How to Add a Contact

Applicable to SIMS .net version

7.68 onwards.

Permissions required
You will need to be a member of any of the following User Groups in System Manager to add a contact:
Administration Assistant, Admissions Officer, Pastoral Manager, School Administrator.

Introduction
A contact is any person who has some association with a child. This can range from direct family members
through to childminders, social workers, neighbours, etc. We recommend adding all types of contact to a
pupil/student’s record.
Contacts can be added via an individual pupil/student record or directly into SIMS .net via the Contacts
menu route. In addition, contacts can be copied and/or cloned in order to save re-entering existing data.
Please see Copying an existing contact on page 9 and Cloning an existing contact on page 10 for more
information.
This help sheet describes how to enter a contact via an individual pupil/student record as this will be the
most frequently used method.

Select the required pupil/student

Contacts are added directly to a pupil/student record.
1. Select Focus | Pupil (or Student) | Pupil (or Student) Details to display the Find Pupil (or
Student) browser.

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Capita Education Services, Franklin Court, Stannard Way,

Priory Business Park, Cardington, Bedford MK44 3JZ. Tel: 01234 838080
1011-002
2. Enter the required search parameters, such as Surname and Forename and then click the Search
button.

NOTE: It is possible to enter partial entries such as ‘H’ for ‘Holly’ to save time and/or if you are
unsure of a spelling.

3. Once the required pupil/student has been identified, highlight them and click the Open button to
open their record.
4. Click on the Family/Home hyperlink to display the Family/Home panel.

5. Click the New button adjacent to the Contacts field to open the Add/Edit Contact dialog.

6. Enter any combination of the Surname (mandatory), Forename and/or select the Gender from the
drop-down list and then click the Continue button. If no existing people match, the remainder of the
Contact Details page will be displayed (populated with the details just entered).
Any people matching the entered details will be displayed in the Matched People panel.

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 This provides the opportunity of checking that the contact does not already exist (they could for
example work for the school and therefore have been added to SIMS .net as a member of staff).
ƒ If the required contact does not appear in the list, click the New button. The Contact Details
page will be displayed (populated with the details just entered).
ƒ If the required person appears in the list, you can edit their details by highlighting their name and
clicking the Open button.

Completing basic details

The Surname and Forename fields are mandatory.

1. Select the contact’s Title from the drop-down list. Enter any Honours gained, such as MSC, PhD,
etc.
2. Select the Parental Ballot check box if the contact is entitled to vote in a parental ballot.
When there is a vacant position for a parent governor in the school, it will be necessary to contact all
the people who are eligible to stand for election and who are eligible to vote for the final candidates.
All contacts who have parental responsibility with children on-roll are eligible for the election.
3. Enter the Salutation for the contact which indicates that naming convention used when writing to the
contact, e.g. Mr Smith. Alternatively, click the Update button below the field to automatically
generate the salutation (which defaults to Title and Surname).
4. Enter how the contact name should appear on address labels and the address on letters in the
Addressee field, e.g. Mr J Smith. Alternatively, click the Update button below the field to
automatically generate the addressee format (which defaults to Title, First Initial and Surname).

Completing relationship details

1. Click the Relationship Details hyperlink to display the Relationship Details panel.

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 The name of the pupil/student is displayed in the Pupil (or Student) field and is read-only.
2. Select the Contact Type from the drop-down list, such as Mother, Father, Grandparent, Guardian,
Neighbour, Childminder, etc.
3. By default, all contacts who have the same address as the pupil/student automatically receive
correspondence about the child (including the Pupil Report). If this contact does not live at the same
address, select the Correspondence and/or Pupil Report check box if they wish to receive
correspondence and the Pupil Report. This may be required for split parents, for example.
4. Enter a Priority for the contact within the range of 1 – 10 with 1 being the highest priority and 10 the
lowest. The priority indicates the order in which contacts are alerted in the event of an accident or
incident concerning the associated pupil/student.

NOTE: It is possible to have more than one person with the same priority. You may for example,
want both a mother and father to be a priority 1.

5. The Parental Responsibility check box is used to identify whether the contact is considered a
parent. A parent includes:
ƒ All natural parents whether they are married or not
ƒ Any person who, although not a natural parent, has parental responsibility for the pupil/student.
ƒ Any person who, although not a natural parent, has care of the pupil/student in the sense that
they live with and look after the pupil/student.
6. Select the Court Order check box if a court order is in place restricting this contact’s access to the
associated pupil/student.

Adding contact information

It is important to enter emergency contact information in this panel to ensure the information is at hand in the
event of an emergency. In particular, you should ensure that the telephone number to be used in the event of
an emergency is set as the Main telephone number as this will appear on the pupil/student record.
Click the Contact Information to display the Contact Information panel.

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Adding a telephone/fax number:
1. Click the New button to open the Add Telephone\Fax dialog.

2. Specify the type of Device (Telephone or Fax), together with its Location (Home, Work, Mobile or
Other) from the relevant drop-down lists.
3. Enter the telephone or fax Number.

NOTE: The format of the telephone/fax number is optional. STD codes can be inserted in brackets if
required and spaces can be added between the STD code and number if preferred.

4. Indicate whether this is the Main phone number by selecting either Yes or No from the drop-down
list. Only one number can be set as Main at any one time. It is recommended that the main number
is the number to be used in the event of an emergency.
5. Enter any relevant Notes that may apply to the use of this telephone/fax number, e.g. use between
9am to 5pm.
6. Click the OK button to add the number. Repeat as required. Any numbers added will be displayed in
the Telephones panel.

7. If required, change the main number by highlighting the required number and clicking the Set Main
button.

Adding an email address

1. Click the New button to open the Add Email dialog.
2. Specify the Location of the email address (Home, Work or Other) from the drop-down list.
3. Enter the email Address in the field provided. The field will remain red until both a @ symbol and a
full stop have been included in the email address.

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 4. Specify whether this is the Main email address by selecting either Yes or No from the drop-down list.
5. Enter any relevant Notes that may apply to the use of this email address, e.g. only checked every
2-3 days.
6. Click the OK button to add the email address. Repeat as required. Any email addresses added will
be displayed in the Email Addresses panel.

7. Change the main email address if required, by clicking the Set Main button.

Sending Emails
Once an email address has been entered for a contact, a Send button appears on the far right of the Email
Addresses panel.

ƒ Clicking the Send button will launch a MAPI compliant email dialog (such as Microsoft Outlook or
Outlook Express). The To field will be automatically populated with the contact’s email address.
ƒ Enter the required text and send the email in the usual way.

NOTE: You will not be able to use this functionality unless you have a MAPI compliant email application
installed on your PC.

Adding an address
When adding addresses, the most efficient method is to search for any existing addresses which can either
be opened or copied. In addition to searching your SIMS .net database, if you have activated the Web
Address Validation Service, it is also possible to search an external database via the internet by entering a
post code and matching it to a corresponding address. This significantly reduces the amount of address data
entry required.
There are two modes for entering an address – Basic or Advanced.
Basic - a post code must be provided together with a house number or name if available. A search is carried
out on both the SIMS .net database and the Web Address Validation Service. This is by far, the most
efficient method.
Advanced - a post code, street or town/city must be supplied. The search is only carried out on existing
addresses in the SIMS .net database.

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Adding an address using Basic mode
1. Enter the Post Code and if available, the House Number/Name.

2. Click the Continue button. A list of addresses matching the entered post code is returned in the
Find Matching Addresses dialog.

ƒ If an exact match is found, select the required address then click the Open button to select it.

The address is displayed in the Addresses panel and is highlighted as Validated.

ƒ If a similar address is identified in the Find Matching Addresses dialog, highlight it then click
the Copy button to create a copy which can be amended as required.
ƒ If the required address does not exist, click the New button in the Find Matching Addresses
dialog. The New Address Details (Not validated) panel is displayed and is populated with the
address details first entered in the search.
3. Complete any remaining fields as required, ensuring that the type of address, e.g. Home is selected
from the Address type drop-down list.

Adding an address using Advanced mode

1. If the post code is not known, click the Advanced button to display additional address fields. A
minimum of either Street or Town/City must be supplied.

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 2. Click the Continue button to search existing addresses in your SIMS .net database. A list of
matching addresses is returned in the Find Matching Addresses dialog.

ƒ If an exact match is found, select the required address then click the Open button to select it.

The address is displayed in the Addresses panel and is highlighted as Not validated.
ƒ If a similar address is identified in the Find Matching Addresses dialog, highlight it then click
the Copy button to create a copy which can be amended as required.
ƒ If the required address does not exist, click the New button in the Find Matching Addresses
dialog. The New Address Details (Not validated) panel is displayed and is populated with the
address details first entered in the search.
4. Complete any remaining fields as required, ensuring that the type of address, e.g. Home is selected
from the Address type drop-down list.

Adding language details

1. Click the Language hyperlink to display the Language panel.
2. Select the contact’s First Language from the drop-down list. If a language barrier exists, select the
Translator Required check box.

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Adding job details
1. Click the Job Details hyperlink to display the Job Details panel.

2. Enter the Place of Work and Job Title.

3. Select the Occupation from the drop-down list such as Accounting, Administration, Agriculture, etc.

Adding notes/attaching documents

Notes can be added or documents (or any file) attached to the record. For more information, please see the
How to Add Notes/Attach Documents help sheet (SupportNet Resource Number 9076). Examples include
the following:
ƒ Letters sent
ƒ Letters received
ƒ Details of any childcare arrangements, hours of work, etc.

Saving the record

Click the OK button to add the contact and then click the Save button on the toolbar to save the pupil/student
contact.

Copying an existing contact

Copying an existing contact can save a great deal of time and is used when an existing pupil/student’s
sibling joins the school. Instead of adding the contacts again (which would create duplicates), the contacts of
the existing pupil/students are copied as contacts for the sibling. This does NOT create any new records and
is achieved as follows:
1. Add a new record for the new pupil/student. Please see the How to Add a New Pupil/Student help
sheet for more information (SupportNet Resource Number ????).
2. Click the Family/Home hyperlink to display the Family/Home panel.

3. Click the Copy button adjacent to the Contacts frame to open the Copy Contacts dialog.
4. Search for the existing sibling by entering the Surname and Forename and then clicking the Search
button.

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 5. Select the required sibling by highlighting their name and click the Open button.
6. The lower section of the dialog then displays the contacts of the selected sibling as shown in the
following graphic:

7. Select the check box(es) adjacent to the contacts you wish to copy and then click the OK button at
the bottom of the dialog.
The contacts will then appear in the Family/Home panel as shown in the following graphic:

When the record is saved, any siblings will be shown in the Family Links frame.

Cloning an existing contact

Cloning a contact is used when you wish to copy some of the details from an existing contact to a new
contact. This is likely to be used when contacts (such as a mother and father) share a majority of information
(such as address, telephone, etc.). Instead of adding a new record for the second contact, the first contact’s
record can be cloned and any required data edited. This process creates a new record based on the content
of the existing record. Once the cloned record has been created, any of the information can be edited.

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 1. Once the first contact has been created, highlight the contact to be cloned and then click the Clone
button adjacent to the Contacts frame.

2. The Contact Details dialog is opened listing all prospective contacts. If a female was highlighted,
the system will display all males with the same surname. If a male was highlighted, the system will
display all females with the same surname.

3. Highlight the required contact and then click the Open button.

NOTE: You can order the Matched People by clicking any of the headings, such as the Roles
heading, which will ensure that all contacts are displayed at the top of the list.

4. The selected contact details are then displayed in the dialog. Amend any of the required details and
then click the OK button to save the cloned contact.

For more information, please refer to:

ƒ Managing Pupil/Students in SIMS .net handbook (double-click Managing Pupils on the SIMS Help
shortcuts panel in SIMS .net).

Training courses
For information on training courses, please contact your SIMS Support Provider.

Providing feedback on this help sheet

If you have any suggestions or comments about this or any of our other help sheets, please email
helpsheets@capita.co.uk.

Help sheet revision history

Doc. Version Change Description Date
1011-001 Initial Release 08/09/2005
1011-002 Updated to include Web Address Validation available from SIMS .net 7.68 07/02/2006
onwards.

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