First Class has now been released as Version 790. This version includes several enhancements to both the First Class timetabling software as well as the A+ Roll-marking software. These enhancements are described in the New Features section below.

First Class Web has now been released as Version 790. This version has been optimised to run on a wider range of server platforms and provides class and form lists that are personalised to your school.

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In First Class

	First Class can now be configured to display allocations (both automatic and fixed) in user-specified colours. This is particularly useful for users of LCD displays.
	A new student report has been included that highlights un-allocated classes and also indicates those that are due to possible or actual clashes.

In A+

	A new report called "Coordinator Alert" has been added that enables Year Level Coordinators (or other interested staff) to generate an attendance report for the relevant year level based on user-selected criteria. Examples include: "All Year 7 students that have been absent at least 2 days in the last 5", or "Who was late today?". NOTE: This requires MSDE SP4 or SQL SP4 to be installed on your database server.
	A new export to CASES is included that enables a file to be constructed for importing attendance data into CASES.
	Deliberately clashed classes - where students from different year levels are in the one class can now be represented on the one roll.
	Roll data can be imported from one database to another.

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Did You Know?

First Class has a comprehensive interface for assigning other (non-timetabled) duties to staff? Using the Maintenance / Teacher screen you can create other duties, assign time allowances to them, and then allocate the duties to one or more staff. These duties are then included in the accounting provided in the teacher allocation and allotments reports. No more over-allocated teachers because you forgot their time allowance! You can timetable yard duty and form assembly for staff and cover these activities with extras? You can create extra periods in your timetable using Maintenance / Period / Edit. For administrative purposes, these periods can be assigned "weights" less than 1 if they are not as long as the conventional timetable period at your school. (You can even assign weights of "0" if you wish.) There is also a setting to determine if these periods display on printed timetables. Once the new periods have been added, yard duty (or, perhaps form assembly) "classes" can be assigned as single subjects or as blocks. The yard duty zones in the school can be timetabled as rooms and the subject set as "Yard Duty". Finally teachers are assigned to the various classes. Now that the yard duty roster has been timetabled, any absent teachers will show as absent from Yard Duty on the extras list and the replacement teacher will know where in the school the yard duty should be covered. Timetabling yard duty has the added benefit that extras are counted and reported (as fractions of a whole period) in the extras module.

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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Sneak Preview! (and a prize)

Development of FCQL (Human Edge’s SQL version of First Class) continues. It is anticipated that among the benefits of using FCQL will be access to a range of new financial and planning tools. These include the ability to:

	model the costs to schools for program implementation for the new school year.
	monitor and report on program costs throughout the school year.
	answer scenarios regarding possible program change within the school year.
	report on "quality" of a program in terms of HR utilisation, student participation in the curriculum, class sizes and physical resource utilisation.

These tools could significantly improve a school’s ability to plan, evaluate and respond to program changes in "real time" – using the current data available to the school.

So what do you think? Follow the link below and complete our online survey. You will go into a draw for some fine wine from the Yarra Valley.

http://www.humanedge.biz/fc2ksurvey.asp

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First Class Training

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