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Locking subjects

The subjects visible in GO 4 Schools are pulled from your MIS (or created via feed rules). Subjects will be pulled from your MIS if they are timetabled with students attached to them.

There are a couple of reasons why you will no longer have subjects timetabled in your MIS, but would like them to remain visible in GO 4 Schools:

  • Students may no longer be timetabled when they go on exam leave
  • Your subjects may rotate, such that they are not being taught at all times of the year
  • Students may start new subjects/qualifications part-way through the year (for example Y9 students starting KS4 after Easter)

If, for example, your Y11 Maths subject was no longer timetabled from May, the subject would no longer be visible in GO 4 Schools from May, unless the subject is locked.

What are the implications of locking a subject?

  • What is locked: The group membership and the teacher attached to the group is locked.
  • What is not locked: Any other functionality to do with the subject. For example you are still able to edit the markbook, add marks and grades, and write reports for the subject.

How to lock a subject (School Managers only) From the left hand menu, select System > Feed Rules > Add / remove subject lock, and select the subject that you want to lock from the left hand menu. Select "Update" then remember to Save at the bottom of the page.

How to unlock a subject (School Managers only) From the left hand menu, select System > Feed Rules > Add / remove subject lock, find your subject on the right hand menu, and select "remove". Select "Update" then remember to Save at the bottom of the page.

How to make changes to locked subjects (School Managers only) We have a subject and group management tool designed for managing locked subjects. This allows you to make changes such as adding or removing students from a group, changing teacher, and copying/moving/renaming subjects and groups. As it only works on locked subjects you should consider using feed rules for the majority of the year in place of this tool. From the left hand menu, select System > Feed Rules > Manage locked subjects/groups. More information on this tool can be found in the School Manager's Guide, in the section entitled "Managing locked subjects"

FAQ

  • Q If a student leaves the school, will they be kept in a locked subject?
    A No, school leavers will be removed from all subjects, even locked ones (however please note that January Census functionality will lock in students from Y11, Y12 and Y13 if they leave your school after the January Census date).
  • Q If my subject is locked will my brand new student be added?
    A Yes. When a student is added to your MIS and therefore GO 4 Schools, subject locking does not prevent the student from being added to their subjects the first day that we see them. If any changes are made to their groups subsequently you will need to use the group membership tool as for other students (see below).
  • Q My Y9 students start GCSE maths in the summer term. Can I see two markbooks, one for the KS3 maths, and one for the KS4 maths?
    A Yes, in this case you would lock your current Y9 maths markbook, and setup a new maths subject using feed rules. We would recommend that you lock the KS3 subject BEFORE any timetable changes, and setup feed rules to create your new KS4 subject AFTER any timetable changes. If the KS4 subject uses a different MIS subject code to the KS3 subject, it will appear automatically. However if it uses the same MIS subject code as the KS3 subject, the KS4 subject in effect becomes locked out of GO 4 Schools. You would then create a new feed rule using the option "Move groups from one subject into a new or existing subject" to move the Y9 "Maths" students into Y9 "Maths GCSE" (or similar). The feed rule will not affect the locked subject, but would be based on the data coming in the feed. If you need any assistance with this process, please raise a support ticket.

If you are ready to start the new academic year timetable, please read this knowledge base article for more information.