News

A number of enhancements to the CHQ messaging functionality are being released today:

• Broadcast messages are now grouped into "batches", being all the messages sent in one go. The batch is now the basis for the "my sent messages" page, grouping all of the messages sent under one heading, showing the number of replies received.
• Broadcast batches are linked, where appropriate, with the item in CHQ that generated them. For example, if you send a message from the event page, that batch will be linked to the event itself. This means that you can see all the messages sent for an event, an age group, a class, a group, etc.
• Replies to broadcast emails can now be received into CHQ. To activate this functionality, see the new tick box on the "messaging" tab of your school/club set-up page. Replies will go to a CHQ mailbox and inserted into the system from there. The intended recipient receives a notification that a new reply is available in the system, with a link to click them straight there.
• Messages are now "threaded" keeping original emails and replies in a logical order. The "view message" page shows that hierarchy in a top-down, progressive indent manner.
• You can now reply to a message directly from within CHQ.
• Although not limited to messaging, you can now save search criteria on the "advanced search" page allowing them to be easily re-used (in a similar way to the messaging templates introduced recently). The combination of this saved search facility, and the message template facility, means that sending a standard message to a group of people has never been easier.

New activities functionality:

Following requests from a number of schools, we are pleased to announce the availability of a new facility to impose a limit on the number of activities a pupil may choose, and on the number that they may be accepted for.

To configure the limits for your school, use the new "Choice / Approval Limits" menu option from the "Activities" sub-menu of the "System Admin" drop-down in the top banner.

Setting a limit involves specifying the scope of the rule (whole school, a specific academic year, or an individual term) then who is affected (this is done by choosing a custom group), listing the activity groups concerned by the limit and specifying the maximum number of choices allowed and the maximum number of approved activities allowed.

If a pupil makes more than their allowed number of selections on their "my profile" page then they will be informed of this when they attempt to submit their choices.

The maximum approved activities limit is applied when you approve pupils choices on both the "pending activity choices" page and the individual participant pages for activity schedules.

A further enhancement has been added to make sure that each preference number is only used once by a pupil. Previously it was possible for a pupil to make all their choices as preference number 1, making proper allocation tricky; that is no longer permitted and each preference number must only be used once.

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Who Is Where The "who is where" / "pupil whereabouts" / "my schedule" page has been enhanced to include SIMS timetabled lessons in the daily schedule. An additional filter option has been added for "custom group".

SIMS / CHQ interface The overnight interface from SIMS to CHQ will now include some new feeds: School Bulletins, SIMS attendance codes, Timetable event dates & Recorded attendance from CHQ can be written back into Sims Lesson Monitor.

Custom Calendars The addition of custom calendars allows you to schedule activities independently of the default school calendar, for example if you have different sites with different start/end dates for activities, or if a particular activity takes place during a different time period than others.

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March 2011

CHQ are pleased to announce that the British International School Vietnam has signed up with CHQ schools to manage sports and activities across its 3 campuses.

On-site training will be run at the beginning of May, with a view to the system being used in full from the start of the 2011/12 academic year.

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Skills & Attributes The new skills & attributes functionality allows you to define as many categories and individual characteristics as you need and associate them with people in your membership database. Of course you may search upon who has which skill (and at what level) and also directly access the CHQ messaging capabilities for each group.

Bookings We have enhanced the booking functionality by strengthening the link between a booking and the event that it relates to.

Attendance Recording Two enhancements: you can now turn off attendance record by event type, and a new flag determines whether attendance has been taken for an event (this is to cater for events where there are no attendees for a legitimate reason).

Custom Groups The custom group functionality has now been enhanced to allow you not only to select individuals one by one to add to a group, but also to use a multi-criteria search facility which includes all the major fields and groupings available within the system. You can even create a dynamic group based upon a search and have its members automatically updated when they become, or cease to be, eligible.

Advanced Search The muli-criteria search functionality used in custom groups is also available as a dynamic advanced search; the results can be displayed, exported to a spreadsheet or used to send an email or SMS message.

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February 2011

Sam Hart, Head of Sport:

CHQ allows a complex programme to be pulled together with ease, allocating different year groups to different times or locations.

The ability to generate attendance registers for the Master in Charge of a session is first rate, and the feedback to the House Dons has ensured that participation rates in sport have never been higher.

House Dons are taking sport seriously and boys now know they're being monitored for the first time. CHQ is proving to be an real asset.

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Bedford: Thursday, 11th February 2010

Capita Children's Services – the leading provider of Management Information systems to schools in the UK announced today its partnership with CHQ Group, a specialist software development company, to become the exclusive reseller of the company's sports and activities management application – CHQ Schools.

The innovative new software which is designed to reduce the administration associated with organising extra-curricular activities, fixtures and team selections also allows teachers to monitor attendances and assessments while allowing instant communication with all relevant staff, students and parents using email and SMS.

Commenting on the partnership, David Grashoff – Head of Partner Management for Capita Children's Services said "CHQ Schools is a unique application. It is by far the most advanced software of its kind in the marketplace today. The application seamlessly dovetails with Capita SIMS – our flagship system for schools – and we are delighted to be adding value to all our SIMS Independent customers by introducing them to CHQ."

Andrew McMorran, a director of CHQ Group observed "the time lost by teachers and staff in co-ordinating extra-curricular activities and sports is enormous. CHQ Schools aims to make this huge administrative task a lot less like hard work and to allow a great deal more play".

"Our partnership with Capita is a tremendous step forward in our development. We were impressed by Capita's vision and innovative approach to partnering and we are naturally thrilled to be working with the UK's foremost schools MIS provider" he added.

Initially, CHQ Schools will be introduced to the SIMS Independent school customers with a roll out to the maintained sector planned for later in the year.

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Notes to editors:
Capita Children's Services is the leading supplier of information systems to the children's services sector providing a range of software and services to schools and local authorities to help raise standards and reduce administration. Children's services teams in over 120 local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales currently use Capita Children's Services' One management information system. www.capitaes.co.uk

CHQ Group is a developer of specialist software solutions. The CHQ Schools application has been developed over three years in collaboration with rugby clubs and the directors of sport at a variety of leading UK independent schools. CHQ Group is managed and owned by its 5 directors who are experienced professionals from the fields of management consulting, marketing and advertising and software development. www.chqgroup.co.uk

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