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An Information System for Greenacres After School Care

1. 1 9 Generating letters Lees eye to parents parents Feasibility Report 1 1 Moming 4 1 Taking children 1 3 Happy 1 2 Afternoon Register gt Tal a 4 2 Picking children x 2 Problem Statement a asol oae Regeer H Panra o Eana Lega Se ae 1 6 Updating E new Contact cards Research on Problem ae Vitore any 34 Determining the Ee 1 5 Recording ber of hi Ethnography Analysis out numberof hours Playgroup One int er view discussion session on the Managers information collected processes staff worked p n a ie i E B amp A and ON Two sessions of analysis Le Filing Processes 3 4 Producing 3 5 Generating Pay 25 Record weekly accounts slips for staff staff details F r 5 iN 2 1 Recording 7 Approval given of collected information P NS a END Fz Pa ape Grants for allowing identification of problems to syrup 3 Recording chides Playgroup gE spending on Tuck 3 2 Processing Children 2 A aodig commence gemente requirements Di Fing documents 1 7 Daily and weekly a IORN 22 Recording preparation of the Fi an incident School Tickets and Register T8 Weekly preparation of the 115 Recording Holiday Danson 10 February 2005 Playgroup regis
2. 116 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Field Name Field Null Key Validation Rule Default Value Input Caption Description Type and or Text Lookup Values Mask S_sig Yes No NO Yes No Staff Signature Staff Signature The Staff Signature Obtained Obtained must be obtained for the accident to be recorded Parent s Guardian s Signatures may be obtained later f_des Memo Any Further Any further Description Description Necessary Adult Field Name Field Null Key Validation Rule and or Text Default Value Input Mask Caption Description Type Lookup Values first_name Text 20 NO You must enter a first name or at Parent Guardian Adult s First Name least a first initial for the adult First Name surname Text 20 NO You must enter a surname for the Parent Guardian Adult s Surname adult Surname Relationship Text 50 NO You must indicate the relationship Mother Father Relationship To Relationship to the to Child that the adult has to the child Guardian Aunti Child child e Uncle Grand parent Carer D octor Other add_1 Text 40 Address First line of address add_2 Text 40 Second line of address p_code Text 7 gt OL 0 Post Code Post Code for OLL 0 _ example OL7 3RT tel_1 Text 14 NO You must enter a contact number 0000
3. e Complications in remembering what information has been told to whom 81 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Problem ID Problem Implications of Problem D8 Forgetting parents who have e Holiday place may no longer be available for the child by the time the request has been remembered requested a holiday placement e Loss of faith in the business by the parent verbally D9 Duplication of payment e Information stored more than once update problem documents because of two e Parents may be uncertain for what they have paid for different payment processes e Managers may be uncertain of what parents have paid for e May result in dispute over how much needs to be paid for in relation to Tuck and fees D10 Rewriting information from e May produce errors on transcription different documents working e Too time consuming documents to stored documents D11 No formal rules for signing e Staff and visitors forget to sign in and out in out of staff and visitors e May result in difficulty calculating hours in case of staff sign in e Not conforming to regulation if visitors do not sign in D12 Spoken Information is e May result in staff waiting at school to pick up a child that has already been picked up by a parent forgotten to be used to update various tickets Processes 1 1 1 2 4 1 4 2 e May result in staff not picking up a certain child from school 82 An Information S
4. ProCare Child Care Centre Management Software Orgamation iCare OakTree Nursery Manager oe Slide 16 Possible Solutions Existing Solutions ABC Software This software was developed in Microsoft Access by RW Communications Ltd a medium sized UK based company unlike ProCare below Some of the functionalities of this software include Address information for each parent Childs details per parent A find facility Find by Childs name parents name address postcode telephone number etc Medication for each child Emergency contacts Logging all types of allergies Responsible parties Timetables Reporting system producing over 15 different reports System security Password protected Invoicing system Generating weekly invoices and statements Payment area for invoices being paid Logging all invoices 105 KinderSoft KinderSoft is a piece of software produced by Showcase Computer Systems in the UK It claims that it will e Automate the management of your nursery e Store all of your child parent details o Including emergency contacts doctor details medical record dietary information allergies and more e Manage bookings and waiting lists o By specifying start dates and end dates and the type of session required e Provide different types of registers Automate your invoicing procedure o Including handling grant information and other government vouchers and pricing on any of a range of pricing
5. you must keep on the premises the name and address and telephone number of yourself staff members anyone living or employed on the premises and any other person who will regularly be in unsupervised contact with the children o There must be a suitable registration system as stated under Registration System 2 13 e Standard 6 Safety o Security 6 4 6 5 A visitors book should be drawn up o Fire Safety 6 9 6 11 Under the Children Act you must keep a statement of the procedures to be followed in the event of a fire and it is recommended that a fire log book is kept e Standard 7 Health o Medicine 7 7 Under the Children Act you must keep a record of all medicines administered to children o First Aid 7 8 7 11 Under the Children Act you must keep a signed record of all accidents to children and notify Ofsted of any serious injury or death to any child in your care or adults on the premises e Standard 8 Food And Drink o You must provide records of a child s dietary needs if applicable e Standard 9 Equal Opportunities and Standard 10 Special Needs o You must provide a record of the each child s ethnicity or special needs e Standard 12 Working in Partnership with Parents and Carers o Exchanging Information 12 3 Under the Children Act you must keep records of the name address and date of birth of each child and the name address and telephone numb
6. 4 1 Existing Alternatives ABC Software This software was developed in Microsoft Access by RW Communications Ltd a medium sized UK based company unlike ProCare below Some of the functionalities of this software include e Address information for each parent e Childs details per parent e A find facility Find by Childs name parents name address postcode telephone number etc e Religion marital status e Doctor s details for each child e Medication for each child e Emergency contacts e Logging all types of allergies e Responsible parties e Timetables e Reporting system producing over 15 different reports e System security Password protected e Invoicing system Generating weekly invoices and statements e Payment area for invoices being paid Logging all invoices KinderSoft KinderSoft is a piece of software produced by Showcase Computer Systems in the UK It claims that it will e Automate the management of your nursery e Store all of your child parent details o Including emergency contacts doctor details medical record dietary information allergies and more e Manage bookings and waiting lists o By specifying start dates and end dates and the type of session required e Provide an instant forecast of population levels o How many children attend each session or are in different rooms e Provide different types of registers e Automate your invoicing procedure o Including handling grant information and
7. An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days This is made possible through the implementation of custom navigation buttons and a Records Found field The code for the navigation buttons has also been customised to indicate to the users using a simple message that they have either moved to the last or first record otherwise the record displayed on screen will change If a search results in no records being found instead of displaying a blank form which is what Access does by default a piece of code has been written to run when the form is about to be opened that will default to a custom message usually No Records found The code for these operations may be seen in Appendix M Upon opening all forms and reports with the exception of popup forms have had their code modified to maximise the screen upon opening This standardises the display of forms Upon pressing a button to open a report ready to be printed the code has been modified so that it displays a preview of what will be printed rather than just printing the document off automatically All other message boxes that appear throughout the use of the system have been created using Visual Basic code to appear after a certain action has been performed or option selected One particularly important piece of code that has been used is in the determining of grant eligibility This piece of code has been implemented to handle the child s date of birth and the term
8. Key Tasks Implement a prototype Develop a f ull design specif icat ion Produce a summary of user feedback and an evaluation on how the created system provides a solution to 5 lthe problems Purchase hardware if necessary Schedule a time to show the prototype to the users Make the bones of the application Observe them trying out the prototype E Ce eee h Gather user feedback Fill application with data Evaluate the project user feedback and prototype Test application Further Enhancements Hand over and train end users Handover the prototype to the owner and provide necessary trainingisupport Pyare Explain prototype Feedback and modif icat ion Provide necessary raining Evaluation Against Goals See Not es Provida usr documentaion Finish Working and writing up work related to objective Begin and do work on objective Submit table of contents and drat chapter Complete Progress Meeting 10 February 2005 10 February 2005 97 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days 98 Feasibility Report Conclusion The essential accomplishments achieved so far for the project are the complete full analysis of the current situation and through this report the identification of core business problems a
9. for the ethnographic study before it commences such as the main scope or focus derived possibly from an initial meeting and the key informants the people that are involved in the system David Millen s 17 case study of the use of rapid ethnography provides a valuable insight into how it is used however he focuses on the use of multiple ethnographers to collect information whereas this project will only involve the author as chief ethnographer It was decided for this project that the use of ethnography would mainly draw from the rapid ethnography method in that the scope focus and informants would first be identified as a basis for each ethnography session This focused ethnographic analysis should continue throughout the project however as advocated in concurrent ethnography method to refine the developer s understanding of the problem and improve the quality of the solution The Evaluation Cookbook 23 identifies interviews as an important data gathering tool as specific questions can be asked to clarify points and shed new light on ambiguous areas that may have been discovered Interviews have also been used therefore as part of the overall data gathering method Another important technique that will aid in the presentation of the current situation to the managers once the analysis has been conducted is the rich picture which is part of the SSM methodology A number of articles were consulted 18 pp 157 159 19 20 briefly to ge
10. Ethnography Analysis Two sessions of analysis One int er view discussion session on the inf or mation collect ed Appr oval given of collect ed inf or mation allowing identification of problems to commence Slide 6 Problem Statement Ethnography Analysis The research objectives of the ethnography analysis session were to better understand the current situation of the business by identifying the current processes that occur in the day to day running of the business the weekly processes that occur and some long term processes Documents that are created and or used by the business and the people involved in any and all stages of the business cycle were also identified The documents and processes were then further analysed to determine the types of information and data that are used in the business and how when or if it is stored Analysis of how the people involved in the business interact with one another and share information was also conducted The session was structured to include two interview sessions and two ethnographical observation sessions one for observing the morning and playgroup session and one for observing the afternoon session Following the initial session a process diagram was drawn of the current situation to depict how the processes fit together to form the business structure and a rich picture was drawn to identify some of the conflicts and problems occurring within the business that had been identif
11. May produce errors on transcription Too time consuming Handwritten Legible Not everyone may be able to read the handwriting Handwriting documents is time consuming Handwritten documents can seem messy and disorganised Photocopies Photocopies may not be legible to all staff Original copies may be lost and so poor print photocopies continue to be made No backup in the event of fire burglary Documents are completely lost and managers have to start from scratch 101 Business could not continue without the documents Time Consuming Producing and maintaining documents is eating into managers home time Producing documents takes so long they may not be completed in time for when they are needed Not immediately apparent what documents are how they work New staff members will have to be fully shown the ropes of getting to know what documents are and how they are used produced In particular if a new staff member is unfamiliar with children they will not be able to identify the School tickets Two separate payment systems mean twice the amount of pay information stored Information stored more than once causing update problems Parents may be uncertain for what they have paid for Managers may be uncertain as to what parents have paid for May result in dispute over how much needs to be paid for in relation to Tuck and fees No rules for signing in and out of staff members and visitors Staff and visitors forget to sign in an
12. business Problems filing documents effectively for five years 2 7 Current filing system disorganised how organised is previous years documentation Auditing of these documents may be required and if documents are messy or cannot be found it will reflect badly on the business Weekly preparation of registers 1 7 1 8 Registers may not be prepared in time Registers may not be properly updated P5 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Feasibility Report Problem Statement Problem Identification Problems identified when looking at documents Information Duplication Information stored more than once Information rewriting Handwritten Legible Photocopies No backup in the event of fire burglary Time Consuming Not immediately apparent what documents are how they work 2 separate payment systems mean twice the amount of pay information stored No rules for signing in and out of staff members and visitors Giving notices to parents verbally Forgetting to update school tickets Forget ting to update holiday placement spaces list 10 February 2005 10 Slide 10 Problem Statement Problems Identified when looking at Documents and the Implications of these problems on the business Information Duplication Information stored more than once Information updated in one document may not be updated in another document even though it is the same information Information rewriting
13. children and play with them or look after them when they need to go to the toilet or they get upset They are involved with very little paperwork the main piece being to sign in and out of the staff book and occasionally they will be asked to copy contact information from children s contracts to the contact detail record cards There are seven staff members in total 5 3 Society Parents Parents of children that are currently attending the playgroup and before and after school sessions have an indirect role within the running of the business as it is their children that are being cared for so the have a vested interest in how the business is run and the quality of care it provides They therefore act as an incentive for the business to run its operations correctly and provide adequate documentation in various situations for example when a child has an accident or when recording what a child has eaten for Tuck The more direct role of the parents is in the payment of fees and the balance of the Tuck book and if there is a need for them to sign incident and accident books Visitors Visitors to the business include any external parties that are neither staff nor current attendants of the playgroup or before and after school sessions It is required in the National Standards that these visitor s sign in and out of a visitor s book to record the duration and nature of their visit The types of visitor s may include the parents of potential chi
14. number of ways The user manual was provided in both paper form and as a digital PDF file so it could be readily accessed on the computer whilst using the system if the paper documentation was unavailable The table of contents was deemed sufficient in allowing particular functions to be looked up quickly as it documented each of the main functions as accessed through the menu and also any main sections within these functions The general printing guide in particular was tailored to provide guidance on any printing functions conducted e Consistency and Standards Detailed descriptions of how to enter and manipulate certain objects although tedious to the advanced user were appraised as a result of the evaluation as it allowed the documentation to achieve a balance and a constant level of knowledge throughout so the beginning of the document needn t be read to understand how to perform the functions described in further parts of the document e Help information It was concluded that the user manual was sufficient in providing good description of how to perform actions and that the logical description of each function allowed help to be found once the function had been located in the manual It was indicated however that the troubleshooting was limited in its provision of help when things go wrong Comments were also made in regards to the final system produced and how well the user manual reflects this system The developer s mother commente
15. o Any particular provision made for these children o What events may occur during this time e Serve Breakfast o How do you record if and what a child has eaten o How do you make sure that the child is not allergic to anything you are giving them o Any other events that may occur during this time e Free Play o Any particular events that happen every day at this time o Any events that may sometimes happen during this time e 8 45 go to St Annes and Greenacres School o How is this arranged 59 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days o Any Artefacts documents used o Where do you keep the records after you have used them o Who are the people involved e 9 15 open for Happy Days Preschool o What artefacts do you use o What information do you need when you start this session o Where do you keep these records o What other events and activities happen during this time and who are the people invlolved e 13 30 finish o Are there any special procedures for when the children finish o Are there any action or events that may only happen occasionally e pick kids up from school o What artefacts are used o What information do you record o Where keep records e Aftercare until 17 30 60 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Appendix D Full Analysis Report Ethnography Analysis Report Version Number Version 1 jus Nov 2004 First draft 19 Nov 2004 _ Lesley Jo
16. that their original problems have been identified and solved This technique was ultimately rejected as the meeting and observation techniques provided adequate feedback Checklists are defined as a useful tool when it comes to end user evaluation of the project and the solution 23 A checklist of items could be developed with the managers and then the solution measured against the checklist points to see how well the project has been matched to the original users needs This technique similar to formulating evaluation criteria which is the approach taken in this project 45 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days The description of trials in 23 is analogous to using prototyping for aiding the design and possible eventual production of a solution It describes using stages and testing the developed product at each stage to evaluate whether the product will really be useful or just look nice a common problem in systems projects Another evaluation technique adopted and used to formulate some of the evaluation criteria for both the prototype and user manual is usability heuristics Jakob Nielsen 24 specifies ten general principles for interface design that have been adapted to also determine the usability of the user manual and prototype 8 3 Evaluation Criteria The choice of evaluation criteria for the prototype and user manual has been influenced by the knowledge gained in conducting the project S
17. 3 copy Time Frame As and when 3 3 Recording a Pattern of behaviour In the AM session children are given basic Tuck Working Visual Staff child s breakfast if they so wish or in the PM session may be given crisps etc Document information that a Members spending on A working document is used every morning and evening to write Tuck Book child has had Managers food Tuck down the name of the child and how much they have spent on Tuck How Shared Staff some food e g 20p for a bowl of cereal This working document information is then transferred to the Tuck Book and the balance increased or decreased for the child depending on if they are in credit or not The balance in the Tuck book is decreased when the parent makes a payment See 3 2 Note The Tuck account and Fees account for any one child are separate Time Frame Daily AM and PM working document Weekly Tuck Book work on working document Numbers transferred into Tuck Book by Managers without writing it straight down on the working sheet but just into the Tuck Book 67 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Process Process Process Description Artefacts Involved Intangible People No Name information Involved involved 3 4 Producing Pattern of behaviour On a Monday the accounts for the previous Cash flows sheet for None Managers weekly week are produced Information is collected for what t
18. Days Hold a UML workshop to create a class 23 02 05 7 03 05 A class diagram has been diagram modelling the system show users a workshop conducted formulated and approval of the sample of the proposed system interface 23 02 05 interface obtained complete the design of system Implement functionalities as prioritised by 07 03 05 25 03 05 A working prototype has be the users perform developer testing developed and tested Progress Meeting with Assessor and 17 03 05 Functionality implemented up Supervisor to this date demonstrated and feedback on project obtained Evaluate the prototype gather user 25 03 05 01 04 05 Evaluation of prototype users feedback via and interview and after meeting with managers have been trained and have training observation which will serve as 25 03 05 used the prototype end user testing Make refinements to the prototype to 26 03 05 08 04 05 Refinements have been made to develop it into a system that can be handed the prototype to produce a final over to the user create a supporting user system A user manual has been manual for this final system created for system Handover system and User Manual to end 08 04 05 handover Sign off on the system and user and sign off meeting manual has been obtained Evaluate final system and User Manual 09 04 05 25 04 05 Evaluations and Report complete report and project evaluation Complete Fig 1 5 1 Revised Project
19. Feasibility Social Feasibility Give reasons for accepting and rejecting each of the possible solutions er 2005 19 a 2005 18 Slide 18 amp 19 Evaluation of Solutions Using TELOS Evaluation Summary of the report Microsoft SQL Server Database Web based Solution Feasibility Report Evaluation of solutions Microsoft Access Database x lt x lt x lt Spreadsheet Based Solution Access Database and Spreadsheet modules Microsoft Access Database Outcome ACCEPTED Web based Solution Outcome REJECTED T_ Not Feasible No internet connection in the setting E Not Feasible The cost of internet over time outweighs the benefits L Transmission of data over the internet if not encrypted could mean implications in terms of the Data Protection Act O Benefits of web based application cannot be justified as the managers are unlikely to realise these benefits S Socially feasible benefits for the community with increased competence and organisation Spreadsheet Based Solution Outcome REJECTED T Feasible author has enough knowledge of the software to produce a solution software is available hardware is available PDA could be bought to increase spreadsheet usefulness T Feasible author has enough knowledge of the software to produce a solution software is available hardware is available E Feasible No cost for software as managers already have it ha
20. Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days various objects that are used within the work practices of the organisation A logical system structure that models the ideal solution was developed from this With respect to the usability and interface of the system sample screen shots and a logical menu structure were discussed with managers to obtain approval of the proposed interface design The approach to prototyping taken in this project was both incremental and evolutionary 25 The initial prototype was built along the incremental notion in that the proposed functionalities were ultimately grouped into logical sections such as accounting and registration and these sections were then implemented according to the agreed prioritisation of the functionalities as time allowed This prototype was then tested by the developer before being demonstrated to the end users the managers The managers were given some basic training on how to use this prototype and observed using this prototype The managers use of the prototype served as end user testing for the prototype and user feedback was also gathered about the prototype at this stage As time was permitting it was decided that the prototype would undergo a second evolutionary iteration where it will be developed into an actual system that can be handed over to the user for use year on year This involved ensuring that any problems found during testing were fixed and introduc
21. Key Validation Rule and or Default Value Input Mask Caption Description Type Text Lookup Values date Date Time NO Date 00 00 0000 0 Date of Incident Date of Incident time Date Time NO Time 00 00 0 _ Time of Incident Time if Incident nature Text 200 NO You must type in the Nature of Nature of the Incident nature of the incident Incident what happened Child Affected 1 Number NO FK There must be at least SELECT Child first_name First Child First child involved in one child involved Child surname Child dob Involved the Incident Child ID FROM Child bound column Child ID existing inj_1 Text 200 Existing Injuries Existing Injuries injury_ob_1 Text 200 Injury Obtained Injury Obtained or other or Other information Information Child Affected 2 Number FK SELECT Child first_name Second Child Second child involved in Child surname Child dob Involved the Incident Child ID FROM Child bound column Child ID existing _inj_2 Text 200 Existing Injuries_ Existing Injuries injury_ob_2 Text 200 Injury Obtained Injury Obtained or other or Other information Information 121 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Field Name Field Null Key Validation Rule and or Default Value Input Mask Caption Description Type Text Lookup Values other_inv Memo Other People Oth
22. Schedule that reflects user s involvement in the project 1 6 Relevance to Degree Programme and Previous Knowledge The knowledge gained from a number of modules taken over the course of the degree programme has been used throughout this project project management skills and the derivation of a suitable project methodology have been drawn from project management and information systems modules IS11 SE22 IS33 IS21 Requirements gathering and analysis techniques have been considered and chosen though the knowledge acquired during people centred information systems IS33 and context analysis skills obtained through the information systems module IS23 Techniques for conducting a feasibility study and the production of a report were drawn from the knowledge gained in IN11 The interactive formulation of an initial design and a logical systems design has been accomplished by drawing from object oriented analysis and design IS21 and from database modules DB11 DB21 Technical systems design and implementation skills have drawn from all the database modules DB11 DB21 DB31 with particular appreciation of time in a database being drawn from advanced databases DB31 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Implementation of some of the functions of the database also drew upon basic programming skills learnt in SO13 Prototyping and the need for an appreciation of the users technical knowledge have been drawn
23. a child s contact details Contract Working Document This working document is used by the member of staff updating the record cards to make a list of the children whose contact details need to be updated from contracts or where new information has been given Once the contact details have been added or updated onto the record card for that child the child is crossed off the list Holiday Bookings Book The holiday booking book is used to record the intake and names of children wishing to attend the sessions held during school holidays Up to 66 children aged 3 8 are allowed to attend the sessions Parents may specify that they wish their child to attend these sessions at the time of signing the contract in which case the child s name is added to the book There are two columns for the book one juniors and one infants as the sessions are held in two different rooms according to the children s age Places are allocated by entering the name of the child in the relevant column on a first come first served basis Holiday Register The holiday register is made every week for each week that is classed as a holiday i e weeks occurring out of school term time These registers have the child s name in the first column then a column for each of the days Monday to Friday that are subsequently divided into In and Out When the child enters the setting the time that they entered is recorded into the In column for the day Whe
24. and out registers If times not recorded properly due to confusion in registers finding registers etc in the event of fire it may not be realised that some children may still be in the setting at the time of fire 100 School tickets and registers sometimes do not correlate 1 1 4 1 4 2 1 2 Lead to confusion when taking and picking up children from school as in the numbers of children that are being picked up dropped off May miss a child to take to school as not filled in on register and so crossed off school ticket Must check daily changes book and make changes to the various documents regularly 1 1 1 2 1 4 1 7 1 8 All information is not guaranteed to be in the daily changes book Cross checking daily changes book with all other documents is time consuming May be errors in transcription May have to search way back into book to find information that needs to be updated for today some information may be missed No formal rules for signing in out of staff and visitors 1 11 3 1 Staff and visitors forget to sign in and out May result in difficulty calculating hours in case of staff sign in Not conforming to regulation if visitors do not sign in Planning early learning goals is time consuming and complicated 2 6 Activities may not be planned in time for the playgroup sessions Not keeping up to scratch with the planning of goals and providing evidence of the activities done may result in the loss of the free places funding bad for
25. called Sure Start that aim to help families and children with social or emotional problems and children with special needs to get an education at this early stage of life The government bodies have also developed a National Childcare Strategy to ensure there is quality affordable childcare available in every neighbourhood across the country and their Early Education Places scheme allows all three to five year olds to receive a free early education place at a playgroup to particularly aid financially disadvantaged families Under the Care Standards Act 2000 Ofsted are the main regulatory body that aim to ensure the early education and childcare requirements as set out by the National Standards are being adhered to by the different childcare providers Childcare providers must register with Ofsted and pass an initial inspection before they may to commence business Ofsted perform yearly inspections of Greenacres its practices its people and the building they are set in to ensure they comply with the National Standards set Each council district also has its own branch of the organisation Sure Start who help the childcare providers in that district to comply to the National Standards so they may pass their inspection Sure Start also take care of the financial administration of the early education places or grants for each childcare provider within their district The Sure Start advisor assigned to Greenacres and with whom the initial idea for th
26. child dob Date Time NO You must enter the 00 00 0000 0 _ Date of Birth Enter the Child s Date child s date of birth of Birth grant_eligibility Yes No NO No Eligible for Is the child eligible for Grant a grant grant_start_period Date Time 00 00 0000 0 _ Grant Start The period the child Period starts receiving a grant plasters_allergy Yes No NO No Is the Child Record if the child is allergic to allergic to plaseters Plasters health_issues Memo Other Allergies Does the child have and Health Issues any other allergies or health issues immunisation Memo Child Record the child s Immunisation immunisation details Details 118 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Field Name Field Type Null Key Validation Rule Default Value Input Mask Caption Description and or Text Lookup Values other_con Memo Other Record any other Considerations considerations that should be made for the child date_start Date Time NO You must enter the Date 00 00 0000 0 _ Date Started Record the date the date the child started child started attending attending sessions sessions p_child Yes No No Is the child Is the child attending attending Playgroup Playgroup b_child Yes No No Is the Child Is the child attending attending any any Before School Before School Sessions Sessions a_child Yes No No Is the Child Is the child attending attendi
27. daily predominantly by the playgroup supervisors It records the name of each child what they have eaten and how much it costs for the morning session AM and similarly what they have eaten and how much it cost in the second session PM for each day of the week This working document is then used in conjunction with the Tuck Book to update the balance owed by each child These working documents are split into infants and juniors as they are separated into different rooms of the setting Tuck Book The Tuck Book is split into Infants and Juniors of the two schools and holds the names of all the children currently holding a contract with the business to attend the before and after school care This book is updated daily by the managers to store a running balance of the amount of money each child owes due to eating tuck This balance is also updated by the managers when parents pay some or all of the balance of the book for their child B amp A Payments Book The B amp A Payments book holds information about the amount of money in terms of fees owed by each child attending the sessions This payments book is split into the two schools and into infants and juniors to make finding children s records easier The book holds the child s name the balance that is due and the various transactions that have occurred with parents when they have paid previously and how they have paid i e cash cheque Receipt A receipt for any payme
28. format for headings labels etc Greenacres Management System Enrol New Child Dog Eg Welcome ax Greenacres Before and After School Happy Days Management System The title of the form appears at the top of the Enrol New Child form and in the title bar The system title appears Child Grant Details If Applicable Mbere eran Egy Eligible for Grant M at the top of every menu eirth loNumber Child s First Name Fields where data can be entered are coloured light blue Session Attendance Is the Child attending any r Ts thefchild attending Playgroup Before School Sessions Grant Start Period Buttons that perform an action are coloured Green willfhe Child be attending any p Is the Child attending any G Holifiay Sessions ions After School Sessions School child Atterfis OT Other Information and Dates Health Information Is the Chill allergic to Plasters I Other Allergies and Health Issuks other Stfrt Date 21 04 2005 Considerations nish Date The status bar Information has gives details about been sectioned and the field that titled on each form currently has the cursor in it Buttons that print documents are coloured orange Enter the first name of the child A cancel or exit button is included on each form at the bottom Fig 5 3 1 3 Form Layout 32 An Informa
29. library to find relevant articles using previous years module lecture notes resources and recommended reading as relevant using case studies in journal articles for insight into how specific techniques and methods are used in the real world A feasibility study was conducted using techniques such as ethnography and rich pictures to gather data and feedback for further analysis Research was carried out into possible alternative solutions available and then into the development of a solution that would fit the users needs An appreciation of the National Standards pertaining to child care was also sought to ensure any recommendations would conform to the legislation researched A feasibility report was produced and presented to the managers in the form of a presentation summarising the main points of the report A handout was given out to accompany the presentation that represents a less detailed version of the report as the report may seem too technical for the managers The actual report was handed over to the managers with the view that it could prove useful for further investigations into IT that may be undertaken The presentation of the results of the study concluded with a discussion as to the way forward and the development of a set of agreed prioritised specifications for the solution Following the discussion and feedback from the feasibility presentation a UML workshop was held with the managers to develop a class diagram of the An
30. may have o ask the child to leave Fire Log Book The fire log book holds details of the procedure to be followed in the event of a fire all the fire drills that they have held at the setting and any actual fires that have occurred at the setting It details the date time and nature of each of these events and is signed by the manager 71 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Artefact Definition Visitor s Signing In and Out Book The visitor s book records any visitor s to the setting that are not parents children or members of staff related to the business It records the visitor s name the time that they entered the setting and the time that they left This is mainly for fire and security purposes Daily and Weekly Changes Book The daily and weekly changes book acts as a sort of post it note system to the managers where bits of information such as Sarah will not need picking up next Tuesday are written rather than relying on the memory of the staff or managers The pieces of information are not in any specific order they are merely written as a series of points as and when they are remembered or given The book is then read through each week and day and the information recorded onto the relevant documentation before being crossed out in the book Playgroup Register The playgroup register used is a standard school register The children are han
31. meetings and information gathered at each stage This documentation will allow easier and more accurate formation of the report as the documentation was written at the time of conducting that stage An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days 1 5 Project Schedule and Revisions to Schedule The original project schedule has been summarised in Appendix B This was the schedule at the time of writing the mid term report The final project schedule is detailed in Fig 1 5 1 below The major timescales for each of the stages have not changed from the original project schedule however the tasks have been changed to highlight the actual times when users were involved and consulted throughout the project in line with the user centred approach and to highlight the objectives and deliverables as they are described in section 1 3 Project Task Activity Timescale For Task Milestone to indicate achievement of task Identify Aims Objectives and Minimum Requirements 27 09 04 18 10 04 Aim Objectives and Minimum Requirements specified Research Project Methodologies ethnography techniques SSM and Feasibility Study approaches 18 10 04 15 11 04 Selection of methodologies and techniques Initial meetings with managers users to determine project scope and discuss what the project will entail 12 10 04 and 19 10 04 Scope has been defined and the managers understandi
32. not have been found simply through the conduction of interviews or other analysis techniques 9 2 4 Appreciation of Legal Requirements The appreciation of the legal requirements in terms of the National Standards pertaining to the organisation and the different official bodies involved was considered an achievement for this project as it brought the project over the boundaries of the developer s degree programme It brought added value to the development an evaluation of the solution that would not have been considered if the developer has only used the knowledge gained during their degree 9 2 5 Application of UML The application of UML during the design phase of this project has been considered a success and the information gathered invaluable to the design process The steps used for the introduction of UML to the users were most effective in encouraging the users understanding and confidence in working with the developer to produce the class diagram Involving the users in the production of this diagram aided the achievement of a high quality design produced effectively with minimal effort 9 3 Suggestions for Further Work There are a number of opportunities for further work to be conducted in relation to this project e Creation of further prototype iterations gradually implementing functionalities to cater for the whole of the specification made is the main opportunity for further work to be conducted e Alteration of the scope t
33. other government vouchers and pricing on any of a range of pricing schemes e g child room etc e Diarise birthdays new arrivals etc e Provide Staff management o Including recording staff details employment dates shirt working worker status qualifications holiday and sickness records to make payroll calculations easy e Help your nursery meet OFSTED requirements 86 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days ProCare Child Care Centre Management Software This software is used by 12 000 nurseries childcare centres and care providers worldwide It has a modular format allowing you to pick the business functions that you require to operate efficiently The different modules include e Family Data and accounting This module allows you to keep all the information about the children attending the centre it has an attendance tracker to track children and staff and it can help to deal with fee charges and grants There is also the option to purchase the Pocket Attendance software for PDA s so emergency information and information about children s checking in times can all be taken out of the building in an emergency There is also the option for running a photo gallery of the children and maintaining a food program for the children e Employee Data This module handles all the information about the employees of the business including scheduling to keep track of when they are off on sick or holi
34. practice problems In view of the objectives the design for the full ideal system s solution was created This design involved user participation in the form of a UML workshop to formulate a class diagram modelling all the objects and attributes involved in the working practices of the business The users also participated in determining the proposed system interface and structure A systems prototype was developed along the incremental notion in that the functionalities were sectioned and built in full according to the prioritised specifications resulting from the feasibility study The prototype was tested by the developer to identify and fix errors resulting from technical implementation The prototype was demonstrated to users and the users trained on how to use the prototype before users proceeded to manipulate the prototype themselves Their use produced two valuable outcomes user feedback of the system to be considered in the evaluation and end user testing for run time errors and errors resulting from unfamiliar use of the system As time was permitting a third deliverable of the project was achieved which was a final system to be handed over to the users and a supporting user manual The prototype was built upon by fixing the errors found and introducing time elements to make the system useable year on year to produce the final system Documentation was written to directly support the set up and use of this final system Prod
35. results of the analysis on current working practices at the before and after school and playgroup and their requirements for an IT solution Using SSM techniques Using rapid ethnography techniques Produce feasibility report into the possible solutions to problems with the playgroups working practices and get approval on the way forward Produce the Report Give a Presentation of report to managers Discuss the way forward Design implement a systems solution to the working practice problems Design the solution using UML Consult with managers Implement a solution Produce a summary of user feedback and an evaluation on how the created system provides a solution to the problems Schedule a time to show the solution to the users observe them trying out the system Gather user feedback by interview and or questionnaire Evaluate my project and solution Handover the prototype to the owner and provide necessary training support Explain prototype Provide necessary training Provide user documentation KEY Finish Working and writing up work related to objective Begin and do work on objective Holiday and exam period little project activity Complete Mid Project report Submi
36. s first name surname and the name of the medicine will be asked for before the records if there are any will be returned Again if the users do not enter any of this information and just click OK to each of the prompts all the records of children and their medication will be returned The users may again search by using the child s first name only but the medication must then also be entered You may also search for just the medication name for example if you are preparing to administer a medicine to a number of children you could find out which children need that medicine just by typing in the medicine name The other queries shown in Appendix L are used for generating reports or retrieving further information when a button is pressed on another form for example the Child1DispAccFind query is invoked when you press the Show Child Details button on the Search for Accident Details form 6 3 5 Visual Basic Visual Basic has been used to modify the forms and reports in a number of ways There are a number of pieces of code that have been used for all forms and reports to aid in the general appearance of these objects and ensure that no foreign error messages messages that have not been created by the developer are displayed When searching for information to view or change it is important that the users know how many records have been returned as a result of a search and are able to move through and view these records 37
37. start dates for a particular playgroup year to determine exactly when a child is eligible to start receiving a grant as well as deciding if they are too old or too young for playgroup The code produced for this has been altered in the final iteration of the prototype and so is explained in section 7 4 6 4 Prototype functionality and limitations The prototype delivered many of the functionalities agreed in the specifications pertaining to the enrolment of children and the creation and storing of records The functionalities implemented can be summarised as e Storage display modification and printing of child details and the enrolment contract e Grant eligibility can be determined an a list printed of all the children and their grant eligibility as applicable e A number of contact details to be stored displayed modified and printed off as required e A list of emergency contacts for all the children enrolled may be printed off as needed e Storage display and printing of accident incident and medication details as required e Storage display and modification of employee details as required e School lists and registers with the children s names on based on the sessions the child is recorded as attending can be generated so they may be printed off and used each week As time was not permitting the registers were implemented as a series of sheets that would be populated with the names of the children and just printed off each week This
38. system solution The chapter concludes with a summary of the developer s test plan and results as well as a discussion on the need for end user testing 6 2 Technical Platform The software intended to be used for the system creation is Microsoft Access This is a database software application and so the base of the system upon which the rest of the system specifications will be built will be formed using tables Data entry and data viewing has been done using the software s Forms function Production of physical printouts has been done using the software s Reports function The underlying programming language for Access is Microsoft Visual Basic This language has been used to modify the generic features available for forms and reports to customise the prototype and implement the more advanced functions of the prototype Justification for using this technical platform was that the users have this software on their computer and so it comes at no extra cost and that this software is easy to use and contains many in built functions that will allow the prototype to be created faster and so more functionality built in The developer is also competent at using this software and has developed databases using this software before The alternative database application was Microsoft SQL Server however this application is for systems that would be used on a larger scale and usually across networks and so it was not considered appropriate It wo
39. this software include e Session Details o Specify a number of different session e g Playgroup Holiday etc and how many children can attend Generate a waiting list for each session Adult Details o Details of the adults including full name home address work address and relationships with associated children e g parent carer grandparent e Child Details o Details of each child including name address date of birth sex religion discount initial deposit paid and any freehand notes e Adjustments o Any discounts for specified sessions Classes e Showing the sessions that the child has been included in Holidays o Holiday periods can be recorded e Related Adults o Each child can be related to a number of adults e Medical o Various food and health allergies can be specified here for the child Various reports such as invoices child details outstanding invoices milk report registers and simple lists such as a list of children e Milk Claim e Record daily price of milk and number of children who qualify for free milk for that day Security o Encrypted database restricted access to the data stop children s addresses from being shown in children s details section An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Feasibility Report Evaluation of solutions Evaluate the solutions based on TELOS Technical f easibilit y Economic Feasibility Legal f easibilit y Organisational
40. tickets B amp A children e Creates confusion between staff and managers as to who is in and who isn t e May lead to payment disputes identified in P2 e Leads to confusion between timings registers and simple in and out registers e If times not recorded properly due to confusion in registers finding registers etc in the event of fire it may not be realised that some children may still be in the setting at the time of fire P7 Planning early learning 2 6 e Activities may not be planned in time for the playgroup sessions goals is time consuming e Not keeping up to scratch with the planning of goals and providing evidence of the activities done and complicated may result in the loss of the free places funding P8 Problems filing 2 7 e Current filing system disorganised how organised is previous years documentation documents effectively e Auditing of these documents may be required and if documents are messy or cannot be found it will for five years reflect badly on the business P9 Weekly preparation of 1 7 1 8 e Registers may not be prepared in time registers e Registers may not be properly updated P5 80 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days 2 3 1b The analysis of Documents and Information Sharing Analysis of the different documents produced and how these documents were shared along with identification of intangible information passed between people related to the business provided insight into a number o
41. 3 3 Help Information sinna a aaa ae 33 5 4 Overall System Desine suis tention eek ana ee a is ain eeheeaces 33 5 5 Database D signe seen cae e A eee ca eat E S E E E ta A eee 34 Chapter 6 Prototype Implementation and Testing sscccscsssssssssssssssscsssssscsessssssssessssessessessees 35 6 1 JEANS KOLGLTOAATON i PEA AREE EE E ES AEA E EEE 35 6 2 Technical Platio s6ccis8cyecbeiceccttbecabbibaseils asthe aair ee eae a en i ie a e kaeaea paaa aiaa EN 35 6 3 Implementation of DeSiStives ssccistsscdeiesobeiessszessiacsuntsscadeea senweesssuestes daoeesterave sdaestbbscuessebteastbsesies 35 6 3 1 Table Implementation ic re nienn aeee a eiere ia eoar 35 6 3 2 Forms Implementation nsere eeren a e o eer Ea eN 36 6 3 3 Reports Implementation ssoes ae eot a ae a EEEE a aeS ESEA ES NO KEERN aaah Eedi 36 DA QUEE A A AA I I 37 6 3 5 VisyakBaSiCan nested ear eed E ETE PLS BA Tans a dee eee 37 6 4 Prototype functionality and limitations sseeeseeessessessseesseesesssesssessssesssesssesseesstessesstessressessees 39 Chapter 7 User Training and Manual e eseeeeeeeesesesercsoroeeeeeseececeesororererorereceeseseeererororeeseeeseeeeesereree 41 7 1 Introduction eii eatea eea ene E ee CEEE EE E E a E AeneA 41 hi Importance of Training and Training Method Used eee ceeeeseeeneeeneecneceeeeeseeeaeeenaeenaees 41 73 Use of prototype and End User Testing 20 0 eeseeeceseceseeseeeeceeeseesceceaeceeeseneesaeeeaecsaeseseeseeees 41 An
42. A Report URL http sern ucalgary ca courses seng 613 F97 grp4 ssmfinal html Accessed 30th October 2004 20 Malcolm Eva Soft Systems Methodology Jan 2004 URL http www acca org uk publications studentaccountant 1073535 Accessed 30th October 2004 21 Bennett et al Schaum s Outline of UML McGraw Hill 2001 page 48 22 K Jackson Choosing Data Gathering Techniques 2002 URL http www utas edu au teachingonline documents choose_data_techniques pdf Accessed 5th November 2004 23 LTDI Evaluation Cookbook Online Guide 1998 URL http www icbl hw ac uk Itdi cookbook Accessed 5 November 2004 24 J Nielsen Ten Usability Heuristics 1994 URL http www useit com papers heuristic heuristic_list html Accessed 3rd April 2005 25 I Sommerville Software Engineering 7 Edition May 2004 Addison Wesley pages 26 S Roberts DB3 Lecture Notes Temporal Databases 2004 27 J Matravers INI Lecture Notes Lecture 3 Introduction to Information Systems Development From Software Engineering Approaches to the IS Development Life Cycle 2002 56 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Appendix A Personal Reflection Although the project entailed lot of hard work it was both interesting and enjoyable to undertake and the challenge of conducting an external project was eagerly met There are a number of lessons that may be reflected upon now the project has been completed As men
43. An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Gemma Snowden BSc Information Systems with Accounting 2004 2005 The candidate confirms that the work submitted is their own and the appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others I understand that failure to attribute material which is obtained from another source may be considered as plagiarism Signature of student An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Summary The main objective of this project was to identify the opportunities of using IT to improve the working practices and information management at Greenacres After School Happy Days Consideration of the National Standards pertaining to child day care was taken to ensure that any IT solutions proposed would meet the standards The analysis of the current working practices following sessions of ethnographic observation and the understanding of the user s needs and capabilities through interviews and the development of a rich picture were fully considered to improve the quality of the recommendation Consideration of the alternative existing solutions available was also taken to enhance the proposed solutions A feasibility report was developed to aggregate the work done and formulate a presentation which was given to managers to summarise the findings of the report and provide a recommendation in a straightforward and timely manner App
44. Contact Details below Parents are expected to look at and fill in each of these sections as appropriate before signing the form which signals the enrolment of the child Details of the sessions required by the parent for their child are also detailed in this contract form Contract The sheet of the contract that captures the contact details for the child also captures Contact other important information relating to the child The contact details section requires Details the parent provide information of three contact details for the child which includes the name address two phone numbers and the relationship to the child as well as details of the child s doctor The form then captures the child s name and date of birth any infectious illnesses the child has had any allergies or other health issues of the child a list of the child s immunisations and any further considerations that should be made for the child 5 People Definition The people involved with the day to day running of the business and the business as a whole have been identified below in terms of the individuals society organisations and groups 5 1 Individuals Manager The managers are the key members within all the business processes They are involved in all items of the business and the business paperwork They also take an active role in looking after the children if the staff numbers are low Their role is to administer and run the playgroup accord
45. Duplicated data means updating a piece of inf ormation in numerous documents Rewriting of data creates further problems in terms of transcription errors 10 February 2005 Slide 12 Problem Statement The Big Picture Greenacres encounter a number of issues when conducting their day to day business The problems arise from the underlying time management issues and disorganised filing issues The issues of time affect how much documentation can be provided relating to the business as well as how up to date business documents can be kept Due to lack of time business documents may also occasionally fail to meet the regulatory standards until the managers have more time to spend on them The filing issues also mean that documents may fail to be updated instantly and so a reliance on managers and other staff member s memory is created This poses problems as if critical information is not remembered it could lead to the overlooking of a child and the possibility of poor child care The problems of data duplication and unnecessary rewriting of data also occur in the current filing system as many documents contain the same pieces of data Duplicated data creates the problem of updating a piece of information in numerous documents and the rewriting of data creates further problems in terms of transcription errors 103 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Feasibility Report Project specification
46. Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days 17 4 Final Prototype Cha sesi srne onre i aE eA EE a i a Te 42 7 5 User DOcumentation issss 5 505003 aeae R E a eTA E EEE EEEE ATE 44 7 6 System Handover ci tseteieetahes ise ne a aa er hie tae Eea VEDETEI 44 Chapter 8 Evaluation of Prototype and User Manall cccsscccsssssssscsssscssssccsssssssssessescsssscsssaee 45 8 1 TnthOdU COM ss3 4545 sees nae sas tec aE E E EE E es O E A Ltn ae atlases 45 8 2 Information gathering techniques cee ceeceecceseeesceeseceseeeeceseeeseeeseceaeceseeseeceseesseesaecsaeeneeeaes 45 8 3 BvaltiatiOn Critetavic aa aE E ETE ead atea veut TAAA 46 8 4 User Feedback iniiis ser EEEE N E E O EE E RES 46 8 5 Prototype Evaluation OutcOMe ee eseessecssecseceeeceseesseecsaecaaeeeceseeeseeeaeecaaecseceeesseeeaeeeaaecnaees 48 8 6 User Manual Evaluation Outcome ceccecsceeseceeeceeeeeeceeeeeaaeceaceceaceceeeceesaeeesaeceeaeceeaeeseeeeees 49 Chapter 9 Project COMCIUISIONS lt ieccccsecessesecsescnsnssssdecissonessesessssonvedseoesesosnesescsusesvesnsscesaesssenssiecsSectenses 50 9 1 INPOCUCHON 2c ccsecves checks e Cute able knee inn E e acess ban ach Secsaty snes eles amp tates 50 9 2 Summary Of Achievements ecien testers sieht ined a a aint a e a a neta dese 50 9 2 1 Minimum Requirements and Objectives ee eeececeseeseeeseecseecssceseeeseeeseeesaeenaeens 50 9 2 2 Greenacres After Care Happy Days cece eseeseceseceeeeeee
47. Intangible People No Name information Involved involved 2 3 Recording Pattern of behaviour If a child is ill or is on constant medication the Medicine Book None Parents medicine parent may ask the managers to administer medicine to the children How Shared Staff requirements during the hours that they are in the setting If this is the case the Between parents Members child s name the name of the medicine and details of all dosages managers and staff Managers given are recorded in the medicine book and signed by the parent and administering manager and the is medicine stored in a safe place medicine Time Frame All year round as and when 2 4 Recording Pattern of Behaviour It is required by Ofsted that a record is kept of Fire Log Book None Managers Fire the fire regulations when the group has practised these fire procedures How Shared Regulations with the children and when there has been a fire in the building and Managers only incidents and what happened involved practices Time Frame As and when all year round 25 Record Staff Pattern of behaviour When a new member of staff comes to work Staff Details Book None Staff Details for the business relevant details about them Name address phone How Shared Members number are captured and stored in a staff details book Between staff and Supervisors Time Frame As and when all year round Managers Managers 2 6 Planning Pattern of behaviour QCA are a public body that publish guide
48. M to convey information to non technical people the structured and pictorial approach of the RUP methodology for designing systems and an incremental prototyping approach to systems implementation As communication with users is important throughout the project the use of pictorial information and the hands on approach to analysis will enable the developer to understand the problem fully and communicate their ideas for improvements and to confirm their view of the current situation in a non technical and friendly manner The particular techniques of SSM and ETHICS methodologies rich pictures and ethnography are further discussed in Chapter 3 The methodology RUP in particular the use of UML will allow for the creation of a structured design that users will still be able to participate in 11 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days This technique of RUP is further discussed in Chapter 5 At the implementation stage the project turns into a more software engineering hard systems based project where technical implementation and testing are key areas and the users involvement changes to become a less direct and more evaluative in nature The use of prototyping to aid in the evolutionary development of the system at this stage was considered appropriate for this project with the permittance of time The Waterfall Cycle holds the most logical and natural steps for setting milestones and targets to provide a main
49. Open Cancel As Integer On Error GoTo Err_Form_Open Dim StID StID Me ID Value DoCmd Maximize Exit_Form_Open Exit Sub Err_Form_Open MsgBox No Records Found vbOKOnly No Records DoCmd Close Resume Exit_Form_Open End Sub 125 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Appendix N Heuristic Criteria Criterion Measure of Achievement Error For the prototype errors are prevented by highlighting and prompting users to enter Prevention information correctly and use only the buttons created Real world The terms used in the prototype and the user documentation should match terms used conventions in the real world of describe terms that may be unfamiliar Practicability The prototype should be easy to access although still secure the information and features contained within it should be accessible and display in full The user documentation should be readily available and particular descriptions easy to find Display of The information displayed should be suitable for the function being performed The Information users should not be overloaded with too much information or too much to enter at any time Is additional information where needed easy to access Is information well structured and easy to follow Are colourings and layout appropriate Consistency Have headings fonts sectioning and colours been consistently used throughout the and Standard
50. Other information and processes that were noted during the analysis of the data but were not included in the final analysis report were the suggested requirements made by managers the concerns of the managers and some of the staff the process of advertising and the process of providing policy documentation This information was not discarded however it was used to formulate the think bubbles and concerns depicted in the rich picture of the current situation which can be found in Appendix E 3 6 4 Feedback on Analysis Following the analysis of the current situation feedback on this analysis was sought to gain approval that all aspects of the current situation had been noted and that the analysis provides an accurate picture of the problem so the feasibility study can progress This also posed as an opportunity to gain clarification of any points that arose during the write up of the analysis A meeting was held on the 19 November 2004 for this purpose A number of feedback techniques were used during the feedback session firstly to better outline to the managers the high level view of their current situation and then to gradually drill down to identifying and clarifying the finer details of the analysis The documents taken to the session include the full documented analysis Appendix D a rich picture of the current situation Appendix E and a flow diagram of the business processes Appendix F The following meeting structure was set for t
51. Problems filing documents effectively for five years Filing disorganised upon inspection it may be difficult to produce documents from the filing system 24 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Information duplicated the same information repeated in multiple documents that then may require updating in these documents Poor quality documents documents are illegible and do not look professional No backup of documents in the event of fire burglary all records will be lost business would be unable to continue Uncertainty regarding who is picking up children and school ticket reliability tickets not updated with verbal communications received throughout the day staff have to ask for the children at school or may not pick up a child Trust issues with accountant accounts are incorrect and not produced according to legislation Filing system is disorganised affects the whole smooth running of the business Staff availability child staff ratios may not be upheld managers have to cover on short notice reducing the time they have for producing documents running the overall business Intangible information lost information lost and not updated resulting in confusion reduced quality of service The general requirements therefore are for a system that will allow the business to be run smoothly reduce the time and manpower required to record and produce information therefore increasing the quality of care prov
52. Real time updating Information is updated in the database as soon as you enter it updated onto PDA manually Generate a register of children attending the different sessions automatically for each week Use information in the database to create a spreadsheet register that can be transferred to a PDA for registration Storing all details in one place Details are all stored in one single application Make regular backups of all the information in case of theft or burglary This single application can be backed up onto CD or memory stick every day if necessary Produce a list of the staff due in for a particular day Use queries to extract data to put into a document to be printed out detailing the staff for the day Provide passwords to make the information more secure Use passwords when opening the application 111 Starred are how this solution differs to just having Access Database An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Appendix J Prioritisation of Specifications 1 Most Important 5 Least Important Goal Goal Specification Priority Number Functional Specifications 1 Initial Information 1 1 Record details on each of the different sessions including cost times and 2 dates and the max number of children that can attend sessions 1 2 H
53. S and SSM it uses a tool known as UML which is pictorial in nature that it is believed will be useful for describing and discussing a systems design with the users UML is further discussed in section 4 2 2 5 Chosen Methodology for this Project Jason Charvat 1 discusses methodology definition and the general benefits and shortcomings of using a methodology He goes on to discuss the basics of project management and how this creates a need for a methodology and describes a strategy for choosing a methodology The conclusion was drawn that a methodology is a set of guidelines and principles that may be used to successfully complete a project The choice of principles and guidelines that make up this methodology is directly influenced by the nature of the problem that is to be solved by conducting the project Therefore the construction of a methodology for a project may involve choosing particular principles from a number of methodologies as a means of successfully meeting the project end This approach is the approach that has been taken for constructing the methodology for this project After reviewing the common components of all methodologies and paying particular attention to user centred methodologies the methodology that would best suit this project is one which combines the structured stage nature of the waterfall cycle the user centric participative approach of the ETHICS methodology the soft systems diagrammatical approach of SS
54. September 47 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days We plan to get used to the system before September by entering information about the children and staff that will still be working attending in preparation for the September intake We may just print out empty forms of the registers now to use as they are so clear The observation of the users trying out the prototype also provided indirect user feedback to determine the usability evaluation outcomes The observation technique used was to take notes of the users as they entered information and was a strictly fly on the wall approach where the users were not allowed to ask the developer any questions about the prototype so a true feel of how it would be used in reality could be documented These notes were then logically read through and information extracted that answers each of the usability criteria developed in Fig 8 3 1 above 8 5 Prototype Evaluation Outcome There are a number of outcomes that have been derived from the evaluation of the prototype against the criteria and the data gathered from user feedback The outcome of the evaluation against the legislation criteria was that all the legislation had been conformed to successfully as relevant to the functionalities of the prototype The points of the legislation were used as check points and when the prototype showed that it was performing a particular criteria for example recording
55. Software URL http www abcsoftware co uk welcome htm Accessed 6 February 2004 91 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Appendix H Presentation Slides Feasibility Analysis What is it Formally identify problem Identify requirements of the ideal solution Look at possible solutions and evaluate them Choose the best solution Discuss where to go next Sy Produce a Feasibility Report 10 February 2005 Feasibility Report Project Overview 1 Project Description What is the aim of Why s and how s of project this project Describing the aim of the project How will it be done Describing how the project will be done Where are we now How we started this presentation Project Definition Analysis Feasibility Analysis qm Sys 2005 Sys 2005 92 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Feasibility Report 2 Problem Statement Initial Problem Feasibility Report 2 Problem Statement e Problem Identification Identifying problems from looking at processes Identified by Krishna Files Disorganised Are documents conforming to regulation Identified by You Time Constraints Workload Computer Literacy Problems identified when looking at documents Problems identified by you 10 February 2005 10 February 2005 Daily Processes
56. The Ideal Solution Some of the goals outlined in report Record the dif f erent education learning goals and associated activities and templates Enter details about each of the diff erent adults associated to a child and their contact details Store details about whether a child is eligible for a grant or not and for how many terms Record on the generated registers the times that children come in to the sessions Timetable the dif f erent education learning goals and activities into daily and weekly playgroup sessions Schedule when different staff are due to be off on holiday or are off sick Producing school tickets automatically from filling in the register Generate a register of children attending the dif f erent sessions automat ically for each weel One integrated payment system Calculate money that has gone into and come out of the business each week to give the balance of the cash box Make regular backups of all the inf ormation in case of theft or burglary Provide passwords to make the inf ormation more secure 10 February 2005 Slide 15 Project Specification Further Specifications split into sections Store full details about staff and their qualifications Recording Information Record details about accidents Record details about incidents Record details about fire procedures and incidents Record which children have had which tuck each day Record on the generated reg
57. a contract a form about the child and Contact Details to the daily Supervisors and After their emergency contact details This documentation is kept by the Daily weekly changes changes book or School Care playgroup and the child added to the relevant register and or ticket book the relevant or to the from the Daily and Weekly changes book or if they wish to join the B amp A Registers register Playgroup next day they are put straight onto the register See 1 7 and 1 8 School Tickets Time Frame All year round Playgroup Register How Shared Information passed between parent and managers 1 5 Recording Pattern of behaviour A number of places are available for children Holiday Bookings Remembering Managers Holiday who wish to attend the holiday sessions when they are off school Ifa Book when a parent Parents period child wishes to attend the parent asks the managers The manager will Holiday Register has asked for a bookings for look in the Holiday Bookings Book and check the number of places How Shared holiday place B amp A and available during the holiday period If there is a space the child is Managers only use and it has not Playgroup added as due to come to the holiday session Children currently this book been entered into attending the before and after sessions are automatically guaranteed a place in the holiday sessions and it is up to the parent to inform the managers whether they will be attending or not as stated in thei
58. all the medicines administered to children National Standard 7 7 7 the criterion was considered justified The outcomes of the evaluation against the functional criteria concern only those functionalities that were developed for the prototype The functionalities pertaining to the storage display and production of information all had a positive evaluation outcome The registration system functionalities however did not fully model the required specifications due to the time constraints of the system The overall outcome of the evaluation against the heuristic criteria taking into account the information gathered from the user feedback is positive Justification that the prototype had successfully prevented errors and provided help information was given by the use of help tips for all buttons and the display of field descriptions in the status bar The display of information and consistency criteria was justified by the fact that all forms and menus were created from base templates thereby standardising the displays and the separation of information so users could read and enter this information a bit at a time reducing confusion The practicability of the prototype produced a mixed outcome in that information could be accessed quickly and easily on demand but the prototype had not been implemented with any security The final system however has security features to allow control of access The prototype mixed use of real world terms with the provisio
59. amp amp 00000 Contact Contact Number 1 for for the adult 0 _ Telephone example 0161 Number 1 1234567 or 07345 675849 tel_2 Text 14 NO You must enter a second contact 0000 amp amp 00000 Contact Contact Number 2 for number for the adult type the first 0 _ Telephone example 0161 number again if there is only one Number 2 1234567 or 07345 possible number 675849 117 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Field Name Field Null Key Validation Rule and or Text Default Value Input Mask Caption Description Type Lookup Values fee_resp Yes No No Responsible for Is this adult payment of fees responsible for the payment of fees c_f name Text 20 NO FK Child s First Child s First Name Name c_s_name Text 20 NO FK Child s Surname Child s Surname c_dob Date Time NO FK 00 00 0000 0 _ Child s Date of Child s Date of Birth Birth c_ID Number NO FK Child s ID Child s ID Number Number Child Field Name Field Type Null Key Validation Rule Default Value Input Mask Caption Description and or Text Lookup Values first_name Text 20 NO You must enter a first 00 00 0000 0 _ Child s First Enter the first name of name for the child Name the child surname Text 20 NO You must enter a Child s Surname Enter the surname of surname for the the child
60. athering a clear picture of the current situation to effectively identify the opportunities for using IT This chapter first highlights the major components of IS development methodologies researched to provide an overall methodology for the project particular emphasis and further research on the socio technical approach to projects is then described the use and nature of RUP methodology for design purposes is then investigated and finally the methodology for the project is constructed and justified 2 2 Types of IS Development Methodologies There are a number of trends and general characteristics of all IS development methodologies Jason Charvat 1 notes that one trend of all methodologies is that they have project phases measure progress take corrective action based on defects found and assign resources to various phases There are also two general families of approaches described by Avgerou and Cornford in Chapter 9 of 2 as hard and soft The soft systems approach to IS development is a very people and business oriented approach where the various social influences of systems development are considered over a more technical structured development approach that defines the hard school of thought Both these approaches have a number of methodologies within them that each have a different take on the method adopted to develop Information Systems In Part 6 of their book Avison and Fitzgerald 18 also categorise methodologies int
61. ave a waiting list for different session types 2 1 3 Record details pertaining to grants and how they are handled 2 1 4 Record the businesses policies and rules regarding employees 4 1 5 Record the businesses policies and rules regarding child care 2 1 6 Record the different education learning goals and associated activities and 4 templates 1 7 Record the different types of tuck children can have 3 2 Enrolment Staff and Child 2 1 Enter details about each of the different adults associated to a child and their 1 contact details 2 2 Associate a child with a number of adults 1 2 3 Store full details about each child as required by the standards 1 2 4 Store details about whether a child is eligible for a grant or not and for how 2 many terms 2 5 Store full details about staff and their qualifications 2 3 Recording Information 3 1 Record details about accidents 1 3 2 Record details about incidents 1 3 3 Record details about fire procedures and incidents 3 3 4 Record which children have had which tuck each day 3 3 5 Record on the registers the times that children enter and leave sessions 2 3 6 Record the times that staff come in for each session 5 4 Timetabling Information 4 1 Be able to see the different information recorded for a particular day 5 4 2 Timetable the different education learning goals and activities into daily and 4 weekly playgroup sessions 112 An Information System for Greenacres After Sc
62. based on the information in the form No money is taken from the parents during the time that their child is eligible for a free place they are merely notified when this period will start and or end Parents will pay money as in process 3 2 during the terms that their child is not eligible for a free place Time Frame Grant money is given to the Playgroup every quarter Children are eligible for a free place starting the term after their third birthday for up to six terms only 68 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Process Process Process Description Artefacts Involved Intangible People No Name information Involved involved 4 Physical Processes 4 1 Taking Pattern of behaviour The school tickets are taken with the children School Tickets Counting up of Staff children to to the relevant school The ticket is checked against the number of How Shared the children once members school children brought to school to ensure all the children arrived safely used by Staff only reach the school Time Frame Daily AM 4 2 Picking Pattern of behaviour Staff leave with the corresponding School School Tickets Counting up of Staff children up Ticket to pick the children up As the children come out and line up How Shared used children before Members from school next to the staff member they are ticked off list The list is checked to by Staff only leaving school make sur
63. can discourage parents from enrolling their children at the facility The paper based nature also means that in the event of fire or burglary all their records may be lost with no replacement showing poor contingency planning in the eyes of the regulatory bodies 1 2 Project Aim The aim of the project is to identify the opportunities in using IT for improving the work practice and information management involved in running Greenacres After School Care Happy Days and to apply SSM and ethnography in the investigation to improve the quality of the recommendation An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days 1 3 Project Objectives The objectives of this project are 1 To research a number of project methodologies and formulate a methodology most suitable to this project This includes researching ethnography SSM and feasibility study techniques To examine the National Childcare Standards pertaining to childcare providers and identify the possible impacts the legislation will have on the derivation of an IT solution To produce a feasibility report that will discuss the options available and how these may solve the problems and provide a recommendation To involve users in major decision points such as signing off the feasibility report and determining the functionalities of the prototype To produce a design of the full ideal systems solution To implement as many functionalities as time permits accordi
64. cords relating to individual children are kept on computer as opposed to information about the business you may have to register under the Data Protection Act see Standard 2 Organisation 2 5 If any system is handed over to Greenacres to be used by them year on year it must therefore be explained to the managers that they need to discuss with their Sure Start advisor about registering under the Data Protection Act and the procedure for making information available immediately 3 5 Analysis Tools and Techniques As the role of the people involved in the business has been identified as an important consideration for this project one of the best techniques for project analysis that takes into consideration the people issues is ethnography Burke and Kirk 14 describe ethnography as not so much a method as a category of human computer interaction research This means that there is no exact way of using ethnography as such to help to identify processes and people interactions but the principles within ethnography can be adapted to help assess the users needs and ascertain the role that they play within business operations The idea of ethnography also suggests that the ethnographer can get actively involved in the business to identify the needs from the users perspective which can be a valuable tool in identifying new areas and problems that the user may not have identified in an interview situation Overall ethnography involves a mixt
65. cosecsuessuoeedceutsssgnedsvdgoteedsevescsesedebesgousseberssnaseossesces I ACKNOW Ed CEMENES s scccccssecscesosssssesssceceseatsosscbseessateecsetevnssedsessseesseesecoeeessuseses pesuesesesessspnssousctesessesess MHI E AE REE E E E A EN E AE IV Chapter 1 Mtr OduCuOnesscscssscsccsssctcsesscsentssastcesesstenessocsesesneseoes ssscdsssnsesseessaveestensGenstesebessevessssnesseessseceses 1 1 1 Problem Definitions e secceteiodon a asians eel BA a tive tele heen a 1 1 2 Project Ainon nonea e A Succ veniam ath case aah sn aseed rsscetene atest eaten e a er 1 1 3 Project ODJSCH VES aan e nT e Sat tadeeds Letees e E A EEEE 2 1 3 1 Minimum Requirements sennen ei EA laos a eE i AERE 2 13 2 Deliverables pinnien ae o eid Wa aie ee eee 3 1 4 Project Approach yessicvs sine eile e ER O Raia eines iieet eet 3 1 5 Project Schedule and Revisions to Schedule ccceeceeeccessseceseceeeceeeeeeceeeeeeeceeaaeceaaeceeeeeseaeees 5 1 6 Relevance to Degree Programme and Previous Knowledge ceeeeeeeseeeecsseceeeeeeeeeeeeneenaes 6 1 7 Organisation of the Reports ecri reciso ri iE REE E EEEE E EEEE A EE eee 7 Chapter 2 Methodology ss ssicccsiscscststssnsdecodcssnssdessescdcassoncssencsdoeescestesscasseenvcveenssansesuseessecssucdseecdcenssseseeess 8 2 1 Introductions i333 svees ee gs es ae A LG 8 2 2 Types of IS Development Methodologies e cee eecceescessecssecsseceeeeseeseeeeaeecaaeceaeseesseeeaeeeaaeenaes 8 2 3 Socio Technical Approach reti
66. coupled with identification of the methodologies that use these techniques and the formulation of the methodology used for the project A number of sources were consulted to gather further insight into the actual techniques rather than the methodologies to enable informed use of these techniques throughout the project It was also necessary to gather insights into the different types of IS development methodologies to develop the overall approach towards the project Document the results of the analysis on the current working practices of the organisation and their requirements for an IT solution The current working practices of the organisation and their requirements for a solution were captured through the use of interviews walkthroughs and ethnography The information gathered was methodically examined and fully documented through the production of an analysis report The analysis report captured the full extent of the working practices by identifying the processes documents people and intangible information within the organisation The organisation s requirements for an IT solution were depicted through the use of a rich picture and the analysis concluded by seeking the approval of the managers and updating the analysis documentation with any clarifications made Produce a feasibility report into the possible solutions to the problems with the organisations working practices and get approval on the way forward The nature and purpos
67. ctional Specifications consideration of the security of the system and the usability and timeliness of the system should be made The full specifications list produced and included in the feasibility report may be viewed in Appendix J In this appendix additional specifications made by managers have also been listed These specifications are discussed further in section 4 5 4 3 3 Identification of the Existing Alternatives It is important to identify and assess the existing alternatives that are available to purchase and the functionalities that they provide This identification proved useful in providing ideas for the generation of the developer s possible solutions and in assessing how the working practices of day care providers are currently addressed using generic IT packages Five existing alternatives and their functionalities were described in the full report and are summarised below 1 ABC Software 2 Kindersoft e Developed in Microsoft Access by RW e Produced by Showcase Computer Communications Ltd a medium sized UK Systems in the UK based company e Claims made include e Functionalities include o Automate management of nursery o Storing contact information o Store all child parent details o Enhanced find facility searching on a o Manage bookings and waiting lists number of criteria o Provide different types of registers o Storing child details o Automate invoicing procedure o Timetabling events o Diarise birthdays new ar
68. d written into the first main column and then their attendance each day recorded using a O or a for out and in B amp A Registers The Before and After School registers are made as weekly lists that are just photocopied from a template at the start of the year and any new children added to the bottom as necessary There is one register for the morning session and one for the afternoon session Each register has the child s name in the first column then a column for each of the days Monday to Friday that are subsequently divided into In and Out When the child enters the setting the time that they entered is recorded into the In column for the day When the child leaves either to go to school in the morning or to go home in the afternoon the time is recorded into the Out column This is not to determine the fees paid as it is set per session but for emergency and child safety to know exactly which children are in the setting at a particular time Contact Detail Record Cards The contact detail record cards are a set of record cards one for each child enrolled within the business that has their name on and the names and phone numbers of their emergency contacts These cards are important to keep constantly updated ready to be used in an emergency The main reason these are kept is because a record box is small and easy to carry out of the building in an emergency and easier to search than looking through the pile of contracts for
69. d by the Author The following solutions have been proposed to take into account the project specifications and the analysis The existing alternatives were also considered when generating these solutions These possible solutions have been explained in terms of the technical resources that would be used to generate the solution and some of the key IT functionalities they may provide 4 2 1 Microsoft Access Database Software Capabilities Microsoft Access is a simple to use database application It provides a solution to the problems as it has a number of functions that can be used to store process and maintain information that can be used everyday by the business Using the principles of a database management system information can be firstly stored within the application Forms generated by Access can be used to do this Using Access report functions a number of various documents could also be generated about children and contact details etc using the stored information Hardware Possibilities An application developed in Microsoft Access can be used on a Desktop PC or Laptop 4 2 2 Microsoft SQL Server Database Software Capabilities Microsoft SQL is a similar solution to Microsoft Access Microsoft SQL however has more functions and allows greater flexibility when it comes to designing a solution Its data and user interface can be designed separately from each other SQL Server also allows the information to lie on a networked PC
70. d out May result in difficulty calculating hours in case of staff sign in Not conforming to regulation if visitors do not sign in Giving notices to parents verbally Not all parents receive all of the information Complications in remembering what information has been told to whom Forgetting to update school tickets May result in staff waiting at school to pick up a child that has already been picked up by a parent May result in staff not picking up a certain child from school Forgetting to update holiday placement spaces list An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Holiday place may no longer be available for the child by the time the request has been remembered Loss of faith in the business by the parent Feasibility Report Problem Statement Problem Identification Problems identified by you rich picture Too time consuming Problems with ensuring the children at the setting are actually marked down on the various lists as present Messy file system Would like a computer on premises Trust issues with accountant Problems with recording Tuck Uncertainty regarding picking up children Staff do not always sign themselves in and out Staff time off arrangements 10 February 2005 11 Slide 11 Problem Statement Problems Identified when by You rich picture and the Implications of these problems on the business Too time consuming Producing and maintaining documents is eating in
71. d possible further solutions to be developed Prototyping has already been mentioned as a software development approach that would be suitable for this project This is because prototyping is iterative in nature it is designed so that solutions may be quickly implemented to gather requirements and feedback so a second prototype may be built Sommerville 24 and Matravers 27 highlight two different uses of prototyping in software 10 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days development that are particularly relevant to this project The first is an incremental notion that sections of the ideal solution may be modelled by the development of a number of prototypes in a modular format that are ultimately joined together to form the whole solution The second is the evolutionary notion where each iteration of prototype builds upon the last until a final complete version of the system is built A methodology that particularly enables quick construction of design in a logical manner and that from previous knowledge during the modules IS21 and SE22 gives good results when discussing the design of the system amongst people with limited IS knowledge is RUP RUP is predominantly a document driven methodology where document templates are used to cover all aspects of the project life cycle such as the Vision document for describing the problem definition and scope Although RUP is not strictly people centred unlike ETHIC
72. d that overall it provides a good representation of the system however it is limited in the information and aid that is given if something unexpected occurs or the abilities for particular events to be cancelled and what this means It was also noted that good descriptions were given of the time feature buttons and the actions they perform as this is not fully apparent from using the system however due to the sensitive nature of the information and the implications of pressing these buttons the stress placed on these buttons should be enhanced 49 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Chapter 9 Project Conclusion 9 1 Introduction To establish whether the project was a success the project must be evaluated to see if it achieved its original objects and minimum requirements It is also important to consider the lessons learned and the skills achieved from conducting this project The knowledge obtained that took the developer outside the boundaries of their degree is also described It is important to identify the achievements made in respect to Greenacres and what was ultimately provided for the organisation Suggestions for further work to be carried out for this project are made to conclude the project 9 2 Summary of Achievements 9 2 1 Minimum Requirements and Objectives To acquire and in depth understanding of ethnography techniques SSM and feasibility study An understanding of these techniques was
73. day Accounting Software This module deals with the financial side of the business that is paying bills and other expenses and looking at the total balance for the business There are further modules available that look at child to staff ratios and immunisation requirements Orgamation iCare Orgamation provides a management software package specifically designed for child care centres and preschools known as iCare The functionalities include enrolment scheduling staffing billing accounting financials time and attendance food program waiting list children and staff reviews and drop in centres iCare is based on their DCMS 9003 technology which allows you to create your own tables fields forms and reports and configure the interface you are working with also It allows a children s database contact database family database and staff database to be kept with all the required data inside them It provides functions for recording attendance including checking in and out times for children and allows scheduling of future enrolments and staff requirements It can deal with a number of accounting needs such as staff payroll bill payment and fee charging It can also generate a number of reports for managers staff and parents to use If needed it can also provide functions for planning mealtimes 87 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days OakTree Nursery Manager OakTree Nurse
74. ds a particular medicine the medicine name details of the dose and the child s name is written down in the book and the parents must give their initial written consent for that medicine to be administered in the form of a signature Subsequent doses of that particular medicine need only verbal consent of the parent The parent will notify the managers when a child stops needing a medicine and a note is then put next to that child and medicine in the book Accident Book The details of any accident such as a child falling and cutting their knee are recorded into the accident book This details the date and time of the accident the nature of the accident such as how the child fell etc the children involved if it was more than one and the staff member that was present and dealt with the accident and how it was dealt with This accident record needs to then be signed by the member of staff and the parent guardian of the child to acknowledge that they know the accident happened The parent is also given a copy of the accident details that they have signed Incident Book The incident book holds the same pieces of information as the accident book and requires he signature of both staff and parent however this book is used to record incidents such as a child biting another that have happened in the setting The behaviour of the child is monitored and reoccurring offences discussed seriously with parents and in some cases the managers
75. e e Any and all of the records relating to children that do not have a finish date A series of message boxes highlighting the importance of this feature and how it needs to be carefully used have also been implemented for this button It is important that the system is archived after it has been used for a playgroup year so we have an old system that holds the records for that playgroup year in it that may be filed away just as the managers would file away all the registers for a playgroup year Clicking on the Make this System an Archive button removes all the finish dates from the children in the archived system where the finish date entered for them is within that playgroup year for example if the archive system is called Greenacres Management System 2005 2006 it will remove the finish dates for all those children whose finish dates lie within the span of that playgroup year The update query that does this evaluates the dates entered for grant eligibility to determine the span of finish dates that it must make Null Removing the finish dates means that all the different searches now work for the children however it is not possible find out the date that a child finished from the archive To find out the date that a child finished a report has been created so the managers may print a list of children that have finished in a specified playgroup year from the current system It has also been made possible to search the current system
76. e information for that day Record the different types of tuck children can have Input information into tables to be stored permanently 110 Timetable the different education learning goals and activities into daily and weekly playgroup sessions Use a form to associate goals to particular dates An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Add children to a register automatically by specifying when they are due to start in the calendar When adding child details into computer add the date that they are due to start which will trigger their addition to the register for that day week Produce weekly lists of the staff that have worked that week and the numbers of hours they have worked Use queries to generate a list that can be either viewed or printed out for further calculation Financial Processing Schedule when different staff are due to be off on holiday or are off sick Use a form to timetable staff information for particular days and alter their payments for those days One integrated payment system Integrate fee and tuck payments into one system using tables and forms Provide a monitor of the staff available each day Use a viewing form to generate information on which staff are available working each day Produce a list of payments due and payments received for each child By aggregating the payments due tuck and fees in
77. e a waiting list using tables session types and queries Record details pertaining to Input information into tables to be grants and how they are handled stored permanently Record the businesses policies Input information into tables to be and rules regarding employees stored permanently Record the businesses policies Input information into tables to be and rules regarding child care stored permanently Record the different education Input information into tables to be learning goals and associated activities and templates stored permanently Be able to see the different information recorded for a particular day Generate a viewing form of all the information for that day 108 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Timetable the different education learning goals and activities into Use a form to associate goals to particular dates Produce weekly lists of the staff that have worked that week and the numbers of hours they have worked Use queries to generate a list that can be either viewed or printed out for further calculation daily and weekly playgroup sessions Add children to a register automatically by _ specifying when they are due to start in the calendar When adding child details into computer add the date they are due to start which will trigger their addition to the register for that day week Financial Processing One integ
78. e by the different people in the business The two main field guide informants 17 identified are the two managers Lesley Jones and Susan Pugh Other informants identified were the two playgroup supervisors and the other 7 staff involved in the day to day running of the playgroup The main liminal informants 17 identified were the Oldham Council Sure Start advisor and the parents of the children attending the various sessions 3 6 1 Interactive Research An interactive approach to research 17 section 3 was developed and carried out consisting of a structured interview with the managers an activity walk through then finally observation of and participation in the working practices during typical sessions of the Before and After School and the Playgroup All research was performed according to the scope and focus above 18 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days On the 9 November 2004 a meeting was held with the managers of Greenacres with the following agenda 1 Interview This was structured into a series of questions that would give valuable information about the manager s view of their current working practices and their visions for the future The interview was digitally recorded and the information gathered used during the analysis The questions asked can be seen in Appendix C 2 Activity Walk Through This consisted of a discussion over the different actions and events that
79. e of the feasibility report was considered to maximise the benefits of producing the report The report documented the problems found during the analysis and hence the 50 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days requirements for solution and the specifications of the ideal systems solutions An appreciation for the functionalities of existing solutions and how these contribute to providing a better quality solution was achieved A number of possible solutions were then generated and the feasibility of these solutions critically assessed The most feasible solutions were then further developed by assessing the potential cost and time requirements identifying the key tasks to be performs and assessing their abilities to meet the specifications for the ideal solution The first deliverable a presentation of options and recommendations documented in the report was then given to the managers of Greenacres to allow them to make an informed decision as to the way forward for the project A summary of the presentation and the findings of the report was given in the form of a handout to allow the users to deliberate over the recommendation and the specifications of the solutions Approval of the recommendation was given and a set of prioritised specifications formulated by the managers so that a prototype may be developed in the order of the most important functionalities Design implement a prototype to solve the working
80. e problems of data duplication and unnecessary rewriting of data also occur in the current filing system as many documents contain the same pieces of data Duplicated data creates the problem of updating a piece of information in numerous documents and the rewriting of data creates further problems in terms of transcription errors 2 4 Assumptions The assumptions I have made relate to the project as a whole as well as to the nature of the problem e The maximum amount the managers are willing to spend on the project is 400 e The managers have access to a desktop PC e The managers are willing to learn how to use the solution and their computer effectively e The managers would take up the offer of free milk if they could find the time to do the paperwork e The managers are willing to change some of the business processes if necessary to adopt the proposed new system 4 Possible Solutions There are a number of existing products available that use technology to facilitate the running of day care businesses Below is a list of these alternative products with a brief description of the functions that they can provide to day care business such as Greenacres A number of bespoke solutions have also been designed by the author that take into account the specifics of the business problems whereas existing products are generic in nature These are described in section 4 2 85 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days
81. e setting Wires must be tidied away so no one may trip over them Issues such as these are also highlighted in the National Standards stating that the setting must be a safe environment for the children to play in There are also 90 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days heath issues regarding the use of PC s and laptops over long periods of time such as Repetitive Strain Injury and eye strain and other ergonomic considerations 10 Conclusion The essential accomplishments achieved so far for the project are the complete full analysis of the current situation and through this report the identification of core business problems and other factors defining the creation of a solution Basic design plans have also already been drawn out for the chosen solution The next major hurdle is to create a full design specification for the chosen solution and to use this design specification to create a prototype that the managers can use to facilitate the day to day running of the business 11 References Existing Solutions ProCare Software 2003 2004 URL http www procaresoftware co uk Accessed 6 February 2004 Orgamation 2003 URL http www orgamation com Accessed 6 February 2004 KinderSoft 2002 2004 URL http www kindersoft co uk default aspx Accessed 6 February 2004 OakTree Nursery Manager URL http www activecode co uk oaktree2 htm Accessed 6 February 2004 ABC
82. e the correct children are present and the children counted If Determining the a child on the list has not come out of school their whereabouts is whereabouts of checked with a teacher at the school to see if they have already been children with the picked up If this is the case the child is crossed off the list and the teachers if not number of children updated The children are escorted back to the previously setting notified by Time Frame Daily PM parents see 1 7 Process 5 Holiday Period Process Once a holiday booking have been recorded during process 1 5 they are added to the holiday register for that holiday When the holiday period commences for example half term children come to the session from 7 30am to 5 30pm each day of the holiday bring a packed lunch with them for dinner as they would do for school At the start of the holiday session a register is taken to note the children present that has the times that they come in also similar to the B amp A registers Fees for the holiday sessions are calculated for each child in the payment book These fees are also subject to a note in the contract that says two weeks of holiday sessions are at half price for full time children and so the parent has to state whether this is so for that particular holiday period through the completion of a form detailing all the holidays and when the children will be attending If a child is expected not to attend a holiday session e g for two we
83. ecided that the various constraints described in Appendix L would be tested directly from their tables using the datasheet view of Access for tables All the constraints performed as expected when erroneous or unexpected data was entered e Correct Printing Each of the documents that need to be printed were checked to ensure that they were first previewed then printed correctly from using the custom menu bar for printing and that the information contained within them matched the information displayed on the previous screen They were also checked for general spelling errors or the cutting off of information accidentally Most of the reports displayed information as expected however some of the fields required extension in the event of increased information being added to particular field such as description fields e Correct function of Display Forms The display forms should all be modified so that data cannot be entered or changed using these forms There are also some fields in some add record forms that get their values from a previous forms These fields should not be allowed to be manipulated once information has been entered into them Most forms and fields with display only attributes performed as expected All the problems found during the developer s testing were fixed before the user s were shown the prototype as described in Chapter 7 40 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Chapter 7 Use
84. ecomes quick and easy once you get the hang of clicking in the fields properly The message boxes that are displayed when something goes wrong have helped us not to make the I same mistake twice 5 Are you concerned about any of the terms used within the prototype We had reservations at first about some of the terms used until they were explained to us when we were trained to use the prototype The provision of a glossary in the user manual has helped us get to grips with any of the unfamiliar terms 6 Do you feel that there is adequate security available There was no security in the initial prototype however from briefly looking at the final system and the user manual the security seems sufficient especially as we can change the passwords regularly 7 Are you confident in following the steps described in the user manual Are they explained in enough detail for you to be able to use them The user manual seems very thorough in its description of the things that can be done with the system Each description is thorough enough that other descriptions do not need to be read to understand what can be done with a particular button There is not very much in the trouble shooting sections lets hope that nothing much goes wrong 8 Do you believe that you will ultimately make use of the system that was handed over We are looking forward very much to using the system when it comes to
85. ed in conjunction with the register to record that How Shared that afternoon a child is not present at after school a O is put in the Out column of Ticket updated by they have been the register The child has already been crossed off the school ticket in the PM column Time Frame Daily PM manager passed to Staff who use for pickup who then pass back to managers for register crossed of Ticket as in 4 2 62 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Process Process Process Description Artefacts Involved Intangible People No Name information Involved involved 1 3 Happy Days Pattern of behaviour Children enter the Playgroup session at 9 15 Playgroup Register If a parent Supervisors Register and approximately 15 minutes are given for all the children to enter How Shared Used phones to say Managers Children that session The children are sat down and their names are called only by supervisors their child will Once they hear their name they go up to a member off staff to get their not be in they hand stamped and to be ticked off on the Playgroup Register are O on the Time Frame Daily Approx 9 30 register 1 4 Add new Pattern of behaviour When a new child wishes to join the Before Contract Must remember Parents children to and After School Care or the Playgroup The parent must fill out some Form to add the child Managers the Before documentation consisting of
86. eeeeeesecesecaeeeeeeseeseneesaeenaeens 52 9 2 3 Application of Ethnographic Techniques ceeceeeeseeeseeesceeseceeceeeeeneeeaeeeaeenseens 52 9 2 4 Appreciation of Legal Requirement ee eesceseceeeeeeeeeeeeseceseceseeeeeeseeeeeeesaecnaeens 53 9 2 5 Application of UME iste i sccsicesgesbedsacethteredbatacsbigas cede oriek esaia EE Es e EEE aE aN edee 53 9 3 Suggestions for Further Work isrener aona eneee ta ao aeaa in 53 AL COS AEE E E T E EA E E E 55 Appendix A Personal Reflection soossesocsosesesossoseoesocsoseossosssesossossoesocsessossosseseossossoesosseseossossesos 57 Appendix B Original Project Schedulle ccscccscssscsssssssssccscccssccsssccssscsesssssssecsnsssecssescseseees 58 Appendix C Interactive Research o esesoosossoesossessossossoesosseseosoossesoosseseossossesossoossessossesossoossessssoss 59 Appendix D Full Analysis Report e soesessesoossessosocssesoossessesoosseesosoessesoossesossossoesoosossossoesssssssoesose 61 Appendix E Rich Picture of the Current Situation soesosesesossessossossoesosseseossosecesossoseossosseseosees 75 Appendix F Business Process Flow Diagram sesssesosecssossessoesossessocsosecesosseseossosseseossoseessossesos 76 Appendix G Sections of Feasibility Report s sesoossessesosssssoosseesssocssesossossossocsoseoesocsossooseesossossosso 77 Appendix H Presentation Slides o0soosoosossessoesoseossossessossosse
87. eks during the summer as the parents are also off then a months notice needs to be given to the managers and a form filled in stating this The registers for the holiday period are then updated with the information from the forms filled out by parents during the year 69 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days 4 Artefact Definition Artefact Definition School Tickets The School Tickets are slips of paper that are generated daily by the managers They detail the names of the children that are being taken to school in the morning AM column and the names of the children that are being picked up from school in the evening PM column There are 4 slips generated each morning an infant s and a junior s slip for each of the two schools St Anne s and Greenacres The name of the school and which age group it is for each slip is not written on the slip as it is expected that the staff know from the children s names which school and age group the slip is for For each of the age groups and schools a template has been written up of the children that are likely to be on the list it is assumed this is generated at the beginning of the year when the children enrol These templates are then photocopied and children s names crossed off and or added when necessary each day for the two different times It may be for instance that Child A will need to be taken to school in the morning and so i
88. en well met We found that storage and display of information is simple and easy to achieve All the various information relating to a child can be quickly obtained which is important to us The documents produced look professional and are easy to create which would increase our reputation with parents We are happy with the production or registers even though registration is not carried out in the system as it is much better than the current way of registering I We would have liked more work to be done in terms of the processing of fees 46 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days 2 Are you pleased with the presentation of the documents that are produced The presentation of the documents produced is clear and professional All the information can be read and found easily within the documents 3 Are you pleased with the layout and structure of the prototype The system is easy to move through and the different tasks to do are ordered in a clear way The layout looks very professional and interesting makes looking at the screen a pleasure even if we are not quite sure what we are doing 4 How easy have you found it to get used to using the prototype We particularly like the help tips and help information displayed at the bottom of the screen and when you hover over buttons These have helped our understanding greatly Entering information b
89. er People Involved Involved action Text 200 Action taken by Action Taken by Staff Staff s_name Number NO FK You must specify the SELECT Staff Name Staff member s name member of staff that took Employee first_name care of the incident Employee surname Employee ID FROM Employee bound column Employee ID S_sig Yes No NO Yes Staff Signature Staff Signature The Staff Signature Obtained Obtained must be obtained for the incident to be recorded Parent s Guardian s Signatures may be obtained later f_des Memo Any Further Any further Description Description Necessary Medical Record Field Name Field Null Key Validation Rule and or Text Default Input Mask Caption Description Type Value Lookup Values date Date Time NO Date 00 00 0000 Date Started Date started taking 0 _ Medication medication first_name Text 20 NO FK First Name First Name of Child surname Text 20 NO FK Surname Surname of Child ID Number NO FK Child ID Child s ID Number med_name Text 30 NO You must enter the name of the medicine Name of Medicine Name of Medicine exp Yes No NO No Within Expiry Is the medicine within Date its expiry date 122 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Field Name Field Null Key Validation Rule and or Text Default Input Mask Caption Description Type Value Lookup Values dose Text 20 NO You
90. er of a parent e Standard 14 Documentation o Length of time records are to be kept 14 1 Under the Children Act Certain records must be kept on the premises and some must be retained for a period of two years o The remainder of this section details the necessary records that need to be kept how long they need to be kept for and where they need to be kept along with a suggestion of other documents that may prove useful for a business to have 15 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days One particular piece of legislation that must serve as a clear requirement of the system is the advice given in section 14 2 Availability of Records The guidelines state You need to ensure that the records you keep which relate to your activities as a day care provider NOT the business are available for inspection by Ofsted at any time This means that you should keep these records e On the registered premises when the out of school provision is running e Where they can easily be accessed but not by unauthorised people Standard 2 Organisation 2 5 If you keep records on computer you need to bear in mind e How the records can be shown to child care inspectors promptly if they ask to see them even if you or your manager are not present at the time For example if they are protected by a password it must be available immediately e Your responsibilities under the Data Protection Act If re
91. es Record details pertaining to grants and how they are handled Input information into tables to be stored permanently Record the businesses policies and rules regarding employees Input information into tables to be stored permanently Record the businesses policies and rules regarding child care Input information into tables to be stored permanently Store full details about staff and Input information using simple their qualifications forms to store in tables Recording Information Record details about accidents Input information using simple forms to store in tables Record details about incidents Input information using simple forms to store in tables Record details about fire procedures Input information using simple and incidents forms to store in tables Record which children have had Input information using simple which tuck each day forms to store in tables Record on the registers the times Input information using simple that children come in to the sessions forms to store in tables Record the times that staff come in Input information using simple for each session forms to store in tables Timetabling Information education associated Record the different learning goals and activities and templates Input information into tables to be stored permanently Be able to see the different information recorded for a particular day Generate a viewing form of all th
92. f names however the official name for them as listed on their Ofsted report 5 is Greenacres After School Care Happy Days When talking solely about the playgroup it is referred to as Happy Days and the managers often refer to the business simply as Greenacres For the purposes of this report the organisation as a whole will be shortened to Greenacres and the different types of childcare as Before and After School Happy Days or Playgroup and Holiday Scheme as appropriate 13 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days 3 3 Childcare Regulatory Bodies and the National Standards As with most businesses there are a number of regulatory bodies that govern and aid organisations in their provision of childcare to their community Indeed regulation and standards are particularly important within the childcare sector as families are entrusting the care and well being of their children to these organisations and will want to ensure that their children are receiving the same standard of care as they would do when being looked after at home In the DfES Departmental Report for 2002 6 there is a chapter on Early Years where the regulatory bodies associated with Under Fives education and care are identified It was found from this document that the main governing bodies are the DfES and the Office for Standards in Education Ofsted and these bodies work with an organisation
93. f potential information handling problems of the business These potential problems and the information sources they relate to are described below Problem ID Problem Implications of Problem D1 Information duplicated e Information updated in one document may not be updated in another document even though it should be D2 Documents are handwritten e Not everyone may be able to read the handwriting e Handwriting documents is time consuming e Handwritten documents can seem messy and disorganised D3 Photocopies are of poor quality e Photocopies may not be legible to all staff e Original copies may be lost and so poorly printed photocopies continue to be made D4 No backup of documents in the e Documents are completely lost and managers have to start from scratch event of fire burglary e Business could not continue without the documents D5 Time consuming e Producing and maintaining documents is eating into managers home time e Producing documents takes so long they may not be completed in time for when they are needed D6 Not immediately apparent e New staff members will have to be fully shown the ropes of getting to know what documents are and what documents are how they how they are used produced work e In particular if a new staff member is unfamiliar with children they will not be able to identify the School tickets D7 Giving notices to parents e Not all parents receive all of the information verbally Process 1 10
94. f the forms implemented for the creation of the prototype is displayed below ok 1G OS RGR RARE AccidentChildSearch 4Children AdultChildSearch BChildren Childi DispAccFind Child1 DispAccRec Child1 DispIncFind Child1 DispIncRec Child2DispAccFind Child2DispAccRec Child2DispIncFind Child2DispIncRec eR Fy Fy d d Fy Cy Cy Oy Oy BHAA A a ow PageDisplayChild PageDisplayChild1 4ccFind PageDisplayChild1 4ccRec PageDisplayChild1IncFind PageDisplayChild1IncRec PageDisplayChild24ccFind PageDisplayChild24ccRec PageDisplayChild2IncFind PageDisplayChild2IncRec PageDisplayEmp PageDisplayMed PageDisplayMed Dose AllEmpReport AllMedDetChildReport ChildReportDisp ChildReportEnrol ChildReportMod Contract GrantChildrenReport IncidentFindCchildReportCh1 IncidentFindCchildReportCh2 IncidentFindSignReportCh1 IncidentFindSignReportCh2 IncidentRecCchildReportCh1i IncidentRecCchildReportCh2 IncidentRecSignReportChi PageDisplayAdultForDispChild PageDisplayAdultForModchild PageEnrolChild PageMod dult PageModchild PageModEmp PageRecordAccident PageRecord ccidentFind PageRecordFurtherDose ageRecordFurtherDoseSearch PageRecordIncident PageRecordIncidentFind PageRecordNewMedical4dd PageRecordNewMedicalFind BHABHA Go ee PagesTemp screenshot of the forms implemented for the creation of the prototype is displayed below IncidentRecSignReportCh2 NewMedDetSignReport Register4Cchildren RegisterBChi
95. f the system can fully constructed before the technical implementation is begun The design stage is intended to make the implementation of the system as easy as possible In this chapter the design for the full ideal systems solution is developed First the techniques used to design the system are considered The system s interface and structure is then designed with particular consideration for the limited technical knowledge of the users The overall systems design constructed through a UML workshop with the users is then described Translation of the UML diagram into a database design and an E R diagram of the system concludes this chapter 5 2 Design Techniques and Structure Following the user centred approach it was concluded that user participation in the design of the system plays a key role to producing an effective design that would suit the needs and the level of technical knowledge of the users As a result it was decided that users would participate by organising a design workshop that would allow participation in all aspects of design As highlighted by Enid Mumford and the ETHICS methodology 4 the amount and nature of the user s contribution must be decided before the workshop takes place The workshop was therefore structured into a series of steps that would be followed to ensure user participation in the design The workshop structure was as follows e Discuss Design Duration 2 3 hours o Discuss the importance of st
96. ffer of free milk if they could find the time to do the paperwork The managers are willing to change some of the business processes if necessary to adopt the proposed new system 10 February 2005 Feasibility Report Project specification We have all these problems but what do we want for our solution Project Specification lt THE ANSWERT Goals that if met would solve the problems The IDEAL solution 10 February 2005 95 Feasibility Report Project specification The Ideal Solution Some of the goals outlined in report Record the different education learning goals and associat ed activities and templates Enter details about each of the different adults associat ed to a child and their cont act details Store details about whether a child is eligible f or a grant or not and for how many terms Record on the generated registers the times that children come in to the sessions Timetable the different education learning goals and activities into daily and weekly playgroup sessions Schedule when different staff are due to be off on holiday or are off sick Producing school tickets aut omatically from filling in the register Generate a register of children attending the different sessions aut omat ically for each week One integrated payment system Calculate money that has gone into and come out of the business each week to give the balance of the cash box Make regular backups
97. file system Manager think bubble e Cannot access documents if needed e Information is not recorded in time as documents could not be found e Information is forgotten to be added as document wasn t found at the time 83 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Problem ID Problem Conflict Area Implications of Problem IN6 Documentation takes too much Manager think e Producing and maintaining documents is eating into managers home time time bubble e Documents not made to scratch done at all because of lack of time IN7 No formal policy on the amount of Observation e Managers and other staff have to cover at short notice reduce employee notice staff give before having days morale off e Not enough staff to look after the children child to staff ratio No formal procedure for organising e May be disputes in pay if not documented which staff are off when replacement staff No formal e May mean the staff who fill in do not have correct qualifications to be procedure for noting which staff looking after children what if random inspection occurred are off when IN8 Keeping registers up to date Supervisor think e Children are missed off the registers bubble e Impromptu adding of children one week may still mean they are missed off in further weeks IN9 Staff do not always sign Managers concern e Calculating the number of hours a member of staff has worked is difficult themselves in and out
98. for the specific child to just find out their finish date as the child details searches have not been implemented with the date_fin Null criterion The problem of grant eligibility term dates and the fact that they would change each playgroup year was solved by creating a table that would store only one row consisting of the three start dates which could be modified each year through use of a form The code for determining grant eligibility was then modified to evaluate the dates in the table and the child s date of birth in determining the eligibility of the child A number of If statements are parsed before the function to reaches its conclusion check if the child is too young to attend playgroup check if the child is too old to attend playgroup check if eligible starting September check if eligible starting January check if eligible starting April check if not eligible for free place until next year Once the information has been determined the grant start date or other information is displayed in a message box and then appropriate fields filled in automatically on the child enrolment form for example ticking the playgroup session box and entering the term date 43 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days The need for security and passwords was met by creating a password table where the password would be stored and two forms one which would appear on system start up requiring you to enter a pas
99. formation Involved involved 1 Administration Processes 1 1 Morning Pattern of behaviour Children enter Before school session School Tickets Spoken word Staff Register Their names are ticked off on the school tickets for AM B amp A Registers that a child will members Children The time they enter is recorded next to their name in the In column of Daily and Weekly not need picking Managers the register Changes Book up in the If a child is not present by the time they are due to be taken to school a How Shared Tickets afternoon for O is put in the In column of the register and the child is crossed off the updated by manager that day action school ticket passed to Staff who is to cross then The expected number of children to be taken to school is totalled and use for pickup who off Ticket and O written on the school ticket then pass back to them on Register Any information regarding picking up for that afternoon is altered on managers for register the school ticket and register Time Frame Daily AM 1 2 Afternoon Pattern of behaviour Children enter After school session School Tickets Spoken word Managers Register The time they leave after school is recorded next to their name in the B amp A Registers from a teacher Staff children Out column of the register This says that the children have attended in Daily and Weekly that a child has members conjunction with the school ticket Changes Book been picked up The school ticket is us
100. from people centred information systems and project management modules IS33 SE22 and the need for an appropriate timescale and handover technique has been drawn from S21 and IS31 Evaluation techniques have been considered in project management and people centred information systems however more research was conducted into this subject Previous experience of the nature and difficulties in running a childcare facility has been drawn from the experience of the developer s mother Producing project reports project management and project sign off and evaluation have also been experienced during a number of work placements undertaken by the developer each summer 1 7 Organisation of the Report The report has been organised into logical chapters describing the life cycle of the project from initial requirements gathering to development then evaluation Each chapter has been introduced and will set out what the chapter intends to describe to the reader and what was achieved for the project Each chapter has then described the background knowledge that has been obtained that is relevant to the contents of the chapter The main body of the chapter then follows divided into logical sections that show the development of the achievements of the chapter through time Chapter 1 is the main introductory chapter to the project and defines the aim objective and the approach of the project It highlights the project schedule and the relevance of the projec
101. grants and how they are handled One integrated payment system Record the businesses policies and rules regarding employees Produce a list of payments due and payments received for each child Record the businesses policies and rules regarding child care Record the different education learning goals and associated activities and templates Calculate the cost of tuck and provide a breakdown of the tuck a child has had each day Record the different types of tuck children can have Calculate the fees payable for each child Enrolment Staff and Child Enter details about each of the different adults associated to a child and their contact details Calculate money that has gone into and come out of the business each week to give the balance of the cash box Non Functional Specifications Associate a child with a number of adults Real time updating Store full details about each child as required by the standards Storing all details in one place Store details about whether a child is eligible for a grant or not and for how many terms Make regular backups of all the information in case of theft or burglary Provide passwords to make the information more secure 104 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Feasibility Report Possible Solutions First let us consider the existing solutions ABC Software KinderSoft
102. has a bearing on the school lists 38 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days which are just lists of the children that attend the before and after school and the particular school they go to regardless of whether they have actually attended that day or not as was the original intention The payment systems specifications were not included in the prototype functionality as time was not permitting 6 5 Developer Testing and the need for End User Testing Before the prototype can be used to gather user feedback and to undergo end user testing it must undergo testing by the developer so the user s use may go as smoothly as possible End user testing is an important stage however as testing by the developer will mainly be to ensure that if the prototype is used correctly everything will run smoothly however the user s use of the prototype may return some unexpected errors from use that the developer has not foreseen As the developer has a good knowledge of how an Access database works and how information should be entered into forms and what buttons do the users may use the prototype in unforeseen ways and so find weaknesses and errors in the prototype The test plan constructed by the developer aimed to test the prototype in 4 main areas smooth traversing and correctly display of menus and forms correct constraints on fields of all forms correct printing of required documents correct function of display onl
103. he balance was the Week Accountant accounts for the account What money has come in and from where See 3 2 and How Shared This 3 3 and what money has been spent and where e g NI Tax and sheet is sent to the finally the total that should be in the box ready for the current week accountant for This information is sent to the accountant by post and accountant adds inclusion in the main this information to the main financial accounts of the business accounts Time Frame Weekly production Yearly sent to Accountant 339 Generating Pattern of behaviour Following the determining of the number of Working Hours Book None Managers pay slips for hours staff have worked See 3 1 the total hours for each member of Pay slip Accountant staff staff is phoned through to the accountant The accountant then How Shared generates a pay slip for that member of staff and posts these back to Working hours the playgroup information phoned Time Frame Weekly through to accountant 3 6 Handling Pattern of behaviour Children who are eligible for an early Contract Form Managers Grants for education place are identified when they are enrolled for the playgroup Payments book Parents Playgroup and the date from which they can start receiving the grant determined How Shared Oldham children A form detailing these children is then sent to the Oldham council Used by managers Council official Money is then allocated to the playgroup by the Government
104. he prototype The approach to training taken to allow the users to make full use of the system before giving feedback is a mixture of demonstration and application To enable this two computers were used the developer s laptop and the users laptop with the prototype being opened ready for use on both the laptops The developer then demonstrated each of the different buttons and aspects of the system and at each step requested that the users do the same so they could get a feel for the system To conclude the training the developer used role play and the construction of scenarios for the users to practise using the prototype as they would at work 7 3 Use of prototype and End User Testing Following user training the users were observed for approximately an hour using the prototype typing in existing data from their records and participating in role play in order to test the prototype effectively As this session also doubled up as end user testing the developer considered the objectives of this use were to identify any anomalies or errors occurring through incorrect and unfamiliar use of the system 41 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days 7 4 Final Prototype Changes Due to the permittance of time a second iteration of the prototype was undertaken to develop the prototype into a system in itself that may be handed over to the users and used yearly by them There were a number of points and func
105. he session e Introduce the analysis and provide a high level view of the situation as seen by the ethnographer Through the use of the rich picture Explain that the rich picture incorporates some of the concerns and suggestions made by staff and managers 21 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Discuss the flow diagram which identifies the processes were seen as daily activities and their flow throughout the day the processes that are strictly done by the managers and those processes involving records and the filing system Explain that it was ascertained that the filing and manager processes may happen at any time within its specified timeframe whereas almost all of the daily processes are guaranteed to be undertaken every day Use the flow diagram to highlight a process then go through the exact details of the process and its related documents and people that have been described in the full analysis report Allow any clarifications or any new information to be added by the managers if necessary Gain approval of the feedback so may move towards construction of a feasibility report 3 6 5 Outcomes of Feedback This rich picture was well received by the managers and they were in agreement of the problem areas identified It provided a good starting point to further discussion about particular areas and processes of interest The process flow diagram was also well received by the managers and they were
106. he user know where to look for help in both the prototype and user manual 126
107. hing those goals to the children is necessary in order to receive a grant A long term planning sheet is produced every year for the different topics or subjects that will be taught to the children attending the playgroup for that year At least one subject from each of the main areas in the learning goals file should be taught to the children per year Mid term list A mid term list is generated to plan monthly the activities related to the learning goals that will be done with the children This list or chart is pinned to the notice board to inform parents and other staff members of the topics that will be taught Weekly list From the mid term planning list weekly lists highlighting the subjects to be taught each week and the activities that will be done with the children on particular days are produced These are used by the managers to plan with the supervisors what will be done with the children each day Staff Details Book The Staff Details book records the name address and contact details of each member of staff working for the business It also holds details of the qualifications each member of staff has and the working hours that were agreed upon when the member of staff first started work for the business Medicine Book The Medicine book holds details of all the children who have been administered a dose of medicine during their time at the setting and the medicine that has been administered When a child first nee
108. hool Care Happy Days Goal Goal Specification Priority Number 4 3 Add children to a register automatically by specifying when they are due to 1 start 4 4 Schedule when different staff are due to be off on holiday or are off sick 4 4 5 Provide a monitor of the staff available each day 5 Producing Information 5 1 Producing school tickets automatically from filling in the register 1 5 2 Produce a list of the early learning goals and activities that are planned for 4 the year and the dates they are expected to be done on 5 3 Produce an updated list of emergency contact details for each child 1 automatically 5 4 Generate a register of children attending the different sessions automatically 1 for each week 5 5 Produce a list of the staff due in for a particular day 4 5 6 Produce weekly lists of the staff that have worked that week and the 3 numbers of hours they have worked 6 Financial Processing 6 1 One integrated payment system 2 6 2 Produce a list of payments due and payments received for each child 1 6 3 Calculate the cost of tuck and provide a breakdown of the tuck a child has 2 had each day 6 4 Calculate the fees payable for each child 1 6 5 Calculate money that has gone into and come out of the business each week 1 to give the balance of the cash box 7 Non Functional Specifications 7 1 Real time updating 1 7 2 Storing all details in
109. i satio ns Other Condderati ons Address Line 1 Address Line 2 Related to records attendance of Week Expected Date Expected Fire Drill Goal Number used for Fi o ea 7 3 inti oal Number Mid Term Aanning poal Description L Achieved i Goal Title Month Eirias Gpal Planning Page reference in QCA Manual Week Expected 7 System Long Tem Planning Month Expected En 114 Playgroup Register List of Children Names attending Stamped B amp A Register List of Children Names attending Goal Planning Leaming Goals i Grouping of children Na me of School Total Numb er of Children General Aspects An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days ild Firs ri Child Surnam Adult Oth Irr muni ations nding ction Number ction Det mplete incom Dp criptioi ild 4 en loli da MOSM nount detemine s detemines SOUR GeeE Accounting Aspect 115 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Appendix L Prototype Tables Forms Reports and Queries Tables Note These are the tables that were created for the prototype More tables were created for the system that was handed over The Null column indicates whether Nulls are allowed or not Accident Field Name Field Null Key Validation Rule Default Va
110. ide of the business that is paying bills and other expenses and looking at the total balance for the business There are further modules available that look at child to staff ratios and immunisation requirements Orgamation iCare Orgamation provides a management software package specifically designed for child care centres and preschools known as iCare The functionalities include enrolment scheduling staffing billing accounting financials time and attendance food program waiting list children and staff reviews and drop in centres iCare is based on their DCMS 9003 technology which allows you to create your own tables fields forms and reports and configure the interface you are working with also It allows a children s database contact database family database and staff database to be kept with all the required data inside them It provides functions for recording attendance including checking in and out times for children and allows scheduling of future enrolments and staff requirements It can deal with a number of accounting needs such as staff payroll bill payment and fee charging It can also generate a number of reports for managers staff and parents to use If needed it can also provide functions for planning mealtimes 106 OakTree Nursery Manager OakTree Nursery Manager is a piece of software developed by ActiveCode Ltd to provide a simple way of managing the nursery efficiently Some of the functionalities of
111. ided to children and a system that will allow information to be updated quickly and at short notice 4 3 2 Specification for an Ideal Solution Following the identification of the requirements a specification of the functionalities of an ideal solution may be drawn up The specifications were grouped into the following more general headings 1 Initial Information the solution should be able to store all initial information that largely remains unchanged such as the session timings and price and the learning goals Enrolment Staff and Child the solution should allow children and staff to be enrolled into the business and the relevant details stored about them Recording Information the solution should allow all required information to be stored about particular events such as accidents or when children attend sessions Timetabling Information the solution should allow times to be associated to particular events and documents so events occurring on a particular date may be displayed Producing Information the solution should allow documents requiring signatures or hard copies of other documents to be produced as required Financial Processing All the financial transactions such as fee and tuck payments should be integrated into one accounting system that allows records of accounts and receipts to be displayed and printed 25 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days 7 Non Fun
112. ied by managers and staff during the interview session An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Feasibility Report Problem Statement Problem Identification Problems identified when looking at processes A lot of problems The Good News Slide 8 amp 9 Problem Statement Problems Identified when looking at Processes and the Implications of these problems on the business Time and manpower required to update contact record cards 1 6 Contact cards might not be up to date when they are needed May not be the staff available to update the cards Staff that should be looking after children are tied up in updating the cards Two different payment processes 3 3 3 2 Keeping two different payment systems up to date is time consuming May be that payment books are not always up to date May forget to record a payment or record tuck spending or fees for a child May be disputes over the fees due if children were not there May be disputes over how much a child has eaten for tuck parents may be unwilling to pay Multiple registers for B amp A children 1 1 1 2 Children might not be ticked off on the register and subsequently not on school tickets Creates confusion between staff and managers as to who is in and who isn t May eventually lead to payment disputes as identified in P2 Leads to confusion between timings registers and simple in
113. ilestones in providing this recommendation given The recommendation was made based on its ability to meet the specifications of the ideal solution the technical capabilities of the users the assumptions made the costs associated to the solution and the timescale remaining for the project The recommendation made to conclude the report was the implementation of the Microsoft Access Database only as the development of any spreadsheet modules would be outside the feasible timescale for the implementation of a prototype 28 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days 4 4 Feasibility Report Presentation of Options and Recommendations A presentation of the options and recommendations was given to the managers on the 11 February 2005 This presentation is mainly a summary of the feasibility report that was constructed aiming to deliver the points of the feasibility report to the managers who may not understand the technicalities discussed in the report and also do not have the time to read the full feasibility report The presentation slides and the handout that was given out at the presentation may be seen in Appendix H and Appendix I respectively The presentation was well received by the managers and after some of the finer points were discussed it was agreed that for the next meeting the managers should consider the proposed solutions and choose one that would best suit their needs It was also decided tha
114. in agreement with the depiction of how the processes fitted together and the headings they come under Justification for conducting this feedback session has been provided not only by receiving the approval of the managers but by the fact that additional process and documentation clarification was provided during this meeting that would have an impact on the derivation of a solution including 22 Free milk for playgroups The managers currently do not participate in this Government scheme and so documentation of this is irrelevant Early Education Places It was originally thought that parents were still asked to pay fees if their child was on a free place and that the fees were refunded to them when it was collected by managers Clarification on this was sought and found that the parents are not charged any fees at all the organisation just receives money to compensate for fees lost every quarter Special needs children There are no children with known special needs currently attending any of the sessions and so the managers considered it unnecessary to document how these children are cared for and recorded about The documentation for enrolling children The developer was unclear about the nature of and information contained within the contract and so the managers were able to provide a full sample contract for the developer to analyse and document An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Chapter 4 Rec
115. ing temporal attributes 26 into the underlying database and operations into the functionality In terms of the actual functionalities developed in the first prototype omitting the incorporation of time no additional functionalities of the ideal solution were incorporated into this end system A user manual was created to support this end system and on the 8 April the system and user manual were formally handed over to the end user The evaluation of the prototype and user manual is an important part of this project The evaluation techniques used include ethnographic observation and interviews Evaluation Criteria were formed for the deliverables to be tested against including not only usability and functionality criteria but also the National Standards criteria established in section 3 4 The evaluation of the prototype consists of the user feedback obtained and the information obtained from observing the use of the prototype The user manual was also evaluated in respect to its usability and clarity To complete the project a conclusion has been written to assess the degree of success or failure of the project by discussing the achievements made including those that bring the project outside the boundaries of the developer s degree programme and an examination of the project s success at achieving the minimum requirements and objectives Throughout the project life time has been taken at each stage to document the proceedings such as
116. ing the evaluation of the prototype produced for Greenacres Jackson 22 highlights some factors that need to be considered when choosing an information gathering method in that the method used depends on the type of evaluation being performed It is possible to adapt his teaching oriented evaluation stages over to relate to the project stages requiring evaluation Particular evaluation methods highlighted that can be related to this project are Interviews Focus Groups Observation or ethnography and Confidence Ratings Referenced within 22 is a further resource known as the Evaluation Cookbook 23 This gives further information on these evaluation and data gathering methods and also identified Checklists and Trials as further methods that could be related to the project Evaluative ethnography techniques have proved particularly useful in this stage of evaluation and are discussed not only in 23 but in the paper by Hughes et al 16 The technique used was to observe the use of the prototype by the managers at a distance to shed light on how the users actually intend to use the system During the evaluation the developer also used the system from the users perspective participation and alongside the user to gather evaluative feedback Confidence ratings or logs were seen as being particularly valuable for gathering true user feedback to ascertain how competent and confident they feel about using the prototype and how confident they feel
117. ing to the guidelines given by the governing body Ofsted Supervisor The job of the supervisors is to be the next in charge of the running of the playgroup and before and after school sessions during the day If the managers are not present or are busy with other activities the supervisors are responsible for taking registers of the children and organising the children s activities The supervisor s role is more that of looking after the children and ensuring that they have enough activities to do and that the children are safe They have very little or no paperwork to do except for taking registers and recording children s Tuck There are two supervisors that work together to oversee the playgroup and before and after sessions Accountant The accountant s role within the business is purely functional and not associated with the care aspect of running the business Their job is to calculate staff payslips and the year end accounts of the business It is the feeling of the managers that the accountant does not correctly calculate staff wages and so they would like to be able to check the accountants wage calculations for themselves 73 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days 5 2 Groups Staff Members As a group the staff members role is to take the children to and from school safely and ensure no child gets lost along the way They help within the setting premises as assistants to look after the
118. is project was devised is Krishna Sissadia The National Standards that have been set out by Ofsted may be seen as the main governing legislation for Greenacres and so it is important to ensure that any system that is proposed will allow the business to achieve these standards Greenacres first inspection report 5 provided me with further details about the business as described in section 3 2 The childcare the business provides comes under the headings of Sessional Care and Out of School Care where the guidelines for Out of School Care cover the Before and After School and the Holiday Scheme Ofsted have published guidelines to the National Standards for each of these types of care 7 8 14 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days 3 4 Impacts of the National Standards on this Project To summarise section 3 3 any system devised must comply with the National Standards to allow the organisation to pass its inspection It is expected that the devised system will be most impacted by the legislation relating to the recording and storing of information generated day to day by the business as this is the obvious primary benefit using IT can give Because of their importance the guidelines identified will serve as criteria for the evaluation of the system The National Standards guidelines of the two types of care that are particularly relevant are e Standard 2 Organisation o Records 2 6 Under the Children Act
119. is provided each provider is helped by the local branch of an organisation named Sure Start The assessment of the quality of the childcare and conformance to the National Childcare Standards is undertaken by an organisation named Ofsted The partnership of Greenacres After School Care Happy Days is a childcare provider that aims to tackle the issues of providing care so parents can work and giving the children a good foundation for further education Their before and after school scheme and holiday scheme help parents to make the most of the jobs available to them and the playgroup Happy Days scheme ensures young children develop of the skills they need for when they start school Running an organisation that provides these different types of childcare schemes is both time consuming and complicated The managers not only have to handle the business aspects such as buying supplies and the administration and daily registration of children but also look after the children during the day and so focus on their well being and safety This situation is currently further exacerbated by the fact that all their records administration details and registers are generated from age old photocopies then modified and worked on by hand Some records are also recorded in standard exercise books with little or no referencing in these books making finding particular information a long and almost impossible task The hand written presentation of these documents
120. is wa gov portfolio 202G htm Accessed 3rd November 2004 11 Milwaukee School of Engineering EE407 Feasibility Study Report Format August 2002 URL http www msoe edu eecs ee seniordesign EE407ReportFormat pdf_ Accessed 21 January 2005 12 David A McMurrey Recommendation and feasibility reports in Online Technical Writing Online Textbook URL http www io com hcexres tcm1603 acchtml feas html Accessed 21st January 2005 55 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days 13 Christine McMullin The Feasibility Report Assignment 6 of the course English 202D at Pennsylvania State University USA 2005 January 2005 14 Jason Burke and Andrea Kirk Ethnographic Methods 2001 URL http www otal umd edu hci rm ethno html Accessed 25 October 2004 15 Hughes et al Working with Constant Interruption CSCW and the Small Office Computer Supported Cooperative Work pages 275 286 1994 ACM Press 16 Hughes et al Moving out of the Control Room Ethnography in System Design Computer Supported Cooperative Work pages 429 439 1994 ACM Press 17 David R Millen Rapid Ethnography Time Deepening Strategies for HCI Field Research Symposium on Designing Interactive Systems pages 280 286 2000 ACM Press 18 Avison DE and Fitzgerald G Information Systems Development methodologies techniques and tools 3 Ed McGraw Hill 2003 19 D Couprie et al Soft Systems Methodology
121. isters the times that children come in to the sessions Record the times that staff come in for each session Timetabling Information Be able to see the different information recorded for a particular day Timetable the different education learning goals and activities into daily and weekly playgroup sessions Add children to a register automatically by specifying when they are due to start in the calendar Schedule when different staff are due to be off on holiday or are off sick Provide a monitor of the staff available each day Producing Information Producing school tickets automatically from filling in the register Produce a list of the early learning goals and activities that are planned for the year and the dates they are expected to be done on Produce an updated list of emergency contact details for each child automatically Functional Specifications Generate a register of children attending the different sessions automatically for each week Initial Information Produce a list of the staff due in for a particular day Record details on each of the different sessions including cost times and dates and the max number of children that can attend sessions Produce weekly lists of the staff that have worked that week and the numbers of hours they have worked Have a waiting list for different session types Financial Processing Record details pertaining to
122. k the time How Shared Staff members are in Supervisor worked they started and similarly sign out once they leave At the end of the book used by staff on which days as s week ready for the next week the Staff Book is used with a Working and supervisors they forget to Managers Hours Book to write in the number of hours done each day for each Working Hours Book sign in and out member of staff then these hours are totalled used by managers Time Frame Weekly Monday only 3 2 Processing Pattern of behaviour Either a cheque or cash payment is given to the B amp A Payments Book Need to Parents payments managers by either the children or the parents This payment is entered Playgroup Payments remember when a Managers made by into the Payments book in the Amt Received column on the particular Book parent child has parents for child s page that is making the payment The money is put into the Receipt paid money in to both Before cash box The figure in the Ant Due column is updated Upon meeting Tuck Book give the parent a and After with the parent a receipt is given for the payment How Shared receipt School Care Depending on the child s free place status as identified in process 3 6 The receipt is given and the some parents may not need to pay fees during certain terms to the parents by Playgroup Money may also be given specifically for Tuck in which case the managers who keep a balance for the child in the Tuck book is altered see 3
123. ldren RegisterHChildren RegisterPChildren TicketGI TicketGI TicketSAI TicketSAI ChildDisp PChildren ChildFindGen ReportAdultChildDispA ChildrenGl ReportAdultChildDispC ChildrenGJ H ReportAdultChildEnrolc ChildrenSal ReportAdultChildMod ChildrenSAJ ReportAdultChildModc EmpSearch Reportalicontacts GrantChildren ReportChildDisp Hchildren ReportChildEnrol IncidentChildSearch ReportChildMod Med DoseSearch ReportEmp MedSearch H ReportMedSearch The queries that prompt for the child s name have a single asterisk next to them An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Appendix M Visual Basic Codes Records found field code Records Found amp Count lt fieldname gt where fieldname is a piece of information that is guaranteed to be in the table being searched upon i e the table s primary key Navigation button code Private Sub Next_Click On Error GoTo Err Next_Click DoCmd GoToRecord acNext Exit_Next_Clic Exit Sub Err _Next_Click MsgBox This is the last Record vbOKOnly Records Found Resume Exit _Next_Click End Sub Private Sub Previous_Click On Error GoTo Err _Previous_Click DoCmd GoToRecord acPrevious Exit_Previous_Click Exit Sub Err Previous_Click MsgBox This is the first Record vbOKOnly Records Found Resume Exit_Previous_Click End Sub No Records Found code Private Sub Form_
124. ldren workmen and any business officials or guests of the managers such as myself 5 4 Organisations Ofsted Ofsted is a non ministerial government department that aims to regulate the running of playgroups and day care providers early years childcare to ensure that they are providing a good standard of care and provide good documentation as to the day to day running of a business of this type They undertake yearly inspections of the business to ensure that they are following the national standards that the DfES have provided and comment on how well they are following these and how they could be improved Ofsted work with the local authorities to help them help these early years childcare businesses improve their operations by giving them information Ofsted s Guidance on the National Standards advice and training to ensure that they are following regulation and providing the necessary documentation Oldham Council Sure Start Oldham In accordance with the DfES all local authorities have a department associated with early education childcare and this department is run by the organisation Sure Start Oldham s Childcare department is known as the Children s Information Service and is run by Sure Start Oldham The representative from Sure Start Oldham working with the Greenacres After School Care Happy Days is called Krishna Sisadia Her role within the business is to provide information and advice on the National Standards and how t
125. lines Stepping stones None Managers activities as to the education of children during their playgroup year 242 3 5 QCA early learning Staff according to Long term planning is first done to decide which learning goals the goals file Members QCA children will be doing for the year then in more detail a topic for a Weekly list Supervisors Regulations month to finally producing a weekly list of activities for the playgroup Long term planning Ofsted children according to the previous aggregated planning list Oldham Time Frame All year round Weekly generation of activities Mid term list Council Rep 2 7 Filing Pattern of behaviour All the documents discovered within this All documents None Ofsted documents analysis session apart from the daily school tickets and the master Oldham documents templates are filed for the minimum of 5 years Council Time Frame All year round Yearly Rep Managers 66 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Process Process Process Description Artefacts Involved Intangible People No Name information Involved involved 3 Financial Processes 3 1 Determining Pattern of behaviour Staff tend to have a set number of hours in Staff Book Visually spotting Staff the number which they work that they are given when they start the job However Working Hours Book which staff Members of hours staff when staff come in to work they must sign in the Staff Boo
126. lue Input Caption Description Type and or Text Lookup Values Mask date Date Time NO Date 00 00 000 Date of Accident Date of Accident 0 0 _ time Date Time NO Time 00 00 0 _ Time of Accident Time if Accident nature Text 200 NO You must type in the Nature of Accident Nature of the Accident nature of the accident what happened Child Affected 1 Number NO FK There must be at least SELECT Child first_name First Child Involved First child involved in one child involved Child surname Child dob the Accident Child ID FROM Child bound column Child ID existing _inj_1 Text 200 Existing Injuries Existing Injuries injury_ob_1 Text 200 Injury Obtained or Injury Obtained or Other Information other information Child Affected 2 Number FK SELECT Child first_name Second Child Involved Second child involved Child surname Child dob in the Accident Child ID FROM Child bound column Child ID existing _inj_2 Text 200 Existing Injuries Existing Injuries injury_ob_2 Text 200 Injury Obtained or Injury Obtained or Other Information other information other_inv Memo Other People Involved _ Other People Involved action Text 200 Action taken by Staff Action Taken by Staff s_name Number NO FK You must specify the SELECT Employee first_name Staff Name Staff member s name member of staff that Employee surname took care of the Employee ID FROM accident Employee bound column Employee ID
127. mises Trust issues with accountant Problems with recording Tuck Uncertainty regarding picking up children Staff do not always sign themselves in and out Staff time off arrangements 10 February 2005 Feasibility Report Problem Statement The BIG Picture Number of issues when conducting day to day business Problems arise from time management issues disorganised filing issues Time issues affect how much document ation can be provided How up to date business document s can be kept Whether documents meet the regulat ory st andar ds Filing issues mean Documents may f ail to be updat ed inst ant ly areliance on managers and other staff member s memory Poses problems as if critical inf or mation is not remembered it could lead to the overlooking of a child and the possibility of poor child care Data duplication and unnecessary rewriting of data Duplicated data means updating a piece of inf or mation in numer ous documents Rewriting of data creates further problems in terms of transcription errors 10 February 2005 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Feasibility Report Problem Statement Assumptions The maximum amount the managers are willing to spend on the project is 400 The managers have access to a desktop PC The managers are willing to learn how to use the solution and their computer effectively The managers would take up the o
128. must enter a dosage amount for the Dosage Amount The required dosage medicine amount of the medicine dose_give Yes No Dose Given Dose Given date_dose Date Time Date 00 00 0000 Date dose given Date dose given 0 _ time_dose Date Time Time 00 00 0 _ Time dose given Time dose given consent Yes No NO Yes Consent Obtained Consent Obtained Consent to administer a new medicine dose must be obtained from the parent guardian This should be in writing if it is a new medicine If it is a further dose verbal consent should be obtained either in person or by phone reason Text 200 Reason for giving Reason for giving medicine medicine 123 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Forms A screenshot of the forms implemented for the creation of the prototype is displayed below BHAA RBAAAAAAw xm MainA amp ccident MainContact MainEmployee MainEnrolment MainEnter MainIncident MainMedical MainMenu MainRecord MainRegister MainTemp PageAdda dult PageAddEmp PageDisplayAdult orts Reports gt AccidentFindchildReportCh1 AccidentFindCchildReportCh2 AccidentFindSignReportCh1 AccidentFindSignReportCh2 AccidentRecchildReportCh1 AccidentRecCchildReportCh2 AccidentRecSignReportChl AccidentRecSignReportCh2 AdultChildReportDispA AdultChildReportDisp AdultChildReportModA AdultChildReportModCc AllContactsReport Queries A screenshot o
129. n Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Feasibility Report Feasible solutions Access Database and Spreadsheet modules Cost Estimate gt If purchasing PDA it e Backup costs 20 00 60 00 gt Printing costs ongoing ink cartridge costs 15 00 per month Time Estimate 4 weeks to complete Slide 22 Feasible Solutions Access Database with Spreadsheet Modules Enrolment Staff and Child Enter details about each of the different adults associated to a child and their contact details Input information using forms to store in tables simple Associate a child with a number of adults Associate a child to an adult using primary and foreign keys Store full details about each child as Input information using simple required by the standards forms to store in tables Store details about whether a child is Input information using simple eligible for a grant or not and for how many terms forms or generate automatically using query from grant info already stored and DOB Functional Specifications Initial Information How Accomplished Record details on each of the different sessions including cost times and dates and the max number of children that can attend sessions Input information into tables to be stored permanently Have a waiting list for different session types Generate a waiting list using tables and queri
130. n is a busy and noisy environment and as the video recorder was placed in a fixed position for observation it missed some of the processes that occur completely Transcription of the various ethnographic sources into one complete document was effective in ensuring that no 52 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days information captured from the different sources was missed out in the construction of the analysis The methodical highlighting and addition of the data into the analysis report was considered a most effective technique as time and time again the information in the document was read through so a clear and detailed picture could be developed in the mind which would reduce the need to keep referring to the analysis during the formulation of the possible solutions as the current practices would be well known The use of ethnography during the evaluation gave a clear picture of how well the users were able to adapt to and familiarise themselves with the prototype being providing invaluable information in terms of the usability of the prototype At the end of the day it is believed that the use of ethnography was a great help in the understanding of the current working practices and usability of the prototype and enabled the developer to put themselves in the managers shoes It is believed that the level of knowledge and appreciation of the working practices obtained through the use of this technique could
131. n of some flexibility for more advanced users and for when the end users become more advanced by making sure tab sequences were correct for moving through fields and enabling the mouse wheel scroll function The prototype was deemed easy to control by the user and 48 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days had freedom of navigation although in efficiency terms some forms did take some time to load initially and this was frustrating for the users as they thought they had dome something wrong 8 6 User Manual Evaluation Outcome The user manual was evaluated in terms of the usability heuristics described in Fig 8 3 1 and for its overall clarity It was scanned briefly by the managers but also read by the developer s mother who it is believed has the same level of knowledge of terms and experience of Microsoft Access as the managers The outcomes of the evaluation feedback gathered from the two participants are as follows e Real world conventions It was concluded that the user manual effectively used real world terms and descriptions throughout justified by the ease of understanding of the manual and the provision of a detailed glossary for terms that were deemed more technical and unfamiliar The functions of the system were described in familiar terms to aid the understanding of the purpose of the functions e Practicability The positive evaluation of the practicability of the user manual was justified in a
132. n the child leaves to go home in the afternoon the time is recorded into the Out column Again this is for security reasons and in the event of an emergency to know which children were present at what time as there is a set fee for the sessions Letter Letters to parents are usually handwritten and detail some specific information to the parent that is not a general notice It is rare that any general notices will be given to parents in the form of a letter because the letters are handwritten 72 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Artefact Definition Form for A form is given out to all parents who have requested their children to attend holiday holiday sessions This form details the actual holiday sessions that the child will need caring sessions for as parents will most likely take at least some days off when their child is out of school and the 2 weeks worth of sessions that the parents would like at half price Contract The contract form currently consists of 3 separate sheets of paper one which has Form general definitions of terms and guidance of procedures to follow for example payment queries be directed to managers one which details the timings and fees for each sessions and the terms of contract that the parents must sign and one that captures all the contact details and other important information that must be obtained for each child being enrolled See Contract
133. n were watched and compared to the scripts taken during the time at the setting to check if there was anything in the video clip that had not been picked up during scripting Overall the use of video did not yield as much information as was expected as the scripting already covered much of the information gathered from the video and also because of the noisy and busy atmosphere of the setting it was sometimes difficult to see or hear any important activities that were happening The pictures taken were predominantly of the documents used by the organisation to convey the nature of the information stored within these documents The information gathered form these pictures was particularly useful for the definition of artefacts and conveying information about documents especially since samples of documents used were not available for the developer to take away This information was also added into the main data document to produce a full set of data extracted from all sources Once this main document had been produced it was read through once and each piece of data marked as to whether it was information relating to a process a document or a person Other information obtained such as suggested requirements of the managers or concerns of the staff were also marked to identify them as other pieces of useful information that may be used elsewhere in the analysis To ensure that each piece of information within the document had been considered and incorpora
134. nature of their contribution to the total design process must therefore be made An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Another methodology that is considered to be a soft system approach but has more structure than the ETHICS methodology is Soft Systems Methodology This methodology is classified as an organisational oriented methodology by Avison and Fitzgerald 18 This methodology uses a variety of techniques to aid the development of a project through its stages Once such technique known as a rich picture allows the developer to convey using pictures that do not follow rules and conventions the nature of a problem and the various people systems and objects they interact with and highlight areas of conflict between different items This technique is further discussed in section 3 6 ETHICS and SSM have very different guidelines when it comes to design The ETHICS methodology s approach to design is to first specify social and efficiency objectives then specify the social alternatives and the technical alternatives match the social alternative to the technical alternatives rank these in terms of how well they meet the objectives then select the best solution 4 This is rather similar to conducting a feasibility study As this has been specified as one of the important requirements for this project to repeat this method again for the design would herald no extra information and so his approach t
135. nd After School B amp A Registers about a child preparation children are updated with information relating to children for that Daily and Weekly that has been of the School week that has been entered into the Daily and Weekly Changes book Changes Book remembered by Tickets and Information is entered in the Daily and Weekly Changes book when Contract Form a manager that register the managers are notified by parents either by phone or in person How Shared No was not noted Once that information has enabled the school ticket and register to be sharing managers down in the modified appropriately it is crossed off in the book New children are only involved Daily and also written down in the daily change book to be added for their Weekly Changes starting week Children are rarely removed from the lists or register Book permanently Phone calls from Time Frame Weekly Monday Daily if parent phones up during the parents during day with information the day 1 8 Weekly Pattern of behaviour Every week the Playgroup register may change Daily and Weekly Remembering to Managers preparation due to children entering the Playgroup The register is rarely altered to Changes Book add a child from Supervisors of the remove a child from playgroup except at the end of the year If anew Playgroup Register the contract if Playgroup child is expected to start that week either by notification in the Daily Contract not put in the Register and Weekly changes bo
136. nd other factors defining the creation of a solution Basic design plans have also already been drawn out for the chosen solution The next major hurdles are to decide on the most important specifications to model create a full design specification for the chosen solution and to use this design specification to create a prototype that the managers can use to facilitate the day to day running of the business ow Its Your Turn To Decide 10 February 2005 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Appendix I Presentation Handout Feasibility Presentation Notes to the Slides Date 11 February 2005 Presented by Gemma Snowden Project Overview What is the aim of this project How will it be done Where are we now Project Definition Analysis Feasibility Analysis lt a et 2005 2 Slide 2 Project Overview Aim The aim of the project is to identify the opportunities in using IT for improving the work practice and information management involved in running Greenacres After School Care Happy Days How it will be done Applying SSM and ethnography in the investigation to improve the quality of the recommendation Designing a solution with the use of UML techniques and create a prototype to hand over to the end users Evaluation of the effectiveness of this prototype will conclude the project 99 Feasibility Report 2 Problem St at ement Research on Problem
137. nes Version2 12 Dec 2004 Date Reviewer Summary of changes Added information gathered from Feedback session 1 Introduction This document is intended to show the procedures used and the results of the ethnographic analysis of the day to day running and administration of Greenacres After School Care Happy Days 2 Structure of this Document This document intends to analyse the data collected during the interviews with managers and the ethnography sessions held at the setting The processes or work practices have first been identified and analysed to consider the artefacts intangible information and people involved in each process The nature and information held within the identified artefacts has then been analysed and documented The people involved have then been described and considered in terms of the importance and nature of their involvement within the working practices 2 1 Dates and times The ethnography session took place between Tuesday 9 November and Wednesday 10 November 61 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days 3 Process Identification The table below aims to clearly show the processes identified and analysed as a result of the ethnography session the artefacts and other information related to that process and the people involved during that process Process Process Process Description Artefacts Involved Intangible People No Name in
138. nformation has allowed the scope focus and the informants 17 to be identified before the interactive research using ethnography techniques will begin The scope of the research will cover the working practices of the Before and After School and Playgroup Such things that are not included in the scope are the accounting methods of the business as a whole the provision of a dancing class for After School children the process of buying and maintaining the supplies for the organisation such as food cleaning materials etc and longer term activities that cannot be fully researched given the time limitations of this project If time and convenience allows the scope may be extended to include the Holiday Scheme and the long term planning of Early Years Learning Goals which are taught to children attending the playgroup The focus and particular questions to be answered by the research include e Identifying the current processes that occur daily weekly and if possible in the long term e Identifying any artefacts that are currently used e Identifying the people informants involved at any and all stages of the business cycle e Determine what types of information and data are used and how or if it is stored e Witness and record the interactions of the informants with one another and the nature of sharing information within the business e Identify how and when these processes and interactions occur within the business and how much work is don
139. ng any any After School After School Sessions Sessions hol_child Yes No No Will the Child be Will the Child be attending any attending any Holiday Holiday Sessions Sessions school Text 50 Greenacres School School Child The School the Child Infants Greenacres Attends Attends School Juniors St Annes School Infants St Annes School Juniors ID Auto NO PRI Number 119 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Employee Field Name Field Null Key Validation Rule and or Default Input Mask Caption Description Type Text Value Lookup Values first_name Text 20 NO You must enter a first name Employee First Name Employee s First Name for the employee surname Text 20 NO You must enter a surname Employee Surname Employee s Surname for the employee add_1 Text 40 NO You must enter the Address Address Line 1 employee s address add_2 Text 40 NO You must enter the Address Line 2 employee s address enter the town in the second line if you have not put anything p_code Text 7 NO You must enter the gt OL 0 OLL 0 _ Post Code Post Code for example employee s postcode OL3 4DG tel_1 Text 14 NO You must enter a contact 0000 amp amp 000000 Contact Telephone Contact Telephone Number number for the employee Number 1 1 fo
140. ng of the project enforced Perform a context analysis examining the National Standards pertaining to Childcare providers and their impact on this project 25 10 04 07 11 04 The impacts of the National Standards have been determined and documented Analyse the current situation using ethnography techniques and rich picture conduct interviews and visit the setting for work practices observation 08 11 04 18 11 04 interview and observation 09 11 04 and 10 11 04 A full view of the current situation has been gathered and the results of the analysis documented Obtain clarifications and approval of the documented analysis Document the clarifications and feedback obtained 19 11 04 05 12 04 meeting held 19 11 04 Approval obtained and additional information added to final analysis documentation Conclude feasibility study with a feasibility report to be present to managers 06 12 04 10 02 05 Feasibility report produced Holiday and Exam Period 27 12 04 31 01 05 Present the findings of the feasibility report in the form of a presentation summarising the main points obtain approval on the way forward sign off the feasibility report 10 02 05 25 02 05 presentation 11 02 05 sign off 23 02 05 Sign off of the feasibility report and agreement on prioritisation of specifications An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy
141. ng practices into processes seemed the most appropriate split as the interview was focused on identifying processes and working practices and the observation and scripts taken at the setting showed clear repeated patterns of these processes The further split into the documents people information sharing and intangible information at each process seemed to produce the clearest picture of what actually occurs during each process It was deemed that any IT system produced will inevitably focus on capturing and storing information and the production of information to share with others and so the particular focus of the analysis on these areas was further enforced There are a number of ways in which the initial data gathered could be used and manipulated to produce this clear analysis of the problem and derive main outcomes described in 3 6 3 The method used by the 19 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days developer was to aggregate the scripts audio visual and picture sources gathered into one main data document that could then be analysed The handwritten scripts were firstly typed up into the document The audio clips taken were listened to and transcribed into the document During the transcription of the audio mention of processes documents and people were particularly listened for and fully transcribed whereas other items were just listed or mentioned briefly during the transcription The video clips take
142. ng to the priorities agreed with the users To evaluate the prototype and make refinements if necessary for the final version To handover the ownership of the system to the users 1 3 1 Minimum Requirements The minimum requirements of this project that will be considered during the evaluation are 1 2 To acquire and in depth understanding of ethnography techniques SSM and feasibility study Document the results of the analysis on the current working practices of the organisation and their requirements for an IT solution Produce a feasibility report into the possible solutions to the problems with the organisations working practices and get approval on the way forward Design implement a prototype to solve the working practice problems Produce a summary of user feedback and an evaluation on how the created prototype provides a solution to the problems Further enhancements to this project with the allowance of time after all minimum requirements have been completed are 1 Modify the demonstration prototype into a system that may be given to the organisation to use year on year this system will still only provide the agreed functionality Handover this final system with a full User Manual Evaluate the effectiveness of the handed over system and the quality and clarity of the user manual Deliver a system that solves all the working practice and information management issues identified An Information System f
143. niques 2 2csi seuieie ieee aici ee eM Aes Beli 23 4 3 Construction of Feasibility Report eccccccccesseceececeeeeeeeceesaeeeaaeceececeeeeecaecesaeceeaueneaeeeeteeees 24 4 3 1 Assessment of the Requirement cee ceecesesseeeeceeceeceeceseeeseesaecsaecsaeesseeeneeeaes 24 4 3 2 Specification for an Ideal SolUtion nn ee ees ceseceeeeseeeeeeeeseesaeceaeeeeeeseeseaeeeaeenaeens 25 4 3 3 Identification of the Existing Alternatives ee cesceseceseeseeeseceseceseceaeceeeeeneenaes 26 4 3 4 Generation of the Possible Solutions cceeecceeseceeseceeececeeeeeeeeesaaeeeaaeceeaeecneeeeaeees 27 4 3 5 Feasibility Assessment of these Solutions ei eeeeeeeeeeseeneeceseceeceeeeeeeeeeeecaaeesaeens 27 4 3 6 Provision of a Recommendation ce ceeeeeesseeeseeeseceseceeeeseeeceeesaecaeesseeeeeseeeseneeaaes 28 4 4 Feasibility Report Presentation of Options and Recommendations ceeeeeseeeseeeteeeeeeees 29 4 5 Agreed System Specifications eniinn i ei aelevs siolewtoesesev ni 29 Chapter 5 System Desionssiicciscccccsassescdsovasccvsisonsssnoneeseceseseteseucssonceescecsessevaubesceacesensessansesagsesavorsacsseeses 30 5 1 JEOiO KOIG LELOA ATOS i PERPE NEEE ENTE E EEE E E A E 30 5 2 Design Techniques and Structure cecesecssesseceseeeseecscecsaeceeceseceseecaaecaaecsaeeeeeeeseaeeeaaeeaaees 30 5 3 System Interface and Structure seisein t eai eearri raa 31 DS Menys and FOrMS erena er aerae a e as OE Aa eE ERER 31 53 2 Doc mentS oeeaaeaii E 33 3
144. not drawn e There may be pay disputes between staff and managers IN10 Forgetting to write things Managers e Information does not get updated down forgetting to do things Supervisor concern e New information does not get added to documents not drawn e Do not conform to regulations e Children get overlooked IN11 Would like a computer on premises Managers concern e Children do not get to learn about IT not drawn e Managers have to print out all documents and are entirely paper based whilst at the setting 84 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days All of these problems can be aggregated to provide a clear statement of the problem Greenacres encounter a number of issues when conducting their day to day business The problems arise from the underlying time management issues and disorganised filing issues The issues of time affect how much documentation can be provided relating to the business as well as how up to date business documents can be kept Due to lack of time business documents may also occasionally fail to meet the regulatory standards until the managers have more time to spend on them The filing issues also mean that documents may fail to be updated instantly and so a reliance on managers and other staff member s memory is created This poses problems as if critical information is not remembered it could lead to the overlooking of a child and the possibility of poor child care Th
145. not included as it contains some information already been included in this report such as the rich picture Appendix E and the specifications for the ideal solution see section 4 5 4 3 1 Assessment of the Requirements Assessment of the requirements for an IT solution involves identifying the particular problems within the current situation The problems within the processes and documents and the problems identified by the managers were identified and the implications of those problems noted This identification of problems then allows the specifications for a solution to be devised In summary of the full requirements assessment that can be seem in Appendix G the main problems and their implications are e Time and manpower for updating documents reduces staff available to actually look after children documents have to be updated in personal time e Two different payment processes confusion for parents and managers as to what has been paid received disputes over payments made e School tickets and registers sometimes do not correlate and preparation is time consuming documents become unreliable data has to be updated on multiple documents e No formal rules for signing in out of staff and visitors staff disputes over pay as this is calculated from when they sign in out regulation and safety breach e Planning early learning goals is time consuming and complicated playgroup children may not be receiving the maximum education available e
146. nts made by parents is provided by the managers This is done using a standard receipt book with the date and the amount paid 70 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Artefact Definition Playgroup Payments Book The Playgroup Payments book holds information about the amount of money in terms of fees owed by each child attending playgroup The book holds the child s name the balance that is due and the various transactions that have occurred with parents when they have paid previously and how they have paid i e cash cheque Staff Book The staff book records the times that each member of staff comes in and out of work for each day of the week These times are recorded to determine the number of hours that staff have worked for each week so that their pay can be determined Stepping stones QCA early learning goals file The public body QCA in conjunction with the DfES and Sure Start have produced a file of learning goals that the children in the playgroup should be helped to achieve by the time that they are ready to attend nursery These learning goals are divided into six different areas such as numbers and letters weather or important people and some of these should be taught to the children during their year at the playgroup in order for the playgroup to receive the early education grant Long term planning list Planning of the goals described above and actually teac
147. o best adhere to them and also to provide information on the Early Education Places Scheme run by the DfES and how this should be implemented for the children attending Happy Days playgroup that are aged 3 to 4 74 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Appendix E Rich Picture of the Current Situation ur OES Hovwecan we help i ili d are they up to are they documenting Saas o EN bare OFSTED Sabicea atte correctly eaten acilities lt r Our current system is disorganised and D t gt Po Sldham counei lt s gt Potential Parents te amp estoo much time A D je Current Parents Contact Records gt a 7 pes Filing System Managers i ae for books and REN x records s az x O Receipt g Letters Can we trust our accountants 666 Se i n ee L Register X Fy How do we record childrens School E Tuck wes Supervisors _ Ae E a o ii sete External aie aa y Z aie gt _ gt Parties Eran R D x Conflicts x People 66 6 School tickets Are registers up to date vith the children Staff 7 lt SS Accountants Are the pickup tickets up to date re the children getting picked up by the right people 75 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Appendix F Business Process Flow Diagram Daily Processes ae
148. o date e May forget to record a payment or record tuck spending or fees for a child e May be disputes over the fees due e May be disputes over how much a child has eaten for tuck parents may be unwilling to pay P3 School tickets and 1 1 4 1 e Lead to confusion when taking and picking up children from school as in the numbers of children registers sometimes do 4 2 1 2 that are being picked up dropped off not correlate e May miss a child to take to school as not filled in on register and so crossed off school ticket P4 No formal rules for 1 11 3 1 e Staff and visitors forget to sign in and out signing in out of staff and visitors e May result in difficulty calculating hours in case of staff sign in e Regulation states visitors must sign in 79 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Problem Problem Related Implications of Problem ID Process es P5 Must check daily 1112 e All information is not guaranteed to be in the daily changes book changes book and make 1 4 1 7 1 8 e Cross checking daily changes book with all other documents is time consuming changes to the various e May be errors in transcription documents regularly e May have to search way back into book to find information that needs to be updated for today some information may be missed P6 Multiple registers for 1 1 1 2 e Children might not be ticked off on the register and subsequently not on school
149. o design does not suit this project The SSM methodology also breaks down the problem this time into a series of root definitions tasks that need to be completed which in turn are used to build up a series of conceptual models of the system which are what activities the system would do in order to achieve the task described in the root definition These conceptual models are then made more detailed expanded and compared against what is happening in the real world As one of the aims of this project is to involve users that do not have background knowledge of how system design works it is believed that this method is too complicated as well as being too time consuming for this project The resulting conceptual model may be too technical or complicated to talk through with the end users Issues of scope may also come into play as the users will have many ideas which will turn into root definitions of what the system should do and so analysing each definition would take too much time 2 4 Software Development Approach It is important to consider methodologies and their approach to the software development aspects of a project in order to choose some guidelines that would best fit this project The approach to software development considered most appropriate for this project is one which may quickly and clearly construct a design for a solution and allow users to participate in the design and one which allows the construction of a sample solution an
150. o five different areas process and data oriented object oriented rapid development people oriented and organisational oriented Of these the people and organisational oriented methodologies are considered during the examination of the socio technical approach in section 2 3 and the object oriented and rapid development methodologies considered in the software development approach in section 2 4 It can be seen however that all methodologies run through a series common components or phases whether they are soft or hard One classic methodology with defined phases is the Waterfall Model The Waterfall Model 27 is often described as having seven phases Project Planning Problem Definition Analysis Design Implementation Testing Deployment and Maintenance Planning and Deployment are sometimes just assumed and are missed out as stages This classic cycle has been used for projects over many years but if followed exactly has been found to often lead projects to failure The essences of the terms however are still used in projects today it is the way these stages are completed that influence success Another set of methodologies that has the major components of IS Development identified in the waterfall model is iterative methodologies for example prototyping and Rapid Application An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Development 27 Iterative methodologies concentrate on completing the stages of the pr
151. o include the other activities of the organisation such as the dance class to be provided for by the system 53 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days 54 Development of a full accounting system for the organisation to eliminate their reliance on an external accountant A critical evaluation of the use of the system over a year to determine how well the solution produced aids the managers Further analysis of other day care centres to extend the system into a generic package that may be useful for many organisations Extensions to the system to allow the organisation to create its own reports and forms Extensions to the system to incorporate other useful packages such as word processing and publishing packages so increased professionalism and reputation can be gained Extensions to the system to include pictures of the children so they may be identified easily An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days References 1 Jason Charvat Understanding Project Methodologies in Project Management Methodologies Selecting Implementing and Supporting Methodologies and Processes for Projects pages 1 28 February 2003 Wiley Publishing 2 Avgerou C and Cornford T Developing Information Systems concepts Issues and Practice oe Edition 1998 Macmillan 3 E Trist et al The Social Engagement of Social Science Volume II The Socio Technical Systems Perspective Tavistock Insti
152. o the storage and display of information The forms created to achieve these specifications have been shown in Appendix L The forms that begin with the word Main denote the Menu forms created The forms beginning with Page are either display or addition forms that retrieve from or add information to underlying tables A number of PageDisplayChild forms have been created This is because these forms are displayed as a result of clicking a button on another form once a piece of information has been added to this form for example the PageDisplayChildl AccRec form will find the child details DisplayChild for the child that is named as the first child involved in an accident that is currently being recorded 1AccRec The MainTemp and PagesTemp forms are templates upon which the creation of the menus and forms were based to achieve some basic standardisation of the menus and forms created For the forms where new data is added to the database the forms are linked directly to the underlying tables For the display and modification Mod forms the forms are linked to queries that retrieve data from the underlying tables based on the information entered in the parameter prompts invoked when the query is run If the data in the underlying tables matches the criteria specified the information is returned in the form otherwise a message box appears with the message No Records Found When more than one record is ret
153. occur throughout a day from 7 30 when the business opens until its close at 17 30 It was explained to the managers that any extraordinary activities should also be mentioned during the walkthrough There were a number of generic prompts that were used by the developer to try to get the most out of the walkthrough these have been shown in Appendix C 3 Observation of and Participation in an After School Session at the Setting The processes involved in conducting the after school session the were observed using ethnographic techniques such as scripting taking audio and video clips and taking pictures of notice boards and displays used by the organisation I also participated in taking a register of the children and during the pick up of the children from school On the 10 Nov 2004 further observation and participation was carried out using the ethnography techniques described above this time during a Before School Session and a Playgroup Session In the sessions I participated again in taking registers and update emergency contract cards for children attending the setting 3 6 2 Analysis of Data Gathered A thorough analysis was performed of the data gathered over the two days The aim of the analysis is to decompose the current situation into firstly the processes that occur the documents used and people involved in each process and identify the information sharing and intangible information within each process Splitting the current worki
154. od used to obtain the feedback and the main outcomes resulting from the feedback 3 2 Greenacres Organisation and Human Resources Greenacres Before and After School Happy Days is a childcare provider within the district of Oldham Council The organisation ultimately consists of three different types of childcare the before and after school that caters for up to 66 children aged between 3 and 8 for one and a half hours before school which starts and 9 00 and until 17 30 when school finishes each weekday during term time Happy Days Playgroup which takes up to 35 children aged between 2 and 5 for playgroup sessions lasting between 9 30 and 13 30 during term time and the holiday play scheme which runs for 66 children aged between 3 and 8 from 7 30 to 17 30 during school holidays 5 The organisation consists of two managers Lesley Jones and Susan Pugh who will be the main contacts during this project two supervisors who predominantly oversee the children s well being and activities during the sessions and 7 members of staff who generally look after the children during all these sessions and are required and take the children to and from school The premises they use for this service also known as the setting is located at Greenacres Methodist Church and consists of two floors the ground floor which is used for older children usually aged between 6 and 8 and the first floor for younger children The organisation is known by a number o
155. of all the inf or mation in case of theft or burglary Provide passwords to make the information more secure 10 February 2005 Feasibility Report Possible Solutions First let us consider the existing solutions ABC Software KinderSoft ProCare Child Care Centre Management Software Orgamation iCare OakTree Nursery Manager 10 February 2005 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Feasibility Report Possible Solutions My possible developed solutions Microsoft Access Database Microsoft SQL Server Database Web based Solution Spreadsheet Based Solution Access Database and Spreadsheet modules ot 2005 Feasibility Report Evaluation of solutions Evaluate the solutions based on TELOS Technical feasibility Economic Feasibility Legal feasibility Organisational Feasibility Social Feasibility Give reasons for accepting and rejecting each of the possible solutions a 2005 96 Feasibility Report Evaluation of solutions Microsoft Access Database Microsoft SQL Server Database x lt Web based Solution x lt Spreadsheet Based Solution x lt Access Database and Spreadsheet modules Sys 2005 Feasibility Report Feasible solutions e Provide a more detailed evaluation of the two accepted solutions Evaluate the solutions against the ideal solution goals Establish the tasks to be accomplished and the cost and time estimates A
156. oject quickly and repeating them a number of times throughout the timescale of the project to arrive at a final iteration which should be the best model of the entire project and draw on lessons learnt and the results of previous iterations Repeating stages does provide noticeable benefits particularly the use of prototyping for the design and implementation phase The Information Systems Life Cycle is described by J Matravers 27 as refinement of the waterfall model for the process of information systems development It adds an important stage the feasibility study stage which better tailors the project to understand the real world situation and develop a feasible solution to the problem the project is trying to solve Further discussion of the feasibility study and its importance in this project is given in section 4 2 2 3 Socio Technical Approach In Chapter 8 of Avgerou and Cornford s book 2 the different general approaches to information systems development such as engineering socio technical and ad hoc are highlighted and give an overview of the methodologies appropriate to each approach Based on this research it was decided that a socio technical approach would be taken towards the project The socio technical approach was introduced by the Tavistock Institute 3 in the 1940 s and developed well into the 1980 s unlike traditional software engineering approaches and hard system approaches this approach focuses on the s
157. ok or simply from a new contract their name Form Daily and is added to the register How Shared Weekly Changes Time Frame Weekly Monday Managers prepare Book these for Supervisors 64 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Process Process Process Description Artefacts Involved Intangible People No Name information Involved involved 1 9 Generating Pattern of behaviour and are given to parents mainly to notify them Letter Parents letters to about fee payments How Shared Managers parents Time Frame All year round as and when Given to parent or child by manager 1 10 Giving Pattern of behaviour Other notices to parents are usually given None Verbal Managers notices to verbally to ach parent e g we will be closed next Monday communication Parents parents Time Frame All year round as and when between parent and Manager 1 11 Signing Pattern of behaviour When a visitor comes to the playgroup e g Visitors Signing In Visual sighting Visitors visitor s in myself or an inspector they are required to write in the Visitors and Out Book of the visitor Managers and out Signing in and out Book for possible emergency reasons and to know How Shared may mean they who is in the building when Used by visitor s for have not signed Time Frame All year round as and when the managers in the book information 2 Recording Processes 2 1 Recording an Pattern of beha
158. olutions Generated by the Author included 4 2 1 Microsoft Access Database included 4 2 2 Microsoft SQL Server Database included 4 2 3 Web based Solution included 4 2 4 Spreadsheet based Solution included 4 2 5 Access Database and Spreadsheet Modules included Evaluation of Solutions Feasible Solutions Chosen Solution Other Issues to be Addressed included Coe TO A a Safety Issues included c Legal Issues 9 Gantt Chart 10 Conclusion included 11 References included The full report was 40 pages long and was completed on 9 February 2005 77 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Executive Summary This report assesses the feasibility of providing a solution to the problems presented by the paper based file system of Greenacres After School Care Happy Days The problems concerning the paper based system and the amount of work involved in maintaining it are considered and a problem statement is developed These problems provide the basis for creating goals and requirements that the solution should meet if it were the ideal solution Existing solutions and the system designs created by the author are then explained and evaluated in terms of their technical economic legal social and economic feasibility Feasible solutions from this evaluation are then explained and considered in more detail in terms of how well they meet the goals and requirements of the ideal solution and
159. ome of the most natural criteria to evaluate the prototype against the legislation identified in section 3 4 Functional criteria have already been devised in the form of the specifications of the ideal solution Finally through concern over the managers technical ability the usability and the clarity of the prototype and user manual have been considered by adapting usability heuristics to evaluate these two deliverables The legislation criteria to be used for the evaluation are as described in Chapter 3 4 The functional criteria used are the specifications of the ideal solutions as described in Appendix J The usability criteria intended to be used are summarised as Error Prevention Real world Conventions Practicability Display of Information Consistency and Standards User Control freedom and efficiency Error Messages Flexibility and Help Information Full information of the measurements that these criteria take may be seen in Appendix N 8 4 User Feedback User feedback of the system was gathered as part of the evaluation process via a final interview with the managers to discuss the prototype and the user manual developed The final interview was structured into a series of questions to provide information that could be used to determine the outcome of the evaluation process The questions asked and a summary of the user feedback obtained are described below 1 Do you feel that your needs for storing and producing information have be
160. ommendation and Specification 4 1 Introduction The construction of a feasibility report will allow the specifications for a solution and a recommendation for the managers to be formulated In this chapter the techniques of conducting a feasibility study and the format of the feasibility report is first discussed The construction of the feasibility report and the steps taken to do so are then described The presentation of the report to the managers and feedback obtained on how to best proceed developing a prototype and an agreement of the specifications concludes this chapter 4 2 Feasibility Study Techniques A number of resources have been consulted to determine an appropriate method for conducting a feasibility study All the resources conclude that a feasibility report is important to assess both the economic and technical benefits and costs of implementing a particular system or a number of systems Matson 9 the Washington State 10 and Avgerou and Cornford 2c all highlight that the feasibility study should be conducted after the project aims and objectives have been identified and that it will highlight the different possibilities for a system that have been designed or researched into The aim of the feasibility report is to assess the costs and benefits of any ideas generated It is a decision making tool aggregating all the relevant information on a proposed solution and the current situation so managers may make an informed decisi
161. on Matson 9 states that a feasibility study should be conducted on real world projects with real problems and situations therefore it is appropriate for one to be done within the scope of this project The term feasibility study not only includes producing specifications and recommendations but includes the initial analysis of the current situation and research into existing solutions to allow formulation of these recommendations In reference to the format and information contained within a study there is a general consensus between the resources that organisational legal social technological and financial issues need to be included however each resource provides different guidance on how to write these issues into a report Matson 9 discusses that variations in the presentation of issues will depend upon the critical factors of that project and the method chosen to conduct the study More emphasis may be placed on particular areas of the study depending on the needs and requirements of the recipients i e the managers Three formats have been found when it comes to writing the actual report that identify what information needs to be gathered and what other steps need to be taken to support the decision making needs of the managers and contribute to the overall project 11 12 13 The feasibility report format shown in 11 was found to be the most relevant for this project as it first documents the project definition and p
162. one place 1 73 Make regular backups of all the information in case of theft or burglary 1 7 4 Provide passwords to make the information more secure 1 8 Additional Specifications added by managers during session 23 02 05 8 1 Enter child s name and all information comes up on the click of a button 1 fees owed session info contact details etc 8 2 Produce receipts of payment for adults once they have paid as proof they 1 have paid as well as recording this on the system 113 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Appendix K UML Diagram of the System Medical Record Incident Record Date of nd dent z Child Surna me Time ofIncident Grant Infomation Medication Name Nature of Incident Acddent Record Eligibility Period 1 14 September Within Expiry Date Chlid Affected 1 Record Dea Sn zlenoiy penod a tanuan Dosage amount Exiting Injuries 1 i 5 R T Eligibility Period 3 1 4 April Dosage Given Injury Obtained 1 System Wi o Pai Date and time of Dosage Child Affe ded 2 uati Consent R eceive d Exiting Injuies2 Exiging Injuiest Reason for giving medicine Injuries Obtained 2 Injury Obtained 1 OtherPeople Involved Child Affe ded 2 Action Talen By Staff igi ae Grant Start Period Grant End Period Parent Guardian 1 Parent Guardian 2 Parent Guardian 3 Parent Guardian 4 Allergic to Plaste ts Other Allergi es and Health Isues mmun
163. op and interview to improve the quality of the design e Development of Greenacres Management System and user manual to hand over to the managers at Greenacres e Critical evaluation of the prototype and user manual against the National Standards agreed specifications and heuristic criteria and assessment of user feedback II An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Acknowledgements I would like to thank everyone who contributed and aided me in the completion of this project In particular I would like to thank my supervisor Dr Lydia Lau who provided constant support and guidance throughout I would also like to thank Lesley Jones and Susan Pugh and all staff at Greenacres who allowed me to participate in and observe their working practices I would like to also thank the managers for giving me time from their busy schedule to participate in interviews workgroups testing and evaluation during this project I would like to thank my housemates and friends for their constant support and encouragement and for proof reading the report Finally I would like to thank my mother for without her knowledge and experience of child day care and her support and bringing me endless cups of tea this project would never have been realised M An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Contents OLED INDIE T oh ssscccsneccscsessssussssetssesscsovesssensesesncsdeesscecscosessdanec
164. or Greenacres After School Care Happy Days 1 3 2 Deliverables The Deliverables for the project are thus e A Project Report e A Presentation on options to be delivered to the Organisation s managers e A working prototype to be used for demonstration and user feedback e A working system and supporting user manual to hand over to the organisation An extra deliverable has been added since the mid term report as time allowed the prototype to be modified into a system in its own right and so be handed over to the users with a supporting user manual This system can be used by the organisation year on year as appropriate time considerations were incorporated into the second and final iteration of the prototype to produce the system 1 4 Project Approach The recommendations and system of this project have been developed with a user centred approach as it is often seen that systems can be rendered useless if consideration of the users and their needs as they work is not taken The development of the project flows through the following stages RESEARCH FEASIBILITY PROTOTYPING EVALUATION Detailed background research into methodologies tools and techniques that have been considered relevant to this project was done using a number of resources an Internet Search Engine to search for specific texts or articles containing specific words effectively and provide up to date information the online journal facilities provided by the University
165. oring the underlying information first before using it o Introduce the concept of a UML class diagram o Use post its to identify each of the items relevant to the business e g Child Adult Register Accounts Transaction in a logical manner o Think about what needs to be stored and done with each item e Interface and Structure Duration 1 hour o Show samples of the interfaces that will be used for the system o Highlight usability as the key factor in the design of a solution The Discuss Design section of the workshop aims to gather the most contribution from the users through the use of UML As UML does have some guidelines to the construction of diagrams that the users will not be familiar with UML was introduced to the users by describing that everything that is done within the business can be broken up into significant parts that allow work to be done An analogy of a riding a bicycle was used by saying that if you did not identify the wheels of a bicycle as being part of riding a bike you would not be able to ride it similarly if you did not have a person to ride the 30 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days bicycle then conclusively the bicycle cannot be described as being ridden and finally if you did not have the action of riding by the person using their feet to push the pedals you are also not describing the full action From this analogy it was highlighted to the managers that to de
166. r contract Time Frame All year round as and when the book immediately 63 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Process Process Process Description Artefacts Involved Intangible People No Name information Involved involved 1 6 Updating Pattern of behaviour When a new child is enrolled in the Contact Details from None change in Managers contact cards organisation emergency contact details are captured within the Contract contact details is Supervisors contract information These contact details are periodically updated Contact Detail written down on onto record cards for each child which would then be taken out of the Record Cards the working building and used if there was an emergency During the update a list Working Document document if of the newly added children or children with changed contact details is How Shared parent informs written on a working document For each child on the list their Supervisors update managers of contract is found and the information added to a record card The child cards for use by change is then ticked off the working list The cards are most important managers however the contact details are updated on both contract and card Time Frame Weekly Monthly 1 7 Daily and Pattern of behaviour Before the beginning of each week Monday School Tickets Information Managers Weekly the school tickets and the register for the Before a
167. r Training and Manual 7 1 Introduction For any relevant feedback to be obtained the end users must make use of the prototype and experience its different functionalities for themselves This chapter describes the importance of training to obtain necessary feedback and the training method used before the end users used the system for themselves The end users use of the prototype is then described and how this use is not only valuable for feedback but also proves invaluable as a form of testing Upon consideration of the project schedule it was decided that the prototype should be handed over to the managers permanently as a system in its own right and so changes to the prototype to correct any faults found during testing and to make the prototype usable year in year out are described Before handover of the system was achieved the importance of and formulation of user documentation aimed at an audience with limited technical knowledge is described Finally the handover method used to handover ownership of the system is described 7 2 Importance of Training and Training Method Used Training the users so that they may use and evaluate the prototype is an important part of the overall evaluation and testing of the prototype It is important for the users to be able to use the prototype as they would in a work situation and to be able to use the prototype to its full capability to gather significant user feedback and identify any problems with t
168. r example 0161 1234567 or 07345 675849 tel_2 Text 14 NO You must enter a second 0000 amp amp 000000 Contact Telephone Contact Telephone Number contact number for the b Number 2 2 for example 0161 employee type the first 1234567 or 07345 675849 number again if there is only one possible number qual_1 Text 40 Qualification 1 Qualification 1 qual_2 Text 40 Qualification 2 If Qualification 2 Applicable notes Text 80 Additional Information Additional Notes wking_hrs Text 11 00 00 00 00 0 _ Regular Working Hours Agreed Working Hours wking_hrs_2 Text 11 00 00 00 00 0 _ Regular Working Hours Agreed Working Hours 2 2 if Applicable If Applicable tot_leave Number NO You must enter the total Total Amount of Leave Total Amount of Leave in amount of leave that the days days employee is allowed leave_u Number NO Leave Used Leave Used in days leave_r Number NO Leave Remaining Leave Remaining in days 120 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Field Name Field Null Key Validation Rule and or Default Input Mask Caption Description Type Text Value Lookup Values Position Status Text 20 NO You must enter the type of Staff S Position Status Status of the Employee position that the employee upervisor will hold Manager ID Auto NO PRI Number Incident Field Name Field Null
169. r networking in the organisation S Socially feasible benefits for the community with increased competence and organisation L No legal implications O _ Increased benefits from this solution in emergencies 107 S Socially feasible benefits for the community with increased competence and organisation An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Feasibility Report Feasible solutions Microsoft Access Database Cost Estimate Backup costs 20 00 60 00 Printing costs ongoing ink cartridge costs 15 00 per month Time Estimate 4 weeks to complete Key Tasks Develop a full design specification Make the bones of the application Fill application with data Test application Hand over and train end users Feedback and modification Evaluation Against Goals See Notes Slide 21 Feasible Solutions Microsoft Access Database Record the different types of tuck children can have Input information into tables to be stored permanently Enrolment Staff and Child Enter details about each of the different adults associated to a child and their contact details Input information using simple forms to store in tables Associate a child with a number of adults Associate a child to an adult using primary and foreign keys Store full details about each child as required by the standards Input info
170. rated payment system Integrate fee and tuck payments into one system using tables and forms Schedule when different staff are due to be off on holiday or are off sick Use a form to timetable staff information for particular days and alter their payments for those days Produce a list of payments due and payments received for each child By aggregating the payments due tuck and fees invoices and receipts can be generated from the stored information Provide a monitor of the staff available each day Use a viewing form to generate information on which staff are available working each day Producing Information Calculate the cost of tuck and provide a breakdown of the tuck a child has had each day Use tables and queries to calculate tuck from information entered into a simple form about a child s tuck consumption each day Producing school tickets automatically from filling in the register When a register has been filled in on the computer use queries to generate a number of school tickets labelled with the school and age group Calculate the fees payable for each child Use tables and queries to calculate fees from information entered initially and when they have been registered at the session Produce a list of the early learning goals and activities that are planned for the year and the dates they are expected to be done on From the goals and timetable information use a q
171. rdware is already present no cost of production E Feasible No cost for software as managers already have it hardware is already present no cost of production PDA could be feasibly bought for price limit of 400 L No legal implications No legal implications No organisational issues O Not Feasible difficulty incorporating working practices into the spreadsheet nature difficult to link pieces of information together Role Socially feasible benefits for the community with increased competence and organisation S Not feasible Information hard to find and sort heightening disorganisation Microsoft SQL Server Database Outcome REJECTED Access Database and Spreadsheet Modules Outcome ACCEPTED T Feasible author has enough knowledge of the software to produce a solution software is available hardware is available PDA could be bought to increase spreadsheet usefulness E Feasible No cost for software as managers already have it hardware is already present no cost of production PDA could be feasibly bought for price limit of 400 T Feasible author has enough knowledge of the software to produce a solution software is available hardware is available E Not Feasible Cost of SQL Server exceeds cost limitation L No legal implications O The only added value is in networking this benefit cannot be justified as there is no need fo
172. relationships between are identified in the E R diagram below The natural separation of information into classes during the UML workshop and the work to covert the classes into relations for the diagram means that these relations have been normalised to minimise data redundancy and duplication which is important during relational database design The cardinality and participation of the relationships has also been modelled Further information on the relations that were implemented for the prototype and their attributes can be seen in Appendix L and are discussed in section 6 3 1 of Chapter 6 Employes Pad to NY ree by N lt r gt MI SIE ae i N balance of reao gt y i made up of M a Learning Goal m L f onto recorded onto M wI ded N recorded oe a Medical Record Fig 5 5 1 E R Diagram 34 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Chapter 6 Prototype Implementation and Testing 6 1 Introduction This chapter describes the implementation of the prototype and the initial testing carried out by the designer First the technical platform for the prototype is discussed and justified The implementation of the prototype is then described sectioned into the main functional areas of the technical platform The functionality of the prototype is discussed identifying the areas of limitation and why the prototype cannot model the whole ideal
173. rerai aR eee ned E E E 9 2 4 Software Development Approachssiieenerieri ni e E A E 10 2 5 Chosen Framework for this Projecta ssenceeni ienie e e E E i 11 Chapter 3 Requirements AnalysiS sessssseereroreceeseseseeercrorcroeseseeceesorororcerororeceeeeeeserercrererereeseeeeesosesee 13 3 1 THEFOMUCHION MASANE ESEE E E EEEE T EE EE 13 3 2 Greenacres Organisation and Human REsources eessseeesesreeseeresressesrisresresressesrrsressesessrene 13 3 3 Childcare Regulatory Bodies and the National Standards cele ceeceseseeeeeneeeseceseceseceeeeees 14 3 4 Impacts of the National Standards on this Project eccecccessceesseeeseeceeececeeeesaeceaeceeaeeceeeeees 15 3 5 Analysis Tools and Techniques iee iii e a e e E ai E ea EAEE 16 3 6 Problem Analysis seisneda teo e i e E A E A A E e Ra 18 SOA Interactive Research enion cheese caste ceveaieteventencs slecacepieceuty beta S 18 3 6 2 Analysis of Data Gathered enteira soni eis a aai iia e 19 3 6 3 Main Outcomes of Analysis sossen nnn eai e a e E ii 20 360 4 Feedback on Analysis cee seetri aeea i a ER A a EE e ia ta 21 36 3 Olitcomes of Feedh c kiriin ea Ao ESEE AAEE REKA AEA TE a E 22 IV An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Chapter 4 Recommendation and Specification ccssccsssscsssscsssscssssssssssssssssssssessessssessssssscness 23 4 1 Introductions ana te yes e e fina e R ca vetoes A dl Meet ch eet eee 23 4 2 Feasibility Study Tech
174. rivals etc o Producing over 15 different reports o Provide Staff management o System security Password protected o Help your nursery meet OFSTED o Invoicing system Generating weekly requirements invoices and statements 3 Oak Tree Nursery Manager 4 Orgamation iCare e Developed by ActiveCode Ltd in the UK e Based on Orgamation s DCMS 9003 e Functionalities include which allows full user configuration o Storing child details e Functionalities include o Storing adult details o Multiple databases for storing o Produce a variety of documentation information o Calculate Milk Claim o Registration functions Advanced encryption and security blocking out o Accounting functions data according to the level of access of the user o Mealtime planning 26 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days 5 ProCare Child Care Centre Management Software e Used by 12 000 care providers worldwide e Has modular format allowing you to choose functionalities as required e Modules include o Family Data and Accounting o Employee Data o Day Care Accounting Software 4 3 4 Generation of the Possible Solutions Before the generation of possible solutions was conducted the following assumptions were documented to provide the scope for the possible solutions e The maximum amount the managers are willing to spend on the project is 400 e The managers have access to a desktop PC e The managers are willing to learn how to
175. rmation using simple forms to store in tables Store details about whether a child is eligible for a grant or not and for how many terms Input information using simple forms or generate automatically using query from grant info already stored and DOB Store full details about staff and their qualifications Input information using simple forms to store in tables Functional Specifications Recording Information Initial Information How Accomplished Record details about accidents Input information using simple forms to store in tables Record details about incidents Input information using simple forms to store in tables Record details about fire procedures and incidents Input information using simple forms to store in tables Record which children have had which tuck each day Input information using simple forms to store in tables Record on the generated registers the times that children come in to the sessions Input information using simple forms to store in tables Record the times that staff come in for each session Input information using simple forms to store in tables Timetabling Information Record details on each of the Input information into tables to be different sessions including cost stored permanently times and dates and the max number of children that can attend sessions Have a waiting list for different Generat
176. roblem statement that will be found out during analysis in section 3 6 and develops a project 23 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days specification for an ideal systems solution It considers the background to the problem as described in section 3 2 3 4 and then looks into the development of possible solutions The evaluation of the solutions the recommendation and a schedule of the future remaining activities are then documented for the managers to consider This report will be modified to include an evaluation and acknowledgement of existing alternative systems available The resulting report should then enable the managers to fully grasp the nature of the problem and to choose a solution that best meets their needs This report will also prove valuable to the systems design and to establishing criteria for the system to be evaluated against 4 3 Construction of Feasibility Report Once analysis has been completed a number of steps remain for the completion of the feasibility study assessment of the requirements and specification for an ideal solution identification of the existing alternatives generation of possible solutions assessment of the feasibility of these solutions provision of a recommendation A feasibility report was constructed to formally complete these steps and hence conclude the study Appendix G shows sections of the full feasibility report produced The full feasibility report was
177. roject has been good aided by the skills already held in project and time management Further development of my communication and time management skills has been attained that will prove valuable in the future Although sometimes difficult to meet with the users once meetings were underway they proved very productive especially in the case of the UML workshop I enjoyed participating in the working practices during the ethnographic study and value the experiences greatly as they enabled me to produce a solution of better quality One of the main personal objectives of mine was to produce the best quality solution as I could and fully understand the working practices and empathise with the managers to create this solution In conclusion of this project I can safely say that I have satisfied my goal 57 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Appendix B Original Project Schedule October November December January February March April May Week Starting 18th 25th 1st 8th 15th 22nd 29th 6th 9th 13th 20th 27th 3rd 10th 17th 24th 31st 7th 14th 21st 28th 7th 11th 14th 18th 21st 28th 4th 11th 18th 25th 27th 2nd gt Tasking Objectives To acquire an in depth understanding of ethnography techniques SSM and feasibility study Read relevant journal articles Read relevant web pages Read some relevant case studies Document the
178. roval of the proposed solution and user participation during design through a UML workshop and interfacing meeting allowed the design of a full ideal systems solution to be developed The prioritisation of the specifications led to the development of a prototype modelling part of the ideal systems solution End user testing and simulations of real working situations facilitated in the gathering of user feedback and the evaluation of the prototype Amendment of the faults found during testing and the incorporation of temporal attributes and operations allowed the prototype to develop into a system that was handed over to the users Consideration of the user s technical abilities was again taken in the development of a supporting user manual for the system also handed over to the users Evaluation of this user manual and an assessment of the project in terms of its achievement of the objectives and of the lessons learned conclude this project This project was effectively and professionally managed throughout building a positive relationship with the end users to aid in the achievement of major milestones and improve the quality of deliverables The major achievements of the project are thus e An appreciation of the current working practices and the existing ICT solutions available for day care providers e An appreciation and conformance to the National Standards legislation governing day care providers e User participation through a UML worksh
179. ry Manager is a piece of software developed by ActiveCode Ltd to provide a simple way of managing the nursery efficiently Some of the functionalities of this software include e Session Details Specify a number of different session e g Playgroup Holiday etc and how many children can attend Generate a waiting list for each session Child Details Details of each child including name address date of birth sex religion discount initial deposit paid and any freehand notes Classes Showing the sessions that the child has been included in e Related Adults Each child can be related to a number of adults Documentation Various reports such as invoices child details outstanding invoices milk report registers and simple lists such as a list of children e Security Encrypted database restricted access to the data stop children s addresses from being shown in children s details section e Adult Details Details of the adults including full name home address work address and relationships with associated children e g parent carer grandparent e Adjustments Any discounts for specified sessions Holidays Holiday periods can be recorded e Medical Various food and health allergies can be specified here for the child e Milk Claim Record daily price of milk and number of children who qualify for free milk for that day 88 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days 4 2 Solutions Generate
180. s prototype Have similar layouts for forms menus and reports been used throughout Do the forms and reports display in a consistent manner maximised within the window Have appropriate menu bars been used consistently throughout Is the user manual consistent in its description of particular items such as message boxes Is the user manual consistent in its level of detail of descriptions of functions User Control freedom and Is the prototype easy to navigate and applies consistent navigation buttons positioned in the same places Is the menu structure sufficiently shallow to allow easy navigation efficiency through the menus Is it obvious what the navigation buttons intend to do or where they take you to if pressed Are there any cumbersome operations do the operations performed quickly max 3 seconds waiting time Is he user documentation easy to navigate and search through and talked about consistently Error Are any error messages that are shown too technical for user s to understand do they Messages explain what went wrong and how to avoid seeing the error message again Flexibility Does the prototype cater for users with different levels of technical knowledge Is the user manual sufficient to cater for users with different levels of knowledge Help Is help information easily found and appropriately highlighted Has help information information been appropriately implemented for buttons and fields Does t
181. s Its tabular format means data can be entered and extracted for use according to its cell reference This software would make the generation of accounts particularly easy for the organisation Hardware Possibilities Microsoft Excel may be used on a PC or laptop A simpler version of Microsoft Excel is also available for handheld PDA s increasing the portability of the application to something that fits into the palm of your hand 4 2 5 Access Database with Spreadsheet Modules Software Capabilities Combining the functionalities of both databases and spreadsheets will allow the most to be made out of both these applications and the functionalities sectioned into the software that would provide the best abilities for example The accounting needs could be handled by a spreadsheet where the storing of textual information such as children s details could be done by the database application Hardware Possibilities Using spreadsheets again opens up the possibility of using PDA s to perform some functions for the organisation for example storing emergency contact information and acting as a digital school lists The database and other spreadsheet modules can be used and accessed from a PC or laptop as before 8 Other Issues to be addressed a Safety Issues The safety issues surrounding the development and use of an IT solution are those such as ensuring that the PC or laptop is in a secure place away from children during its use at th
182. s on the list but the managers get a phone call later that day to say that they will not need picking up in the evening and so their name is crossed off the list Working Hours Book The working hours book is used in conjunction with the staff sign in and out book to calculate the number of hours a member of staff worked each week There is a page for each member of staff the hours for that staff member is worked out for each day of a particular week and totalled at the end for the number that will be phoned through to the accountant so he can generate the pay slips The letters HP in the book denotes when the member of staff should get holiday pay Pay slip Pay Slips are generated by the accountant They are posted to the managers address weekly This is a slip of paper that details the staff member s name and the amount earned for that week Cash flows sheet for the Week Each week a cash flow sheet is generated by the managers This details the cash that has moved into and out of the business during the week A balance is then totalled which should equal the physical money in the cash box and the balance is carried over to the following week At the end of the year all the cash flow sheet are sent to the accountant so he can prepare a full profit and loss and balance sheet statement at the end of the year and ensure that the accounts are all in order Tuck Working Document The tuck working document is used
183. schemes e g child room etc e Provide Staff management o Including recording staff details employment dates shirt working worker status qualifications and holiday and sickness records to make payroll calculations easy e Help your nursery meet OFSTED requirements ProCare Child Care Centre Management Software This software is used by 12 000 nurseries childcare centres and care providers worldwide It has a modular format allowing you to pick the business functions that you require to operate efficiently The different modules include e Family Data and accounting This module allows you to keep all the information about the children attending the centre it has an attendance tracker to track children and staff and it can help to deal with fee charges and grants There is also the option to purchase the Pocket Attendance software for PDA s so emergency information and information about children s checking in times can all be taken out of the building in an emergency in the palm of your hand An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days There is also the option for running a photo gallery of the children and maintaining a food program for the children e Employee Data This module handles all the information about the employees of the business including scheduling when they will be in and keeping track of when they are off on sick or have holidays Accounting Software This module deals with the financial s
184. scribe the processes and work practices you must identify everything that is involved which includes objects the wheel people the rider and actions pedalling This is the purpose of the class diagram to identify all the objects that describe the working practices and determine how they are linked or used with each other Schaum s Outline of UML 21 was also used to show an example of a completed class diagram to the users The users also participated to a lesser extent than in the class diagram in determining the system interface and structure Before the workshop sample interfaces had already been constructed and the terminology of the system thought about to best suit the level of knowledge of the users These were then discussed with the users and alterations made as necessary 5 3 System Interface and Structure The appearance and layout of the system is important and should be user friendly and non technical Example screen shots of the intended layout of forms and menus are shown below The importance of the professionalism of documents is explained It is also important that the system be easy to navigate and understand and so the menu structure and example help tips have also been explained 5 3 1 Menus and Forms The menu structure is depicted in Fig 5 3 1 1 This menu structure has been designed to logically split the different functions into drill down menus with limited complexity so users may reach the action they
185. separately from other PC s and so could prove useful in terms of backup Hardware Possibilities A solution developed in Microsoft SQL Server can be run on a Desktop or Laptop and can run through a network so a number of people could be using the database at the same time and backups of the data can be made remotely 4 2 3 Web based Solution Software Capabilities A web based solution will involve the development of an underlying database This database would most likely be implemented using MySQL The web pages would be produced using ASP that would link back to the MySQL database where the information would be stored Secure login features could be incorporated in the online system so users may login and work on one central system 89 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Hardware Possibilities The solution would require a central server this could be a PC which is on all the time and from which the information can be accessed A web based solution would allow users to connect and work with the information from any PC as long as they had an Internet connection The central server on which the database sits would have to be connected to the Internet all the time 4 2 4 Spreadsheet based Solution Software Capabilities Microsoft Excel is a simple to use spreadsheet application It contains a variety of functions including the ability to produce charts and graphs and create macros to perform calculation
186. ssossoseessossessossossesoossossessossoseossosseseose 92 Appendix I Presentation Handout scssccsssscssccsscccsssccssscescsscescccssecsssccssssscsssssscessecsssssssesees 99 Appendix J Prioritisation of Specifications csssscssssccssscsssscssssscssccssscssessssssssssssssssesssssssees 112 Appendix K UML Diagram of System cscsssscsssssssssccsssscssccsssesssssssssssssssssssesssssasssssscssssscoes 114 Appendix L Prototype Tablles cssssssesesossesscossseenssnnssosssonsonssensoenssoassoasonseossonssosassnassonseones 116 Appendix M Visual Basic COMES svessscssssccsssecvocensssnsessoncesvscoscedssonsessucecssasssueconcessonsesssnassosevesecensasoess 125 Appendix N Heuristic Criteria o esosoesossoesossessossoseoesosseseossossessossessossosseseossossossossessossossossosses 126 VI An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Chapter 1 Introduction 1 1 Problem Definition For some time the Government has recognised that there is a need for good quality affordable childcare to be provided to families to help parents to balance their increasing work responsibilities with their family life Childcare may also benefit children during their early years allowing them to develop the essential social skills and motivation to learn that will provide a good foundation for future learning and social interaction To ensure that good quality affordable childcare
187. structure that is suitable for the nature of this project This also was selected over the project steps of ETHICS SSM and RUP as the techniques other than those selected were seen to be too complex or will take too much time from the project to make them worthwhile 12 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Chapter 3 Requirements Analysis 3 1 Introduction To get a full understanding of the current situation and the possibilities for improvements using IT requirements analysis must be undertaken This chapter first details the context analysis undertaken to better understand the organisation and the bodies that govern it and to determine any possible impacts the results of the analysis will have on the solution that will be developed In section 3 5 the techniques used during requirements analysis have been researched and justified The requirements analysis then begins with the identification of the scope focus and the informants to be included in the research session The method used to gather information on the current situation and working practices of the organisation is described in section 3 6 1 Section 3 6 2 explains how this information gathered was used and processed to determine the Main Outcomes and final documentation of the analysis The requirements analysis chapter is concluded by an explanation of the feedback and approval obtained from the managers in regards to the analysis documented the meth
188. sword and one which would allow you to change the password once you had entered the system which is opened by clicking on the Change Password button 75 User Documentation As a system is now to be handed over to the end users it is important to provide documentation to support this system This documentation should support the level of knowledge that the managers have of IT From previous meetings it has been determined that the managers users have very little knowledge of IT and how a computer works and so the manual should start from scratch as to how to turn the computer on setup and install the system how to back up the system and provide a detailed glossary and a troubleshooting section to aid the users as much as possible as well as explain and describe how to use all the functionalities of the system As they are new to computers emphasis has been placed on what the different functionalities of the system are and what they are meant to do in some cases relating the functionality back to real world physical objects in order to get the point across Detailed screen shots have also been taken and provided in this manual to try and encourage and simplify the system for use by the users as much as possible The user documentation has been handed in as a deliverable of this project rather than an Appendix as it consists of 80 pages 7 6 System Handover The handover of the system and user manual was done through a final meeting wi
189. t a further feel as to the use and application of rich pictures for conveying the problems and situation of the business in question These articles were unanimous in stating that a rich picture aims to capture and present as much information as possible about a situation in particular how the people involved in the system communicate and interact with each other and other entities of the system This aspect is the most important and relevant and is not modelled in other diagrammatical techniques such as data flow diagrams or ER diagrams It is also a key point within these articles that the rich picture is not bound to any diagrammatical rules and conventions unlike UML for example and so it can be made as complex or as simple as technical or as straightforward as is needed This is important for this project due to the need to communicate with non technical users that may find it hard to understand the conventions of for example UML diagrams 17 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days 3 6 Problem Analysis The feasibility study begins by first conducting research and analysis into the problem to be solved so as to gain a better understanding of the requirements of the system and to determine whether the production of a suitable solution is feasible Initial meetings held with managers at Greenacres on the 12 and 19 October 2004 provided general information about the business and its day to day activities This i
190. t and incident reports For accidents and incidents child details may be displayed for up to two children once they have been selected from the relevant Child Involved fields Once the details are displayed they may be printed out and hence a report is needed for this information the shorthand for this being ChildReport Similarly the accident details need to be printed out for up to two children if more than one child has been specified so that the parents of each child may sign the accident details relevant to that child 6 3 4 Queries To display information for either viewing or modifying queries have been used to help the users to narrow down their searches for information The queries work by prompting the users to enter criteria to reduce the number of records that is returned The criterion that is used to search the majority of records and what the users will wish to search for most is the child s name The form based on that query will then be displayed if there are records that have been found otherwise the No Record Found message box will be displayed The queries that have been created for the prototype are shown in Appendix L The queries will allow the users to search for children in a number of ways by first name only by first name and surname or by specifying neither a first name nor surname thereby returning all the results There are also queries relating to children and their medication where the child
191. t table of contents and draft chapter Complete Progress Meeting 58 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Appendix C Interactive Research Interview questions 1 What would you consider to be the main things that happen at the business a what tools do you think you use at the moment to help you b what processes do you think you seem to run through every day week 2 Who are the different people involved in the playgroup What changes would you like to see Activity Walkthrough Prompts The prompts for the managers that were used by the developer to try and get the most out of the walkthrough are as follows they have been developed from the knowledge of a day obtained at the initial meetings e 7 30 Start o When the children come through the door how do you record that they are here and who does this o Where do you keep these records after you have used them o What other events happen when a child and guardian walks through the door o What happens on a weekly basis that may not happen every day o Is there anything else that could happen when the setting is open for the first session o Sample artefacts e Before and After school children age from 3 to 8 e Upstairs 3 5 nursery o Any particular provision made for these children o What events may occur during this time e Downstairs aged 6 to 8
192. t the specifications for the ideal solution detailed in the presentation handout should be prioritised so the developer has a clear idea of which specifications to implement first for the prototype as it was unlikely that time would allow for all the specifications to be implemented successfully 4 5 Agreed System Specifications Some weeks after the presentation had been given a meeting was held with the following purpose e To gather feedback on the feasibility report and presentation given e To obtain confirmation and approval to implement the recommended solution e To discuss any further questions that have arisen from the presentation e To discuss the system specification and the ranking of requirements e To draw up a UML class diagram of the proposed system and its information needs e To show the intended interface design for some of the system forms and menus The system specification prioritising may be seen in Appendix J The UML class diagram and the feedback on the interface design are discussed in Chapter 4 In summary it was agreed that the most important areas to focus on implementing were the recording and storing of information the production of registers and the dealing with payments 29 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Chapter 5 System Design 5 1 Introduction The design of the system is an important stage in prototype development as the layout user interface and requirements o
193. t to the degree programme Chapter 2 considers a number of project methodologies and their role in the development of a methodology best suited to this project Chapters 3 and 4 contribute towards the production of a feasibility report and a presentation of feasibility study findings for the managers Chapter 5 describes how the design of an ideal systems solution was derived including the interfaces and menu structure as well as the underlying relational database design Chapter 6 describes the technical implementation of the system and developer testing Chapter 7 outlines the approach to training and the demonstration of the prototype before describing the end users use as a means of gathering feedback as well as a form of testing The final changes to the prototype and the hand over Greenacres Management System and the supporting user manual conclude this chapter Chapter 8 presents the data gathering techniques used and the process and results of evaluating the prototype and user manual against a combination of legal functional and usability criteria Chapter 9 concludes the project detailing the achievements made and suggestions for further work An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Chapter 2 Methodology 2 1 Introduction When choosing an appropriate methodology for this project it is important to take into account the user centric nature of this project and the importance and emphasis placed on g
194. ted in some way into the analysis once each piece of information was documented it was highlighted to show that it has been added The documentation of the analysis was considered complete once each piece of information was highlighted in the main data document 3 6 3 Main Outcomes of Analysis The main outcomes of the analysis conducted are summarised in the bullet points below For a full set of the analysis documentation produced please refer to Appendix D e Main Processes Identified o Registering Children 1 1 1 3 1 2 o Enrolling Children 1 4 o Filing and Recording Processes 2 1 2 2 2 3 2 4 2 5 2 7 o Preparation of Registers 1 7 1 8 o Processing Payments and producing accounts 3 1 3 2 3 3 3 4 3 5 o Handling of Early Education Places grants 3 6 o Giving notices and letters to parents 1 9 1 10 o Updating emergency contact cards 1 6 20 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days e Main Documents Identified o Daily and Weekly changes Book o Contract Documents o Registers and School Tickets o Record Books for Accident Incident Medical Fire and Tuck o Payments Book Letters and Receipts for parents o Staff and Visitor Sign In books o Learning Goal planning lists for the Playgroup e Main People Identified o Individuals Manager Supervisor Accountant o Groups Staff Members o Society Parents Visitors o Organisations Ofsted Oldham Council Sure Start Oldham
195. ter School Care Happy Days Summarised below is this assessment of the feasible solutions which can be fully viewed in Appendix I 1 Microsoft Access Database Cost Estimate Backup costs 20 00 60 00 Printing costs ongoing ink cartridge costs 15 00 per month Time Estimate 4 weeks to complete Key Tasks e Develop a full design specification e Make the bones of the e Fill application with data application e Hand over and train end users e Test application e Feedback and modification Ability to Meet e All specifications met using queries tables and reports Specifications 2 Access Database with Spreadsheet Modules Cost Estimate If purchasing PDA 300 Backup costs 20 00 60 00 Printing costs ongoing ink cartridge costs 15 00 per month Time Estimate 6 weeks to complete Key Tasks e Develop a full design specification e Purchase hardware if necessary e Make the bones of the application e Fill application with data e Test application e Hand over and train end users e Feedback and modification Ability to Meet e All specifications met using queries tables forms and reports of access and Specifications tabular nature of spreadsheets and the ability for Excel Spreadsheets to be exported to and manipulated using a PDA 4 3 6 Provision of a Recommendation A solution was recommended to conclude the report and the major concerns and m
196. ter period bookings for y B amp A and Playgroup Fire Details 93 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Feasibility Report Problem Statement Problem Identification Problems identified when looking at processes A lot of problems The Good News Some of these processes such as the basic recording processes are fine and just need to be transferred to a computerised system 10 February 2005 Feasibility Report Problem Statement Problem Identification Problems identified when looking at documents Information Duplication Information stored more than once Information rewriting Handwritten Legible Photocopies No backup in the event of fire burglary Time Consuming Not immediately apparent what documents ar e how they work 2 separate payment systems mean twice the amount of pay inf or mation st or ed Norules for signing in and out of staff members and visit ors Giving notices to parents verbally Forgetting to update school tickets For get t ing to updat e holiday placement spaces list 10 February 2005 94 Feasibility Report Problem Statement Problem Identification Problems identified by you rich picture Too time consuming Problems with ensuring the children at the setting are actually marked down on the various lists as present Messy file system Would like a computer on pre
197. th the playgroup managers A CD of the system with a digital copy of the user manual as a PDF file was given to the managers along with a hard copy of the user manual The freeware installer for Adobe Acrobat Reader was also put on this CD in case the managers did not have it on their computer and so were unable to read the PDF file 44 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Chapter 8 Evaluation of Prototype and User Manual 8 1 Introduction In this chapter the importance of gathering feedback to assess the value of the prototype and user manual to Greenacres and the method of evaluation is discussed Criteria for the effective evaluation of the prototype are then described The user feedback obtained from the managers via an interview is then summarised following their initial use of the prototype and review of the user manual The outcome of the prototype and user manual evaluations are then summarised to verify the user feedback in regards to the interface design and clarity of the manual heuristic evaluation discern whether the prototype conforms to legislation and describe whether the prototype has met the agreed specifications and the handed over system and user manual are reliable for use on a yearly basis by Greenacres 8 2 Information gathering and Evaluation techniques The process of gathering information and feedback has been a common theme throughout this project and comes mainly into play dur
198. the expected costs and tasks that must be accomplished to implement that solution A solution has then been recommended by the author taking into account all analysis and other factors and further justification has been provided of how well the recommended solution meets the ideal goals and requirements A time schedule and list of issues to be addressed when implementing this solution have also been detailed The report concludes with an identification of the accomplishments made so far and the major hurdles remaining to be passed to make the project successful 78 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days 2 3 1 Requirements Identified from Analysis 2 3 la The analysis of Business Processes Analysis of the business processes seen in the analysis report and the process flow diagram has led to the identification of a number of potential business process problems These problems and the processes they relate to are described below Problem Problem Related Implications of Problem ID Process es P1 Time and manpower for 1 6 e Contact cards might not be up to date when needed updating contact record e May not be the staff available to update the cards cards e Staff that should be looking after children are tied up in updating the cards P2 Two different payment 3 3 3 2 e Keeping two different payment systems up to date is time consuming processes e May be that payment books are not always up t
199. ting to do things Information does not get updated New information does not get added to documents Do not conform to regulations Children get overlooked Staff do not always sign themselves in and out Calculating the number of hours a member of staff has worked is difficult There may be pay disputes between staff and managers Staff Time off arrangements Managers and other staff have to cover at short notice reduce employee morale Not enough staff to look after the children child to staff ratio An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days May be disputes in pay if not documented which staff are off when May mean the staff who fill in do not have correct qualifications to be looking after children what if random inspection occurred Feasibility Report Problem Statement The BIG Picture Number of issues when conducting day to day business Problems arise f rom time management issues disorganised f iling issues Time issues affect how much document ation can be provided How up to date business documents can be kept Whether documents meet the regulatory standards Filing issues mean Documents may fail to be updated instantly a reliance on managers and other staff member s memory Poses problems as if critical inf ormation is not remember ed it could lead to the overlooking of a child and the possibility of poor child care Data duplication and unnecessary rewriting of data
200. tion System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days 5 3 2 Documents There are some documents that still need to be on paper as they require signatures or need to be given to individuals to take away from the setting This includes accident records enrolment contracts and grant information These documents need to look professional and be standardised so both staff and parents are familiar with them and get the most out of the information contained within them Documentation is a great concern of the business as they want to look professional and need to be able to read and understand the information contained within it It is important that any documentation to be printed out is clear and concise and all the information can be read and reviewed clearly 5 3 3 Help Information To increase the usability of the system the inclusion of help boxes help text has been considered necessary This will also aid the users in becoming familiar with the system and decrease reliance on supporting documentation The actual implementation of help texts will be discussed in chapter 6 the main importance of any help information is that is distinguishable from any other text and that it is available for the majority of items where their full meaning may not be immediately apparent It must also be apparent to the users how they can find out extra information about particular items within the system and so standardisation of the help information is necessar
201. tionalities that needed to be considered for the final system mainly pertaining to the time frames and size of the system e All the information stored has to be kept for a number of years regardless of whether a recorded child has actually finished attending sessions or not e A complete set of records pertaining to one year should be stored each year as an archive e Children that have finished attending sessions shouldn t be found in the various searches etc from the date that they have finished attending e tis important to know exactly when children have finished attending e You should be able to look at a full set of previous records without hindrance of the child s finish date e The term dates used for grant eligibility will change year on year e The system must stay sufficiently small so backups may be made of it e The system must stay small enough to reduce the waiting time for searching for records e The system must be fully secure Timeliness being the main issue the developer consulted the notes taken during DB31 pertaining to temporal databases It was decided that single temporal attribute date_fin would be added to the Child table that could be used to implement the rest of the temporal functionalities The first use of this is in all the search queries where the criterion of each search has been modified to say only retrieve records where date_fin is Null To make the system timely and keep the system small two bu
202. tioned one of the major feature was that this project was external in that it was conducted for an organisation outside the company The amount and level of participation of the people running and involved in the organisation should therefore be carefully considered and some agreement should be made of the possible timings of meetings and work sessions required throughout the project This lesson comes from the experience of having to delay or reschedule meetings because of unforeseen circumstances and because the main contacts were generally very busy particularly at holiday times Another feature that became apparent during the analysis was the extent and complexity of the problem being investigated Although a scoping exercise was performed to attempt to cut down the problem definition it was revealed that the analysis can lend itself to the production of a number of full and complex systems providing increasingly technical functionalities to just a few of these processes The discovery of this ultimately led to the need to prioritise and section the different functionalities or modular systems for successful and complete implementation of one of these modules to be developed A lesson to learn from this therefore is that a number of initial scoping exercises should be conducted instead of just one to drill down into the problem and pick out only some of the problems to solve that suit the size of the project Overall experience of the p
203. to managers home time Documents not made to scratch done at all because of lack of time Problems with ensuring the children at the setting are actually marked down on the various lists as present Children are missed off the registers Impromptu adding of children one week may still mean they are missed of in further weeks Children may not be picked up from school by staff Staff may be waiting for a child that has already been picked up by parents Messy file system Cannot find information easily Cannot access documents if needed 102 Information is not recorded in documents because they could not be found in time Information is forgotten to be added as document wasn t found at the time Would like a computer on premises Children do not get to learn about IT Managers have to print out all documents and are entirely paper based whilst at the setting Trust issues with accountant If cannot trust accountant are they handling money correctly Loss of money Incorrect accounts being produced Not producing accounts according to legislation Problems with recording Tuck Do not document children s tuck consumption correctly Parents may be unwilling to pay Uncertainty regarding picking up children Schools are uncertain about who is supposed to be picking up child child sent off with a stranger Children may be left at school with no one to go home with Schools have to inform staff that a child has already been picked up Forget
204. ts in terms of the organisation was that an appreciation of the time consuming and exhaustive nature of running the organisation was obtained that improved the quality of the system produced The appreciation of the major legal requirements pertaining to the organisation also increased the quality and value of the system For the organisation the successful handover of an actual system that they may use and documentation to support this system were the main benefits to the organisation and symbolised the developers appreciation of their participation in this project and justified to the managers the time they took to participate 9 2 3 Application of Ethnographic Techniques The ethnographic approaches used in this project were rapid ethnography where the problem situation was scoped and the focus and informants of the ethnography were identified and evaluative ethnography to gather indirect feedback from the use of the prototype The data gathered as a result of the scripting and picture taking within the rapid ethnography of the analysis proved most valuable in portraying the working practices and the documents of the organisation The audio clips taken also provided extra information that was not included in the scripting Overall the video clips taken did not yield any new information that was not already noted in the scripts In evaluation of the video clips the possible reason why further information was not yielded was because the organisatio
205. ttons were implemented that perform a number of underlying functions named Tidy Up System and Make this System an Archive The Tidy Up System button is intended to be pressed once at the end of each playgroup year for the system that is going to remain current that is it is not going to be an archived system It aims to remove old records about the children that finished in the previous year to keep the system small Any old records can be sought in the archived system Through the use of a series of delete queries the following records pertaining to finished children will be removed e All the medical records relating to a child that has finished e All the adult records contact details relating to a child that has finished e All accident incident records where the child that has finished was the only child involved in the accident incident e All accident incident records where both the children involved have finished 42 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days e The child details record relating to a child that has finished if the finish date recorded for the child is over 3 years old The records that do not get removed from the current system are e The child details record relating to a child that has finished if the finish date recorded for the child is less than 3 years old This is so a list of children that have finished in a particular year may be printed so for the manager s referenc
206. tute of Human Relations 1989 URL http moderntimesworkplace com good_reading archives ericsess sessvol2 sessvol2 html Accessed 25th October 2004 4 Enid Mumford Chapter 5 Ethics in Designing Human Systems the ETHICS Approach 1983 URL http www enid u net com C1book1 htm Accessed 25th October 2004 5 Lynn McNay GreenAcres After School Care Happy Days inspection report 04 Aug 2004 URL http www ofsted gov uk reports index cfm fuseaction ccreportHTML amp id 87867 Accessed 3 December 2004 6 DfES Ofsted Section C Objective 1 Chapter 6 For the Under Fives in Department for Education and Skills and Office for Standards in Education Departmental Report pages 54 62 May 2002 7 Ofsted Sessional Day Care Guidance to the National Standards Sept 2001 URL http www ofsted gov uk publications index cfm fuseaction pubs displayfile amp id 2429 amp t e pdf Accessed 3 December 2004 8 Ofsted Out of School Care Guidance to the National Standards Sept 2001 URL http www ofsted gov uk publications index cfm fuseaction pubs displayfile amp id 2433 amp t e pdf Accessed 3 December 2004 9 James Matson The Cooperative Feasibility Study Process Revised 2001 URL http www agecon uga edu gacoops info34 htm Accessed 3rd November 2004 10 Washington State Department of Information Services Feasibility Study Guidelines for Information technology Investments Revised 2000 URL http d
207. uce a summary of user feedback and an evaluation on how the created prototype provides a solution to the problems 51 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days A summary of user feedback was produced that was gathered from an interview following the use of the prototype and from the observation of this use and from a final interview to discuss the end system and user manual Evaluation criteria were set to evaluate how well the created prototype provides a solution to the problems These criteria were derived from the childcare legislation examined the formulated ideal solution specification and from an appreciation of usability heuristics obtained whilst investigating information gathering and evaluation techniques Both the prototype and the user manual were evaluated against the criteria using the feedback gathered the overall outcome of which was that the prototype and user manual provide a good solution to the problems they address When evaluating it was not possible to discern whether to design for the ideal systems solution would ultimately solve the working practices problems it was only the functionalities that have been implemented in the prototype that were considered It is also not possible to evaluate the actual use of the system rather than just simulations as this could only have been done outsie the timescale of this project 9 2 2 Greenacres After Care Happy Days One of the main achievemen
208. uery to produce a report showing which goals are planned for each day week month year Calculate money that has gone into and come out of the business each week to give the balance of the cash box Use tables and queries to calculate the ongoing balances after entering inputs and outputs for the week produce a document of this for accountant Non Functional Specifications Produce an updated list of emergency contact details for each child automatically Using queries select the appropriate information to generate a report that will be printed off Real time updating Information is updated in each of the different areas as soon as you enter it Generate a register of children attending the different sessions automatically for each week Using queries generate a register viewing form register document that can either be filled in on the computer of printed out Storing all details in one place Details are all stored in one single application Make regular backups of all the information in case of theft or burglary This single application can be backed up onto CD or memory stick every day if necessary Produce a list of the staff due in for a particular day Use queries to extract data to put into a document to be printed out detailing the staff for the day Provide passwords to make the information more secure Use passwords when opening the application 109 A
209. uld also be expensive to purchase for the organisation 6 3 Implementation of Design 6 3 1 Table Implementation The relations that were implemented from the E R Diagram of the ideal solution are those seen in Appendix L In Access implementation of these relations into tables is made simple by using the tool for creating tables For each table the names of the attributes were entered into the Field Name column and the data type specified in the second column Entering a description of the attribute into the Description column aids in making the system more user friendly as this description will appear in the status bar at the bottom of the window when this field is The constraints applied to each attribute are entered by selecting the attribute and using the options available in the General tab 35 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days 6 3 2 Forms Implementation The operations identified during the construction of the UML diagram can be translated into the menus necessary and forms that will be used in the system The menu structure is explained in section 5 3 1 forms have been used in their most basic application to create the various menus detailed Forms can also be used to capture information to be stored in the system and to display information on screen without allowing it to be edited Following the ranking of the specifications the system should firstly provide features relating t
210. ure of inquiry where the ethnographer may ask focused questions observation where they will simply observe the business in action and the different processes without asking questions and participation where the ethnographer involves themselves in business activities and processes to better understand what is involved There are a number of different ways in which an ethnographic study can be conducted Burke and Kirk 14 briefly describe the quick and dirty method and the paper by Hughes et al 15 describes the usage of this method This method would be particularly useful initially for getting an overall feel of the 16 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days current situation however further more detailed ethnographic study then needs to be conducted Concurrent ethnography as described by Burke and Kirk 14 is the most intensive ethnography method and requires the most time and cooperation between the ethnographer and the users The benefits and shortcomings of this method of ethnography are discussed by Hughes et al 16 who suggest that this ethnography be implemented continuously throughout the project however in doing this they found that the information relevant to the project was gathered fairly early on and that further information gathered although sociologically valuable had little impact on the project Rapid ethnography is the most recent ethnographic method and involves setting out constraints
211. urned the modify and display forms have a display telling the users how many records were found and navigation buttons allowing them to move through the records The queries and navigation features are further discussed in sections 6 3 4 and 6 3 5 6 3 3 Reports Implementation It has been identified that there are still some documents that must be created and printed out to obtain the signatures of the parents and staff Of the functionalities that have been implemented there are four main documents that require printing to obtain signatures These are the contract and the accident incident and medical records School lists also need printing as they will be given to staff so they may check the children they are taking to and picking up from school Due to time constraints the registers must also be printed out and filled in by hand each week instead of being filled in through a form of the system These registers will be populated by the names of the children they just then need to be used as they would use their previous registers and lists The limitations of the school lists and registers are discussed further in section 6 4 The reports that have been created are shown in Appendix L 36 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Some of the reports are repeats of others in that they convey the same information but that information has been derived from a different source This particularly applies to the acciden
212. use the solution and their computer effectively e The managers would take up the offer of free milk if they could find the time to do the paperwork e The managers are willing to change some of the business processes if necessary to adopt the proposed new system The different solutions generated took into account the different existing solutions available as well as the specifics of the business problems and the assumptions made The solutions suggested were a Microsoft Access Database a Microsoft SQL Server Database a Web based solution a Spreadsheet Based Solution and an Access Database with Spreadsheet Modules The full description of these possible solutions in terms of the software and hardware capabilities is available in Appendix G 4 3 5 Feasibility Assessment of these Solutions The feasibility of the generated solutions was assessed in terms of their technical economic legal organisational and social implications This resulted in the acceptance of two of the five solutions generated the Microsoft Access Database and the Access Database with spreadsheet modules Further information on this assessment is available in the notes to the presentation in Appendix I The solutions accepted as a result of this assessment were then considered in terms of their cost and time estimates they key tasks that need to be accomplished and their ability to meet the specifications of the ideal solution 27 An Information System for Greenacres Af
213. viour When an accident occurs involving a child or a Accident Book Verbal Parent Accident number of children it is recorded in the accident book and all the How Shared communication Staff children involved are noted down The parent is then notified that the Between parents and to parent that the Members child has been in an accident and a parental signature is required to Managers child has had an Managers acknowledge that thy have been informed of the accident and the accident action taken Time Frame All year round as and when The record may not be recorded in the book for a number of days after the accident occurred 2 2 Recording an Pattern of behaviour When an incident occurs involving a child or a Incident Book Verbal Parent Incident number of children it is recorded in the incident book and all the How Shared communication Staff children involved are noted down The parent is then notified and a Between parents and to parent that the Members parental signature is required to acknowledge that they have been managers child was Managers informed of the incident and the action taken involved in an Time Frame All year round as and when The record may not be incident recorded in the book for a number of days after the incident occurred 65 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Process Process Process Description Artefacts Involved
214. voices and receipts can be generated from the stored information Producing Information Producing school tickets automatically from filling in the register When a register has been filled in on the computer create a spreadsheet that can be sent to PDA that models the school tickets so children can be ticked of electronically Calculate the cost of tuck and provide a breakdown of the tuck a child has had each day Use tables and queries to calculate tuck from information entered into a simple form about a child s tuck consumption each day Calculate the fees payable for each child Import data from database into spreadsheet application for easier and simple calculation Produce a list of the early learning goals and activities that are planned for the year and the dates they are expected to be done on From the goals and timetable information use a query to produce a report showing which goals are planned for each day week month year Calculate money that has gone into and come out of the business each week to give the balance of the cash box Use spreadsheets with macro to calculate the accounts which could be send to accountant on a disk rather than producing a document Non Functional Specifications Produce an updated list of emergency contact details for each child automatically Using information in the database generate a spreadsheet that can be transferred to PDA
215. wi 1 9 Generating letters ead ie to parents parents ibe g children 3 Happy 2 Siternoan Register to school Days Register Playgroup time lt 4 Eee Seen Register Children Children SRE SEE Children 1 6 Updating 1 4 Add new Contact cards children to 1 11 Signing ae I B amp A orto the visitors in and ZR Sa Playgroup out is cone 1 5 Recording Holiday Period Bookings for B amp A and Playgroup Managers _ e Filing Processes Processes 3 ay accounts 1 7 Daily and weekly preparation of the School Tickets and Register 1 8 Weekly preparation of the 1 5 Recording Holiday Playgroup register period bookings for B amp A and Playgroup 76 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Appendix G Sections of Feasibility Report Original table of contents for the Full Report Executive Summary included 1 Project Description 2 Development of Problem Statement Requirements Assessment 2 1 Background Information on Greenacres After School Care Happy Days 2 2 Initial Problem 2 3 Research on problem An Ethnographical Analysis of the Current Situation 2 3 1 Requirements Identified from Analysis 2 3 la The analysis of Business Processes included 2 3 1b The analysis of Documents and Information Sharing included 2 3 1c The analysis of information from Interviews included 2 4 Assumptions included Project Specifications 4 Possible Solutions 4 1 Existing Alternatives included 4 2 S
216. wish to perform in the maximum of three clicks Accounts System Goal Planning Enrolment System System Accident Records Records System Incident Records Registration System Long Mid Short Term Term Term Planning Planning Planning Contact Records Records Employee Tuck i Records y Records i Actions to perform relating to that Menu Fig 5 3 1 2 Menu Structure Medical 31 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days The generalised layout of the menus has been described in Fig 5 3 1 2 It is important to standardise the menus in terms of headings buttons etc so that users can recognise these different aspects easily through using the system without guidance from any documentation T Greenacres Management System Record System Menu fF welcome The title of the menu appears in the same place on the window and in the title bar The system title appears at the top of every menu Pink Buttons mean once clicked they will move to a further menu The Blue Buttons are standard buttons for navigation and will appear on every menu Fig 5 3 1 2 Menu Layout The generalised layout of forms is described in Fig 5 3 1 3 Again it is important to generalise some features for example having standard navigation buttons in the same place on each screen and using the same
217. y 5 4 Overall System Design Using UML as described in 5 2 enabled the designer to gather technical information quickly and effectively in a user friendly and easily understandable manner as the technique is mainly pictorial and was easy to explain to the managers who had no prior knowledge of these techniques Using this technique also provided a focus to the design construction and so side tracking from its completion was minimal The class diagram produced is shown in Appendix K From the class diagram it can be seen that the system may be split up into sections each with particular functions which ultimately relate back to the child adult and staff objects at the core The class diagram below has already been split to show one important and complex aspect of the business the fees and payments accounting aspect Other main aspects of the business and their associated objects have also been ringed and labelled As it can be seen splitting into these elements provides a logical setting for the menu structure and this is how the menu structure in section 5 3 1 Fig 5 3 1 2 has been devised This UML class diagram has been translated into relations relation attributes and the operations that would be conducted on the tables to form a more database oriented structure 33 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days 5 5 Database Design The relations necessary for the creation of an ideal solution and the
218. y forms A summary of the results from each of the areas is given below e Smooth Traversing and Correct Display of Forms and Reports The desired display of forms and reports are that they are maximised to the full size of the window when they are opened This occurred for the majority of objects however some reports where secondary information was needed left the windows in a Restored state Reports should open to display a preview of what is to be printed out All the reports opened to display the print preview page Forms that open as a result of clicking on a button in another form for example the Show Child Details button on the Record Accident form should open as popup windows All the pop up windows opened as expected Upon closing the form by either completing an action pressing the Cancel button or pressing the Back button the previous form should be displayed Most forms were successful in this test Forms should take a maximum of 2 seconds to load Due to the links that need to be retrieved initial loading of some forms did take some time however once they had opened for the first time whilst running the system they opened faster the second time 39 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days e Correct Constraints As the constraints on the forms were derived either directly from their underlying tables or indirectly from the underlying query which then links to the tables it was d
219. ys 2005 An Information System for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days Feasibility Report Feasibility Report Feasible solutions Chosen Solution Microsoft Access Database Cost Estimate Access Database Back 20 00 60 00 Finis ongoing ink cartridge costs 15 00 per month pat Although using a PDA for emergency Time Estimate 4 weeks to complete i i Z Key Tasks functions would be good just not Develop a f ull design specif ication feasible and may not see the benefits Make the bones of the application legen Still keep some paper that staff are Hand over and train end users familiar with and makes the solution less Feedback and modif ication Evaluation Against Goals See Notes technical and less costly 10 February 2005 10 February 2005 Feasibility Report Feasibility Report Gantt Feasible solutions Chart February Access Database and Spreadsheet modules Week Staring reat st 2h Produce a feasibiity report into the possible solutions to problems wih the playgroups working practices and Cost Estimate get approval on the way forward i Produce the report If purchasing PDA 300 pe Backup costs 20 00 60 00 ee managers Printing costs ongoing ink cartridge costs 15 00 per month Designimplemen a systems prototype to solve the working practice problems Time Estimate 4 weeks to complete Design the solution using a UML approach Consult with managers
220. ystem for Greenacres After School Care Happy Days 2 3 2c The analysis of information from Interviews Information provided from interviews and noted by the ethnographer during observation led to the generation of a rich picture depicting the current situation and conflict areas that occur within it Each of the conflict areas and the potential problems arising from this rich picture are described below Problem ID Problem Conflict Area Implications of Problem IN1 Uncertainty regarding who is Schools think e Schools are uncertain about who is supposed to be picking up child child picking up children bubble sent off with a stranger e Children may be left at school with no one to go home with e Schools have to inform staff that a child has already been picked up IN2 Trust issues with accountant Between managers e If cannot trust accountant are they handling money correctly and accountants e Loss of money e Incorrect accounts being produced e Not producing accounts according to legislation IN3 Ambiguity about recording Tuck Staff think bubble e Do not document children s tuck consumption correctly e Parents may be unwilling to pay IN4 Uncertainty regarding up to date Staff think bubble e Children may not be picked up from school by staff School Tickets e Staff may be waiting for a child that has already been picked up by parents IN5 Filing system is disorganised Conflicts relating to e Cannot find information easily
221. ystem in terms of the practical ethical and theoretical concerns These concerns are linked to the people involved in the system in that if the people and organisational issues have not been addressed then the system might fail to bring the desired benefits This can be described as a soft system approach because the focus is on people and their issues and problems rather than technical systems problems The technical system problems are still addressed but in terms of the people and organisational problems rather than the reverse Enid Mumford 4 developed a methodology known as ETHICS that particularly highlights the socio technical approach and is an example of a people oriented methodology according to Avison and Fitzgerald s classification 18 The ETHICS methodology aims to address the problem in terms of the organisation and its current people processes and overall objectives the idea being that a good design of the system is not just a technical design but should look at how the people will be involved in and use the system Addressing the organisational and people issues is seen as the priority with this methodology and the technical aspects are seen as the means to solving the people centred business problems In her book Enid Mumford states Tt is therefore recommended that ETHICS is associated with user involvement in the design task Involvement requires the creation of participative groups and decisions on the amount and

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