Assignment diary

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Assignment diary
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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.

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.

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.

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.

Icon	Meaning
	Exception; the pupil is not required to complete the homework
	Complete; the pupil has handed the homework in on time
	Late; the pupil completed the homework but it was handed in late
	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.

Attachments tab

Click the "Add" button to attach documents to the assignment - if you have 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 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".

Entering grades

If the homework has had a 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:

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 reports wiki page.