The start of the new academic year is nearly here – and for MIS administrators, that means working through a list of system updates before the first day back. Here’s a practical checklist of the key areas to focus on, and how iSAMS can help.
Here’s what we’ll cover:
- Preparing your school groupings
- Processing new admissions
- Updating student information
- Managing staff
- Budgeting and financial management
- Timetabling
- Setting up Gradebooks and registration
- Helping your staff brush up on iSAMS
- Getting more from your data with iSAMS Central
Preparing your school groupings
Accurate school groupings underpin almost everything else – from classes and year groups to pastoral tutors and houses. Use iSAMS’s School Manager module to add School Terms, update or replace Forms, add any new Houses, and refresh your Pastoral Tutor list before anything else.
Processing new admissions
If you’re using iSAMS Admissions software, much of your new student data will already be in the system – pulled automatically from your school’s website forms. From there, set new students to ‘Current’ status, place them in the correct Year, Form, and House, and make sure medical data, SEN details, Census information, and enrolment dates are all recorded.
iSAMS Central’s admissions dashboards give leadership a live view of enquiries and enrolment numbers – no manual reporting required.
Updating student information
It’s easy to focus on new starters and let existing records slip. iSAMS’s Student Manager is designed to make record-keeping an ongoing process, but the start of term is a good moment for a proper check. Review medical records, update the status of leavers to ‘Former’, allocate every pupil to their new Year, Form, and House, and complete the Administrative Rollover once data entry is finished.
Central pulls directly from Student Manager to surface SEN numbers, medical flags, and data completeness across your school – giving leadership the visibility they need from day one.
Managing staff
A new school year usually means new starters and departures. Add new staff to iSAMS HR Manager, assign them to the correct division, and create their User Accounts. Archive leavers and disable or delete their system access in line with your school’s policy. Our HR and Payroll solution handles everything from applications and absences to access controls.
Central’s HR dashboards connect staffing data with the wider MIS – useful for leadership tracking recruitment trends or monitoring working days lost at the start of a new year.
Budgeting and financial management
The start of the year is the time to register fixed assets, calculate anticipated expenditure, and lock in budgets. Our cloud-based iFinance solution brings together fee billing, accounting, and school administration in one place. Key tasks: set up Fee Billing Cycles, update the Fixed Asset Register, review fee amounts, check sibling discounts, and verify scholarship and bursary allocations.
Central’s financial dashboards combine fee and operational data, giving leadership a joined-up view of the school’s finances rather than isolated figures.
Timetabling
A clean, accurate timetable makes a real difference to how smoothly the year runs. iSAMS Timetable Manager lets you create unlimited timetables, import from Excel, and log every change. Complete the Academic Rollover, import and publish the new timetable, create cover cycles, and check carefully for clashes before term begins. Confirm every student has one lesson per period and that access to integrated learning platforms is live.
Setting up Gradebooks and registration
Gradebooks: The Gradebooks module gives teachers a consistent way to record marks and track progress. Archive last year’s gradebooks before the rollover, use the wizard to set up new ones, and configure the module if it’s being used for the first time.
Registration: iSAMS’s Registration Manager goes beyond attendance marking – it captures lateness, absence reasons, and out-of-window attendance, feeding all of it back into your MIS. Set registration rules to include new Forms, Houses, and Teaching Sets, create new periods, delete outdated ones, and test the Fire Register. That data flows straight into Central’s attendance dashboards, where pastoral leads can spot patterns in real time rather than waiting for end-of-term reports.
Helping your staff brush up on iSAMS
Whether you have new starters or staff who’d benefit from a refresher, it’s worth getting training in place before term starts. Options include:
- iUniversity – iSAMS’s dedicated online training platform, with over 70 courses across 13 modules. Free courses available for all schools; full library access via annual subscription.
- Inset training – structured sessions with our expert team.
- Webinars – check the iSAMS events calendar for upcoming sessions, including regular Roadmap Update Webinars.
- Module training – If there are specific modules your team needs to get confident with, dedicated sessions can be arranged for those too.
Already using iSAMS?
If you’d like to find out more about any of our products or modules ahead of the new academic year, get in touch with your Customer Account Manager.
Want to see how iSAMS can support your school?
Whether you’re preparing for the new academic year or looking to improve how your systems work together, iSAMS brings everything into one connected platform.
Book a demo to see how iSAMS can support your school in the upcoming academic year.
