School managements systems, like SIMS, are database driven applications designed to record and monitor
Data about students, staff and the school.
They are used to record a wide variety of data, including:
Attendance Timetables Achievement Behavior Exams
Student Registration
When a student joins a school a large amount of data about that student is inputted in to the system, both manually and automatically from data passed on from the student’s previous school.
Data input
Personal data (name, age, gender, educational needs, social background, ethnicity)
Family data (address, parents’ details,siblings)
Prior academic data(Standardized test results)
Processing
Calculating how many students will be joining the school the following year
Gender breakdown of a year group Academic profile of a year-group
Output
Year group report, detailing how many students in a year group and other information
Displaying a student detail page where teachers can see an overview of students’ information
Attendance
School Information Systems are primarily used on a daily basis to keep track of student attendance and reasons for absence.
Input
Teachers take a register at the start of class, note if students are present, absent or late.
Administration staff record pre-notified absences so teachers know when a student is due to be absent (e.g. medical reasons, school trips, or holidays)
Processing
Overall attendance percentage is calculated for each student
School-wide attendance percentages are calculated.
Output
An absence report can be produced, displaying which student are absent at the start of the day, so that parents can be contacted.
Attendance reports can be produced, highlighting students with the best and worst attendance.
Performance Management
School management systems are widely used to record performance of students. This includes both academic and behavior performance information.
Input
Student termly grades are input in to the system by teachers
Student behavior data (such as detentions issued) are input in to the system
Standardised test results are input in to the system (CAT scores)
Processing
Student average grades are calculated
Year group averages can be calculated
Output
Student termly reports can be printed, ready for mailing to parents
Class and year-group reports can be created, detailing the academic performance averages and statistics.