SIMS and other MIS for schools - do you like yours?

[JJ]

My son's school is looking into getting a MIS and I was chatting to the guy doing the looking today. He wasn't sure which to use yet and I thought the teachers here might have some opinions. Do you? I read some not-so-good things about SIMS but that was only after a brief search.

Thanks! (I'm asking because I find it interesting... yes, I need a better hobby.)

I am not a teacher but I use SIMS. Must say I like it, but then I have known nothing else!

The school I work at uses SERCO CMIS. It is far more flexible than SIMS for creating reports or coping with unusual things like duel registration. SERCO CMIS is very customisible to the school needs, but is complex to support.

The advantage of SIMS is that its much easier to get external support easily.

Is the support and training for SIMS good? Expensive? Is it needed often?

At your schools, is there someone there who understands how it all works and can provide day to day support?

Thank you for your replies, btw!

"At your schools, is there someone there who understands how it all works and can provide day to day support?"

yes, ME!!

Both SERCO and SIMS have support lines and someone can dial in remotely to sort out problems. SERCO support is very good.

I think the LEA provides SIMS training, but I have never used SIMS. I have no idea of costings. SERCO training courses are good. The people I met on the SERCO training courses tended to work in schools which required solutions that were slightly unusual. For example special schools who needed more detail on the SEN tab then mainstream schools or private schools who wanted to do school fees accounting.

I think a lot depends on the type of school which is the better solution. SIMS work well in a mainstream school, if nothing out of the ordinary is required.

Are both systems ok for the less technically-minded members of staff? I suppose Mumsnet isn't the best place to ask for ease of use - you guys seem like you'd be able to use anything well.

Really, do you need to do a lot of hand holding at your school? Crispy, are you the de-facto front line support person at yours?

Thanks again.

The teachers where I work are generally fine with E portal, but struggle a bit with SERCO facility.

Every package has its quirks. What is considered a bug by one person is a feature by another person.

Teachers vary a lot in their technical competance. Some teachers are very good, where as other teachers shouldn't be trusted with the kettle in the staff room. Most the teachers pick up the basics without too much problems.

Our teachers do online registration and input a lot of assessment data. They also do room bookings online.

i HATE SIMS

its crap
i hate the reporting thing
i hate the register

We have SIMs: I love it. It's great for data management, progress tracking and so on.

Most staff don't have a clue how to use it beyond the basic functions though.

I use CMIS/Serco at my school and I quite like it. For the job I do, it serves me well. It's clear and easy to use.

However, it was installed the summer I joined, so I have known nothing else, but I do often hear people complaining that it's not as easy as SIMS!

don't work in a school but do use MIS - it is frustratingly slow and clunky

Thank you! Sorry for not replying earlier. End of term stuff, doncha know.

The differing opinions are really interesting. Cod - how is it crap? Hard to use? Not flexible enough?

When I worked in a school SIMS was loathed by everyone - especially the admin staff.

It is really unwieldy and producing reports is a faff. It was like it was designed in the 80s. Bag o'shite.

We use SIMS at my school. Never had a problem with it.... so far!

I'm in a secondary school so we have a dedicated team of technicians who work on the schools intranet and SIMS when it decides to bugger up, which is normally the morning after and evening upgrade

We use SchoolBase at our school.

We keep all student info on it, can create lists for anything, do reports, timetables and registration.

Thank you again! Again, sorry for not replying earlier.

This is all really helpful.

I'm a luddite who hates having to take the register at the computer. I much prefer having a paper register so I can sit down with the kids (drama teacher) and keep my beady eyes on them!