In response to an enthusiastic vote of confidence, our new student assessment and reporting software "Outcomes", is being installed in the International School of Beijing which has over 2000 students. Since I.S.B. already use First Class, along with our electronic roll marking sofware "A+", the integration of one database proved very appealing to this large school.

We have been very busy over the last few weeks preparing the International School of Beijing curriculum database for their specific assessment requirements – they report every term! The interface with First Class was a great time saver. Dani and Robert will be installing and training in Beijing this week with Robert taking the opportunity to visit the Yew Chung International School of Beijing and assist with their timetabling requirements.

Most schools should now be preparing for next year’s timetable. Remember assistance is only a phone call away, or, you can look at the on-line help by pressing the F1 function key on your keyboard. For those schools that need a more personal touch, consultancies can be arranged either at your school or in our office; but please book as soon as you can so we can schedule resources appropriately.

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• The class drop-down list in "Roll Edit" in A+ will be sorted by the teachers name making it even easier to locate a particular class.
• An icon on the PDA screen in “kiosk mode” will allow you to turn the PDA off. This is useful if the PDA is in a protective case where the off button is inaccessible.
• "Please Explain" letters for unexplained absences are being added to facilitate the communication with parents. You can either use the standard letter template within A+ or interface the data automatically to Word documents. A document tracking facility is included to match the information coming back from parents for unexplained absences.

• An "Active for Roll" field is being introduced allowing you to determine which periods are to be marked in A+ and to omit selected periods from the roll marking process. You could for example choose to mark the roll once or twice a day by excluding all the other periods.
• It will also be possible to indicate which year levels you wish to be included in the marking. This will be useful for schools with primary and secondary classes who only want to use A+ with specific year levels.
• A+ reports will use the Year Level for Rollover for the breakdown of years, instead of the Year Level (Blocking). This means that, if you have combined year levels for the purpose of Blocking, the year levels will be split for the reports.

Some of the benefits of the new First Class SQL will include:

• More stable database platform.
• The ability to store multiple timetables in the one database.
• The ability to assign students to classes outside their year level.
• The elimination of daughter blocks.
• Better data exchange with SAS2000.

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Product Release

Re-iterating the changes in Version 695...

• The method for Roll Marking was made more consistent across all products. Whether you mark the rolls in First Class (A+ menu), on a PDA, or in First Class Web, the input screens are very similar.
• Direct Connect, a method for writing the changes directly from the PDA to the database as they are made, for schools with a wireless network, has been added. This removes the need to synchronize the data. Roll data is also immediately accessible from other computers.
• All students are initially deemed "unmarked" until changed. This makes it easier to determine unmarked classes.
• There is now a conflict screen that allows you to choose which reason to accept if different reasons for absence are entered into the PDA from the ones entered in either First Class or First Class Web. This may happen if a student who is late is marked as such in First Class, but "Absent" on the PDA.
  
  Note that Help incorrectly states that you click on the alternative to be discarded at present. Please note that this should say to click on the alternative to be kept. The next version will have this error in Help corrected. An apology if this has caused any inconvenience.
  
  
• An export to Ace Reporter is now included in First Class. This means that, instead of having to enter details into Ace Reporter manually, or take an established export and amend it, data can be taken from First Class in the correct format and imported into Ace Reporter.

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Did You Know?

Software Rolls can be marked in A+ in a number of different ways. The three areas where rolls can be marked are... In EDIT ROLLS in the A+ menu in First Class. Using a PDA, either by synchronizing with the A+ database, or, for schools with a wireless network, in Direct Connect mode Using First Class Web

Support We have highly qualified support analysts able to assist you in your SQL Server setup and database management. For instance, if you have any problems setting up your database for A+ and/or First Class Web, you can call our support line on 1300 301 931 and ask for Max.

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First Class Training

Training courses are scheduled regularly in both Melbourne and Sydney.

To find out more about a training course click on the course name.
To book a place in a course, click on the session date you wish to attend and complete your details, or visit the following page on our website:
http://www.humanedge.biz/firstclass/fc2000training.asp

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