Product Overview
 
Pupil Tracking Limited has been providing a secure, mission critical service to schools since 2002. Pupil Tracking Plus is a fully integrated online reporting and pupil tracking solution. The system has been specifically designed to meet the needs of secondary schools requiring a structured approach to monitoring pupils' progress and producing written reports for parents. The system works well as a stand alone system, or along side any existing central management system, and is used by schools to share and collect data and text from staff who either do not have access to the central management system, or are unable to get to grips with a complex user interface.
 
 
Unlike many proprietary MIS systems Pupil Tracking's unique data storage format enables any fields of data to be viewed for any group of pupils quickly and easily without the need to trawl through subsets of data. Simply check the fields of data you wish to view and then select the group of pupils you wish to view data for. Using the VIEW tools within Pupil Tracking Plus you can:
  • View data for sets, tutor groups or entire year groups
  • View data for favourite groups e.g. 'Gifted' pupils
  • View data for a user defined group e.g.' Y9 boys on the SEN register'
  • View school level, department level and pupil level fields in one simple screen
  • Access pupil profile, subject profile, general profile, reports, notes etc. for individual pupils in a single click
  • Export data being viewed to Excel and PDF formats in a single click
  • Email selected pupils or an entire group of pupils based upon results
  • Copy parents in on any emails sent
  • Create PDF pupil profiles and data sheets for selected pupils
  • Save commonly required lists of data as favourites
 
 
So often teachers and departments work in isolation from one another and can be unaware of pupils achievements across the rest of the school. The COMAPRE tools within Pupil Tracking Plus put teachers in touch with the global achievements of the pupils they teach. For example, teachers can find out mock results across all subjects for the set of pupils that they teach. Form tutors can compare recent effort grades across all subjects for pupils in their tutor group. Using the COMPARE tools within Pupil Tracking Plus you can:
  • Compare data across subjects for sets, tutor groups or entire year groups
  • Compare data across subjects for favourite groups e.g. 'Y11 Underachievers'
  • Compare data across subjects for a user defined group e.g.' Pupils in my ICT Club'
  • Access pupil profile, subject profile, general profile, reports, notes etc. for individual pupils in a single click
  • Export data being compared to Excel and PDF formats in a single click
  • Email selected pupils or an entire group of pupils based upon results
  • Copy parents in on any emails sent
  • Create PDF pupil profiles and data sheets for selected pupils
  • Save commonly required comparisons as favourites
 
 
Sometimes it is desirable to home in on a particular pupil who stands out within a group. The PUPIL PORTAL contains all information held for an individual pupil and can be accessed by clicking the PUPIL PORTAL icon .The icon appears when viewing data, comparing data, editing data, writing reports or searching for individual pupils and ensures that teachers are only a single click away from the entire history of a pupil. Using the PUPIL PORTAL you can:
  • Create a pupil profile displaying common fields across all the subjects a pupil currently takes
  • View a subject profile displaying all data for a specific subject
  • View a general profile displaying all data specific to the pupil not the subject e.g. CAT scores, Reading age etc.
  • View favourite groups that a pupil belongs to
  • View reports created for a pupil
  • View and add notes for a pupil
  • Expand the portlets so that all portlets are displayed in a single window
  • Toggle portlets, displaying only the desired portlets in a single window
  • Roll up portlets so that portlets are displayed in tabs
  • Organise portlets to change the order in which portles appear
  • Print portlets
 
 
The process of collecting both data and text (written comments) for analysis or producing reports to parents is still a major challenge facing many schools. Subject teachers spend endless time completing reports, form tutors spend endless time collating reports and frustrated administration staff spend endless time chasing incomplete or incorrect reports. As a result, parents often receive a report that is out of date, and pupils occasionally receive a report completed by a teacher they are no longer taught by. Or, in the instance where data is being collected for analysis, the amount of time between data collection and data analysis can mean chances for meaningful intervention are missed. Whether creating data-rich or text-rich reports, Pupil Tracking Plus provides CAMPAIGN MANAGEMENT tools which help manage the entire reporting cycle. Using the CAMPAIGN MANAGEMENT tools within Pupil Tracking Plus you can:
  • Alert staff that action is required of them
  • Provide staff with the data fields and text elements that need completing
  • Set deadlines for data/text entry
  • Audit data/text to identify groups with missing components
  • Add electronic corrections to reports
  • Compile and print reports for parents, form tutors and subject teachers
  • Archive reports for future referral
  • Send email invitations to parents to read reports online rather than printing them
  • Monitor who has and who has not read reports online
  • Send an email reminder to those parents who have not read a report
  • Filter reports to only print reports for those parents not collecting reports online
  • Achieve a completely paperless reporting cycle
 
 
Any data currently available in electronic format can be imported directly to Pupil Tracking Plus through the IMPORT MANAGER providing a common primary key is used. Because people store their data on many different systems, a generic import format using text and csv files is used. When your system is built a common primary key is agreed upon. This is commonly the UPN (Unique Pupil Number) provided by the DFES. The UPN is always included in files containing common target and predictive data e.g. Fischer Family Trust data, CAT scores, NFER scores. This makes it an ideal choice of primary key. Provided the common primary key is the first column in your text or csv file you can import any data. Using the IMPORT MANAGER you can:
  • Import predictive data such as Fischer Family Trust data, CAT scores, NFER scores
  • Import set/teaching group data from SIMS NOVAT or other proprietary MIS systems
  • Import existing departmental data held on spreadsheets
 
 
Any data held on Pupil Tracking Plus can be exported to Excel for custom analysis. Facilities are also available to output data in the popular PDF format for printing or saving to a local computer. The export to Excel tools are particularly useful for school administrators who wish to gather data collected from all subject areas in a single spreadsheet. Using the EXPORT tools within Pupil Tracking Plus you can:
  • Export data currently being viewed or compared to Excel or PDF
  • Export data required by a specific campaign to Excel or PDF
  • Export all departmental data to Excel
  • Export custom school level, department level and pupil level data to Excel
  • Export common data across multiple subjects to Excel
  • Create a variety of PDF documents displaying data in many useful formats
 
 
FAVOURITE GROUPS can be defined at both department and administrative level. Administrators of Pupil Tracking Plus can create school level FAVOURITE GROUPS which highlight groups of pupils for monitoring. FAVOURITE GROUPS could be pupils who are underachieving e.g. 'Y11 Boys not achieving their target GCSE grade' or pupils who are part of a school initiative e.g. 'Gifted and Talented'. Once defined school level FAVOURITE GROUPS become available to departmental users through their favourites tab or by selecting a 'Favourite group' when viewing or comparing data. Using the FAVOURITE GROUPS tool within Pupil Tracking Plus it is possible to:
  • Monitor pupils who are underachieving e.g. 'Y11 Boys not achieving their target GCSE grade'
  • Monitor pupils belonging to school initiatives e.g. 'Gifted and Talented'
  • Monitor pupils belonging to clubs e.g. 'Pupils in my ICT club'
  • Email favourite groups
  • Find out which favourite groups an individual pupil belongs to
  • Create PDF documents containing lists of pupils belonging to a favourite group
  • View any fields of data for a favourite group
  • Compare data across subjects for a favourite group
 
 
Once pupils and parents have signed up to Pupil Tracking's 'External Gateway' they can be emailed in a variety of ways. One such way is emailing pupils based upon their results. For example, all pupils achieving a grade 'A 'for a recent piece of homework can instantly be emailed with a message of congratulations. Parents can also receive a carbon copy of any email sent reinforcing any positive praise. All pupil, parent and staff email addresses are kept secure and are not disclosed to either party. Using the email facility within Pupil Tracking Plus it is possible to:
  • Email pupils based upon results
  • Email individual pupils
  • Email pupils belonging to a favourite group (see above)
  • Send carbon copies of emails to parents
  • Personalize email messages using forename merge fields
 
Pupil Tracking's EXTERNAL GATEWAY enables pupils and parents to access information held for pupils on Pupil Tracking Plus. Administrators can configure the available portlets and the fields available within each portlet. Each type of external user can be configured differently. For example, a Pupil can be given access to different portlets and fields than a Parent/Guardian. Using Pupil Tracking's EXTERNAL GATEWAY the following can be achieved:
  • Parents can login to Pupil Tracking at any time and check on the progress their child is making
  • Pupils can login to Pupil Tracking at any time and check on their own progress
  • Parents and pupils can collect/download reports online without the need for a paper copy to be produced
  • The school can create a notice board displaying relevant information to pupils and parents when they login
  • The school can use Pupil Tracking as a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system to search for and retrieve email or telephone contact information for external users. This can either be done by searching for the external user directly or by searching for the pupil and accessing the contact details of external users associated with the pupil account
  • The school can mass email pupils and parents informing them of important events in the school calendar
  • The school can mass email pupils and parents informing them that new reports are available for them to read online
  • The school can monitor who has and who has not read reports and send mass email reminders only to those users who have not read a report
  • The school can instantly see lists of users who have and have not read reports
  • The school can export external user contact information for use with 3rd party mass email and CRM applications
  • The school can easily monitor which pupils have registered on Pupil Tracking and which pupils have a parent or guardian associated with their account
  • The school can monitor login statistics for individual users, all external users or external users who hold a specific licence type
  • The school has full control over external users and can deny access to individuals as well as remove pupils from external user accounts
  • Teachers can mass email pupils based upon their grades. Parents can be copied in on emails so that they receive the same email as their son/daughter. Note, email addresses are never disclosed to teachers. Teachers can email individuals through Pupil Tracking but individual email addresses will never be displayed within the application