On this page you’ll find some of the most common questions we get from our schools and how you can resolve them along with any related guides.
The FAQs have been divided into sections based on the key stages of the academic year, making it easier to find relevant information.
The sections cover Start of Academic Year, including admissions, student enrolment, timetable queries and viewing the Teacher Dashboard; School Census covering census preparation and validation and End of Year, covering leavers, rollover and promotion processes.
Start of Academic Year
Q: I tried to admit Pre-Admission Students but they aren’t showing on roll, what can I do?
A: This is usually because you have confirmed their admission but not finalised it. This happens when you click Update instead of Admit in Finalise Admissions. To resolve this, go to Modules > Administration > Finalise Admissions, select the Pre-Admission Group from the drop down. Then in the Action drop down select Withdraw Confirmation from Individuals. Select any Students you would like to admit, then click Update. Next, select Confirm Individuals from the Action drop down, select the Students again, and then click Admit.
See Also: How to Finalise Admissions.
Q: No Tutor Group Registers are displaying – what should I do?
A: There are a few possible solutions to this issue. First check in Config > Curriculum > Academic Days, locate the current week and click the pencil icon on the far right. Ensure that the day is marked as an academic day and it has the correct TT Day assigned to it. Next, go to the Groups page and View one of the Tutor Groups without a register, check in the Associated Timetable section that the Tutor Group has sessions scheduled for every day they are required. If not, go to Modules > Curriculum > Tutor Group Timetable Generator and schedule sessions for the dates required.
See Also: How to us the Tutor Group Timetable Generator, How to Edit Academic Days
Q: One Staff Member isn’t appearing in User Timetable, why?
A: This is usually because their User Account isn’t linked to their Staff Record. You will need to delete their current User Account and create a new one, ensuring that you select Link to Existing Staff Record.
See Also: How to Create a Bromcom User Account
Q: We have mixed Tutor Groups, how should I set them up?
A: For Mixed Tutor Groups, we would usually recommend setting up a Tutor Group with a Year Group of ? and no End Date. When using Mixed Tutor Groups it is important that when it comes to the End of Year process, you do not use Tutor Group Promotion and instead Transfer the Students between Tutor Groups.
See Also: How to Manage Mixed/Vertical Tutor Groups
Q: I’ve given one of the Roles access to Reporting, why can’t they see all the Quick Report domains?
A: There is a separate set of permissions for access to Quick Report domains. From Config > Setup > Roles and Permissions, select the Role you would like to edit from the dropdown and click Edit. In the Module dropdown, select Reporting and a new button will appear to the right of the dropdown that says Report Design Permissions. Click on the Report Design Permissions button, this will open a pop-up with a drop down at the top listing the available Domains. From the Domain drop down select any Domain you would like to change the access for, and then add or remove Permissions as required using the tick boxes on the right-hand side. Once you’re happy click OK, then click Save in the top left corner. Any affected users will need to log out and back in before they will see the changes.
See Also: How to Assign Roles and Permissions
Q: Some Staff Members are not showing in Cover, why?
A: In order to display in cover the Staff Members will need a Staff Type which is pulled from the Staff Contract and Role. The Staff Member will need an Active Contract with a the Post SWF field completed and a Role assigned.
See Also: How to Update Staff Type
Q: Some Students aren’t displaying in the right Assessment Sheets, what can I check?
A: This is usually because their membership in the class doesn’t cover the required dates. Navigate to the Groups page and view the class associated with the Assessment Sheet, in the Student Memberships panel check that the Student’s membership in the group spans all required dates. Note that if the Student is not currently a member of the group you may need to change the Membership Display drop down at the top of the page to Show All in order to see the Student.
See Also: How to Assign Individual Students to Groups
Q: Parents are reporting that they are unable to select menu items when ordering Dinners – why?
A: This is usually because the menu choices have been added as Set Items rather than as an Option. Go to Config > Dinner > Dinner Menus, edit the active dinner menu and press Next until you see the Menu Summary screen. Click in to the days that Parents are unable to select Menu Items for and ensure that any selectable Menu Items are listed as Options and not Set Items.
See Also: How to Create an MCAS dinner Menu
Q: How can I write off a Dinner Balance debt/ zero out a left over balance for a leaver Student?
A: Go to the Student List Page, select Search Filters in the top right and set the Active Date to a date that the Student was on roll for. Find the Student in the list and select them, then go to Actions > Dinner Account Balance (or Running Balance Payment for running balance club balances) and add a payment to write off a debt, or add a negative amount to zero out a left over balance.
See Also: How to Add and Confirm Dinner Payments for Students, How to Make a Running Balance Payment from the Student List Page
Q: Can I have a Club spanning multiple Academic Years?
A: Yes you can, student memberships and any associated balances will carry over into the next academic year. If you have any Linked Groups these will not update automatically so you will need to review these, for example if you have a Linked Group of Year 8 in the 23/24 academic year, then the linked group will still be the Year 8 group for 23/24 when the 24/25 academic year begins. If you would like to add a Schedule for the club in the next academic year you will need to first create that academic year in the system.
See Also: How to Create a Club or Trip, How to Create a New Academic Calendar Year
Q: I have duplicated a student record – how can I resolve this?
You will first need to identify which Student Record you would like to keep, once you have done that, you will need to compare the 2 Student Records side by side and ensure that All of the information you need is stored on the record you are keeping by manually copying it over (Including any Group memberships but excluding any Attendance data). Following this you can process the profile that you are removing as a Leaver. If there are Attendance records on the Leaver profile that you would like to transfer to the On Roll profile, go to Modules > Attendance > Merge Attendance and select the On Roll profile as the Target Student and the Leaver profile as the Source Student then click Merge in the top left corner. Once you’re satisfied that you have all the information you need on the On Roll profile you can then Delete the Leaver profile.
Important Note: If you are in any doubt about if you have transferred all required information, please contact support Before deleting the Leaver profile.
See Also: How to use Merge Attendance, How to Process a Student as a Leaver and Export the CTF
Q: A Class is showing as missing in Todays Missing Registers, but it’s been taken, why is this?
There are multiple reasons why a Register might show as Missing when it’s been Completed. The first thing to try would be to run the Update Headers function from within the Todays Missing Registers page, this will pull through any Registers that have recently been updated. If the Register still shows as Missing, this can happen because one or more of the Students has a clash in their Timetable. Another cause for Completed Registers showing as Missing is that one or more of the Attendance marks in the Register has been entered somewhere other than the Class Register, for example if the Attendance mark has been entered in advance through Manage Attendance.
See Also: How to Use Todays Missing Registers
Q: A Parent is not receiving Push Notifications even though they have the app installed – why is this?
This is usually because they haven’t allowed Push Notifications. When a Parent initially installs the App they will be asked if they would like to allow Push Notifications. If they say no then they won’t receive Push Notifications. They will need to uninstall and re-install the App then when they are asked about Push Notifications ensure they click Allow.
See Also: How to Carry out Tasks in the MCAS App
Q: Teachers aren’t seeing the Teacher Dashboard when they log in, why?
A: The Teacher Dashboard only shows for Staff with Timetabled Sessions and won’t show until the Timetable has started. This question is common on Inset Days, where class timetables aren’t scheduled to start until the first Academic Day of the year.
See Also: How to Configure the New Teacher Dashboard
Q: I’m trying to add a new Staff Member to a Class/Group, but they aren’t displaying in the list.
A: First, navigate to the Staff Profile and ensure that they have a Contract added, with an associated Role. if they have a future Start Date, then when adding them to the Class or Group, you may need to change Membership Display drop down at the top to Show Memberships for Selected Dates, and enter a date after the Staff Members Start Date and then Add the Staff Member in the Associated Staff panel.
See Also: How to Add Staff to Teaching Classes and/or Group, How to Add Staff Contract Information
Q: Some Parents are unable to see Dinner Menus in MyChildAtSchool, what should I check?
A: First, go to Config > Dinner > Dinner Menus select the active Dinner Menu and ensure that all required Year Groups are listed under Associated Year Groups. Next, for any affected students, navigate to the Enrolment section of their student profile, and ensure that their Year Group membership is correct and covers the required date range.
See Also: How to Create an MCAS dinner Menu, How to View the Student Details Enrolment Page
School Census
Q: Can you run the Census for me/check if I have run my Census correctly?
A: We are not able to run the Census for you or confirm whether you have run your Census correctly or not. This is because the Census relies on the data you have entered into Bromcom being correct and we are not able to verify that it is nor are we able to assist you with what information you should enter. However, we are happy to support with any issues with running your Census, where the software is not behaving as expected, or if you have worked through our Census error resolution guides and get stuck on specific errors.
See Also: Census Guidance
End of Year
Q: When setting up a new Academic Year, do I need to include holidays?
A: Yes you do. This is because if you have Staff working on days that are not included in your Academic Year you will not be able to record information about those Staff Members (for example Absences.) We would recommend starting your next Academic Year the day after the previous one ends. Similarly when you are entering the dates for your Terms, you will need to ensure that there are no gaps between the end of the previous Term and the start of the next.
See Also: How to Create a New Academic Calendar Year
Q: Why can’t I process a Staff Member as a leaver?
This is usually caused by memberships in Teaching Classes or Tutor Groups that extend beyond the date of Leaving. When you attempt to process the Staff Member as a Leaver, the system will give you a list of any Groups that the Member of Staff is a member of. Make a note of any of these Groups then click Cancel. Then select Groups from the left-hand menu. Change the Group Type depending on the Groups indicated in the error message. Select the first Group by clicking on it once to highlight it then click View in the top left corner. Add an End Date that is on or before the proposed Leaving Date to the Staff Members’s membership in the Group in the Associated Staff panel, then in the Associated Timetable section, End Date any of the Timetabled Sessions associated with this member of staff.
Note: It is important that you do not delete the Staff Members membership or any Timetabled Sessions as this will result in the loss of any Attendance data.
See Also: How to make a Member of Staff a Leaver
Q: How can I see a list of Students who have left since the start of Term?
The best way to do this is to filter the Student List Page. Select Students from the menu on the left-hand side, then click on Search Filters in the top right-hand corner and change the Active Date Filter to include the dates you would like to look at. Next, click on the Add/Remove additional columns button in the top right-hand corner, find Leaving Date and select it using the tick box on the left, then click Save.This will add a Leaving Date column to the Student List Page, click the filter icon in the column header and in the first drop down select Is After then select the first day of term in the first date field, then in the second drop down select Is Before and in the second date field, select the last day of the time period you would like to look at, then click Filter. This will Filter the list to just those Students who left between the dates you selected.
See Also: How to Report on Leaver Students