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New in skillSYMS · Schools & Early Learning

One learner record, from ECD to Grade 12

Stop re-capturing the same child every year. Admit once, keep guardians and identity documents on the record, take the register, capture marks and decide promotion on rules you can explain — and when a child moves from your ECD centre to Grade R, the record goes with them.

Live in production since 17 September 2026. In skillSYMS under Learners → Schools & ECD.

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Every January the same school starts from a spreadsheet

Most schools already hold their learner data — in SA-SAMS, in Excel, in the register files, in a support cupboard. What they do not have is one place where it stays true: the class list that matches the register, the marks that match the report, the parent who is allowed to collect, and the reason a learner was progressed rather than retained.

  • Learner lists are exported, cleaned and re-typed every time someone needs them.
  • A duplicate learner is found when two report cards print for the same child.
  • Promotion decisions live in a meeting, not on the learner’s record.
  • Support notes and accommodations sit in files only one teacher can find.
  • Parents phone the office to ask about attendance and results.
  • The ECD centre and the school each capture the same child from scratch.

What your school runs on it

Grades, classes and subjects

Set up the school under its provincial department, create Grade R to 12 from the CAPS phase structure, add classes for the year and offer each grade its subjects — with the role each subject plays in promotion.

SA-SAMS import you can check

Upload an SA-SAMS learner list as Excel or CSV, confirm how each column maps, and see possible duplicates before anything is written. ID numbers are stored as a secure hash. Approve, import in chunks and get a reconciliation per grade.

Guardians with real authority

Link parents and guardians with their legal authority, who lives with the learner, who may collect and who may consent. Collection restrictions are visible only to authorised staff, and every view is recorded.

Daily registers that do not overwrite

Mark present, late, absent or excused and submit the register. If two people mark the same learner, the clash is shown instead of one silently replacing the other. A school-set absence threshold can start a follow-up.

Marks, results and reports

Plan formal tasks per subject and term, capture marks (absent and excused kept apart), and compute term and final results on the weighting your school activated — SBA, PAT and examination components with achievement levels. Print class reports.

Promotion that explains itself

Propose promoted, progressed or retained for a grade, with every requirement shown. A missing mark makes a decision undetermined — never a retention. Overrides need a reason, approval is a separate step, and next year’s enrolments are created for you.

Learner support, kept confidential

Open support cases at levels 1 to 3 with interventions, referrals and reviews. Only the people working on a case can open it. Teachers see accommodations as instructions — “extra time in tests” — never the reason.

Early learning to Grade R

Record development observations across the early learning areas, see each child’s profile, and prepare a transition package that is shared with guardian consent and enrols the same child at the school.

Governance and meeting packs

Your governing body and committees: members and terms of office, meetings with quorum, resolutions that become actions, declarations of interest, and a printable meeting pack.

A private guardian portal

Give a parent a private link to their child’s attendance, behaviour, upcoming assessments and the reports you have released. No app, no password — and you can revoke it.

Teachers work in their own classes

Record who teaches what. My classes shows each teacher today’s registers and their subjects. Start by observing captures outside a teacher’s classes, then limit teachers to their own.

Registers and marks offline

In skillSYMS Desktop, take a class register and capture marks with no connection. Changes sync with the version they were based on, so nothing overwrites a mark someone else saved.

From your current records to your first report

  1. 1

    Choose your institution type

    Primary, secondary, combined, independent or ECD centre. It switches on the Schools or Early Learning pack.

  2. 2

    Build the year

    Add the school, create grades from the CAPS structure, add classes and offer subjects.

  3. 3

    Bring your learners across

    Import the SA-SAMS learner list, review possible duplicates, approve and import — or admit learners one by one.

  4. 4

    Run the term

    Registers, tasks and marks, results on your activated weighting, and reports you release to guardians when you are ready.

What this does not do yet

  • Nothing is submitted to the Department of Basic Education, a provincial department or LURITS. Data-quality checks prepare your records for statutory returns; lodging them is still your step.
  • SA-SAMS is not modified. You upload an exported learner list, or run the read-only skillSYMS SA-SAMS agent against a copy of the database.
  • Assessment weightings and promotion requirements are configuration. The starting rule sets are checked and published by the skillSYMS platform team before a school can activate them.
  • Parents are not messaged automatically. Staff copy the private portal link and send it the way the school already communicates.
  • Offline registers and marks work in skillSYMS Desktop, not in a web browser.
  • Timetabling, extramurals, nutrition, transport, hostel and textbook management are not part of Schools & Early Learning yet.

Questions providers ask

Is skillSYMS a replacement for SA-SAMS?
skillSYMS runs the day-to-day of the school — learners, guardians, registers, marks, promotion, support and reports — on one learner record. It imports your SA-SAMS learner list so you do not recapture it. It does not modify SA-SAMS and does not submit anything to the Department of Basic Education on your behalf.
How do we move our learners across from SA-SAMS?
Export the learner list from SA-SAMS to Excel or CSV and upload it under Schools & ECD → SA-SAMS import. skillSYMS shows how each column will be read and a masked sample, flags rows that may be learners you already have, and imports only after you approve. A reconciliation per grade confirms every imported row became an enrolled learner.
How are marks calculated?
On the assessment policy your school activated for the grade: its components (for example school-based assessment, practical assessment task and examination), their weights and how a missing task is treated. A result missing a whole component is shown as undetermined rather than zero, and every result keeps the calculation behind it.
Can a learner be retained because a mark was never captured?
No. If any requirement cannot be established — a missing result, a subject not allocated — the decision is undetermined, and a run with undetermined decisions cannot be approved until the mark is captured or someone records an override with a reason.
Who can see learner support records?
The members of the support case and the school’s support coordinator. Other staff can see that a case exists, not what it says. Teachers see only the accommodation they must apply. Every time a case is opened, the access is recorded.
What does a parent see in the guardian portal?
Their own child’s class, attendance this year, merit and demerit points with the category and consequence, formal assessments due in the next 30 days, and the term reports the school has released. Never support records, restriction notes, behaviour descriptions or ID numbers.
Does it work for ECD centres?
Yes. An ECD centre gets the Early Learning pack: child and guardian records, age groups, daily attendance, development observations across the early learning areas, and a transition package to Grade R that keeps the same child record when shared with guardian consent.
Can we use it alongside our training or college programmes?
Yes. Schools & Early Learning runs on the same skillSYMS platform as occupational, college and workplace programmes, so one person keeps one record as they move from school to further learning and work.

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