Difference between revisions of "Preparing for September"

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=Things to do once the academic year has advanced=
 
=Things to do once the academic year has advanced=
  
===Recording a mark in a lesson register does not update the associated session mark (e.g. Period 4 = PM register)===
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===Mapping sessions to lessons===
  
Schools often do not have a morning or afternoon tutor period and instead take [[Session|session]] registers during a lesson period. The [[mapped periods]] page explains how to configure this in SIMS. <br> <br>
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The Registration Preferences page is now used to configure session mappings, and is accessed via:<Br>
 +
'''[[PARS main menu]]''' > '''[[System management]]''' > '''[[Registration preferences#Session times|Registration preferences]]''' <br> <br>
  
===How to set the Academic year to 2016-2017===
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See the registration preferences page for information about create session mappings. <br> <br>
 +
 
 +
===How to set the Academic Year to 2019-2020===
  
 
This needs to be done for each user account. In SIMS .net go to: <br>
 
This needs to be done for each user account. In SIMS .net go to: <br>
Tools -> Academic Management -> Set academic year <br> <br>
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'''Tools''' > '''Academic Management''' > '''Set academic year''' <br> <br>
 
 
===How to apply the new timetable to the calendar year===
 
 
 
If no timetable is showing in PARS or the wrong week is set to the current week (in the case of a two week timetable) then follow the instructions given on [[Applying the academic timetable]]. <br> <br>
 
  
===How do I reset all behaviour points back to zero?===
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===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: <br>
 
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: <br>
Main menu > System management > Preferences > Pupil info > Only show this year's behaviour on [[Pupil information]] screen. <br> <br>
+
'''[[PARS main menu]] > [[System management]] > [[Preferences]] > Pupil info > Only show this year's behaviour on Pupil information screen.''' <br> <br>
  
 
If previous incidents were entered for testing purposes only then these can be deleted by following the instructions on the [[edit behaviour incidents]] page. <br> <br>
 
If previous incidents were entered for testing purposes only then these can be deleted by following the instructions on the [[edit behaviour incidents]] page. <br> <br>
  
===Reschedule your detention/removal timeslots===
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===Reschedule Detention / Removal / Extra Class timeslots===
 +
 
 +
Detentions and/or removals will need to be rescheduled for the academic year. This is performed via: <br>
 +
'''[[PARS main menu]] > [[Detentions and Removals|Detentions]] > Configure >  Configure time types''' <br>
 +
'''[[PARS main menu]] > [[Detentions and Removals|Removals]] > Configure >  Configure time types''' <br>
 +
'''[[PARS main menu]] > [[Extra classes]] > Configure >  Configure time types''' <br> <br>
  
Main menu -> Detentions -> Configure detentions -> for each time slot click "Schedule timeslot" and click "Add default" to set up individual schedules or "Add new" to configure multiple timeslots over a period of time. ''' See wiki page [[Configure time types]] for further details'''
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Select a timeslot and click the Calenderise button to create a new schedule. See the [[configure time types]] page for further details. <br> <br>
  
===Reschedule On report grade elements===
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===Reschedule On Report / Student Review grade elements===
Main menu -> On report -> Configure on report elements -> select each element and click "Schedule". If unsure about the date range, it's best to schedule each element for the whole year.
 
  
===Set up heads of subjects for behaviour referrals===
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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: <br>
For any new heads of subject click [[subject leaders|here]] to find out how to configure them as a head of subject.
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'''[[PARS main menu]] > [[On report]] > Configure > Elements''' <br>
 +
'''[[PARS main menu]] > [[Grading]] > Configure > Configure grading elements''' <br> <br>
  
===New staff permissions===
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Further information can be found on the [[edit PARS grade element]] page. <br> <br>
  
If you have any new staff members, they will need to have their PARS [[permissions|permissions configured]] after their SIMS username has been created. The easiest way to do this is by adding them to an existing permissions [[permissions#Permissions Templates|template]].
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===Setup Heads of Subject===
  
It is worthwhile reviewing the [[List of permissions]] periodically as service packs frequently contain new permissions that give access to useful new features.
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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: <br>
 +
'''[[PARS main menu]] > [[System management]] > [[Subject leaders]] <br> <br>
  
===[[Group manager]]===
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===New staff members===
  
Sometimes special groups need to be set up in PARS for various purposes including [[Group manager#PARS best mark for session|"Best mark for session"]] attendance recording, [[Homepage#Notices]] recipient groups, SEN groups not in SIMS or custom groups with [[Group manager#Highlight symbols|highlight symbols]] that may be monitored easily within PARS etc. These groups may need to be set up again with new members at the start of the year via the [[Group manager]] option on the [[PARS main menu]]. Split Gender registers e.g. for PE classes are also set up in [[Group manager]] <br> <br>
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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. <br> <br>
  
 
=Troubleshooting=
 
=Troubleshooting=
  
===Some common issues===
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===PARS is running slowly===
  
*Missing Registers isn't working.
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See the [[performance issues]] page if users are reporting that PARS is running slowly. <br> <br>
*PARS is slow.
 
*The "All years" group found on student selection screens is missing/incomplete.
 
 
 
To resolve all of these, restart the [[Automation Module]].
 
 
 
*The "Academic class" list on student selection screens (E.g. click Attendance -> Attendance view) is blank.
 
To fix this, load SIMS .net and click Tools -> Validate memberships.
 
 
 
 
 
The performance of PARS will be improved if all old notices and behaviour referrals are deleted. This can be done via [[System management]] -> Bulk delete (for the referrals) and via [[Contact management]] -> Manage notices -> "Delete past notices".
 
 
 
 
 
If you have pupils with no name appearing on student selection screens, in SIMS go to Tools -> Validate memberships. N.B. This process can take a long time to complete.
 
  
 
===How do I run reports or view data from last year?===
 
===How do I run reports or view data from last year?===
  
On the [[homepage]], near the top left of the calendar click "Academic year 2012/2013" (button 15 shown on [[homepage|this page]]) and chose the year you wish to view. If you do not see this button, the [[permissions|permission]] required is: Section "PARS", Permission "Allows user to change current attendance year".
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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]]. <br> <br>
  
===Missing class on a timetable===
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The permission is called "Allows user to change current attendance year" and is found in the PARS section. <br> <br>
''One of the timetables has a missing class''
 
  
1. In SIMS.net: Focus -> Person -> Staff -> Enter the surname of a teacher with a timetable and bring up their details. Next click "Staff Timetable" under "Links" on the right hand side. Click the "Current week" button.  Can you see the class here?  If not, you need to update the teachers timetable.  If yes, go to next step...
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===Some (not all) classes missing from timetables in PARS===
  
[[Image:Timetable.jpg]] <br> <br>
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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. <br> <br>
  
2. In SIMS.net: Tools -> Academic Management -> Course Manager -> Maintain Course
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===All lessons are missing from timetables in PARS===
  
[[Image:academic1.jpg]]
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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. <br>
 +
'''Warning''': reapplying the timetable in SIMS can cause attendance data to be lost. <br> <br>
  
Ensure Active Status (column 8) is set as Active.  If not update and save then return to In SIMS.net: Tools -> Academic Management -> Course Manager -> Maintain Course  and confirm the status is Active
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===Classes are missing from a subject===
  
3. Within the same screen (Maintain Course) scroll down to Classes (option 6)
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If the classes are missing from their subjects in PARS, log in to SIMS and go to: <br>
 +
'''Tools''' > '''Academic Management''' > '''Course Manager''' > '''Maintain Course''' <br> <br>
  
Ensure the class is listed - if not click 'new' and select from list then shown. if the class is listed, update the From and To dates.
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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. <br> <br>
  
[[Image:class2.jpg]]
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===Some/all students are missing from some/all user defined groups===
  
[[Image:class3.jpg]]
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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). <br> <br>
  
Save.
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Next go to: <br>
 +
'''[[PARS main menu]]''' > '''Group management''' > '''[[Group manager]]''' <br> <br>
  
Log out of PARS and log back in again - you should now see the class.
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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. <br> <br>
 
 
 
 
====My individual classes are still missing or do not appear in Student Source group====
 
 
 
If the classes are missing from their subjects when you click "Attendance -> Attendance view -> Academic class" (or on other similar selection screens)
 
[[Image:Frmref2.gif|thumb|Replace classes that are missing from this list]]
 
 
 
If academic classes are not appearing where expected on the "Student selection" window, it could be due to their component delivery information being missing from the database. Component delivery information links classes with courses and subjects.
 
 
 
*From the [[PARS main menu]] select [[System management]] -> Management reports -> Subjects -> Missing component delivery.
 
*A list of all active groups of type "class" will be displayed. Any that may have a problem are displayed at the top of the screen as "Missing from table: true" -or-  "Missing from table: false" but with invalid dates for this academic year.
 
 
 
The report should give you the information you require to update the component delivery information as detailed in the previous section.
 
 
 
The way to fix this is in SIMS .net:
 
 
 
Tools -> Academic Management -> Course Manager -> Maintain course -> Click "Search" -> Choose a course -> Make sure the classes appear and have the correct date range under the section "Classes" -> Save. The Component delivery screen in PARS could be used to quickly find all of the problem classes.
 
 
 
===My lesson periods are missing how do I add them in?===
 
 
 
If timetables are missing from PARS despite being imported into SIMS then the timetable must first be applied, i.e. the general structure of the timetable is applied to specific calendar days.
 
 
 
Here's how to check if this is necessary:
 
 
 
In SIMS.net: Focus -> Person -> Staff -> Enter the surname of a teacher with a timetable and bring up their details. Next click "Staff Timetable" under "Links" on the right hand side. Click the "Current week" button, if the screen now shows a blank timetable (having shown a correct one previously) then here's how to fix it:
 
 
 
Tools -> Academic Management -> Apply Timetable. At the bottom left check the "XX/09/2011 maps to timetable day" drop-down is the correct day (in case of a two week timetable where week 2 comes first) and then click "Apply". The "Timetable day" column on the right of the window should now contain week days. Click "Save" to complete the process.
 
 
 
If you have done this and still see that some lessons are missing, there is a [[preferences|preference]] "Ignore component delivery dates when loading timetable" that will usually fix this when set to "Yes".
 
 
 
===Groups I set up last year are now missing their members===
 
 
 
Attendance user defined group members may have an end date for group membership set to the last day of last term. If they should still be members of the group this year, set the academic year in PARS back to the previous school year via the [[Homepage]]. In [[group manager]], use shift-click to highlight all group members, click "Edit members" and select "Null end date".
 
  
 
===I can see a message about the Automation module not running===
 
===I can see a message about the Automation module not running===
  
You may see this message in the workstation version of PARS:
+
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. <br> <br>
 
 
[[Image:AutomationError.GIF]]
 
 
 
This may not be a problem if the Automation module has not been running due to the summer holidays, if you encounter a problem when restarting it then click [[automation|here]] for more information. For instructions on how to install the Automation module click [[Category:Automation|here]].
 
 
 
===I can see pupils with no name on menus/registers etc or the following replaces a pupils name: person:xxxx, person:ID, ", (-)"===
 
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.
 
 
 
'''Make sure your SIMS.net database has been backed up prior to the following steps!'''
 
 
 
The first thing to try is within SIMS.net...  go to    Tools -> Validate memberships and this should remove the unwanted pupil information
 
 
 
If this fails a [[Repair console]] statement is required and you will also require a password from support - 01902 824281.  (We do not list passwords for statements as if incorrectly used, this could affect/delete some of your data)
 
 
 
System Management > Repair console
 
 
 
There are two statements you need to enter:
 
 
 
the first is     TOOL DELETE BAD MEMBERSHIPS REPORT  you will need your password before selecting execute
 
 
 
the second is    TOOL DELETE BAD MEMBERSHIPS  agan you will need the password before selecting execute
 
 
 
[[Image:repair console1.jpg]]
 
 
 
===Student reviews show unusual characters such as Á===
 
 
 
This is due to the encoding on the final report being incorrect. To fix this, find the first two lines of your review design. They will look similar to this:
 
 
 
<?xml version="1.0"?>
 
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0" xmlns:my="http://whatever" xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" >
 
 
 
Delete these and replace them with these three lines:
 
  
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
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===Pupils appear on menus/registers without a name or with person:xxxx, person:ID or ", (-)" as their name===
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0" xmlns:my="http://whatever" xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" xmlns:fo="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Format" >
 
<xsl:output method='html'  encoding='UTF-8' indent='yes'  doctype-system="http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd" doctype-public="-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN" />
 
  
===Pupils are missing from the "All Years" source group on student selection screens, how do I add them in?===
+
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.''' <br> <br>
[[Image:All years.jpg|thumb|The "All years" group may be incomplete at the start of term.]]
 
The All Years group in SIMS can be incomplete when students are added or removed from the database. On of the [[Job list|jobs]] that the [[Automation Module]] performs each night is recreating the All Years group. Make sure that the [[Automation Module]] is running correctly, it will usually need to be restarted at the start of term. Check the [[Category:Automation|automation]] page to find out where it is installed.
 
A "quick fix" for an incomplete All Years list can be found on the [[group manager]] page, the "Rebuild all years group" button near the top of the screen allows the group to be recreated manually.
 
  
===Connect isn't working after a PARS update===
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Login to SIMS and go to: <br>
 +
'''Tools''' > '''Validate Memberships''' <br> <br>
  
You need to run the PARS Connect service controller whenever you install an update for PARS.net that includes an update for Connect.
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Once the Validate Memberships process has completed, log in to PARS and go to: <br>
 +
'''System Management''' > '''System''' > '''Cache Viewer''' <br>
 +
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. <br> <br>
  
To do this, you will need to access the server machine. On your server drive, go to \SIMS\PARS\Connect\ServiceController.exe
+
===All registers can be opened but no marks can be entered===
  
Make sure that 'Commit' is highlighted, on the left on the window. Then click begin.
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Go to: <br>
 +
'''System management''' > '''Registration Preferences''' <br> <br>
  
[[Image:service_controller_2.jpg]]
+
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. <br> <br>
  
 
[[Category:Technical]]
 
[[Category:Technical]]
 
[[Category:Configuration]]
 
[[Category:Configuration]]

Revision as of 08:06, 4 September 2019

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

See the registration preferences page for information about create session mappings.

How to set the Academic Year to 2019-2020

This needs to be done for each user account. In SIMS .net go to:
Tools > Academic Management > Set academic year

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 > Configure > Configure time types
PARS main menu > 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 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.