How to Add Agents (e.g.

Education Welfare
Officers)

Applicable to SIMS .net version

7.74 onwards.

Permissions required
You will need to be a member of any of the following User Groups in System Manager to add agents:
Administration Assistant, Class Teacher, Pastoral Manager, School Administrator, SEN Coordinator, Senior
Management Team.

Introduction
In SIMS .net, an ‘agent’ is an individual who has some involvement with a pupil/student, such as Education
Welfare Officers (EWOs), taxi drivers, educational psychologists, speech therapists, etc. Agents work for
‘agencies’ who are organisations that employ agents recorded in SIMS .net, such as the Education Welfare
Service, a Local Authority Support Team, a Behavioural Support Service, a Taxi Firm, etc.
It is advisable to add all agencies to the system before adding individual agents. For more information,
please see the How to Add Agencies (e.g. the Education Welfare Service) help sheet (SupportNet Resource
Number 9167).
This help sheet describes how to add an Education Welfare Officer (agent) and then attach them to the
Education Welfare Service (agency).

Adding agents
1. Select Focus | Person | Agents to display the Find Agent browser.

Page 1 of 11

Capita Education Services, Franklin Court, Stannard Way,

Priory Business Park, Cardington, Bedford MK44 3JZ. Tel: 01234 838080
1031-004
 2. Click the New button to display the Basic Details panel.
Completing basic details

1. Enter any combination of the Surname (mandatory), Forename and/or select the Gender from the
drop-down list and then click the Continue button. This provides the opportunity of checking that the
agents does not already exist (they could for example work for the school or be the contact of a child
and therefore have already been added to SIMS .net).
ƒ If no existing people match, the Agent Details page will be opened and populated with the
details entered in step 1.
ƒ Any people matching the entered details will be displayed in the Matched People panel.

If the required person is not listed, click the New button. The Agent Details page will be
opened and populated with the details entered in step 1.
If the required person is listed, highlight their name and click the Open button. Any
existing details (excluding any addresses) will be displayed in the Agent Details page.
2. The Agent Details page is displayed, either populated with existing data (if the agent already
existed in SIMS .net) or with the data entered in step 1. Complete any missing information in the
Basic Details panel.

Page 2 of 11
Attaching a photograph
1. If you have an electronic copy of a agent photo, this can be attached to the record by clicking the
File Browser button to open the Select photograph dialog.
File Browser button

2. Select the required file and then click the Open button. The selected photo will appear in the Basic
Details panel.

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. If the Address Validation Service has not been activated, this will be
the method used.

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.

Page 3 of 11
 If an exact match is found, select the required address then click the Open button to select it. The
following icons help to identify the type of address:
Identifies an address currently on the web service
Identifies a local address that has not yet been validated.
Identifies a local address that has been validated.

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

NOTE: The Address type defaults to the type applicable to address being added. For example,
if the address is for a contact, the type will default to Home. If this is an address for an agency,
the type will default to Work.

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.

Page 4 of 11
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.

NOTE: The Address type defaults to the type applicable to address being added. For example,
if the address is for a contact, the type will default to Home. If this is an address for an agency,
the type will default to Work.

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.

Page 5 of 11
Adding contact information
Click the Contact Information hyperlink to display the Contact Information panel.

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. It is
recommended that either brackets or spaces are used to aid clarity.

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.

Page 6 of 11
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.

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.

Assigning the agent to an agency

Once an agent has been added, they must then be assigned to the appropriate agency before the record
can be saved.
1. Click the Agencies hyperlink to display the Agencies panel.

2. Click the New button to open the Assign Agent’s Agency dialog.

Page 7 of 11
 3. Select the agent’s Job Title from the drop-down list, e.g. Doctor, External Specialist, Speech
Therapist, etc.
4. Click the Browser button to open the Agency browser.
Browser button

5. Search for the required agency by entering the Agency Name and clicking the Search button.
6. Highlight the required agency and then click the OK button to assign the agent to the selected
agency.

Adding any linked pupil/students to the agent

It is possible to associate an agent with one or more pupil/students that they work with. For example, a
speech therapist may work with several pupil/students at your school. Linking them to the appropriate agent
prevents the need for manually assigning the agent to individual pupil/student records.

1. Click the New button in the Linked Students panel to open the Add Linked Students dialog.

2. Select the type of link between the agent and the pupil/students from the Relationship Type drop-
down list, e.g. Speech Therapist.
3. The Start Date defaults to today’s date, but can be amended as required. Specify an End Date if the
pupil/students are to be linked for a limited period only.

Page 8 of 11
4. Select the SEN ink check box if the pupil/students are to linked on the basis of an SEN need (this
will add them as a Linked Adult in the SEN area of SIMS .net).
5. Click the Add button in the Students panel to open the Select Students browser.

6. If searching for an individual pupil/student, enter the Surname and/or Forename. Alternatively,
restrict the search results using the appropriate drop-down lists, such as selecting a specific Year
Group. Click the Search button to carry out the search.

7. Highlight the pupil/students to be linked using any of the following methods:

ƒ Hold down the Ctrl key and click each required pupil/student to highlight them.
ƒ To highlight sequentially listed pupil/students, click the first required pupil/student, hold down
the Shift key, then single-click the last required pupil/student (alternatively, hold down the
Shift key and press the Down Arrow key).
8. By default, the results are returned including all the pupil/student details (such as Year Group, Class,
Hose, etc.). If you intend to select a large number of pupil/student, it may be preferable to change
the view to a simple list. This is achieved by click the View button down-arrow and selecting Lists
from the drop-down menu.

Page 9 of 11
 9. Once the required pupil/students have been selected, click the OK button to return to the Add
Linked Students dialog. The chosen pupil/students will be listed in the Students panel.
10. Click the OK button to link the chosen pupils/students to the agent.

The pupil/students will then be displayed in the Linked Students panel.

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 Leaflets of available services
ƒ Letters sent/received
ƒ Price lists/charges

Saving details
Click the Save button on the toolbar to save agent.

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).
ƒ How to Add Agencies (e.g. the Education Welfare Service) help sheet (SupportNet Resource
Number 9167).

Page 10 of 11
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
1031-001 Initial Release 08/09/2005
1031-002 Updated to include Web Address Validation available from SIMS .net 7.68 07/02/2006
onwards.
1031-003 Updated for SIMS .net 7.74 to include the facility to attach multiple linked 19/05/2006
pupil/students to an agent.
1031-004 Updated to include some minor corrections and change of agent to 13/06/2006
Education Welfare Officer (to match the corresponding agency help sheet)

Page 11 of 11