Welcome to Smartgrade!
Before your school or MAT can use Smartgrade, you must run through a few simple set up steps:
1. Map and activate your subjects
2. Assign assessments to classes to create your markbooks
Map and activate subjects
When you first start using Smartgrade at the Secondary phase, you'll need to make sure we understand which subject codes you use in your MIS, and how they map to Smartgrade subjects. You also need to "activate" subjects you're using Smartgrade for, as this controls which teacher accounts show up on the School Users tab and which assessments you can use.
To map and activate subjects, go through these steps:
- Click on the three horizontal yellow bars on the top right of the screen, and select Configuration.
- Select the Subject mapping tab from the left hand menu.
- If you are part of a MAT, select the school whose subjects you wish to map from the dropdown at the top of the screen.
- You'll see a column of every subject configured in your MIS on the left hand side, with two further columns called Activate? and Linked Smartgrade subjects.
- Tick the Activate? column for every MIS subject you plan to use within Smartgrade.
- Ensure that every MIS subject that is activated has the correct subject mapped to it in the Linked Smartgrade subjects dropdown, as per the example below:
Note: you can link your MIS subject to more than one Smartgrade subject - you may, for instance, want to link the MIS Subject of Biology (Bi) to Biology and Science in Smartgrade, enabling your Biology classes to be used for both Biology and/or Science assessments.
- Once a school's subjects are mapped, click SAVE. Users for all activated subjects will now be generated the next time we sync with your MIS. There is a scheduled sync overnight, however you can do an immediate sync:
- Click on the 3 yellow lines on the top right of the screen and select Configuration.
- Select Connected schools from the menu on the left-hand side.
- Click SYNC for the required school/schools.
- Your subjects should be available after approximately 15 minutes.
Assign assessments to classes to create markbooks
Assessments are activated and assigned in the Marketplace. By assigning an assessment, you create markbooks for teachers to enter their data.
To assign an assessment:
- Navigate to the Marketplace; ensure the "Marketplace" tab is selected.
- Search for the assessment you wish to assign using the Search Bar. Top tip: Search for "Ark" and the term of the assessment, e.g. "Summer".
- Click ACTIVATE in the bottom right hand corner of the assessment you wish to use.
- Click ASSIGN in the bottom right hand corner of the relevant assessment.
- You will see a class or a list of classes available for you to assign in the "Assign Assessment" modal. Ensure there is a tick next to any classes you wish to create a markbook for and then click ASSIGN. Note: all classes for your permission level will be available. If you are a MAT Admin you will see all available schools and their classes in your MAT as in the screenshot below.
Top tip: Class information comes directly from your MIS. If you think that the wrong classes are showing in the drop-downs, please contact Smartgrade at help@smartgrade.co.uk.
Download test papers and markschemes
Test papers and markschemes can be found in the Marketplace. Search for the assessment you want and click the VIEW button. Towards the bottom of the screen are the Attachments where you can find the test papers and markschemes. Simply click on the download icon to download the papers as required. Note: for assessments with more than one part, use the Part drop-down to access additional test papers and markshemes.
Invite other users
Once your markbooks are created, it's time to invite other users to Smartgrade.
- For guidance on inviting and managing school users click here
- For guidance on inviting and managing users at a MAT level click here
Start entering data
Once teachers have access to Smartgrade they can start entering their data.
If you have any questions at all about using Ark Curriculum Plus with Smartgrade, please contact our support team at help@smartgrade.co.uk, they would be delighted to help.