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In the example below we walk through a campaign which is being used to produce a Year 9 data only report. The campaign will collect the National Curriculumn Level (NCL) pupils are currently working at and compare it against their KS3 target level. A traffic light colour will also be automatically generated to indicate whether a pupil is on target or not.
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Figure 4
Campaign management is a different way of approaching reporting. There are no rigid templates you have to stick to for each report. You decide on the data/text you wish to collect first and control the presentation and content later. This flexibility allows you to create different reports for different year groups, specific reports for particular subjects, data only reports, text only reports for form tutors, subject only reports for review days, traditional reports for parents etc. The simplicity of campaign management also means that you can collect data from staff more frequently, allowing for earlier pupil intervention.
Every report on Pupil Tracking Plus begins with a campaign and every campaign begins with a start date and an end date (Figure 2). In this example we want the campaign to start on the 2nd May and end on the 21st May. We also want to allow heads of department 3 days to check the data and chase staff so we set a buffer between the 'Audited by' date (end date) and the 'Completed by' date. When staff login to Pupil Tracking Plus they will see a new campaign listed under an 'Active campaigns' menu (Figure 1). This will explicitly inform them that action is required of them. Staff can also choose to receive an email containing details of the campaign.
When a campaign reaches its end date it will disappear from the active campaigns menu. Administrators of Pupil Tracking Plus can extend or shorten a campaign at any time.
Campaigns can be created to collect data only, text only or data and text from staff. So after selecting year 9 and entering a title for our campaign we leave the 'Containing' element at the default setting of 'Data only' (Figure 3). You can view a movie tutorial of a text based campaign here.
Data only campaigns are very flexible. You can include fields of data for collection that you can then change prior to report generation time (Figure 3). This means that you can display fields of data that may help staff when they are completing the campaign, but hide them on the final report for parents. You can also populate fields automatically using queries and include the populated fields in the report. In this campaign we are simply going to collect the Y9 NCL level, but we will eventually display the Y9 NCL level, the Y9 KS3 Target and the Y9 Traffic Light (generated by a query) on the final report.
To help staff complete this report we are also going to display the Y8 NCL level. This is a locked field that will display the previous NCL entry for each subject. And finally we are going to show the CAT score average and SEN indicator for each pupil (Figure 4).
After targeting the appropriate subjects for this campaign we save the campaign. At which point we will see the campaign listed under the 'Current Campaigns' (Figure 5).
Figure 5
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When staff login to Pupil Tracking Plus the first thing they see is the 'Active Campaigns' menu (Figure 1). After selecting the appropriate campaign they are then prompted to select their set.
The data entry sheet displays the fields of data for collection along with the extra fields we included to help staff complete the campaign (Figure 2). Administrators of Pupil Tracking Plus can generate drop down menus containing a list of options for each field. Alternatively fields can be left as a default text box. Staff can also view extra fields if they wish.
Every campaign contains an 'Audit Campaign' tab which instantly tells the user where data is missing. This can be used by heads of department to check for incomplete data. The data requested for the campaign can also be downloaded in MS Excel or Adobe PDF format depending on how the user wishes to work. A global auditing facility is available to administrators enabling them to instantly see which departments contain incomplete data.
Figure 1
Pupil Tracking Plus's growing selection of predefined queries enable the often cumbersome tasks to be completed quickly and easily. During this campaign we collected a currently working at 'Y9 NCL level from staff'. We now want to compare that level against each pupil's KS3 target level and produce a traffic light color based upon set criteria.
We can do this using Pupil Tracking Plus's 'Traffic Lights/colour codes for KS3 National Curriculum Levels' query (Figure 1). Pupil Tracking Plus's queries are very flexible and allow you to select from any target data you wish. This can be Fischer Family Trust data or targets that have been tweaked by the school. The KS4 traffic light query also allows the user to select the traffic light criteria. This means that you can compare years 7,8 and 9 against KS3 target data and alter the traffic light criteria accordingly. For example, GREEN pupils in Y7 might be pupils working 2 whole levels below their KS3 target, but GREEN pupil in Y9 might be pupils working above their KS3 target. The point is you decide.
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Figure 2
Once the final format of the report has been decided upon (see Paper Reporting) we are ready to deliver the report to parents online.
Within the campaign
management area a 'Send invitation' link (Figure 1) takes us to the 'Mass Email External
Users' screen where relevant fields are automatically populated to ensure that the
correct parents receive the report. We can use merge fields to personalise
the email and include any relevant links
(Figure 2).
On receipt of the email Parents can login to Pupil Tracking Plus and download the report (Figure 3).
Every time a report is downloaded from Pupil Tracking Plus a record is created. The 'Check read receipts' link enables administrators to see who has and who has not read the report and send a reminder email to just those users who have not read the report. Pupil Tracking Plus also has a special filter that enables administrators to produce paper copies of the report for just for those pupils whose parents do not have Internet access (see Paper Reporting).
Figure 3
Of course reporting can still be done in the traditional way and paper copies of the report can be produced en-mass. Pupil Tracking Plus's Report Manager allows you to format the report, decide upon the layout, orientation, header and footer etc. However, as we approach September 2010 and beyond it is more likely that schools will only want to produce paper reports for pupils whose parents do not have access to the internet or who have decided that they do not want to collect their reports online.
Pupil Tracking Plus provides a filter which enables administrators to produce paper copies for these parents only. During the transition from paper to online reporting this facility will save users hours as they do not have to manually work out who still requires a paper copy to be sent home.
Tel:01663 740040
Fax: 0845 2809909
Email: info@pupiltracking.com