Newsletter Summer 2019/2020
Firstly, may we wish a warm welcome to the many new schools that have joined us over the past few months. Our Newsletters are sent out each term and contain many useful reminders as well as details of the new features we have added to SOLAR and some additional information that you may find useful.
New Feature - Predictive Targeting
Our schools asked for SOLAR calculate pupils targets by looking at their average progression.
In Progression, you will now see the 'Predictive Targets' button.
When used SOLAR will look at a pupil's termly progression from the year they were baselined to the end of the last academic year.
For example, if your pupil was baselined in 2015/2016 and you are setting targets for 2020/2021 then solar will look at the progress made in each term since 2015 when the pupil was baselined to the end of this academic year, SOLAR will calculate the average progress made and set that amount as each terms target.
If you would like to set your pupils targets to achieve higher than their average achieved progression you can enter the value that you want it increased by, for example 5% in your schools progression settings.
Note this is a global setting and will affect all predictive targets set. Also SOLAR will not set targets for pupils where no baseline or progression has been entered.
To use this feature and enter an above-average value you need to turn it on in Admin>Settings>Progression.
New Ways to Complete Assessment
Allow Select Multiple Stars by Star Name
Note - You can only use this feature if your SOLAR administrator has allowed it in your SOLAR settings.
When this setting is switched on it allows you to complete all of the Emerging, Developing or Secure stars in a particular level in one go.
Click on the Star Name that you would like to complete all of the stars for.
You can also amend the date if required.
Then click 'Complete Statements'
Multiple Selection of Stars
Note - You can only use this feature if your SOLAR administrator has allowed it in your SOLAR settings.
When this setting is switched on you can use the right button on your mouse to click and highlight stars at random. The stars will then be highlighted in green.
Once you have highlighted your selection you then need to click 'Complete Stars'. You can also change the date if required.
Help with pupil's falling behind due to school missed during the Covid-19 Pandemic
We understand that these are unprecedented times for our SOLAR schools so we have some recommendations to help prevent your pupils all showing as falling behind during the Summer Term.
1. Use the last date that your pupils were in school when you run reports and use this for your end of year reports. For
2. When pupils return to school in the new academic year you can adjust their targets to reflect the time missed from school.
New Feature: Evidence Hover
Our schools requested a way to see quickly which term evidence was entered into a star card without having to spend time opening up the star cards so we created this feature.
When turned on in your school's assessment settings you can use your mouse cursor to hover over evidence entered or files uploaded and the term it was entered will display.
This feature can also be used in conjunction with the Pupil Assessment Screen Report when viewed on screen.
Additional Output on the Achievement Report
Numerical Output to Excel.
We often get requests from school's who want their data to output into different sorts of graphs or charts.
We have added an enhancement to SOLAR where even when using a framework with P-levels you can tell SOLAR to output numerically by selecting 'Progress in Decimal'. This works for the Achievement and Performance Reports.
Once the data has exported to excel numerically all you need to do is highlight your data and select which chart you would like.
Below are just a few examples of the types of charts you can then create
Select Multiple Assessment Frameworks
On the Achievement Report, you can now select multiple frameworks and have the report emailed to you. The reason we have added the email option is that if you choose lots of frameworks the report could take some time to generate due to a large amount of data. This way you can continue to work on SOLAR until your report arrives.
Once you have selected the pupils, assessment frameworks and academic years/years for which you want to generate the report for you can then select staff members to email the report to from the 'Email Summary To' drop-down list. If you wish to email the report to someone who is not on SOLAR, for example, a parent then simply type their email address in th'User Specified' box.
Display Average Progression on Performance Report
We have added an additional output to the Progression Report. SOLAR now also displays the pupil's average progression when you run this report.
New Report - Assessment Screen Report
Some of our schools asked for the ability to print a pupils assessment screen to display in the classroom, provide to parents or to put into pupil's workbooks so we created this new report to allow you to do just that. You can do this for multiple pupils and/or multiple subjects.
This report gives you a printable version of a pupil's Assessment Screen on SOLAR.
The report shows the statements, the completed stars, evidence entered and files that have been uploaded.
Note - Due to the large amount of information displayed in this report we recommend not selecting 'All Pupils' and an entire assessment framework and suggest you use this report on a per-pupil and per subject basis.
Reminder Star Card Dates
If you have staff that like to add assessment during the school holidays it is important that you keep in mind that if they do not change the date in the star card e.g. amend the date to within the previous term SOLAR will automatically assign this assessment data into the next term
Testimonials
Here are some recent testimonials that we have received that we are proud of.
"My school decided to start using SOLAR after exploring several different assessment platforms. SOLAR stood out because of the ability to upload bespoke assessment frameworks and because of the flexibility it can give the user in terms of making the system unique to the school. This has enabled us to upload our own assessment frameworks and ensure that we can track pupils progress in a way that best suits both teacher and learner. SOLAR is able to produce a variety of reports that can be used for a host of different audiences. These reports are simple in their appearance yet enable the user to dig deep into a pupils progress should they wish to do so. Finally, and possibly most importantly, we have been delighted with the support we receive from SOLAR should we need any assistance. They respond promptly and go above and beyond to work with settings to adapt their platform so that it is as useful as possible. We are delighted with our SOLAR system and I look forward to working with them as we begin to transform our curriculum and associated assessment."
"Our school needed to develop a coherent and transformative means of assessing our students' progress in the post-Rochford Report environment. Our most recent Ofsted Report recognized that our assessment needs were now being fully met through the integration of our use of SOLAR assessment with the strategic direction of the school. The following text is a direct quote from our most recent Ofsted Report:"
Since the previous inspection, systems for assessing pupils’ progress have been significantly extended and revised. Led by one of your deputy headteachers, this work has transformed the way in which teachers use assessment. Teachers now plan sharply focused activities which enable pupils to make sound progress. As a result, the recommendation from the previous inspection that assessment information is shared better with teachers has been fully addressed.
Help Desk
Our Help Desk is open Monday to Friday from 8:30 am to 16:30 pm.
You can contact the Help Desk by email or phone. We prefer email, as this creates a written record of your request and ensures that information can be passed efficiently between team members. It also helps us manage our work flow and prioritise our response more effectively.
support@solarforschools.org.uk
Sometimes we need specific information to diagnose a problem. If you see an error message, please tell us what it says. If it’s relevant, we may also need to know the assessment framework, subject, pupil, level and even the statement and star.
You can take a snapshot of your screen by using the Windows snipping tool or Apple’s screenshot facility and attach the image to your email. You can also show us a SOLAR screen by copying and pasting the URL into your email.
It would also be helpful for you to include your school name in the request as some e-mail addresses do not indicate which school you are in 😊
