It is important that all students develop the confidence and skills within a learning environment that will enable them to manage their lives in the wider world.

Consideration given to issues of gender, intellectual ability, culture, religion and social background, make this a challenge for schools, if they are to provide an appropriate learning environment for all students.

Part of the provision must include strategies to develop a student’s social, emotional and behavioural skills, as these underpin almost every aspect of school life. If students are aware of others and have a clear vision of the social structure within their school, they will feel secure, behave appropriately and learn effectively. It is from this platform that they will receive recognition as valued members of the school community, which in turn will contribute to continued school improvement.

This program has been designed entirely for the purpose of enabling students to express a view about their life in school. It also offers a self-evaluation package for parents, teachers, support staff and governors that will contribute to the school's programme of self-evaluation.

Login Failure

You will need to contact your systems administrator to check your password. If it continues to fail you must contact ABCi at support@abci.org.uk who will email your password on request.

Access level denied

This may happen if your account is still pending payment or has expired. It may also happen as a safety feature if you have not been active on the program after login. You need to Login again to access all areas.

How do I register?

You will need to complete all mandatory fields regarding the details of your school, and click Register to continue. You will receive confirmation of your account and will need to click Account Settings to continue.

The box at the bottom of the page prevents your data being available to other schools. However, you may find this facility of some benefit if you wish to compare your results with ‘like’ schools. This facility is purely restricted to the generated data, and does not include student details.

Create a new Teacher account

You need to fill in all mandatory fields. There is also a facility to add comments regarding each teacher e.g. whether they are supply/temporary position. Click Create New Teacher Account to continue.

The icons at the bottom of the page allow you to alter any of your current details.

Validation of Teacher's Account

Return To Home Page allows you to access the activities in the program. This will be restricted until payment is received.

Modify Teacher's Account Setting

Changing a teacher’s details will require you to complete the appropriate fields and click Change Settings. If you wish to delete the teacher’s account then it will be necessary to click the Red Cross to activate this facility. This facility will delete all account records for the nominated teacher. You will be unable to restore the records. A new account will have to be set up if a mistake is made.

By clicking on Class Name you will either make the class an available class for a new teacher or an assigned class to a current teacher.

You can click the pencil icon at the end of each registered class to make changes to the current details.

You will then view a validation page. Click Return to Edit to continue.

This procedure will also apply to registering support staff and governors.

Create a Class List

All mandatory fields must be completed. There is a comments section which may be used to identify classroom dynamics, teacher/ student status or any other situation that may have relevance to the assessment.

The Response options will be found on the page Create New Class List or when you want to edit your class.
This option allows you to select a more complex questionnaire for some, or all students. It will offer students some multiply choice options, which will only activate on negative responses. Whilst this does not give specific answers to questions it may help you to identify generic problems from their data. Click Create New Class to continue.

Edit Class List

Changes may be made to the current class details if there is a change of teacher or the class move up a year. Click on the pencil icon at the end of the class name, and edit the details. Click Submit Changes to continue. You will then receive a confirmation page for the class. It has the facility to alter the details again using the Edit this Class icon. You may wish to add students to the register. You will need to click Add students to Register to create/update your class list. It is not necessary to re-register the class or individual students at the end of each year.

Add students to Register

You will have access to a registration document, which will allow you to create a list of all the students in the class. The students will need to be entered in alphabetical order, including the date of birth and identified category. The Ethnic Origin will be mandatory as will the Academic Performance, but other selections will be according to individual identified need.

At the bottom of the registration page will be a selection of six identified categories, each of which will have a coded drop down box on the registration document. The codes within the box will relate to a specific need:

There are fifteen spaces to register students on each page. You will need to click Save student List before adding additional students. Click Add students to register to complete the class list. The students will be able to access the list through the student’s Notes and by clicking on their name they can access the questions.

They will not have access to a teacher’s list, which includes the detailed information for each student.

Viewing students

You will be able to view all the details of the students in the class. The pen icon at the end of each line will enable you to edit a student on the list. The Advanced Options facility will enable you to decide whether you wish to look at any previous data generated by your current class.

Edit students

This facility will enable you to make changes to individual student information as well as adding additional information, particularly in the categories of special need. Click the pencil icon at the end of a student's name to make the changes. You may also move students between classes. You need to ensure that the questionnaires for the existing class are reset before moving students, in order to maintain the data with that class.

Before deleting any student, ensurethe data for that student has been saved (You do this by resetting the questionnaires at the bottom of a class list). Click on the pencil icon at the end of a students name and click on the Red Cross to delete the student from the list. Enter YES in upper case letters and click Delete student to activate this facility. Please Note: The information on this student cannot be restored. You will need to re-register the student if you want their details replaced.

The page for students gives access to a list of questions, which identify five different social aspects of school life.

This is a student focused overview of the program. It gives the students information about how to access and complete the questionnaires. It familiarises them with the signs and symbols they will come across when doing the activities, and gives them information about how they can use the student's Comments section.

The notes also explain a student’s choice for privacy following the completion of the questionnaires, and gives them access to the class lists in order that they can login to do the questionnaires.

Access the Questionnaires

The students will need to click on Class Lists at the end of the student's Notes to access the name of their class. They will then click on their name to access options for answering the questions.

Options for extra help

The program is set at default to read the questions, using weather symbols to answer them. students may click on Spoken or Signed if they need extra help accessing the questions, and they may click on Feeling Faces to answer the questions.

Options for selecting questionnaires

The questions will automatically start with Your Classroom. students may click on another questionnaire if the teacher requests them to do so.

The privacy option to conceal a student’s answers from the teacher is at the bottom left of this page. All the data generated by this student will still be available to the teacher, but will be viewed as anonymous.

Click Start The Questionnaire at the bottom right of the page to continue.

Answering Questions

The questions are written in a simple format requiring a response based on three options. These options are illustrated as weather symbols with written explanations. Whilst there will be students who require support and guidance from a member of staff, in order to complete the activities, most students will be able to work independently and at their own pace.

Options for extra help would have been offered to students on the previous page:

The options consist of:

If a student fails to choose on the options page, they will be able to choose from the symbols on the Top Navigation Bar on the question page.

There are two large arrows on the screen that will allow the students to return to a previous question, or skip the current question. It is imperative that the students are directed towards these 'back' and 'forward' arrows rather than those on their web browser as the use of the latter may interfere with the data (see below to configure your web browser to remove the navigation buttons). They should use the arrows provided within ABCi if:

For purposes of analysing data, it would be prudent to encourage all students to try and make a selection
for each question.

Parents, teachers and support staff will have similar options, and be expected to answer their questionnaires
in the same way.

There will be a drop down box for all individuals who click a negative response. This will give options for their
choice. If they do not see a relevant option then they may choose 'Other'. This will be compulsory for the teachers/parents/support staff. A teacher will be able to select a particular group of students according to
academic potential to access this facility, as it may be difficult for some less able students.

Configuring Your Web Browser

Within complex webpages that rely on various data being submitted (such as on-line banking and booking forms) it is never advisable to use the 'back' and 'forward' buttons provided on the web browser as this can result in data being lost or withdrawn. This is the case with ABCi's questionnaires. However, so as to avoid the accidental use of these buttons, they can be temporarily removed from the toolbars of your web browser.

Administering the students' questions can be at the teacher’s convenience. It may be appropriate to administer the questions in selected sections, which will take from 5-15mins with average students, or try to complete all sections as one activity. This will take about 1½ hrs in total with average students. Whilst it is generally better to complete the questions in sections, it is possible to stop the assessment at any point and resume later.

The responses for each student will be stored in the data base and will allow them to pick up from where they previously left off.The student's questions can be administered with the whole class, in small groups or individually. It is an activity that can be easily supervised by a teacher’s assistant or supporting parent, if necessary.

The questions are designed for students between Yr2-Yr6. It can be administered for all year groups or selected groups at the discretion of the Headteacher or program administrator.

The questions for parents, teachers and support staff may be administered at the convenience of the Headteacher.

It could serve as a yearly audit with the addition of parent consultation questionnaires being completed after each session.