This months update has a large number of developments including changes for the ILR and some other new services and updates. The update will be released on the evening of 2nd August so you will see the following changes from the 3rd August accordingly.
New online Help Centre
This update will include a Help option on the left hand navigation menu which will take you directly to our new help centre we have been working on. It is having new articles added to it everyday and we will continue to add/update to it with each update. If you would like to see an article or video sooner please let our support know.
We hope this will be an aid and improvement for helping Staff in using Databridge. You can get an early preview here: https://databridge.wixanswers.com/kb/en
New ILR Manager
This update will see the release of our new ILR Manager for the web version of Databridge and will be available as a new option on the left hand navigation menu. The layout itself will look different but this should include the options you currently use in the Desktop version as well as a few new ones. We highly recommend reading the ILR article in the new help centre which takes you through this screen.
We have added a recommendation to the screen that in the short term if you use this screen to compare the generated ILR file from both versions so we can determine any initial individual teething issues. The intention is that this will replace the Desktop version in 2022/23 so that we no longer need to amend this. This gives you a full academic year to migrate from the Desktop version and provide feedback at a steady pace rather than a quick switch.
As always, please check your ILR file using the FIS tool before submitting!
New Learner Diary and Holiday Entitlement tab
Under the Learners module there is now a new option called Diary. This displays a calendar view to display any diary entries entered.
You can add/edit calendar entries directly in the calendar for anything such as Doctor, Holiday etc. The different categories for adding these entries can be setup in Standard Values accordingly.
Alongside this new Diary screen is a tab on the Learner record for Holiday Entitlement. This works with the Diary screen to determine a balance if you record entitlement like this for Learners in any way.
Event Log changes
We have included a few new changes to the body maps in Event Logs. In the Category Setup -> Change Defaults you can now determine not only whether to show body maps as before, but you can also now specify them individually to determine if you want to display the Male, Female or the brand new Neutral body map.
The Status field is now a custom label and can be renamed in Standard Values -> System Labels. The Status field now also displays on the Event Log tab of a Learner record.
Action notifications to Staff now include the Due Date in the email.
When linking or unlinking Events, this will be recorded in their audit logs accordingly.
Multi-dropdown custom fields will display values on templates on new lines instead of being separated by a comma.
More bookmarks added for templates including Gender and Ethnicity.
Learner Targets
A new toggle option on the left is available for Show Overdue to show/hide Targets that are passed their due date.
When viewing by Goal, any Targets not yet linked to a Goal will display in their own section to find these.
When part achieving a Target, this no longer auto-achieves any Objectives not yet achieved.
Learner Contacts
The display of the list of contacts has been changed for individual tick options. Where there used to be a column for NOK, Emergency contact etc which pushed the table across, there is now a new Tags column. These will display in text each type of tick you select for these including any custom ticks.
Sessions
Staff Absences displayed in the list of Sessions will show the Start/End time of the absence.
The Delete Sessions between dates function now has an optional Session Leader filter.
When printing from the Session List screen and on the additional Timetable print, any Learners individual times will display.
Session Attendance reports changed to display the number of weeks based on the selected holiday set.
Staff Sick Pay calculations
A new area has been added to Standard Values for Staff called Contractual Sick Pay Scales. From here you can specify a scale for Number of Years of Service and the Full Pay and Half Pay weeks that would apply.
This then works with a new report in Reporting -> Reports Menu -> Staff, called Sick Pay Calculations. This displays an excel sheet and for each Staff member, calculates remaining and days to be paid for the current month based on Staff absences.
Staff Vaccinations
Two new columns have been added to the Vaccination types in Standard Values for Mandatory and Add to new staff. The Mandatory flag simply sets this automatically when selecting this type and the Add to new staff will mean that whenever you add new Staff records it will automatically create a vaccination record for that type.
A new widget is available called Staff - My Vaccinations that lets individuals set the date they were vaccinated and any evidence accordingly.
Baseline Assessments
The Curriculum Area Chart (Overall) screen now has an additional 'radar' chart you can select to view by.
The Curriculum Area Tracker report screen now lists Incidental Learning details and can see/edit tagged areas for each.
Learner Funding
Funding templates now include a start/end date.
Bulk Remove Staff Links
On the Find Learner screen, a new option in the File menu has been added to bulk remove Staff Links from the records.
Learner Applications
Updating the Day/Residential toggle will update the Learner record Day/Residential field.
Care Log
New options added for DO NOT record food/fluid.
Staff Rota
New print all Rotas option to print all rotas in tabs at once.
Transport
The Escort field has now been changed so you can select a different individual from a different company to that of the driver.
Work Experience
A new Impact field has been added to the Work Experience Events area.
Security Functions
As well as the existing bulk add 2FA for Staff, a new bulk remove 2FA has been included in the security functions area.
User Defaults
In the My Defaults area (found by clicking your name in top right) you can specify how to open Staff records as you can with Learner records.
Schemes of Work
Audit log now added and is available for Schemes of Work.
Reports
When using the email function for Tutorials, it will also attach any related documents.
New common report added for List of Tutorial Counts.
New common report added for List of Learning Styles.
New common report added for Admissions Register (School) version
A new block reporting option has been added for Staff Appraisals.
A new block reporting option has been added for Learner Applications.
New Staff common report added for List of Vehicles.
Existing Staff common report for Appraisals now has Excel option.
The Student Progress widget on the dashboard can select multiple Statuses for Learners.
Other Updates
We now have a brand new website at https://databridgemis.com to give us a little refresh here. You will also see that we are now supplying additional services for IT including Managed Antivirus/Antimalware/VPN. For those of you with small services, 3rd party IT or currently unmanaged home working staff we recommend checking it out.
As a last note, our MD Richard Allwood is considering creating an unofficial set of videos and/or streams talking about using Databridge and the sector in general. If anyone is interested in this and/or would like to speak themselves in any (to discuss other things in the sector) please do get in touch.