How do I add/archive/restore pupils on my SOLAR?
Pupils
When you first use SOLAR, your pupils will have been imported into SOLAR for you.
Click PUPILS and you will be taken to the following page which is the “List Current Pupils” view: -
Add Pupil
To add a new pupil click Add Pupil: -
You are presented with the following screen: -
Note- the pupil photo is an on/off feature for schools. This will only display of this has been turned on in Settings (See Settings article).
Complete the form by entering the pupil’s first name, last name, date of birth (DD/MM/YYYY), selecting their gender, year group, key stage, class, and ethnicity from the drop-down lists. If the class, year group or key stage do not exist these will need to be added in Admin>Lists (See Lists article).Enter the pupil’s UPN and if required select the button next to “looked after” and/or “free school meals”. 
Note – All pupils on SOLAR must have a UPN and the UPN must be unique. If you do not have a UPN for a pupil you must enter a dummy number i.e. A00001, A00002 etc.
Select any disabilities and learning needs by checking the relevant boxes. See example below: -
If the disability or Learning Needs do not exist these will need to be added in Admin>Lists (See Lists article).
If required select the button next to “pupil premium” and “spiky profile”.
What is a Spiky Profile?
SOLAR displays the current level of a pupil e.g. P4 + 50%. If a pupil has done 10% of P6 and 5% of P7 this will not be shown. With a spiky profile SOLAR adds in completed progress from all levels and therefore in the example above SOLAR will display P4 + 65% thus allowing you to account for progress in all levels. This is particularly useful for pupils who will never complete a whole level but can make some progress in other levels.
When a spiky profile for a pupil (or class) has been selected the pupil’s assessment screen will show a “spike” to the right hand side of their name.
Add any other information you want to record on the pupil in the Information box.
Please Note - First Name, Last Name, Date of Birth, Gender, Year Group, Key Stage, Class, UPN, Date on Roll must be filled in.
Click Save.
Edit Pupil
Click PUPILS and you will be taken to the “List Current Pupils” view.
Click the Edit button to the right-hand side of the pupil’s record.
SOLAR will take you to the pupil’s record and you can update any of the fields presented to you as per entering data in above (Add Pupil).
Note - You can also go to the edit pupil screen by using the “search for a pupil” box at the top right hand of the screen and typing the first 3 characters of the child’s name.
When you have finished making your changes click SAVE at the bottom of the page:
Archive/Restore Pupils
When a pupil leaves your school and/or moves to another school you should “Archive” their data. This means that their SOLAR academic record will be removed from Current Pupils and moved to Archived Pupils.
Their data is not deleted from the system it is always there and you can, if required, bring them back into your “Current” pupils. When you run reports on SOLAR their data will no longer be included unless you tick the box in reports to “include archived pupils”.
This function can also be used if you have a pupil who is going to be out of school for a prolonged period, such as a stay in hospital, who is therefore not making any progress. Their lack of progress will affect you progress data results. When they come back to school after their absence you can restore their record.
Archive a Pupil
In “List Current Pupils” click the down triangle to the right of the edit button: -
Click on archive and SOLAR will ask you: -
Click OK to archive their record or cancel.
Now when you go into “List Current Pupils” you will no longer see their record.
You can also “Archive” a pupil in “Edit Pupil” by clicking “Archive” at the bottom of the page.
Restore a Pupil
Click List Archived Pupils. Here you will see a list of all the pupils that you have archived.
Please see below for an example Archive Pupils list: -
Click “restore” on the right-hand side of the pupil’s record.
You will get the following message (example below).
If you now go back into List Current Pupils you will see that the pupil’s record is now back in the list.
Delete Pupils
In line with GDPR and the Data Protection Act you can permanently delete a pupil in SOLAR.
Please note if you use this feature we are NOT able to restore the data. Deleting a pupil removes their record and ALL data that has been entered onto SOLAR for that pupil.
Click List Archived Pupils. Here you will see a list of all the pupils that you have archived.
Click the Delete Button on the right-hand side of the pupil’s record. SOLAR will display the following message.
Click OK and the pupil record will be permanently deleted.
Bulk Update Pupils
During the summer break Key Stage and Year Group are automatically updated on SOLAR providing they are ones recognised by the Department of Education.
Where class names change these can be updated using “Edit Pupil” (See above).
If your school has a large number of pupils we can bulk update the records providing the data is sent to us in the correct format.
To ensure that it is in the correct format you can download your pupil data from SOLAR and use the file that it generates for your update.
Go to Reporting and select Pupil Report
Choose All Pupils and click next
Generate report for All Data and select Excel Download.
Generate Report
You can now use the output to update your classes and add any new pupils to the bottom of the file. Please ensure that you use the same format for dates etc as per the download and also ensure that every pupil has a UPN. If you do not know the UPN please add a dummy one as you can update this later. All pupils must have a unique UPN.
Send the updated file to support@solarforschools.org.uk. Please ensure that you add your School Name to the e-mail.
Note: If the file is in the wrong format or any data entries are missing we will NOT be able to upload the file.