2020-08 - DESE Non Government Schools Census 2020 - AUS
2021 Note
This patch from 2020 is being re-posted here on 05/08/2021.
This is 2020 information, but if you did not patch your system in 2020, you need to apply the 2020 Patch et al from here prior to applying the 2021 ones.
Graham Kidd
05/08/2021
Overview
For the 2020 Census due by 14th August, DESE released an Upload Tool excel template that takes the initial student data, performs validations and then generates a special xml payload that schools then submit via the SchoolsHUB site.
SchoolsHUB information page for Non Government Schools Census (includes link to download the new Upload tool):
There are a number of instructional videos linked within the SchoolsHUB page that have been prepared by DESE to help school staff understand the changed process, including one covering the new Upload Tool spreadsheet and how this is used to submit your data. As the template is a new mechanism introduced this year, we recommend that your staff performing the Census submission review this information.
Synergetic’s approach for supporting Student census data generation is via the crystal report STUCENS3, developed last year to support a more consolidated review of various information relating to Students and the data used in the Census. Last year the report was used as a reference for schools to then manually entering the summary figures into the SchoolsHUB portal, however this year with the introduction of the new excel template by DESE, we have amended our process to work with this tool.
The changes in this patch will provide an additional option within the STUCENS3 report selection screen – when you run the report in this mode, it will show a tabular set of data that is then exported to an interim Excel sheet, and copied from there into the official DESE template for further validation and preparation for submission.
Patch Download and installation
There are two versions of the patch, one for v70 sites, and one for v69 sites.
The content of the patch is specific to the STUCENS3 report and database changes supporting the report and a new Interface Settings mapping set for Student Year Level data (via a new code set NGSC).
The patch will not require any downtime for your system and should not impact other users within the Synergetic application suite at the time.
Patch for Synergetic v70 (all builds)
Download link:
V70_3_0_21918_hotfixV69DSY19904stucens2020_DBPatcher.zip
Installation process
- Download the zip file and extract the contents to a location on your network with access to the Synergetic production database server
- Run the database patcher, following the on screen prompts to connect to your Synergetic database and apply the script changes
- Copy the STUCENS3.rpt into the Reports folder of your production Synergetic application, making sure to replace the existing version of the report.
The Reports folder is in the same location as synmain.exe and you can verify the Reports folder location via the Help – About menu option within Synergetic.
- Please also ensure there are no Site version reports with this name.
- Verify that users needing to use this report, have appropriate security permissions within Synergetic
Patch for Synergetic v69 (all builds)
Download link:
V69_53_0_22416_hotfixV69DSY19904stucens2020_DBPatcher.zip
Installation process
- Download the zip file and extract the contents to a location on your network with access to the Synergetic production database server
- Run the database patcher, following the on screen prompts to connect to your Synergetic database and apply the script changes
Copy the STUCENS3.rpt into the Reports folder of your production Synergetic application. For sites using more recent builds, with a version of STUCENS3.rpt already present, make sure the new report overwrites the old version.
The Reports folder is in the same location as synmain.exe and you can verify the Reports folder location via the Help – About menu option within Synergetic.
- Please also ensure there are no Site version reports with this name.
- Verify that users needing to use this report, have appropriate security permissions within Synergetic
Documentation and further information
- User Hub
We have documented the steps necessary to configure your data and generate the export within our User Hub, via the link below.
Synergetic windows application
Running the Student Census - Australian Non-Government Schools report
Preparing Student Census data for submission (Non-Government Schools)
Using the Interface Settings window
SynWeb
Running the Student Census - Australian Non-Government Schools report
Preparing Student Census data for submission (Non-Government Schools)
Using the Interface Settings window
- Discourse
Our Discourse discussion thread for the 2020 process changes is also available for further background, and to add additional comments and input regarding the process this year.
https://discourse.synergetic.net.au/t/2020-non-government-school-census/4155
- Demonstration Video (coming soon)
We are currently preparing a short demonstration video, to illustrate the steps involved in running the report and extracting the data to copy to the DESE Upload tool.
Once this is complete, we will make this available at the following location, and will announce this via the Discourse topic linked above.
(This is now available - August 2021 - Graham Kidd)