Frequently Asked Questions

We have organised the FAQs into sections and we hope to extend this list depending on your feedback. You may also email questions. You may also find the video clips useful as these show using the goal, assessment and graph pages.

Video clip of using Goals page Goals Picture of Goals page

What are goals?
These are learning objectives or milestones indicative a pupil's progress which are set as targets and subsequently recorded as achieved.
Where do the goals come from?
The most common sets of goals are from the DCSF's Framework for Literacy and Numeracy or Assessing Pupil Progress (APP).
Why are goals grouped into categories?
This grouping follows that of the DCSF's Framework or APP. It is largely for convenience and is used for some of the graphing and summary functionality.
Can goals be associated with intervention groups?
On the goal page with the mouse over the cell corresponding to a pupil's goal, if you press the INSERT key you have a choice of Intervention Groups. As a shortcut, you may alternatively type the key associated with that Intervention Group.
Can additional information be recorded?
Your may enter a comment by pressing the INSERT key either when the goal is set as a target or when its achieved.
Can I modify or add my own goals?
Your school's software administrator may add, delete or modify goals. This may include loading your own set of goals.
Why is it useful to record the date goals are achieved?
The TaAPP software deduces and reports the progress of a pupil from the rate of achieving goals. It also predicts National Curriculum (NC) levels from the goals. These are displayed as assessments with the name 'Goal Averages'.

Video clip of using Assessments page Assessments Picture of Assessments page

What are assessments?
These are periodic evaluations or appraisals of a pupils performance for which the results are recorded. They may include SATs or similar tests.
What types of assessments may be used?
The most commonly used assessments record NC levels. Others may record numeric score, age or grade (A-F). In addition, observational assessments such as APP may be used.
Who decides what assessments are recorded?
Your school's senior staff normally decide what assessments to record and your software administrator is responsible for adding, removing or changing the assessments.
Can I use Assessing Pupil Progress (APP)?
Yes. APP assessments display the standard APP forms which may then be completed electronically. The NC level is automatically deduced from the number of boxes checked on the form.
Why do assessments for different years have the same name?
The name such as 'Holborn Reading Age' is used to keep track of the progress of a pupil from year to year.

Intervention Groups

What are Intervention Groups?
On those occasions when it is appropriate to teach singly or in small groups, TaAPP allows this to be recorded in it's database. From the goals page a pupil may be associated with individual goals for each pupil while from the pupil's page the pupil may be allocated to a group without assigning a goal.
When are pupils removed from groups?
When the goal associated with an intervention group is marked as achieved the pupil is automatically removed from that group. Pupils may also be manually removed from the group on the Pupil's page.
Is there a limit to the number and types of Intervention Groups?
There is no finite limit to the number of groups, although for convenience each group needs a separate quick access key on the keyboard which imposes a practical limit to the number of groups for each year.
Do groups for different years need different names?
No. They may have the same name and use the same quick access key (because pupils may not belong to an Intervention Group which is configured for a year other than the one they are in).

Graphs

Why are graphs included as part of TaAPP?
Our aim was to provide the capability to highlight issues relating to the performance or progress of individual or sets of pupils.
Can I use Excel instead?
Yes you can export the data or cut and paste the table.
What do the bar charts show?
The bar charts are used to communicate the proportion of pupils which have achieved individual goals and the number of goals which are allocated as targets.
What do the pie charts show? Picture of pie chart
The pie charts are also derived from the goals and show the proportion of pupils who are achieving above and below expectations in the left hand column and progress made (in terms of sub levels per year) in the right hand column. These also highlight (in black) the proportion of the class who are underachieving or making slow progress without being allocated to a linked Intervention Group for that Category of goals.
What do the histograms show?
The histograms report the numbers of children which have been assessed at various levels. The colour coding indicates whether the level achieved are above, at or below expectations.
What do the line plots show? Picture of line plot
The line plots show historical assessment data. The 'Pupil Progress' graphs the assessments of the same pupils over up to 6 years while the results for a given calendar year (eg 2009-2010) are assessment results for each year (eg Reception to Year 6) of pupils during that period.
What is the significance of the different colour lines?
Pupil status flags eg 'At Risk', 'Looked After' etc are used to provide a visual analysis of the variation in the assessments of subsets of pupils. This also includes boys and girls.
Why is there no pupil status colour coding for other graphs?
The pupil status is not mutually exclusive ie a pupil may be 'At Risk' and belonging to another subset which would result in some pupils being counted twice causing confusion.

Demonstration school system

Where can I find the demonstration school system?
This is not publically available yet. Please contact sales@taapp.co.uk for access to a pre-release.
What can I change on the demonstration school system?
Using the Teacher4 username you have access to the full range of functionality that a year 4 teacher might be expected to use. This includes setting targets, recording their achievement, allocation to intervention groups, entering assessment results etc.
What can't I change using the Teacher4 username in demonstration school system?
You may not configure the lists of goals, assessments, intervention groups, pupils, classes etc which would normally be performed by a system administrator in order to ensure consistency between classes and across years.
Can I be an administrator on the demonstration school system?
Yes. Please email support@taapp.co.uk for the current password.
What happens if I or some-one else messes up the demonstration school?
Random data is reloaded every day. This also means that any changes you make will be lost.

Administration

How are new pupils added to TaAPP?
Individuals can be added by the school system administrator using the Pupils item on the Configure menu. At the beginning of each year or when the system is first installed, it is usually preferred to use the import option to import the list of new children for each class with associated information including the Date of Birth, Gender etc.
How do pupils move years?
At the end of each year, the system administrator can migrate pupils from one year to the next with corresponding changes to their classes.
What happens if I forget my password?
Teachers can request a new teacher key or password from the login screen.
What happens if I forget the school key?
The school key is normally stored locally on each PC for 120 days in a cookie (providing they are enabled in the browser and your installation does not have this option disabled). It is recommended that ONLY the system administrator knows the school key. The school key needs only to be entered on each PC when it is first used or if it is not used for several months.
Who allocates and informs parents of their passwords
Parents can automatically request a password to be sent to their email addresses. If their email address changes then the school system administrator needs to enter the new password.

Reports

What are reports?
TaAPP provides reports either to staff or to parents/carers. These include goals achieved, targets set, allocations to Intervention groups, assessment results etc.
What options are available to staff?
Staff may view reports either by pupil or by year, class etc. When viewing reports for multiple pupils the contents may be restricted to targets set, achieved goals, assessments or intervention groups.
Is it possible to omit information from reports to parents?
Individual assessments may be excluded from reports and any comment inside square brackets is omitted from reports.
How do parents login?
Parents may access the database server over the Internet by entering the pupil UPN or their email address as a username. The report for their child or children (when an email address is entered) is then displayed.

Security

How secure is the data?
Data transferred to and from the server is encrypted (this is why you must use https: not http:). Critical personal information on the server is separately encrypted which means that without the school encryption key this data is not eye readible.
What is the school key?
The school key controls how the data is encrypted in the database and is not stored anywhere on the server. This means that even with physical access to personal data it cannot be read without this key. If this key is disclosed to a member of the public TaAPP should be informed in order to allocate a new key and re-encrypt the data.
Should I write down the school key on paper?
The school key is difficult to remember but any written record of it should be kept in a secure place with limited access.
What is the teacher key?
The teacher key is analogous to a password and individual teachers or the system administrator may change them.

Support and Maintenance

Do I have to pay extra for support?
The annual licence fee includes telephone and email support. If any tailored on site training is required this is at an additional cost.
How often is the database backed up?
The database is backed up daily overnight. In the unlikely event of a server failure the system will be unavailable until it is restored. There is no additional charge for this service.
How often is the system unavailable due to maintenance?
Your system adminstrator will be informed in advance of any upgrades to the software and when these will be installed and how long it will take. Your system administrator may elect to defer such upgrades.
What should I do if the server is unreachable?
It is concievable that a network problem within your school or on the Internet will result in the server being inaccessible. If this problem persists you should first contact your school's network manager.
What should I do if I encounter an error?
Most error messages are self-explanatory. If you encounter difficulties you may email support@taapp.co.uk for assistance. The page which displays serious errors includes the option to forward these messages to TaAPP when appropriate or to your system administrator for instance when you are not authorised to access certain data.