You may have noticed that there’s a new little gold star on ClaSS. It pops-up if you leave the mouse cursor hovering next to a student name in the MarkBook, Register or InfoBook This is the new merits function about which their is a very brief description in the ClaSS Manual.

It requires the minimum amount of information to be recorded to make it as quick as possible – just the activity or area which the merit relates to and the number of points awarded. There’s an optional space for more detail to record your commendation if needed.

The merit points can be tied into a house system and there is a more detailed description about managing the houses.

The merits window currently reports a running total for the individual student and their relevant house total. We’ll be adding full reporting for highest scorers etc. later next month.

If your school is interested in adopting the Merit Star and you didn’t participate in the initial consultation phase then just get in touch. All that needs to be confirmed is the list of “Activities” which you want in the selection box and the points scheme you use. For instance, you may or may not be interested in using demerits. I’d suggest it as a solution for tracking low-level problems like uniform, as ClaSS can generate analysis for anyone of those individual “activities”.