State of Post-Primary Online Database (PSP)

Transcription

1 Information for post-primary schools on the annual September and October Returns produced by these schools for the Department of Education and Skills and the new Post-Primary Online Database (P-POD) project. P-POD Project - KEY POINTS o NO CHANGE to the October Returns for 2012/13 and 2013/14 school years. o Resumption of September Returns for all post-primary schools in 2012/13 and 2013/14 school years as recently notified to schools by the Inspectorate. o Post-Primary Online Database (P-POD) a central database hosted by the Department to be made available to all post-primary schools through esinet from November Initially this database will be pre-populated with the data of students which schools returned to the Department in October o Once schools receive access to the P-POD system they will be required to enter new entrants onto P-POD as they enrol and maintain changes to existing students through P-POD. o P-POD will have a facility to allow schools transfer data directly from P-POD to the local school databases. It will be a matter for the providers of the local school databases to ensure that their systems will enable the schools to import the data from P-POD into the local systems. o All schools to generate their October Returns from P-POD from 2014/15 onwards. o P-POD is being developed in-house by the Department. There is no external third party involved in the development of P-POD. o The Department is available to provide information and technical specifications on P-POD to both current and prospective providers of school administration software. o The Department will continue to work in consultation with the ACCS, IVEA, JMB and NAPD throughout the project. o The Department undertakes to keep schools updated on the P-POD project. Department of Education and Skills April 2012 Department of Education and Skills 1

2 Key dates for the period 2012/13 to 2014/15 P-POD Project - Key Dates Year Month Process/task 2012 September All post-primary schools to submit September Returns/Timetable data via esinet portal October All post-primary schools to submit October Returns/Student November data via esinet portal Piloting of P-POD Release 1.0 in a small number of schools. The P-POD system will be pre-populated with the student data from the October Returns of these school 2013 April Piloting of P-POD Release 2.0 in a small number of schools September All post-primary schools to submit September Returns/Timetable data via esinet portal October October November All post-primary schools except the small number of pilot schools to submit October Returns/Student data via esinet portal as usual The small number of pilot schools to generate data for October Returns from the P-POD system All post-primary schools to have access and to start using the P-POD system for recording and updating of student data. The P-POD system will be pre-populated with the student data provided by schools in their October Returns. December Current contracts for maintenance and support of the basic administration system for the purpose of generating returns which the Department has with Serco and Dataset will cease on 31 st December 2014 September September Returns schools will be notified well in advance of the format required October All post-primary schools to generate data for October Returns from the P-POD system Department of Education and Skills April 2012 Department of Education and Skills 2

3 This note provides additional information on the following 1. September Returns 2. October Returns 3. Transmission of returns to the Department in 2011/12 4. Relationship between software providers to schools and the Department 5. Changes to the returns system post Post-Primary Online Database (P-POD) Project 7. Returns for 2012/13 8. Returns for 2013/14 9. Returns for 2014/15 and onwards 10. What should a school do? 11. Further Information 1. September Returns Each year post-primary schools generate timetable data as per the Department requirements as to content and format. These returns are known as the September Returns. In recent years schools were requested to generate their September Returns but to retain the data locally and only forward it to the Department where requested to do so. The Inspectorate of the Department reviews schools timetables as part of its evaluation activities in assessing the quality of educational provision in each school in accordance with the Education Act, 1998 (section 7(2)(b)). In accordance with the provisions of Circular 56/09 the collection of timetables from all post-primary schools is being re-instated with effect from the start of the 2012/13 school year. In order to minimise the administration burden on schools, the esinet portal will again be used, as heretofore, for this process. The format in which the files are uploaded continues to be as per the provisions of Circular 56/09. Further information on the September Returns is available at 2. October Returns Each year post-primary schools return the details of students enrolled as at the 30 th September to the Department. These returns are known as the October Returns. These returns are used by the Department to allocate teaching posts and funding to schools. The data on students entered for the Junior Certificate and Leaving Certificate programmes are shared with the State Examinations Commission in order to organised and administer the state examinations. Further information on the October Returns is available at Department of Education and Skills 3

4 3. Transmission of returns to the Department The Department currently specifies the format and data required for these returns. On foot of these requirements the software provider used by the school provided systems which produce the returns in the Department s specified format. In respect of the October Returns each school then transmit their returns to the Department using the secure esinet portal. For 2011/12 individual schools on request from the Department could submit their September Returns also through the esinet portal. 4. Relationship between software providers to schools and the Department It is open to individual post-primary schools to source the software applications which best meet their requirements for school administration and management. A current requirement for all post-primary schools is that they generate their September and October Returns in the format as specified by the Department. The Department provides a service whereby any prospective providers of administration software to post-primary schools may submit their software for assessment to ensure it produces returns data in the format as specified by the Department. Details of this process and the requirements may be obtained by contacting the Department s Information Technology Unit. Please note the changes proposed to the Returns system at paragraph 5 below. To date the basic administration software of two providers, Serco and Dataset have been deemed to be compatible with the Department s requirements for the September and October Returns. To support the returns process the Department centrally has in the past entered into contracts for the support and maintenance of the basic system provided to schools by software providers to generate the returns. At present, the Department has entered contracts for the support and maintenance of the basic administration software used for the generation of the returns with both Serco and Dataset. Both of these contracts are due to finish at the end of December The Department will not be renewing these contracts for 2014 onwards. 5. Changes to the Returns system The Department has been informed by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER) of that Department's concerns regarding the current contracts which the Department of Education and Skills has with both Serco and Dataset. DPER regards these contracts as being outdated. DPER requires that contracts must be entered into only on foot of a competitive process which adheres fully to procurement rules and regulations. In light of the requirement for a review of the existing contracts and the need to identify viable alternatives the Department of Education and Skills has engaged in consultations with the Association of Community and Comprehensive Schools (ACCS), the Irish Vocational Education Association (IVEA), the Joint Managerial Body (JMB) together with the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD). In particular, in a time of financial constraints all parties are Department of Education and Skills 4

5 minded of the paramount importance of the necessity to achieve value for money in the choice of software systems used for administration by schools. Having reviewed a number of options as to how best data could be collected and transmitted by schools to the Department and taking into account the Department s strategic commitment for the development of a Learner Database the Department has decided to develop a Post-Primary Online Database (P-POD) for the use of both postprimary schools and the Department. 6. Post-Primary Online Database (P-POD) Project. Project objective The objective of the Post-Primary Online Database (P-POD) project is to provide an efficient and effective IT solution that enables sharing of data on schools and pupils which are common to the data needs of post-primary schools, the Department, State Examination Commission and other agencies within the education sector. The IT solution will facilitate smooth connectivity between a central database hosted by the Department and post primary school administration systems. It will also accommodate any future development to meet the full implementation of the Department s Data Strategy to link information on the characteristics and needs of individual learners from pre-primary to higher and further education. (One of the High level goals of the Data Strategy ). Project management The Post-Primary Online Database (P-POD) project is being developed in-house under the management of the Department s IT Unit and its Schools Division. There are no external software providers involved in the development of the P-POD system. The Department has not entered and does not intend entering into any partnership arrangement with any software providers to develop the P-POD project. However, the Department is offering to engage with current and prospective providers of administration software to schools in order that those providers can ensure that the systems they provide directly to schools have the capability of using data from the P- POD system as required without the school having to re-key data into the local system. Software providers who are interested in learning more about how to interface with P-POD should p-podhelpdesk@education.gov.ie. When schools are approached by providers of administration software the schools may wish to establish from the providers that their software will be capable of using data extracted from the P-POD system. Project deliverables The P-POD system will support linkages to local school based systems which schools may have sourced from software providers. The P-POD system will be accessible through esinet where schools using a set of forms will enter the required data on schools and students onto a central database hosted by the Department. This system will provide some functions which will allow Department of Education and Skills 5

6 schools to manage roll classes and where required the grouping of subjects taken by different roll classes, the roll-over to a new school year and the generation of their October Returns. The requirements regarding timetable data are currently under review. The potential for the P-POD system to collect any timetable data required is being examined. The requirements of the P-POD system will be finalised in consultation with ACCS, IVEA, JMB, NAPD and feedback from a sample number of schools. The P-POD system will incorporate an export facility which would allow schools to download data as required for use on any locally operated administration system. The format used for the data outputted from this export facility will be open in that it will allow software providers to develop products for the school sector utilising the data exported from the P-POD system. The Department will be making available to schools via its website prototype screens so that well in advance of any system going live schools will have the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the new system and offer feedback. The Department will also be examining how best any training requirements which schools may have for the new system may best be delivered by it to schools. The Department will provide a helpdesk for schools using P-POD. Piloting of P-POD system The Department will be piloting the P-POD in a small number of schools from November, The P-POD pilot system will be pre-populated with the details of students as previously submitted by the schools to the Department as part of their returns in October The pilot schools will first start using the P-POD system in November 2012 to enter the details of new entrants ( ) and to generate their returns for the first time in October Schools will also be able to amend students details for 2012/13 if necessary. In the pilot schools in 2012/13 and 2013/14 the September Returns will continue to be generated and returned in the traditional fashion. The Department is currently engaging with both the Serco and Dataset companies in order that they can develop facilities to allow data from P-POD to be imported into the local applications currently in use in schools. The Department is inviting schools to participate in the P-POD pilot and any school interested in participating should contact the Department at p- podhelpdesk@education.gov.ie Timeframe for project 2012 to 2014 The Department will provide information to schools via its website on an ongoing basis on developments in the P-POD project Spring 2012 Requirements for P-POD to be finalised. Department of Education and Skills 6

7 Spring 2012 The Department will consult with the providers of administration software to schools on how the bridge between the central P-POD system and the local administration system can be made operational. Summer/Autumn 2012 development and testing of P-POD system by the Department November 2012 Piloting of system - Roll-out of release 1.0 of the P-POD system to a small number of schools to allow for testing and feedback. Spring 2013 Piloting of system roll-out of release 2.0 of the P-POD system with additional functionality to a small number of schools for testing and feedback. November 2013 Roll-out of P-POD system to all schools. October 2014 All post-primary schools will generate their returns from the P-POD system onwards the Department in consultation with schools and other agencies in the education sector will examine additional requirements which P-POD may be able to provide to reduce the administration burden on schools and enhance the quality of data available to schools. 7. Returns for 2012/13 In respect of the September Returns the Inspectorate of the Department has written to schools to inform them that from September 2012 all post-primary schools will be required to return their timetable data via the estinet portal in September as had been the practice prior to 2009/10. There is NO CHANGE to the October Returns process. All schools will continue to make their October Returns in October through the esinet portal as was done in 2011/ Returns for 2013/14 All schools will make their September Returns using the esinet portal as in 2012/13. All schools other than a small number of pilot schools will continue to make their October Returns using the esinet portal as in 2012/13 and earlier years. For the small number of p ilot schools it is intended that the data collected for October Returns will be generated by schools from the P-POD system. 9. Returns for 2014/15 and onwards. The data collected for the October Returns will be generated from the P-POD system by all post-primary schools in October Department of Education and Skills 7

8 The arrangements for the data collected in the September Returns will be notified to schools when the current review of timetable data requirements is completed. 10. What should a school do? o Familarise itself with the information in this note. o Note the Key Points and Key Dates above o Monitor the Department s website for updates o Have a look at the prototype P-POD system when this becomes available on the Department s website later in the year schools will be notified of this o Monitor communications from the ACCS, IVEA, JMB and NAPD as they will also be providing information on the P-POD project specific to their member schools o Consider applying to be a pilot school for the P-POD project 11. Further Information The Department will be updating the information on the P-POD project on a regular basis so you should monitor its website for any new developments. The Department will also alert schools to updates via the headline facility on the On- Line Claims System (OLCS) available through esinet and through the CEOs of the VECs, the management bodies - ACCS, IVEA, JMB and the NAPD. If you have any queries in respect of the above or require further information please e- mail p-podhelpdesk@education.gov.ie Department of Education and Skills 8