This page contains a number of freeware applications. They are divided into two sections: General and Educational. Click on the appropriate icon to download the software.
Version number 0.93 (October 2000) 18.6k - Please update if you have been using an earlier version.
If you are like me, you find it very difficult to remember that elusive PIN number after you have faithfully destroyed the slip of paper. I needed a program which would store such confidential numbers safely away from prying eyes. And so I wrote Secrets. It is actually short and simple, but it is effective, and works on the principle that it is easier to remember just one password than half-a-dozen unrelated PINs.
Version number 1.03 (11 December 2000) 21k
People is another address book application. Such applications are very common, and it comes down to personal preference which you want to use, but this has one possibly unique feature in that it helps you to keep track of those Christmas cards too.
Version number 2.06 (October 2001) 47k
A program to keep track of your personal accounts. Includes automatic standing orders and direct debits, record of credit card transactions, plus a detailed breakdown into up to 15 budget headings.
Version number 5.08 (August 2000) 106k
Maxifile is a versatile yet easy-to-use database. It first appeared for the BBC micro, but has evolved through 5 distinct versions to its present form as a fully multitasking wimp application. Developed initially for use in school administration, it has been thoroughly tested in the workplace, but is equally useful as a general database in the home. For further information click here.
The following programs written for Risc OS machines have been in regular use at Charles Burrell High School for several years. They all run in the desktop, and they are all now freeware. They are written in BASIC, and are surprisingly fast on RiscPC's, RiscStations, and A7000+'s, and perfectly acceptable on older machines too. Together they form a useful suite of software that handles most administrative needs in a secondary school with the exception of finance.
Administrative programs available are
Version number 5.08 (August 2000) 106k
Maxifile is a straightforward database, but it has most if not all the functions that a school office needs for storing data. At Charles Burrell High School it is used for pupil records, the admissions register, and for generating set lists. It is also used for providing data to the TimeDesk program, the Reporting and Grades packages, and the Options program.
Version 5 now includes a number of cosmetic features, including user definable colours for fields, and the ability to design the layout on screen, and change the size of fields. It is simple in the sense that it only handles string fields - but remember that even strings can have values, and so some statistical information can still be extracted. For backwards compatability records can be stored in the original BASIC format used when it was developed on the BBC B, but there is also a more recent format that enables you to save details of colours and screen layout. The program can both load and save both formats.
Maxifile is very easy to use, and office staff quickly become familiar with it. It is also very reliable, having been developed over several years since its first incarnation for the BBC B! Files can be exported in Maxifile format, in CSV, or as text. It will also receive data in CSV format to create a new file. Sub-files and searches are included, and quick entry facilities are also part of the package.
Maxifile has been in the public domain as freeware for a long time, but because there are much more sophisticated databases around has probably not been used very much, and PD libraries may hold out-of-date versions. Its strength lies in that it is tailored to be easy to use in a school office, and it provides a simple way of feeding in data to other programs in the suite.
Click on the icon at the start of these notes to download a copy of Maxifile.
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Version number 2.11 (July 2000) 81k
With TimeDesk we have at last got very close to the paperless timetable! At Charles Burrell, we have used TimeDesk for a number of yeras for daily reference rather than the printed page, but it does print out a wide range of information when it is needed - class timetables, pupil timetables, staff timetables, room timetables. At the same time we can check on screen where any pupil or member of staff should be at any given time.
In a previous era, TimeDesk began as a timetabling program called TimeTable, and it still includes valuable timetabling aids. It was changed to TimeDesk when it was first rewritten to run in the Desktop. While it does not do the timetabling for you, there are valuable functions for helping the user develop a timetable, either to modify an existing one or to start from scratch.
The features of TimeDesk include
Copy or swop periods singly, by periods and by years
Instant staff usage displayed on request
Staff timetables displayed to determine free slots
Immediate printout of current state
Individual pupil timetables
Individual staff timetables
Compiles individual Sixth Form timetables from courses entered
Easily updated
On screen response or printout
TimeDesk is written in BASIC and requires Maxifile data files containing teaching group data to run pupil searches and to produce individual timetables - see the previous item on this page. TimeDesk is now freeware, but it does retain the acknowledgement banner and request to register. To replace this, please contact the author. While it will accommodate any number of periods and breaks per day, and most structures are allowed for, some timetable arranglements may not be fully possible. You need to satisfy yourself that your particular structure works satisfactorily.
If you already have a copy of TimeDesk, you can update your copy by downloading a shorter file and merging it with your present version:TimeDesk update.
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Version number 1.08 (July 2000) 73k
Reporter is a versatile reporting program that enables a school to produce detailed meaningful reports at the press of a few buttons! Like most programs of its type, it will allow a wide range of statements to be grammatically combined, include free text, and new statement banks to be created.
Programs of this kind are easy to use and very productive. They do need however to be constructed thoughtfully to avoid obvious pitfalls of computer-generated statements. Reporter has the flexibility and power to ensure that this can be achieved.
Reporter has been fully tried and tested in use at Charles Burrell High School where the staff verdict is very positive. They find it very easy to use. Each member of staff is issued with their own copy which they can use on any Risc OS machine in the school (or at home). When they have prepared their reports, they hand in their disc to the coordinator who merges all the data into a central copy in the office where they are then printed out. Discs are returned to Staff who can then keep them for their own reference/use and for printing out their own hard copy if they need to - but in the interests of economy - and the modern electronic office! - they are encouraged not to do so since reports can always be viewed on screen.
Reporter requires set files produced by Maxifile in a specific format. See the first item of software listed on this page for further details of this database program. It also requires some basic IT understanding on the part of the coordinator to ensure smooth running of the program where so many teaching staff are using the software. This is a Freeware program.
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Version number 1.03 (November 1999) 72k
Grades is essentially a cut-down version of Reporter, but with various modifications to fit the job it is required to do.
Most schools run some system for recording regular assessment of progress and passing this information back to parents. When I went to school this used to be done every fortnight, but most schools these days find such frequency impossible to achieve! What we do is send what we call an Interim Report home to parents about every 5 or 6 weeks. Thus in a full year, Year 9 and Year 10 pupils each receive 4 Interim Reports using Grades, and one Full Report using Reporter. Year 11 has fewer, and Year 8 have only 3 Interim Reports plus a Full Report because they are our entry year and are given longer to settle in before we start producing reports.
Grades allows you to report on up to four features each time. In our case, we have written the databank so that we report on attainment, effort, homework, and attendance. In most cases we use simple grades such as A - F, but we can expand these by up to 20 characters if we need to, and for attendance we use words or percentage ranges rather than letters.
Many staff resist the idea of frequent assessment of this kind, and over the years we have worked hard to minimise the workload involved. In this respect Grades has proved highly successful, and the first time it was issued staff came back with their discs to the office full of enthusiasm for how quick and easy it was to use. When grades are due, we issue each member of staff with their own copy of Grades which they take away and complete at their own convenience and return within a week. Most return them the same or the next day! We allow ourselves a further week to merge the data onto the office machine, chase up missing discs and to check for any problems, but the reports are always printed out in good time.
Like Reporter, Grades does need a little knowledge of how it operates so that problems can be quickly resolved. When a pupil moves from one set to another, the corresponding datafile must be moved from the disc of the old member of staff to the new one. Failure to do this can cause one disc to overwirte the data of the the other - easily put right by someone who understands how it works. Anyone with a basic skill of navigating through directories will have no problem! As with Reporter, Grades relies on pupil information about sets/classes being available in Maxifile format.
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Charles Burrell High School began using an OMR (CD200 series) several years ago, using Cogent Software. Unfortunately this did not operate in the desktop, and it was decided to write an inhouse program. The OMR sheets supplied by Cogent are still used, but Week00 not only runs in the desktop, but incorporated additional features - always the big advantage of writing inhouse software!
The advantage of a computerised registration system is the quick availability of data, whether it is for listing pupils who are giving cause for concern, listing today's absentees, filling in the DfEE return, or publishing the monthly absence rates by tutor groups. All this is possible. The system has also been refined to give excellent reliability from reading OMR sheets. Week00 is very cost-effective where you can't afford swipe cards or radio EARS - and it runs on any RiscOS machine!
There is always concern with regard to registration documents which must comply with legal requirements. Week00 has survived a personal inspection by an HMI working on attendance patterns, and also a full Ofsted inspection, without criticism. It is also highly valued by Education Welfare Officers who use it regularly as part of their investigations.
As with all the inhouse software used at Charles Burrell, Week00 is portable. In other words, Year or House staff can be given their own copy to use on their own machine when investigating pastoral issues. They do not need an OMR attached to be able to analyse and printout data.
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As the name implies, Options was written to help manage the whole process of option choices. It is an aid rather than a solution, in that it will reveal the clashes, help you to explore alternatives quickly and efficiently, and when you have made up you mind it will create the files needed for the subsequent timetable. It should be understood that Options makes no claim to balance teaching groups to optimise set composition or size. The purpose is to establish the feasibility of a given arrangement, and to maximise the number of pupils who can be
fitted to the timetable grid. Teaching group sizes have to be adjusted on screen, and it is also possible to force some pupils into specific groups by modifying the subject code.
The current version of the program has been successfully used over recent years to establish the options for Year 10 at Charles Burrell High School, but it has not been tested in the context of other schools. It is very much a timetabler's tool, and will only be effective in the hands of someone used to working in this way with computers.
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Options
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