Using the School Online Assessment Registration (SOAR) New Users

1. Using the School Online Assessment Registration(SOAR) New Users

2. Access The School Online Assessment Registration (SOAR)program will run on PCs using Internet Explorer V6 or higher and on Macs using Safari or Mozilla Firefox. The manual for SOAR is available at: Government schools https://detwww.det.nsw.edu.au/directorates/schoimpro/EMD/naplan.htmor Non-Government schools http://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/naplan/nongov The SOAR web address is: https://detportal.semagroup.com.au

3. SOAR – Term 1 The Handbook for Principals was sent to schools at the beginning of March. This package includes an important letter containing the details for accessing SOAR. The letter has: • the SOAR web address • the school username • the school password. This letter must be stored securely.

4. SOAR – Term 1 In March, all NSW schools must access SOAR to confirm their school and student detailsduring the following periods. • 7-14 March - Government schools • 14-21 March - Catholic Education Commission schools • 24-31 March - Independent Schools Once these details have been confirmed, overprinting of test books can commence.

5. Log in To start, enter the URL into your web browser. Enter the school username and school password in the first screen and click Login. If you make an error twice, click on Forgotten your password to send an email and have the password reset.

6. Navigation A navigation menu will appear on the left of the screen. The Term 1 menu items are: • Notice Board • School Management • Student Management • User Registration • Update Password Clicking on any button on the menu will take you to that screen.

7. Navigation Navigate through the differentscreens in a section Navigate through the differentscreens in a section by using the Previous or Next buttons. You must click Save on the last screen, for any changes to occur.

8. Click on View to see full details.The message will appear at the bottom of the screen. Notice Board The Notice Boardis used to provide information to schools about NAPLAN. Schools cannot post notices here.

9. School Management • The School Management section allows you to check and confirm the school details. • The first screen enables schools to: • nominate a school NAPLAN contact person. • add a second contact person if required. • The second screen is for confirming school address details. • The third screen is for saving the details.

10. School Management School contact details Type the name and school contact details (phone, fax, email) of the main contact and a second contact person, if required. Click Next to go to the second screen.

11. School Management School address details The school address details cannot be amended by schools. Please contact EMSAD if the details are incorrect. This Save button is a link only and will not save your school details. This text is greyed out because schools cannot change school address details. Click Next to go to the third screen and click Save.

12. When you enter this screen, first choose the Year group (cohort). Student Management The Student Management section allows you to check and confirm the student details.

13. Student Management After the cohort is chosen, a list with the first 10 students in the cohort will appear below.

14. Student Management Display all students If Display all students is ticked, all students in that Year group are shown on the screen, rather than the default of 10 students per page. Use the scroll bar on the right to navigate down the page.

15. If a student’s details are incorrect (e.g. name spelled incorrectly or wrong gender), use the Editoption, to the left of the student’s name, to open a student’s record and amend the details. Student Management Edit student details When you open a student record it will be shown below the full list of names on the screen. Use the scroll bar on the right hand side of the screen to navigate down to the individual student’s details.

16. Student Management Edit student details • Type in the correct studentdetails and press Next. • Check theparent details and press Next. • Click Save on the third screen.

17. Student Management Student ID • Each student ID must be 9 digits long. • Non-government student IDs will be generated by EMSAD. • If the student’s ID / ERN / registration number is not known, just type nine 0’s in a row 000000000 and email naplan.nsw@det.nsw.edu.au, requesting that a new number is generated. Please provide the school name, student name and cohort. • For the message ‘duplicate student’, type nine 0’s & email.

18. Student Management Student Names • Please note we are not able to print any special characters (á â ã ç ë ö etc) on student test papers or reports. • SOAR will ignore some additional characters in students’ names: • e.g. Mc or Mac (McClarkewill become Mcclarke)

19. The Delete option will remove a student from the list of students in Student Management. Student Management Delete a student This should only be used for individual students who have left the school permanently.

20. If a deleted student returns before the tests, you can ‘restore’ them by selecting ‘Only show students with the status Deleted’ and clicking Restore for that student. Student Management Delete a student

21. Underneath the list of student details are the buttons:Add a Student, Visiting Students, Reject all Students, Delete all Roll Class Data, Update all RollClasses and Confirm Student Data of Cohort. Student Management Changing details

22. allows you to enter the details of newlyenrolled students who are not registered in SOAR. Student Management Again, the Add a Student section opens below the student list.

23. Note that the fields forhave auto-complete or drop down menus. Student Management date country of birth main language and parent details

24. allows you to enter details of students who visit your school to complete the tests but who are not enrolled in your school.Visiting students may be from intrastate or interstate.The details you need to enter for Visiting Students are First name, Last name, Student ID, Gender, Date of birth, Student’s home state and Student’s home school (if the student is from NSW or ACT). Student Management

25. Student Management Select ‘Other’ if school or state is not known. Once a visiting student has been added in Student Managementthey will appear in red font within the student list and the Visiting column will display Yes.

26. is used to indicate that the entire data set for a Year group is incorrect, i.e. students not from your school or the wrong Year group. Student Management You will see this alert if you choose Reject All Students. If the entire data set is incorrect please send the details, including the school name, Year group and name of NAPLAN coordinator to naplan.nsw@det.nsw.edu.au.

27. Student Management If Reject All Students is used mistakenly, there is a ‘restore’ option available. The restore option becomes visible only after students have been deleted (rejected). • Once rejected, a message will advise that there are no students listed with the status Participant.

28. Student Management • To restore the students, go to the drop-down menu Show students with the status and click Deleted. • The students can be restored: • - individually by clicking Restore, or- as a cohort by clicking the button Restore All Students.

29. Student Management is used to indicate how you want your test books sorted for delivery. if no roll class data is entered, test books will be sorted alphabetically by Year group. if roll class data is present, test books will be sorted alphabetically within roll classes. if your school uses vertical roll classes, which would result in many packages of books with only a small number on them, you will see a message alerting you to this and asking you to change the data.

30. Student Management 4 if roll class data for a student needs to be amended, click on Update all Roll Classes and enter the new roll class next to the student’s name. Then click Save Roll Class Changes.

31. Student Management is used if you do not wish the test books to be sorted by roll class and you would like the Year group to be sorted alphabetically. This may be the preference for large schools where the tests will be held in a hall. You will also receive an alert when you choose Delete All Roll Class Data. Click OK or Cancel.

32. Student Management is used to access the Confirm Student Details of Cohort screen. The Confirm Student Details of Cohort screen is used to confirm that you have checked your school and student details and they are correct.

33. Student Management After you have clicked the Confirmbutton the test books for your school can be overprinted and dispatched. TheConfirm Student Details of Cohort screen is linked to School Management.

34. Student Management Prior to confirmation, the School Management screen shows the status as Awaiting Confirmation. Once the confirmation for all cohorts has been accepted, the School Managementscreen will change to show the status as Confirmed. After the school has confirmed, if a student’s details need to be changed, select the Unconfirm button and change the details in Student Management. The unconfirmed button is only operational for 24 hours.

35. Student Management Indicating students who are exempt To exempt a student, open the student’s record in Student Managementby clicking the Edit button. The individual student details will open below the full list of student details.Change the Status field from Participant to Exempt. .

36. User Registration The User Registration screen willenable a sub-user (delegated staff member) to access SOAR. The screen shows the school user name (regional code and school code) followed by an underscore and text box. The sub-user must enter a new word, for example their first name, in this text box.

37. User Registration On the next line enter a new password. The password must be 7 characters long and contain at least one non-alphanumeric character (e.g !, @, #, *). Re-enter the password on the third line to confirm it. Click Add User to register the new sub-user.

38. Click Change Password to register the new password Update Password The Update Passwordscreen allows schools to change the password which was sent to the school. On the first line type the allocated password in the text box. Then enter and confirm the new password. If the new password is mislaid, please email naplan.nsw@det.nsw.edu.au and request a replacement.

39. Resources All SOAR resources including manuals, Powerpoints and checklists are available online. Government schools https://detwww.det.nsw.edu.au/directorates/schoimpro/EMD/naplan_publications.htm Non-government schools http://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/naplan/nongov EMSAD contact details Phone: 9707 6221 Email: naplan.nsw@det.nsw.edu.au