In this issue:

1. Mid-Year Census

2. Finance hints and tips

3. Archiving student records

4. Validating student data

5. TSAA Conference Presentations

6. Glass standards and replacement

1.  Mid-Year Census

The Mid-Year Census date this year is 5 August.  Budget and Resource Services will be responsible for conducting the Census.

Please note the following points to ensure that all necessary preparations have been made prior to the downloading of information to the Data Warehouse:

• All updates to student enrolment details should be made in SACS.

• Students who have not attended for four (4) continuous weeks prior to the census are deemed to be Inactive students.  A Left student is one who is no longer enrolled at the school. Both Inactive and Left students are marked as Left in SACS and put in the ZGONE roll class.  Left students are still visible to school staff for tracking purposes.

• Schools operating a senior secondary campus are requested to nominate an appropriate contact to deal specifically with senior secondary issues.

• Be aware of a Pre-Census check that will be conducted about a week before the Census, in order that any problems identified at this time can be dealt with prior to Census Day.  Spreadsheets containing these problems will be sent to the Admin Group email address for each individual School.  It would be appreciated if you could coordinate which members within each Admin Group will be responsible for any issues should they arise.  Please reply as soon as possible either to advise any amendments, or to confirm that the data is correct.

• Please enter your school name in the Subject line of any email.

• If you have any problems would you please contact either:

  • Andy Dare, Senior Research Officer, Tel: 6233 8491 or

  • Patricia Lloyd, Research and Support Officer, Tel: 6233 7093

We will be using the download from your school to the Data Warehouse on the evening of the 5th August.

More information can be found on the web -

Census:  http://www.education.tas.gov.au/admin/ff/enrolment/census/default.htm

Handling Inactive/Left Students:  http://www.education.tas.gov.au/admin/ff/enrolment/procedure/active.htm

2.  Finance hints and tips

From our guru Ron Watts -

1.  BAS reporting
Please note that if the Old BAS option of GST is used the current GST Ref types will not appear on the GST Transaction Report.

The New GST option should always be used for current BAS reporting.

2.  Accounting for Grants
Please note that the advice given in the recent Banter about accounting for the After School Communities Grant is general advice only. (Some schools may think they need to record this grant as an “LP” type budget centre.)

The accounting for this grant is no different from any other grant or budget centre where a school wishes to keep tabs on all receipts and expenditure associated with it.

The critical thing is that the school creates a unique budget centre code for it.

In the case of Fairview Primary, they will create a new budget centre CW11 within their Whole School group of budget centres.  This is the most appropriate group for their budget structure.

The new budget centre code and the description used will be:  CW11 AUST SPORTS GRANT

3.  Archiving student records

A few schools have questioned how to archive student files, such as annual validation forms and guidance and speech reports.  The Record Services Unit has provided this information to help identify the appropriate handling of student files:

Originals - If the they are the 'original' forms and reports, they should be in the Student's Case File and would therefore have a PERMANENT disposal class and need archiving via DoE's Records Services Unit when the student has reached 25 years of age.

Copies - If they are 'copies' of forms and reports, that are in the Student Administrative File they stay within the file (moving between schools & sectors as the student moves) and are classed as TEMPORARY and thus are securely destroyed 7 years after the student leaves the State School System.

If you have any further questions please contact the Records Services Unit Help Desk 6233 7003 or send an email to Record.Services@education.tas.gov.au

4. Validating student data

Validating Data – New Shortcut Key

1. Ctrl V takes you straight to the validation screens.
2. A report is available to check whether student records have been updated.   Go to Reports…Student Reports…Lists…Updated Student Data Status Report – 109.  This report displays correct information only when the Verify/Update Data screen is used.  Changing information through List box items in Student Personal Information, Part 1 will not tell the report that changes have been made.

Information Validation Reports

We are working on improvements to the validation forms for a September release with the new version of SACS.

Two versions are available at present:

• 030A    –    Kindergarten to Year 12

• 030DE  –    Distance Education

We are also working on a specific version for colleges and this will be installed with the new version of SACS in September.

Permission Report in SACS

If you want to list the permissions entered in SACS at Student Personal Part 3 you can use the report  Reports…Student Reports…Personal…Permission – Publications and Work Samples -112. 

(You probably won't need this, but there is another report for school based permissions that may have been entered into SACS in the past.  Path: Reports…Student Reports…Personal…Student Permissions – 104.  This report is populated with data recorded in Student Personal Information, Part 1 under list box item N – Permission Details. Please do not enter permissions for publications and work samples in this screen as it won't reach the next school.)

5.  TSAA Conference Presentations

From all accounts, the TSAA Conference was a success!  If you couldn't make it to a presentation, or if you had too good a time the night before, you might want to take a look:

• Leonie Johnston's report on the Conference for Association of Secondary School Registrars in WA

• Leonie Johnston's report on her visit to Western Australian schools

• School Administration Improvement Project (SAIP)

• BSS "Hot Topics" Presentation

• Janet Tomlin's handout on handling Negative BAS reports

6.  Glass standards and replacement

At the recent TSAA Conference, a number of schools requested more information about glass standards and replacement. Schools can get advice on the relevant standards at http://www.education.tas.gov.au/admin/ff/facmgt/guidlines/Glass.htm. If glass is broken, glaziers are required to replace glass to current standards.

Past BSS Banters

Want to have a quick look over some of the recent Banter articles?

You can find all past Banters on the website:  http://www.education.tas.gov.au/admin/ff/banter/default.htm