Top FAQ's for SIMS schools using the Pre-Admissions feature (Group Edition)

Question

Answer

I know I must use one of the SIMS Pre-Admission eForm Templates (as only these have been coded to sync to SIMS), but can I add my own questions to the Pre-Admission eForm Template?

Yes, however any question added will not sync to SIMS. For example, there are no questions on the eForm Template asking for the parent or guardian to provide a legal name for the student (only preferred name). You can add a question asking for the legal name, but the response provided will not sync to SIMS, and if required, you will need to manually update SIMS if the legal name provided on the CTF/AFT was incorrect.

When adding a new question, what text should be added to the ‘Question Name Identifier’ (QNI) field?

This field should be left blank, no text should be added. The QNI field is only for questions that have been coded to sync back to SIMS. If a QNI is added when adding a new question, this will cause an issue in the preparing and verification step.

Why are there no questions asking for the legal forename, legal surname or date of birth?

When the feature was first being developed, the schools we worked with all said they do not want parents to have the ability to update these fields in SIM. For this reason, these questions were never built in the eForm Templates to have the response to sync back to SIMS.

Why are there no questions on any of the eForm Templates asking for Medical Conditions or Dietary Requirements?

These are not on the eForm as they are part of the Student Profile. This data will sync to SIMS once the student is enrolled or given a future start date in SIMS.

Why are there no questions asking for GP/Dr’s details?

Due to complexity this was not part of the functionality. You will need to ask for this information on the eForm (or a separate eForm) and manually update SIMS.

I have multiple questions to ask parents that are not on the SIMS Pre-admission eForm Templates. Am I best to add those questions to Operoo’s SIMS eForm, or create a new eForm?

This decision is up to you, but our recommendation is that the SIMS Pre-admission eForm is kept for for SIMS only data, and a new eForm or eForms are created for all other questions that require a response.

Can I have multiple consent eForms that sync to SIMS?

No, all consents need to be on the same SIMS Pre-Admission eForm if they are to sync back to SIMS.  If a school has multiple eForms, each eForm will override the previous eForm response when the data is synced to SIMS. 

I need to change the consent options shown to parents to select from before the eForm is enabled, how do I do that? 

All changes to the consents, must be done in SIMS and synced to Operoo (on the regular Sync-Monkey sync) to ensure the options on the eForm match exactly what is in SIMS.  Schools must not update the eForm and leave SIMS as it is as this will cause an issue in the preparing and verification step.

Question

Answer

Do I need to wait until I have received all eForm responses before I can start this process?

No, you can start to prepare and verify your eForm responses as soon as you have responses submitted.

When preparing a contact, I need to search for possible matches, why does Operoo not show possible matches to me?

The feature has not been built this way, schools need to search for each contact match. Operoo cannot give a list of possible matches as this might have negative impacts. For example, if a parent is an existing contact in SIMS as Sue White, but on the eForm has given their name as Sue Brown. The school might search for ‘brown’, the existing contact won’t show which means the school might create a new contact which would give you a duplicate record in SIMS.

When data matching contacts, how can I search?

You can search using the name, postcode, address, email address and/or phone number, either searching with full or partial data. For example, you could search ‘Sue White 07900 000 0000’ or ‘white 079’.

I have clicked ‘Set Sync Contacts procedure’, how do I know when my contacts have synced from SIMS?

You can view the progress via the Sync Logs, or hover of the ‘Set Sync Contacts procedure button’ to this see information.

I have clicked ‘Set Sync Contacts procedure’ but none of my contacts have synced from SIMS, why?

Please check the following settings:

I have synced an eForm response to SIMS, following this the parent has changed their phone number.  Can I re-sync the data?

Yes, you can re-sync contact data, however, best practice and our recommendation is that in a scenario like this, schools manually update SIMS with the minor change required. 

If a school is to re-sync, they need to remove the verification, edit the parents response before verifying again, and click re-sync. It will be quicker for the school to open SIMS and make the change directly into SIMS. 

How often do I have to click ‘Set Sync Contacts procedure’?

Whenever there is a new student and student contacts added to SIMS. For example, this will definitely need to be clicked yearly as there will be new pre-admission students added to SIMS.

I archived my eForm and now I can’t see any eForm responses in the Pre-Enrolment eForms screen. How do I get the responses back?

As soon as an eForm is archived, the eForm responses are not shown in the Pre-Enrolment eForms screen. Unarchiving the eForm will show the responses.

The house icon in SIMS has been removed when the data synced from Operoo to SIMS, why, and how do I get it back?

As part of the syncing process, any linked addresses will be removed from students and student contacts. Schools can complete this linking via the Housekeeping Tool in SIMS following the sync taking place.

When the data has synced from Operoo to SIMS, the contact addresses have not been linked, why?

This data is not linked as part of the syncing due to the complexity of the sync. Schools can complete this linking via the Housekeeping Tool in SIMS. 

How can I help my parents from completing the wrong fields for the address? This is causing me work to tidy up their response before verifying the eForm responses.

Unfortunately we cannot help with some things, our commendation is to clearly outline the question requirement. For example, adding text is capitals of 'PLEASE ONLY ENTER YOUR STREET ADDRESS, DO NOT ENTER ANY HOUSE NUMBERS OR NAMES’.