The complete software solution for ... - Home - TASC Software · TASC Software Solutions Ltd North Wing lWolverhampton Science Park Wolverhampton WV10 9RU Telephone l01902 824281

PARS is one of the mostcomprehensive and userfriendly school softwarepackages available, out-performing its competitors inmany ways and simplifyingschool management whilstoffering excellent value formoney.

As well as being the ultimatein e-registration software, PARShas many more fully integratedfeatures that are all availablefrom the same user interface.It is simple and intuitive to useand requires a minimalamount of training.

Teachers like PARS becauseeverything they need isavailable from the registrationscreen.

No special equipment isneeded - PARS will run on PCs,Laptops, Tablets and PocketPCs. So you choose yourhardware supplier.

PARS is fully compatible withSIMS and reads from andwrites directly to your SIMSdatabase using software components licensed from Capita ES. This means data does not have tobe re-entered or

transferred, familiar NOVA-Tlesson codes and SIMSattendance codes are used andreliability and futurecompatibility are ensured.

PARS has extensive reportingfacilities but as data is writtenimmediately to the SIMSdatabase, the reportingfacilities from SIMS can beused where suitable.

Teachers can enter attendance,pupil grades and behaviourfrom the classroom and thisdata becomes available to allother authorised users. SchoolOffice staff can immediatelyact on this information andhave the facility to enter datathemselves, such as reportedabsences and reasons. Firstday absence and postregistration truancy areidentified immediately andPARS allows parent contact bytelephone, e-mail or SMSmessages to mobile phones.

Automatic data transfer to EMAand Connexions partners is

also included.

PARS has been developed with

experience and feedback

from existing customers and was

designed for use by busy

The complete software solution for pupil Attendance, Behaviour and Grade management.

PARS fully integrates with your SIMSManagement Information System.

teachers and staff who will findthe many features of PARSinvaluable in the dailymanagement of the school.

The various features of PARSare detailed separately andare:

Electronic Registration

Notices

Behaviour

Attainment Tracking

Grade Recording

Cover Planner

Staff Diary

Special needs

Sixth Forms

Detentions and Removals

Outward Communications

Emergency Evacuation

Technical Information

TASC Software Solutions Ltd North Wing l Wolverhampton Science ParkWolverhampton WV10 9RU

Telephone l 01902 [email protected]

www.tascsoftware.co.uk

PARS displays a whole day'sattendance data on theregistration screen, identifyingpost-registration truancyimmediately.

An alternative view showsprevious registers for thecurrent class allowing forchecks on homework set,subjects covered and more.

As a register is progressed,individual child details are

displayed includingphotograph and any alias.This is invaluable to newteaching staff or supplyteachers and also helpsprevent abuse of theregistration procedure.

Emergency alerts can be sentfrom the registration screen.

Where pupils are transferredbetween lessons and thedetails have not yet been entered into SIMS, an

"unexpected arrival" can beaccommodated by PARSregistration. Lateness tosessions and lessons isrecorded giving teachersinvaluable information onpupil's lost curriculum time.An individual's or group'scomplete attendance history isavailable from the registrationscreen.

The registration screenindicates notices and pupils onreport and also allows entry ofmerits/demerits and grades.These features are detailed onseparate sheets. PARS reports are presented in acolour coded 'user friendly'format, making them some ofthe easiest to obtain and mostcomprehensive reportsavailable. Each report can beprinted, e-mailed or exportedfor use in other applications.

Individual pupil andregistration group attendancehistory is available for thecurrent year. Student absencepatterns can be identified,giving staff information, whichuntil now has not beenavailable. Absence reports areavailable for any day, showingcontact details and allowingimmediate action to be takenon post-registration truants.

ElectronicRegistration

PARS e-registration softwareallows session and lessonregistration to be taken quicklyand easily by authorised staffanywhere in the school with anetwork connection. Also,when out of school or in areassuch as playing fields withoutaccess to the school network,registration can be completedwith PDAs using the offlinefacility.

If required, one or both of thesession registrations can betaken during lessons,removing the need for pupilsto meet in registration groupsand thus allowing up to 30minutes per day extracurriculum time. Reasons forabsence are recorded duringregistration using approvedSIMS attendance codesalthough selected codes canbe hidden if required.Recorded marks becomeinstantly available to otherusers with security clearance.An "all present" optionalshortcut is available for easyuse.

External system results aredisplayed ie. Swipe card,biometrics, signing in systems.






Teachers can send “pre-emptive” notices toselected pupils. For example,“I’ve seen you in school today- don’t miss my lesson.”

The system can generatenotices for behaviouralreferrals, prompts for reasonsfor pupil absence, any missingregisters and teachers requiredfor cover.

Notices

Notices is a quick and efficientinstant message deliverysystem to anyone in theschool.

Notices allow teachers andother staff to communicatewith school collegues withouthaving to leave their classroomor office.

The school office can informteaching staff of administrativearrangements and pupilinformation.

Notices can also be sent toteachers to pass to pupils orfor teacher information aboutpupils. Examples such as,“Remind John Smith he hasband practice tonight” - Thiswould be “flagged” on any

The complete solution for schools who wish to implement electronic session and lesson registration.





register where John Smithappears. Another example couldbe for teacher information - “JohnSmith has a family bereavement -treat carefully.” - again, this wouldbe “flagged” on any register inwhich John Smith appears.

letter or on report slip home,or to other involved agencies.Referral to multipledestinations is supported asare multi-level or escalatedreferrals.

Pupils selected as "on report"appear on register screenswith prompts for a behaviouralassessment at each registrationfor which they remain "onreport".

Teachers record a behaviouralincident (which may beneutral), via a range of user-defined achievement scoressuch as attitude, % on task, orstate of attire.

Discrete identification can beused for pupils in selectedgroups, such as those with behavioural or emotionaldifficulties.

Behaviour

As behaviour is an integral partof PARS, any computer on theschool network can be used toinput a behavioural incident orview the behaviour database

Pupil behaviour can bemonitored in the classroomand simply entered on the teacher's register screen.

Additional notes allowincidents to be recorded in full,and will form part of a pupil'sconduct history.

Incidents are recorded onbehavioural grounds,outcomes andlocations whichare user-definable,allowingschools tosynchronisewith existingschoolbehaviourprotocols.If required, eachrecordedincident can be immediatelyreferred to other members ofstaff and, if required, use PARSNotices to inform them.

Incidents can also be referredto parents by email, SMS,






An indication of potentialdifficulties can help enormously when teachingnew pupils or when on coverduties.

Behaviour can be compared byreviewing the number ofincidents recorded and theirseverity.

Pupils can be reported onindividually or as part of largergroups for monitoringpurposes, easing the workinvolved in measuringprogress.

The pupil tracking features inPARS allow teachers to trackbehaviour for comparativeperiods, bring in academicachievement and attendance,and compare students withcontrol groups.

Reports can identify the trendsand patterns in positive andnegative behaviour forindividuals, groups and wholeschool and can provideevidence for use in thedevelopment of behaviourmanagement strategies.

group against group,individual against groupperformance and individualattainments.

Attendance, behaviour andgrading can be selected singlyor in any combination forcomparison in the samereport. Any of the elements ofactual performance can alsobe viewed with, or comparedto, previously defined targets.

Generating school reports toparents for any period is quickand simple whether the information needed isweekly, termly or annually.PARS lets you define the layoutand content of your studentreviews and this enables theproduction of accurate,tailored reports in almost anyconfiguration, making themost effective use of yourmanagement data.

For students placed on report,teachers and support staff canrecord pupil's performance ateach lesson, coveringattendance, punctuality andany other user defined criteriasuch as attitude or % on taskworking. This allows staff tomonitor total studentperformance.

Attainment Tracking

PARS uses advancedcomparison techniquescombined with a simple userinterface to comprehensivelymonitor student performancein a 3D graphical presentationform.

A wealth of trackingcombinations is available bysummarising data for anyindividual pupil and or any

selected group such asregistration or lesson groups.It is possible to combine orseparate attendance, gradingand behaviour data andcompare chronologicalimprovement or deterioration,






examinations, self assessmentsand teacher assessments canalso be recorded. PARS canhelp staff ensure that theseresults are recorded and

submitted within thedesignated timescales byprompt messages whichappear on the registration screen.

PARS can also prompt teachersand support staff to recordgrading at each lesson for pupils "on report". Thiswill also mean that themonitoring of such pupils canbe done easily on a daily basis

if necessary.

All this information can bereported quickly and simply,whether it is needed weekly,termly or annually.

Grading data can be profiledby subjects taken, studentgroups or selected individualsand comparisons made suchas chronological improvementor deterioration, group againstgroup performance, andindividual attainments.

When using the AttainmentTracking feature of PARS,grades, attendance andbehaviour data are broughttogether making it ideal forreports to parents, preparingfor parent consultations andmonitoring specific issuesidentified for improvement.

Grade Recording

The grading feature in PARS isdesigned to transform the waythat teachers record theperformance of their pupils.

Using some very simple rules,grading elements can be setup and assigned to relevantsubjects.

To ensure continuity, the PARSGrading feature can beadapted to use whatevergrading system is already inschool. All the school needs todo is decide which elements ofschool life they wish to assessand how they wish to assess it.

Teachers can record pupil'sgrades directly from theelectronic register screen in theclassroom.

Grades can be entered forwhatever is required to beassessed, such as attitude orappearance, as well as moretraditional marks for home,class and course work.

In addition to the dailyrecording of grades,assessments which are doneless frequently such as readingassessments, Key Stage






absence, and 'league tables' ofcover performed, taking intoaccount individual teacher'stimetable load in a variety ofways.

Cover Planner

PARS Cover Planner is a simpleto use drag and drop interfaceused to allocate uncoveredlessons to available teachers.

Cover periods can be split intohalf periods or smaller, for re-allocation to separateteachers.

Room changes can be madeand staff marked as notavailable for cover. Supply staff are also catered for.

Notices are generated in PARSfor staff that have beenallocated to cover an absence.Other notification options areto send e-mails or SMSmessages to mobile phones.

The timetable data in PARS isautomatically updated forchanges made in coverplanning. Teachers will seecover periods as a part of theirdiary or lesson selection for theday.

Selecting a cover lessonenables registration to becompleted in the normal way.

Comprehensive reporting isalso available to determine theeffects of cover, teacher






Staff Diary

At the heart of PARS from auser's perspective is a fullyfeatured electronic diary. The diary can be viewed as asingle day, working week,week, or month, and displaysscheduled events along withnotices and reminders. Thesecould be registers, lessons,SIMS .net events or detentions.

Different types of events aredistinguished by colours andicons. To take a register,simply click on the diarisedrepresentation.

Users of the system can addtheir own entries, which caneither be viewed by everyone,limited to a specific group orkept private for their ownpersonal use. Various optionsare available for event type i.e.Formal meetings, birthdayspresentations, etc. All havetheir own icon for instantrecognition.

In some cases the option isavailable to edit, delete orreschedule and reminders canbe set to raise an alert at apredetermined time prior tothe appointment or event.

The diary will also containreminders for any outstandingstudent reviews, grade entries,missed registers or pupilbehaviour referred by othermembers of staff.






Pupil's individual behaviourcan likewise be recorded andlater compared by reviewingthe number of incidents andtheir severity.

Pupils can be placed 'onreport', which will prompt agrading or behavioural response at each register for the duration of the 'on-report'status.

Notices can be sent to allteaching staff to inform ofchanges in a pupil's emotionalbehaviour or physicalcondition.

Special Needs

A feature within PARS enablespupils belonging to selectedgroups to be discreetlyidentified. These groups canbe as varied as allergies,behavioural, physical, learningor emotional needs. Pupils with special needsidentified this way will bemade known to teacherswhich acts as an aide memoir,and cover staff will have theinformation to hand.

Academic achievements can bemeasured by recordingselected graded classwork, homework and test scores.






The built-in alert system canbe used for emergencies,urgent requests for assistance,and using the discreetidentification above, accuratediagnoses and responses canbe made.

l Inform teachers of pupils withl special needs

l Identify pupils with special l needs

l Identify different types of l special needs

PARS allows the creation ofdynamic student groups andcombines these with thetraditional groups provided bySIMS. The dynamic studentgroup members automaticallychange as the original groupschange.

This makes administering asixth form’s attendance mucheasier.

A range of deployment optionsis possible with PARS rangingfrom the whole school to sixthform only use. If the latteroption is taken OMR can still be used in the lower schooland administration staff will

have the benefits of using PARSfeatures to view reports andamend attendance data for thewhole school.

PARS allows the recording ofsession registrations in lessonsand collates data for EMA andConnexions. Reports can beproduced quickly and easilyfor conveying to theappropriate partners.

It is suitable in a range ofapplications including splitsites.

Sixth Forms

PARS is ideally suited for sixthform lesson attendance. Itincludes an optional Signing in/out module torecord students’ arrival anddeparture times from school.These can then be linked tothe attendance record, andassist in emergency evacuationprocedures.

All the features of registrationare available to sixth formusers plus some additionalfeatures.






Students missing fromdetentions can be rescheduledfor a subsequent detentionperiod.

Repeated detentions can alsobe selected and allocated.

After school detentions thatrequire parental approval canalso be accommodated inPARS. This can create letters tobe sent home, generateprinted permission slips andproduce detention andremoval reports.

Detentions andRemovals

PARS allows you to record andedit detentions and removalsdirectly from the classroom orfrom any PARS workstation onthe network.

If a behavioural incidentrequires a pupil detention,removal from the currentlesson or missing a futurelesson, this can now berecorded from the registrationscreen in PARS.

Dates and times, together withadditional comments relatingto the incident can berecorded along with poorgrades, or sustained nonattendance.

Multiple detention periods canbe set up in the system fordifferent rooms or differenttimes in the same room.

Once detentions or removalshave been allocated, PARSautomatically produces adetention/removals register tobe completed by theappropriate personsupervising the detention.






Outside agencies can also beset up in PARS where regularcontact and attendancereports are required i.e. forfrequent truants where bothSocial Services and the Policeare involved.

Notices can also be sent viaPARS or SMS to members ofstaff detailing, for example,their allocated cover duties,and incomplete or missingregisters.

PARS allows the recording ofsession registrations in lessonsand collates data for EMA andConnexions.

include first day absence,absences amongst vulnerablepupils and pupils on the caseload of an EWO.

Reporting to parents bringstogether attendance,behaviour, and gradingcomments from teacherswhich inform parents of theirchild's progress, behaviourand absence.

Mail merging allows thegeneration of letters and anyof the behaviour and conductand merit slips to be senthome to parents quickly andeasily.

OutwardCommunications

Parental Contact Managementprovides information for theschool to contact parents ofchildren absent from school.Contact can be made througha land line with automateddialling, by email or by SMStext messaging.

Used with electronicregistration, parents can beinformed of absent childrenwithin an hour (or less) of thestart of the school day. Thisgreatly increases the safety ofpupils.

PCM allows your school tocontact a parent to determinethe reason for a schoolabsence, whilst at the sametime viewing on screen thepupil's complete attendancehistory. This information canbe updated as newinformation is received.Details are recorded aboutwho made the call and anydetails regarding the call, thesecan be viewed in the contacthistory file.

You can also email selectedreports automatically or sendas required. These reports






In the event of a fire or otheremergency requiringevacuation of the school, theemergency computer is takenfrom the building and used toprocess the roll-call.

The fire module is secure andindependent, and does notrequire the rest of the networkto be running at the time ofthe evacuation.

Whilst printed reports areavailable from within the firemodule these can takevaluable time to produce, andmay only work if a networkedprinter is available at the timeof an emergency.

Networked laptops using thefire module can be unpluggedand taken to a safe assemblypoint where the school’sattendance data is available tostaff.

• Pupil attendance is displayed by class or form registration group.

• Includes session and lesson attendance

• View all pupil attendance for the day or absences only

Emergency Evacuation

Included in PARS as standard isan Emergency Evacuationprocedure.

PARS allows schools to have anup-to-date portable fire systemthat can be viewed at fireassembly points.

A separate laptop computer (ormore if required) is connectedto the school network and PARScontinually polls the SIMSdatabase to maintain the mostup-to-date attendance data.






Data entered via PARSbecomes immediately availableto any other SIMS modules soany SIMS reports can still beused containing data gatheredby PARS.PARS can be used for part ofthe school if required whilststill using OMR cards for otherparts. This allows users themaximum flexibility to meettheir requirements.

PARS provides automated datatransfers to EMA andConnexions partners.

Technical Information

No special equipment isneeded as PARS will run onstandard non-proprietaryhardware and shares theminimum hardware andnetwork specificationsrecommended by Capita ES forSIMS use. This is a greatadvantage as schools are nottied to any single hardware ornetwork provider and canmake best use of competitivemarkets and maintain anyexisting relationships withsuppliers and/or LEAs.

PARS will run on desktop PCs,Laptops, Tablet PCs and PocketPCs (PDAs) linked to your SIMSnetwork. An offline module isalso available allowing data tobe downloaded to PDAs sothat registers can be takenwhere network access is notavailable.

PARS uses the Capita SIMSbusiness objects to read andwrite to the SIMS databaseensuring data integrity andfuture compatibility. Thismeans no data has to be re-entered and everything willhave a familiar feel such asNOVA-T lesson codes, SIMSattendance codes and so on.

The complete solution for schools who wish to implement electronic session and lesson registration.





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The complete software solution for ... - Home - TASC Software · TASC Software Solutions Ltd North Wing lWolverhampton Science Park Wolverhampton WV10 9RU Telephone l01902 824281