The new academic year

Each summer, Sonar Tracker starts a new academic year and moves pupils into their new year groups and classes. There are checks to make before the summer holidays, and again in September.

What happens at rollover

Pupils move up

Pupils move into their new year groups and classes when your management information system (MIS) rolls over. Roll the MIS over as usual, and Sonar picks up the change in its overnight update. Schools that use Juniper MIS roll over with its end of year process.

If your MIS data passes through Wonde, pupil and class updates pause from mid-July. Sonar then moves into the new academic year in early August, and the updates start again. The Juniper help centre gives each year’s exact dates.

If your school has no MIS link, Sonar moves each pupil up one year group itself, based on their date of birth. Check year groups afterwards, especially for any pupil taught outside their age group.

Settings carry over

Sonar copies your school’s settings into the new year, including your summative codes and objective sets. See Assessment settings.

A new baseline

Each academic year starts with a Start of Year Baseline assessment point. Until the autumn term begins, assessment pages open on the baseline. After that, they open on autumn 1, and you can still choose the baseline from the assessment point list.

Earlier years stay available

Earlier judgements and results stay in Sonar. To see them, choose an earlier year from the assessment point list. Pupils are always listed by their current year group, so last year’s year 3 judgements appear under Year 4.

You can still edit last year’s data after rollover if your role allows it. Partial Edit and Minimal Edit can only edit the current academic year. Once Sonar moves into the new year, only Full Edit and above can change last year’s summer 2 judgements.

Before the summer holidays

Check	Why
Every pupil has summer 2 judgements in each subject you assess	Empty cells count as No Assessment in reports, and teachers with Partial Edit or Minimal Edit cannot fill them after rollover. The Summative Data Check Summary shows gaps by class.
This year’s statutory results are in Sonar	Outcome reports and the Statutory Dashboard use them. See Statutory assessment in Sonar.
Stand-alone schools have exported statutory results to the MIS	The export uses the pupils in each year group at the time, so after rollover it would pick up the new cohort. See Import and export statutory data.
Staff who are leaving have lost access	See Remove access.
Your MIS rollover is planned for 1 August or later	Juniper Education asks schools to wait until 1 August, because an earlier rollover affects your school’s data, including benchmarking.

In September

Check	How
Pupils are in the right year groups and classes	Look through Pupils. Fix mistakes in your MIS, and they reach Sonar overnight.
New pupils have arrived, including nursery and reception	Nursery pupils need a start date and a unique pupil number (UPN) in your MIS. See How pupil data gets into Sonar.
Joiners’ statutory results are in Sonar	Import a common transfer file (CTF) with each joiner’s results. See Add results for new joiners.
New staff can sign in, with the right roles	Invite them in Juniper Portal once they are in your MIS. See Users and roles.
Teachers have set their new class as their preference	On Home, select Set Preferences, choose the class and select Save Preferences.
Custom groups are up to date	Groups with no active pupils, such as last year’s year 6 groups, have been removed. Create this year’s groups.
Settings have carried over correctly	An Account Owner or Account Admin can check them on the School page.

Copy judgements into the new year

Sonar does not carry judgements forward, within a year or into the next. Until someone enters or copies a judgement, the cell stays empty, and reports count it as No Assessment.

At the start of the year, you can copy each pupil’s summer 2 judgements into the start of year baseline or autumn 1. On Primary Summative Assessment (New), use Copy Data From Previous Term and choose Previous Summer 2. The year group moves up in the copy, so a year 3 Just At becomes a year 4 Just At. Copy judgements from an earlier point has the steps.

Treat a copied judgement as a starting point. Ask teachers to review each pupil during the first half term and change any judgement that no longer fits.

Good practice

Agree before September which assessment points you will record this year. The DfE’s 2018 report ‘Making data work’ (GOV.UK) says schools should rarely need more than two or three attainment data collections a year.

Reception to year 1

When reception children move into year 1, you can copy their summer 2 judgements in five areas, such as Word Reading, into the matching year 1 subjects. This only works if your school’s EYFS and primary code models match. Copy reception judgements into year 1 lists the subjects and gives the steps.

Year 6 and other leavers

When pupils leave, your MIS records them as leavers and Sonar hides them, but keeps their records and results. Last year’s year 6 move up with everyone else, so to see them, include leavers in the filters and choose Year 7. See Include leavers.

If something goes wrong

Sonar still shows last year’s classes in August. Sonar moves into the new year in early August, and it picks up new classes once your MIS has rolled over.

Last year’s pupils are not where you expect. Choose the year group they are in now. For example, last year’s year 4 are under Year 5.

Autumn 1 is empty. Enter judgements, or copy summer 2 forward.

A teacher cannot change last year’s judgements. Their role can only edit the current academic year. Ask someone with Full Edit or above.

Related pages

• Assessment points and the school year
• Enter primary summative judgements
• How pupil data gets into Sonar
• Users and roles