Management Information Sheet
School and Pupil Census - Autumn 2018
Important Dates:
| Autumn School Census Day Thursday | 4th October 2018 | LA Maintained Submission Deadline | Friday 5th October 2018 |
|---|
LA Maintained Schools must upload and submit to COLLECT no later than Friday 5th October 2018. Any LA Maintained school that cannot meet this deadline must email the Intelligence & Analytics Team (I&A) at bi@norfolk.gov.uk
Academies please note that the Local Authority (LA) is not able to see or assist with your School Census. Academies with any questions relating to completing the school census should contact the DfE helpdesk via email edd.helpdesk@education.gsi.gov.uk
Why is this Census Important?
The census is a key source of data used to calculate schools' funding. It is essential that all schools complete the census accurately and in a timely manner to ensure they are funded correctly. Failure to do so could result in a school missing out on funding to which it is entitled, or receiving more funding than it is due and having to repay any overpayment.
Changes since the last Census
There are no new data items for the 2018-19 Census, however there are the following amendments and removals:
| Amendments | |
|---|---|
| Special Educational Needs | Code 'S' - Statement of special educational needs - was discontinued from 2018-04- 01 and has therefore been removed from SEN except where it applies to exclusions from the 2018 Spring and Summer terms, which are reported in the 2018 Autumn and 2019 Spring terms. This data item will not be valid for exclusions in the summer census collection. |
| The No Specialist Assessment code ('NSA') | To add clarity, the guidance regarding the use of Code 'NSA' has been strengthened. The No Specialist Assessment code ('NSA') should only be used in those very rare instances where a pupil is placed on SEN support (Code 'K'), but the school is still assessing what the primary need is. This might occur, for example, where a child on SEN support has transferred into the school shortly before school census day. Where code 'NSA' is to be used, the pupil MUST have SEN Provision of code 'K'. Code 'NSA' must not be used without the pupil having an appropriate SEN provision in place. |
| Service Child Indicator | The 'Service Child' indicator has changed from a spring collection to being collected each term. |
| Recording substantial work placements | With the introduction of the Technical or 'T' levels, there is a requirement to record substantial work placements. This will be achieved by using additional 'QNs' to record the hours duration of the placement. |
| Removals | |
| Proficiency in English | The collection of proficiency in English is no longer required by the department and, as such, it is removed from the school census collection with immediate effect. Schools are therefore no longer required to assess a child's proficiency in English for purpose of transmitting to the department via the school census. |
| Pupil Nationality | The collection of pupil nationality is no longer required by the department and, as such, it is removed from the school census collection with immediate effect. Schools must no longer request this information from parents, or retain the data within their system, for purpose of transmitting to the department via the school census. |
| Country of Birth | The collection of pupil country of birth is no longer required by the department and, as such, it is removed from the school census collection with immediate effect. Schools must no longer request this information from parents, or retain the data within their system, for purpose of transmitting to the department via the school census. |
Census Checklist
| Before Census Day | ||
|---|---|---|
| Check you can log into COLLECT | ||
| Check your entry in GIAS | ||
| Ensure that all relevant pupil data is correct on your MIS | ||
Upload a file into COLLECT during the familiarisation period. This will enable you to check for any unexpected errors and queries that may not necessarily show up in your Management Information System (MIS). Please note this familiarisation period closes 4pm on Friday 28th September 2018, and the Census will not show up when you log into COLLECT. The blade will return on Census day ready for you to upload and submit your return. | ||
| Census Day | ||
Upload to COLLECT via Secure Access Once you have had your return approved by your Head/Data manager then:Login to Secure Access https://sa.education.gov.uk and upload your xml file. | ||
Check for Errors & Queries Open your return and check for errors and queries within COLLECT. To clear errors amendments may need to be made within your MI system and a new file uploaded. Queries need checking and either data amending within COLLECT along with an appropriate note. Please see notepad guidance notes for acceptable wording. | ||
Submit your file Once you've cleared all errors and attached all notes to queries within COLLECT you can submit your file. | ||
| After Census Day | ||
Approval and Authorisation If you are an LA Maintained School, NCC will check through your Census looking for additional errors. We may contact you if we have any questions regarding this. Once we are happy with your Census file we will approve it and send it to the DfE to authorise. If there is a problem with the data the DfE will not approve the file and we will be in touch . | ||
Post Approval Checking NCC will continue to run checks on the Census data and may still get in touch with you with queries even after the DfE have approved your file. | ||
Guidance
Further guidance on submitting your school Census can be found at Norfolk Schools website or on the DfE website at www.gov.uk/guidance/school-census