reports''' 

=Personal=

==SEN==

===Full SEN report===

The Full SEN report displays all SEN data held for one or more students. 

[[Image:PERS1.png|900px]] 

===Short SEN report===

The short SEN report shows a limited amount of SEN information from SIMS. 

[[Image:SENshort.jpg|900px]] 

===Gifted and Talented in subject report===

The Gifted and Talented in subject report displays information about students who are Gifted and Talented for specific subjects. 

[[Image:PERS2.png|900px]] 

===Gifted and Talented report===

The 'Gifted and Talented report' displays any Gifted and Talented information about one or more selected students. 

[[Image:PERS3.png|900px]] 

==Student Retention==

===Retention of students===

The 'Retention of students report' displays information about retention of students in a selected Year Group. 

[[Image:PERS4.png|900px]] 

===Retention by group===

The Retention by group report displays information about retention of a student/s by subject. 

[[Image:PERS5.png|900px]] 

===Subjects taken===

The Subjects taken report displays information about the subjects taken by a student/s in a Year Group. 

[[Image:PERS6.png|900px]] 

===Retention by subject===

The Retention by subject report displays information about students retention by selected subjects. 

[[Image:PERS7.png|900px]] 

==Star Field Reports==

===Star Field Reports===

Star Field Reports can be configured to display various Personal information about groups of students and can be used to also display attendance information (Split by Boys/Girls).

[[Image:PERS8.png|900px]] 

==Misc==

===Person IDs===

The Person IDs report displays the PersonIDs for selected students. 

[[Image:PERS9.png|900px]] 

===Parental permissions===

The Parental permissions report details of all configured parental permissions for selected students. 

[[Image:PERS10.png|900px]] 

===Contacts and medical information===

This report shows student photographs, contact information, medical conditions and medical contact details. 

[[Image:contacts_and_medical.jpg|900px]] 

===Contacts and medical info with consents===

This report shows a list of the selected pupils, their photographs, contact information, medical details and parental consents. 

[[Image:PERS_med_consent_contact.jpg|900px]] 

===Highlighted symbols pupils===

The Highlighted symbols report displays details of any [[Group manager#Highlight symbols|Highlight symbols]] that are associated to pupils within PARS. 

[[Image:MANA4.png|900px]] 

===Highlighted symbols groups===

The Highlighted symbols report displays details of any [[Group manager#Highlight symbols|Highlight symbols]] that are associated to groups within PARS. 

[[Image:highlight_groups.jpg|900px]] 

===Common non-contact time===

This report will find periods and rooms during the day when selected staff members are free. This is useful for arranging times and places for meetings. 

[[Image:common_non_contact.jpg|900px]] 

===Proximity Report===

This report shows a Proximity and Joint Attendance figure for students in a class. The proximity number is found by working out the distance between every seat and the pupil's seat. It then scores those in the closest 10% by distance with a 10, the next closest 10% a 9 etc. Joint attendance is a count of the number of times both pupils attended a class for this seating plan at the same time. 

[[Image:proximity_report.jpg|900px]] 

===SSP Usage===

This report shows which SSP designs have been used by students. 

[[Image:ssp_usage.jpg|900px]] 

=Rooms=

===Rooms in use===

The 'Rooms in use' report displays information about room usage within the school.

[[Image:PERS11.png|900px]] 

===Rooms not in use===

This report shows a list of available rooms, per period. 

[[Image:roomsnot.jpg|900px]] 

===Room timetable===

This report shows a weekly timetable for every room in the school. 

[[Image:roomtt.jpg|900px]] 

[[Category:Personal]]
[[Category:Reporting]]

PARS Training Guides

2020-09-22T11:46:57Z

LiamBell: /* Miscellaneous */

=Attendance=
{| width="100%;" |
|style="border:1pt solid #CCCCCC; padding:10px; vertical-align:top" width="48%;" |
<div style="text-align:center">'''Word''' [[Image:word.jpg|24px|link=]]</div>
<div class="plainlinks">
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/ATT%20Take%20a%20register.docx Take a Register] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/ATT%20Create%20a%20new%20seating%20plan.docx Create a New Seating Plan] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/ATT%20Use%20seating%20plans.docx Use Seating Plans] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/ATT%20Run%20an%20attendance%20report.docx Run an Attendance Report] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/ATT%20Update%20attendance%20(attendance%20officers).docx Update Attendance (Attendance Officers)] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/ATT%20Contact%20parents%20of%20absent%20pupils%20(attendance%20officers).docx Contact Parents of Absent Pupils (Attendance Officers)] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/ATT%20Chase%20missing%20registers.docx Chase Missing Registers] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/ATT%20Create%20custom%20attendance%20codes.docx Create Custom Attendance Codes] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/ATT%20Take%20fire%20registers.docx Take Fire Registers] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/ATT%20Generate%20letters%20for%20session%20absence.docx Generate Letters for Session Absence] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/ATT%20Setup%20automatic%20alerts%20for%20absentees%20and%20truants.docx Setup Automatic Alerts for Absentees and Truants] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/ATT%20Recommended%20attendance%20reports.docx Recommended Attendance Reports]
</div>
|width="4%;"|
|style="border:1pt solid #CCCCCC; padding:10px; vertical-align:top" width="48%;" |
<div style="text-align:center">'''PDF''' [[Image:pdf.jpg|24px|link=]]</div>
<div class="plainlinks">
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/ATT%20Take%20a%20register.pdf Take a Register] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/ATT%20Create%20a%20new%20seating%20plan.pdf Create a New Seating Plan] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/ATT%20Use%20seating%20plans.pdf Use Seating Plans] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/ATT%20Run%20an%20attendance%20report.pdf Run an Attendance Report] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/ATT%20Update%20attendance%20(attendance%20officers).pdf Update Attendance (Attendance Officers)] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/ATT%20Contact%20parents%20of%20absent%20pupils%20(attendance%20officers).pdf Contact Parents of Absent Pupils (Attendance Officers)] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/ATT%20Chase%20missing%20registers.pdf Chase Missing Registers] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/ATT%20Create%20custom%20attendance%20codes.pdf Create Custom Attendance Codes] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/ATT%20Take%20fire%20registers.pdf Take Fire Registers] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/ATT%20Generate%20letters%20for%20session%20absence.pdf Generate Letters for Session Absence] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/ATT%20Setup%20automatic%20alerts%20for%20absentees%20and%20truants.pdf Setup Automatic Alerts for Absentees and Truants] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/ATT%20Recommended%20attendance%20reports.pdf Recommended Attendance Reports]
</div>
|}

=Behaviour=
{| width="100%;" |
|style="border:1pt solid #CCCCCC; padding:10px; vertical-align:top" width="48%;" |
<div style="text-align:center">'''Word''' [[Image:word.jpg|24px|link=]]</div>
<div class="plainlinks">
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/BEH%20Add%20a%20behaviour%20incident%20via%20a%20register.docx Add a Behaviour Incident via a Register] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/BEH%20Add%20a%20behaviour%20incident%20via%20the%20main%20menu.docx Add a Behaviour Incident via the Main Menu] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/BEH%20Setup%20notifications%20for%20behaviour.docx Setup Notifications for Behaviour Incidents] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/BEH%20Setup%20behaviour%20referrals.docx Setup Behaviour Referrals] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/BEH%20Run%20a%20behaviour%20report.docx Run a Behaviour Report] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/BEH%20Recommended%20behaviour%20reports.docx Recommended Behaviour Reports] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/BEH%20Contact%20parents%20about%20behaviour%20incidents.docx Contact Parents about Behaviour Incidents] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/BEH%20Automatic%20behaviour%20points.docx Automatic Behaviour Points] 
</div>
|width="4%;"|
|style="border:1pt solid #CCCCCC; padding:10px; vertical-align:top" width="48%;" |
<div style="text-align:center">'''PDF''' [[Image:pdf.jpg|24px|link=]]</div>
<div class="plainlinks">
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/BEH%20Add%20a%20behaviour%20incident%20via%20a%20register.pdf Add a Behaviour Incident via a Register] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/BEH%20Add%20a%20behaviour%20incident%20via%20the%20main%20menu.pdf Add a Behaviour Incident via the Main Menu] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/BEH%20Setup%20notifications%20for%20behaviour.pdf Setup Notifications for Behaviour Incidents] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/BEH%20Setup%20behaviour%20referrals.pdf Setup Behaviour Referrals] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/BEH%20Run%20a%20behaviour%20report.pdf Run a Behaviour Report] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/BEH%20Recommended%20behaviour%20reports.pdf Recommended Behaviour Reports] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/BEH%20Contact%20parents%20about%20behaviour%20incidents.pdf Contact Parents about Behaviour Incidents] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/BEH%20Automatic%20behaviour%20points.pdf Automatic Behaviour Points] 
</div>
|}

=Communication=
{| width="100%;" |
|style="border:1pt solid #CCCCCC; padding:10px; vertical-align:top" width="48%;" |
<div style="text-align:center">'''Word''' [[Image:word.jpg|24px|link=]]</div>
<div class="plainlinks">
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/CON%20Contact%20parents.docx Contact Parents (Emails, SMS, Letters and Phone Calls)] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/CON%20Send%20a%20message%20to%20all%20the%20teachers%20of%20a%20pupil.docx Send a Message to All the Teachers of a Pupil] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/CON%20Send%20a%20message%20to%20all%20staff.docx Send a Message to All Staff] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/CON%20View%20a%20pupil's%20contact%20history.docx View a Pupil's Contact History] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/CON%20Create%20a%20message%20bank.docx Create a Message Bank] 
</div>
|width="4%;"|
|style="border:1pt solid #CCCCCC; padding:10px; vertical-align:top" width="48%;" |
<div style="text-align:center">'''PDF''' [[Image:pdf.jpg|24px|link=]]</div>
<div class="plainlinks">
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/CON%20Contact%20parents.pdf Contact Parents (Emails, SMS, Letters and Phone Calls)] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/CON%20Send%20a%20message%20to%20all%20the%20teachers%20of%20a%20pupil.pdf Send a Message to All the Teachers of a Pupil] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/CON%20Send%20a%20message%20to%20all%20staff.pdf Send a Message to All Staff] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/CON%20View%20a%20pupil's%20contact%20history.pdf View a Pupil's Contact History] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/CON%20Create%20a%20message%20bank.pdf Create a Message Bank] 
</div>
|}

=Detentions=
{| width="100%;" |
|style="border:1pt solid #CCCCCC; padding:10px; vertical-align:top" width="48%;" |
<div style="text-align:center">'''Word''' [[Image:word.jpg|24px|link=]]</div>
<div class="plainlinks">
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/DET%20Add%20a%20detention%20via%20a%20behaviour%20incident%20(NEW).docx Add a Detention via a Behaviour Incident] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/DET%20Add%20a%20detention%20via%20the%20main%20menu%20(NEW).docx Add a Detention via the Main Menu] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/DET%20Create%20a%20new%20type%20of%20detention%20(NEW).docx Create a New Type of Detention]
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/DET%20Take%20a%20detention%20register.docx Take a Detention Register] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/DET%20Contact%20parents%20about%20detentions.docx Contact Parents about Detentions] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/DET%20Run%20a%20detention%20report.docx Run a Detention Report] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/DET%20Recommended%20detention%20reports.docx Recommended Detention Reports] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/DET%20Change%20the%20date%20of%20a%20detention.docx Change the Date of a Detention] 
</div>
|width="4%;"|
|style="border:1pt solid #CCCCCC; padding:10px; vertical-align:top" width="48%;" |
<div style="text-align:center">'''PDF''' [[Image:pdf.jpg|24px|link=]]</div>
<div class="plainlinks">
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/DET%20Add%20a%20detention%20via%20a%20behaviour%20incident%20(NEW).pdf Add a Detention via a Behaviour Incident] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/DET%20Add%20a%20detention%20via%20the%20main%20menu%20(NEW).pdf Add a Detention via the Main Menu] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/DET%20Create%20a%20new%20type%20of%20detention%20(NEW).pdf Create a New Type of Detention] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/DET%20Take%20a%20detention%20register.pdf Take a Detention Register] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/DET%20Contact%20parents%20about%20detentions.pdf Contact Parents about Detentions] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/DET%20Run%20a%20detention%20report.pdf Run a Detention Report] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/DET%20Recommended%20detention%20reports.pdf Recommended Detention Reports] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/DET%20Change%20the%20date%20of%20a%20detention.pdf Change the Date of a Detention] 
</div>
|}

=Extra Classes=
{| width="100%;" |
|style="border:1pt solid #CCCCCC; padding:10px; vertical-align:top" width="48%;" |
<div style="text-align:center">'''Word''' [[Image:word.jpg|24px|link=]]</div>
<div class="plainlinks">
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/EC%20Take%20an%20extra%20class%20register.docx Take an Extra Class Register] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/EC%20Add%20pupils%20to%20extra%20class%20registers.docx Add Pupils to Extra Class Registers] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/EC%20Create%20a%20new%20type%20of%20extra%20class.docx Create a New Type of Extra Class] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/EC%20Run%20an%20extra%20class%20report.docx Run an Extra Class Report] 
</div>
|width="4%;"|
|style="border:1pt solid #CCCCCC; padding:10px; vertical-align:top" width="48%;" |
<div style="text-align:center">'''PDF''' [[Image:pdf.jpg|24px|link=]]</div>
<div class="plainlinks">
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/EC%20Take%20an%20extra%20class%20register.pdf Take an Extra Class Register] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/EC%20Add%20pupils%20to%20extra%20class%20registers.pdf Add Pupils to Extra Class Registers] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/EC%20Create%20a%20new%20type%20of%20extra%20class.pdf Create a New Type of Extra Class] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/EC%20Run%20an%20extra%20class%20report.pdf Run an Extra Class Report] 
</div>
|}

=Grading=
{| width="100%;" |
|style="border:1pt solid #CCCCCC; padding:10px; vertical-align:top" width="48%;" |
<div style="text-align:center">'''Word''' [[Image:word.jpg|24px|link=]]</div>
<div class="plainlinks">
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/GRD%20Enter%20grades.docx Enter Grades] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/GRD%20Create%20a%20comment%20bank.docx Create a Comment Bank] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/GRD%20Run%20a%20grade%20report.docx Run a Grading Report] 
</div>
|width="4%;"|
|style="border:1pt solid #CCCCCC; padding:10px; vertical-align:top" width="48%;" |
<div style="text-align:center">'''PDF''' [[Image:pdf.jpg|24px|link=]]</div>
<div class="plainlinks">
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/GRD%20Enter%20grades.pdf Enter Grades] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/GRD%20Create%20a%20comment%20bank.pdf Create a Comment Bank] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/GRD%20Run%20a%20grade%20report.pdf Run a Grading Report] 
</div>
|}

=Homework=
{| width="100%;" |
|style="border:1pt solid #CCCCCC; padding:10px; vertical-align:top" width="48%;" |
<div style="text-align:center">'''Word''' [[Image:word.jpg|24px|link=]]</div>
<div class="plainlinks">
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/HWK%20Create%20and%20mark%20homework.docx Create and Mark Homework] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/HWK%20Contact%20parents%20about%20homework.docx Contact Parents about Homework] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/HWK%20Run%20a%20homework%20report.docx Run a Homework Report] 
</div>
|width="4%;"|
|style="border:1pt solid #CCCCCC; padding:10px; vertical-align:top" width="48%;" |
<div style="text-align:center">'''PDF''' [[Image:pdf.jpg|24px|link=]]</div>
<div class="plainlinks">
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/HWK%20Create%20and%20mark%20homework.pdf Create and Mark Homework] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/HWK%20Contact%20parents%20about%20homework.pdf Contact Parents about Homework] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/HWK%20Run%20a%20homework%20report.pdf Run a Homework Report] 
</div>
|}

=On Report=
{| width="100%;" |
|style="border:1pt solid #CCCCCC; padding:10px; vertical-align:top" width="48%;" |
<div style="text-align:center">'''Word''' [[Image:word.jpg|24px|link=]]</div>
<div class="plainlinks">
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/OR%20Place%20a%20pupil%20on%20report%20via%20a%20behaviour%20incident.docx Place a Pupil on Report via a Behaviour Incident] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/OR%20Place%20a%20pupil%20on%20report%20via%20the%20main%20menu.docx Place a Pupil on Report via the Main Menu] 
</div>
|width="4%;"|
|style="border:1pt solid #CCCCCC; padding:10px; vertical-align:top" width="48%;" |
<div style="text-align:center">'''PDF''' [[Image:pdf.jpg|24px|link=]]</div>
<div class="plainlinks">
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/OR%20Place%20a%20pupil%20on%20report%20via%20a%20behaviour%20incident.pdf Place a Pupil on Report via a Behaviour Incident] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/OR%20Place%20a%20pupil%20on%20report%20via%20the%20main%20menu.pdf Place a Pupil on Report via the Main Menu] 
</div>
|}

=Miscellaneous=
{| width="100%;" |
|style="border:1pt solid #CCCCCC; padding:10px; vertical-align:top" width="48%;" |
<div style="text-align:center">'''Word''' [[Image:word.jpg|24px|link=]]</div>
<div class="plainlinks">
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/MIS%20Manage%20permissions.docx Manage Permissions] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/MIS%20Create%20SEND%20support%20plans%20(SSPs).docx Create SEND Support Plans (SSPs)] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/MIS%20SSP%20example%201.docx SEN Support Plan - Example 1] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/MIS%20SSP%20example%202.doc SEN Support Plan - Example 2] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/MIS%20SSP%20example%203.doc SEN Support Plan - Example 3] 
</div>
|width="4%;"|
|style="border:1pt solid #CCCCCC; padding:10px; vertical-align:top" width="48%;" |
<div style="text-align:center">'''PDF''' [[Image:pdf.jpg|24px|link=]]</div>
<div class="plainlinks">
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/MIS%20Manage%20permissions.pdf Manage Permissions] 
[http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS_Connect/files/MIS%20Create%20SEND%20support%20plans%20(SSPs).pdf Create SEND Support Plans (SSPs)] 
</div>
|}

Preparing for September

2020-08-27T14:03:47Z

LiamBell: /* How to set the Academic Year to 2019-2020 */

=Things to do once the academic year has advanced=

===Mapping sessions to lessons===

The Registration Preferences page is now used to configure session mappings, and is accessed via: 
'''[[PARS main menu]]''' > '''[[System management]]''' > '''[[Registration preferences#Session times|Registration preferences]]''' 

See the registration preferences page for information about create session mappings. 

===How to set the Academic Year for users===

This needs to be done for each user account. In SIMS .net go to: 
'''Tools''' > '''Academic Management''' > '''Set academic year''' 

In PARS you can switch between academic years using the Academic Year dropdown at the top left of the '''[[Diary]]''' page. By default, the current year is selected based on today's date. 

===Resetting students' behaviour points to zero===

Behaviour incidents do not need to be deleted. The reports in PARS will only look at one year's worth of data at a time so the previous year's behaviour incidents will not be seen in behaviour reports, behaviour screens, etc. The pupil information is capable of displaying behaviour incidents from previous years. This can be prevented by going to: 
'''[[PARS main menu]] > [[System management]] > [[Preferences]] > Pupil info > Only show this year's behaviour on Pupil information screen.''' 

If previous incidents were entered for testing purposes only then these can be deleted by following the instructions on the [[edit behaviour incidents]] page. 

===Reschedule Detention / Removal / Extra Class timeslots===

Detentions and/or removals will need to be rescheduled for the academic year. This is performed via: 
'''[[PARS main menu]] > [[Detentions and Removals|Detentions]] > Configure > Configure time types''' 
'''[[PARS main menu]] > [[Detentions and Removals|Removals]] > Configure > Configure time types''' 
'''[[PARS main menu]] > [[Extra classes]] > Configure > Configure time types''' 

Select a timeslot and click the Calenderise button to create a new schedule. See the [[configure time types]] page for further details. 

===Reschedule On Report / Student Review grade elements===

The grading elements for PARS On Report and/or for Student Review elements will need to be rescheduled for the new academic year. This is performed via: 
'''[[PARS main menu]] > [[On report]] > Configure > Elements''' 
'''[[PARS main menu]] > [[Grading]] > Configure > Configure grading elements''' 

Further information can be found on the [[edit PARS grade element]] page. 

===Setup Heads of Subject===

PARS cannot determine which staff members are the heads of subjects or faculties from SIMS. Therefore this information must be manually entered into PARS. The page used to do this is: 
'''[[PARS main menu]] > [[System management]] > [[Subject leaders]] 

===New staff members===

If you have any new staff members, they will need to have their PARS [[permissions]] configured after their SIMS account has been created. SIMS permissions do not have any effect in PARS. 

=Troubleshooting=

===PARS is running slowly===

See the [[performance issues]] page if users are reporting that PARS is running slowly. 

===How do I run reports or view data from last year?===

On the [[homepage]], near the top left of the calendar click the "Academic year" dropdown option and choose the year you wish to view. There is a permission required to see and use this feature so if the dropdown is not visible you may need to review your [[permissions]]. 

The permission is called "Allows user to change current attendance year" and is found in the PARS section. 

===Some (not all) classes missing from timetables in PARS===

The staff member should log in to SIMS. On the homepage, there is a My Timeline section which displays the staff member's timetable. If the class is also missing on this section in SIMS then the problem is not with PARS and must be fixed in SIMS. We cannot assist with this issue. 

===All lessons are missing from timetables in PARS===

This means that the timetable has not been applied in SIMS. Apply the timetable in SIMS then log out of PARS and back in again. The [[applying the academic timetable]] page can be used as a guide but you should also contact your SIMS support. 
'''Warning''': reapplying the timetable in SIMS can cause attendance data to be lost. 

===Classes are missing from a subject===

If the classes are missing from their subjects in PARS, log in to SIMS and go to: 
'''Tools''' > '''Academic Management''' > '''Course Manager''' > '''Maintain Course''' 

Search for the course that the class should belong to. Open the course and check section 6, classes. The class must be listed in this section. 

===Some/all students are missing from some/all user defined groups===

Students have a start and end date for their membership to a user defined group. The membership for some or all of the pupils may have expired. To check this, use the Academic Year dropdown option on the PARS [[homepage]] to change back to the previous academic year (If you do not see the Academic Year dropdown, you may need to edit your permissions. See the [[Preparing_for_September#How_do_I_run_reports_or_view_data_from_last_year|How do I run reports or view data from last year]] section, above). 

Next go to: 
'''[[PARS main menu]]''' > '''Group management''' > '''[[Group manager]]''' 

Select the user defined group that is missing students. The list of students will be shown on the right of the page, and their membership dates will be displayed. Select all of the students whose dates need to be changed then click the Edit button. Set the End date forward, or delete the end date if you do not want the students' memberships to expire. 

===I can see a message about the Automation module not running===

A message will appear at the top left of PARS if automation has stopped running. Automation is an important process that performs various housekeeping jobs for PARS as well as sending automated reports. See the [[automation]] page for more information is your automation has stopped running. 

===Pupils appear on menus/registers without a name or with person:xxxx, person:ID or ", (-)" as their name===

These are pupils who were expected to attend the school this year and had timetables etc configured. They subsequently have not been admitted but have group memberships left in the database. '''You must back up your SIMS.net database before proceeding with the following steps.''' 

Login to SIMS and go to: 
'''Tools''' > '''Validate Memberships''' 

Once the Validate Memberships process has completed, log in to PARS and go to: 
'''System Management''' > '''System''' > '''Cache Viewer''' 
Find a cache called "StudentsCache" (you can use Ctrl+F to search) and click the cross button to the left to delete the cache. The students' names will now appear correctly in registers. 

===All registers can be opened but no marks can be entered===

Go to: 
'''System management''' > '''Registration Preferences''' 

Visiting this page will update SIMS Lesson Monitor settings which allows PARS to handle registers correctly. Once you have visited this page, all registers will become active. You do not need to click or save anything on the Registration Preferences page. 

[[Category:Technical]]
[[Category:Configuration]]