Communications FAQ

There are pupils with no name on menus, registers, etc.

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. To resolve this, log in to SIMS and go to:

Tools > Validate memberships

Set up heads of subjects for behaviour referrals and grade analyses

Most staff types, such as Head of House, Form Tutor, Head of Year and Head Teacher are configured in SIMS therefore you do not need to do any extra configuration in PARS. However Heads of Subject must be setup in PARS if you wish to send behaviour referrals to them, or for Heads of Subject to perform grading analyses via PARS Connect.

Heads of Subject can be configured using the instructions on this page.

Can comments be added to attendance marks?

You will always be able see attendance comments, but there is a permission that governs whether or not you are allowed to add comments of you own. This permission can be found via:

PARS main menu > System management > Permissions

For more information about managing and updating permissions, follow this link.

How do I add a Y or # code?

The Y or # codes cannot be entered via a normal register or attendance view. You can only enter a Y or # code using the exceptional circumstances page, which can be accessed via:

PARS main menu > Attendance > Exceptional circumstances

A member of staff is not receiving pop-up messages but not notices on the homepage

This indicate an issue with the staff member's details in SIMS. Typically this is because the staff member's 'user account' is not linked to their 'person account'.

To check this, log in to SIMS and go to:
Focus > Person > Staff

Search for the staff member using their surname. If there are multiple people with the same names, open each of them to find the one with the correct timetable for the member of staff. When you have found the correct person, edit their forename slightly (for example, add the letter "x" to the end of their forename - this can be changed back later).

Next go to:
Focus > System manager > Manage users

Search for the member of staff by surname. Does their forename reflect the change you made earlier? If not, the user and person are not correctly linked. Please contact your SIMS support for help dealing with this issue.

Remember to change the staff member's forename back when you are done.

Email replies are going to the wrong email address

If parents reply to emails sent from PARS, the replies can go to one of two places. Go to:
PARS main menu > System management > Preferences

Look under the email section for a preference called "Reply address to user for emails sent from PARS". This is the email address that replies will be sent to.

However, there is a user permission that will override the setting above. Go to:
PARS main menu > System management > Permissions

Edit a user's permissions and look under the PARS section for a permission called "Use own email address as email reply if available". If any staff have this permission switched on then their email address (as taken from SIMS) will be used for replies for any emails they have sent themselves.

How can I send notices as pop-ups?

When composing a notice via the homepage you will need to choose recipients. If you choose recipients from the "Staff" list then the message will be sent as a notice, whereas messages sent to "Users" will be sent as pop-ups.