Version 6.1 (October 2010)
Half-termly assessment
Version 6 now supports half-termly assessments through all years. We have added input options to the data menu and there are half-termly displays available for the subject tracker and results by subject displays (the latter only appear when there is half-termly data).
Interventions
There is a new module for tracking interventions, which has a new ‘Pupil interventions’ heading on the data menu, where you can enter details and you will also find a new heading ‘Intervention report’ on the ‘Extract data from the toolkit [REPORTS]‘ section of the main menu, where you will find various options for displaying the data. We will be interested to hear how you get on with this new feature: does it need tweaking or adding to?
Overview of subject attainment/progress
You should also look at the new section under ‘Whole school view’ called ‘Overview of subject attainment/progress’ which I think is very powerful and potentially useful, but you probably need to control how much data you want to display at a time or it is a bit mind-blowing!
Other new features to note are:
- the tracker grids now show + sub-levels when you have opted for the single point progress option
- the addition of ‘non white’ and ‘non white British’ to the ethnicity group options
- when you use the backup your data button, you now get a further option to upload a copy to our data transfer site, which includes a reminder of your username and password. We would like to know if this works OK because we can’t really test this ourselves.
Online toolkit manual
the button ‘View online toolkit manual’ on the main menu page, takes you to the manual on our website, which is now complete, though you can always use the ‘How to use’ buttons on each page.
Version 6.2 (March 2011)
ADDITIONS to the toolkit program
Four new program modules have been added to the toolkit.
(They were already listed on the menu but nothing happened if you tried to select them previously.)
From the MAIN MENU
> Enter DATA into the toolkit – Enter / Edit / Delete
> PUPIL details
1. IMPORT full or new PUPIL list from a computer file
2. IMPORT PUPIL ATTENDANCE data from a computer file
The two import routines (1 & 2) let you update your toolkit pupil list and attendance figures by importing the latest data from your school Management Information System. You need first to create up-to-date versions of your pupil and/or attendance files (the sort of files that you send to Roger in September for setting up your new toolkit) by exporting this information from your MIS. Importing the attendance data is straightforward but importing a new pupil list involves several different steps and can take half an hour to complete ~ there are more details about this option at the very end of this sheet.
> Enter DATA into the toolkit – Enter / Edit / Delete
> RESULTS for PUPILS ( Teacher Assessments & Tests )
3. Phonic Phases and Other test scores for Nursery to Year 6
> READING & SPELLING AGES, PHONIC PHASES and other scores
4a. >Phonic Phases ( Nursery to Year 2 )
4b. >Other standardised scores ( Nursery to Year 6 )
You can now enter (3) and display (4a) Phonic Phases in the toolkit. Phases [0 to 6] may be entered either termly (plus a September starting phase) or half-termly, and the display option provides a Year/Class pupil list showing all the scores plus an individual pupil graph.
You can also create (3) two ‘other [standardised] test scores’ of your own, e.g. NFER English or Maths tests ~ you’ll need to enter a name for each score and can also specify a score range between 0 and 200. These scores can be entered termly or half-termly and are displayed (4b) in a similar way to the Phonic Phases above.
CHANGES to the toolkit program
For all those who asked for a way of recording how they created a particular display:
Toolkit print-outs now include a ‘print trail’ footer (text printed at the bottom of each page) to record the option(s) used from the MAIN MENU to create the particular display, for example,
> KS1 to KS2 Progress against National Standards > Pupil Progress – core subjects – yearly
5. IMPORT PUPIL results from a capture sheet or computer file
The range of import files has been extended, so, as well as importing from toolkit capture sheets as before, you can import FSP scores from eProfile, KS2 results from the Key to Success website and KS1 pupil results plus overall school results from the RAISEonline website.
6. Entering PUPIL INTERVENTIONS
There is now a ‘Delete’ button if you want to rub out any of the interventions !
7. All toolkit TRACKER GRIDS
All the tracker grid displays, except the ISP Tracker, have a new highlighting feature, which uses ‘shades’ of red and green to highlight pupils in the grid according to the number of points progress they have made.
To try this out, use the ‘Highlight’ button in the left-hand toolkit panel in the tracker display.
8. All toolkit PUPIL and SCHOOL displays
The extra pupil groups ‘Non WHITE’ and ‘Non White British’ introduced in the previous version are now available in all the toolkit displays ~ use the ‘GROUP’ button in the left-hand toolkit panel and select from the ‘Ethnicity’ criteria.
Two new SPECIAL REPORTS
You’ll find these reports via MAIN MENU
> Extract data from the toolkit [REPORTS]
> Run a special REPORT from the toolkit team … then open one of the files listed below
Both reports offer a quick(er) way to extract information from the toolkit with the ability to select multiple classes/subjects and then generate the report for all these at one go.
9. toolkit SPECIAL REPORT 03 – Pupil progress
Compare a Year/Class set of pupil results against an expected / target / forecast level.
For example, you can use the sort and highlight options in this report to identify all pupils with results below their target level.
10. toolkit SPECIAL REPORT 04 – Y3456 POINTS summary
Year/Class averages for KS1 to KS2 Attainment and Progress in NC Points, with results broken down by pupil groups (such as FSM, SEN) and ethnic groups (>= 5% of pupils). End of year results are displayed for previous school years and termly results shown for the current school year.
IMPORT full or new PUPIL list from a computer file (more details)
The import procedure is broken down into six separate steps, with the option to stop the import and quit after each one.
Step 1 Import the Pupil list from your file
Step 2 Check for any new classes
Step 3 Check for duplicate UPNs; Check for identical Pupil names
Step 4 Confirm NEW JOINERS and LEAVERS
Step 5 Assemble the new toolkit data file
Step 6 Save the new toolkit data file
Care and attention are needed throughout to ensure the import is successful. After identifying the file to import at Step 1 you may be asked additional questions at Step 2 if new classes are found. Beware, an existing class may be wrongly identified as ‘new’ because the class name used in the import file (e.g. 1BH) differs from the name set up in the toolkit, (e.g. Y1 Beech). If this happens you are able to override the toolkit’s attempts to match the class names automatically and will be asked to specify the names yourself.
At Step 3 it is very unlikely that duplicate UPNs will be found but you may need to deal with identical pupil names. Each pupil must have a unique name in the toolkit, so you will be asked to modify the pupil names if two or more pupils have the same one. It is your choice how you do this, for example, by adding the pupil’s middle initial, date of birth or school year, such as
AARDVARK Arthur [Y1] and AARDVARK Arthur [Y5].
Step 4 is the key step where you will be asked to check and confirm which (if any) pupils are new joiners and which leavers. The toolkit attempts to do this automatically, by matching the pupils in your new pupil list in the import file against those in the existing (old) toolkit data file. However, this automatic process isn’t foolproof, as a pupil’s UPN and/or name may change between the old and new files, causing the toolkit to mistakenly identify a pupil as a new joiner or as a leaver when in fact they are at school all the time! So it is important that you double-check the toolkit lists of new joiners and leavers at this step, and you can if necessary override the toolkit and match the pupil names yourself.
Assembling the new toolkit data file at Step 5 can take a long time but it doesn’t involve any more questions, so you can take a break from the computer screen at this point if you wish. (You can get a good idea of how long from the counter showing the number of pupils ‘assembled’ on the screen.)
The final Step 6, saving the new toolkit data file is relatively quick and it is ready for use immediately. Note that a back-up of your existing toolkit data file (i.e. your data file prior to importing the new pupil list) is made automatically. So if any problems emerge with the new data file, you can use the toolkit ‘Restore’ option to go back to the earlier pre-import file.
