Opening the Import management' screen:

• Click on 'Management' on the left hand tool bar.

Notes:

• Imports of school members should be run regularly to ensure that your database in Schoolcomms is the same as the database in your school management system. The required frequency will depend on the level of joiners and leavers at your school.

What is a CSV file?

A CSV file is a file which contains data formatted as rows and columns like a spreadsheet. The data is stored as text. The values of each column are separated by commas. The values of each row are separated by carriage returns. This is an example showing bank balances!

 

Joe, Bloggs, £1400 Stephen, Bloggs, £-54 Simone, Bloggs, £10

 

 

 

 

 

The CSV data is not always self explanatory as in this case so a column definition is supplied. The column definition for this example is:

 

Column# 1	Forename
Column# 2	Surname
Column# 3	Bank balance

 

Schoolcomms CSV file format definitions:

The Schoolcomms column definitions are as follows:

 

Column# 1	Student admission number for students / unique identifier for other School Members. NB: It is essential that no two members of the school have the same value.
Column# 2	Forename
Column# 3	Surname
Column# 4	Registration group
Column# 5	School year
Column# 6	Role ID (see the role types definition)

 

These are the role type definitions which are referred to in Column# 6

 

School member type	Role ID
Student	1
Teacher	2
Support Staff	3
Governor	4
School board member	5
Other	6

 

 

This is an example of a Schoolcomms CSV import file using the column definitions from above. The first three members in the list are students. The last two members in the list are teachers.

1500, Vince, Ancram, 1A, 1, 2 1501, Meg, Bennet, 1B, 1, 1 1502, Brian, Blunt, 2A,2,1 1503, Peter, Chips, , , 2 1504, Polly, Chips, , , 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Generating a CSV file for import into Schoolcomms:

 

The majority of MIS systems provide a facility for exporting school members into a CSV file. Please consult your MIS documentation or speak to your MIS administrator for more information.

 

If your school does not use an MIS system, the CSV files can be generated manually or the contents cut and pasted from other applications on your workstation.

 

The simplest way to manually generate a CSV file is to use a spreadsheet. Enter the data into the spreadsheet so that it conforms to the column definitions. Once you have entered the data into the spreadsheet, save it as a CSV (comma separated) file.

 

The link below connects to a model school member import CSV file. This can be opened in a spreadsheet or a text editor like notepad. 

 

Download Sample CSV file.

 

It may be useful to present the 'Sample CSV file' as the import file for a trial run. The members it creates can easily be removed by deleting them from the 'Manage School Members' screen. Click here for instructions on deleting members.

 

Starting the CSV import:

• Click the 'CSV import' button on the top tool bar of the 'Import management' screen.
• You will be prompted to select your import file. Locate this using the browse tool and click OK.
• The import process will run. You will be notified if any formatting errors exist in your CSV file.
• Once the import has completed, a status message is displayed. This indicates how many new members were imported, how many were updated and how many were flagged as school leavers. School leavers are identified as those members which were present in a previous import but not in this one.
  
  

Creating 'Security details' letters for new school members:

Click here for more information.

Deleting leavers:

Click here for more information.