This manual follows a term's marks from beginning to end: giving educators the rights to capture, setting when parents see results, capturing the marks, producing report cards, and exporting the data to SA-SAMS. Work through the steps in order, as each one depends on the step before it.

My School > People > Learners > Learner Marks: Marks per Group

Step 1 – Assign capturing rights

Until an educator has been given rights to a subject, they cannot capture anything. This is the most common cause of an educator reporting that their subject does not appear.

My School > Curriculum > Curriculum Setup: Capturing Rights

1. Choose whether to assign rights per staff member or per subject.

2. Select the educator from the dropdown.

3. Filter by grades, learning programmes or subjects. Setting all three to all lists every subject.

4. Subjects on the left are inactive. Select the subjects the educator should capture and move them to the right to make them active.

5. Click Save.

Step 2 – Set the mark release date for parents

This controls when parents may see what their child achieved for a term and subject on the d6 app. Setting it deliberately prevents parents seeing results before the school is ready to discuss them.

My School > Curriculum > Learning Programmes: d6 App Mark Release Date

1. Double-click the d6 App Mark Release Date field.

2. Select the date from the calendar that appears.

Learning programmes must already be set up for this option to be available.

Step 3 – Capture the marks

My School > People > Learners > Learner Marks: Marks per Group

1. Select the year and the term.

2. Select the grade. Only active grades for that term appear.

3. Select the subject you want to capture for.

4. Choose the level for mark entry: subject marks, task level or assessment level. Most schools capture at assessment level.

5. The screen breaks down into the relevant tasks. The subject group tabs across the top represent your classes, so three classes for that subject show three tabs.

6. Click Mark 1 and enter the marks.

• Absent learners: enter A and the system records the learner as absent.

• To remove a mark: delete the value. The system confirms that it has been deleted.

For a learner who joins mid-year and needs previous marks captured, use Marks per Learner instead.

Step 4 – Set up and generate report cards

Reports > Learners > Marks and Achievements: Report Cards

1. Choose a template from the list, and edit it if it needs to suit your school's requirements.

2. Select the term you are printing for.

3. Select the curriculum your school uses and the promotion requirements for the term.

4. Choose whether to print the principal's signature and the date.

5. Select the subjects, whether to print components, and the grades.

6. Generate by register class, or select an individual learner.

7. Click Generate to preview the result.

The generated report card carries your school logo and letterhead, the subjects, the terms and results, the school stamp, the principal's signature where uploaded, the scale sets, and space for educator remarks.

• Paperless schools: report cards can be emailed to parents as a PDF rather than printed.

Step 5 – Export to SA-SAMS

My School > Compliance: Export to SA-SAMS Database

1. Click the green plus sign to start a new export.

2. Review the breakdown of outstanding compliance tasks. Resolve these first if you have not already done so.

3. Select the term, leave the remaining settings as they are, and click Continue.

4. A popup confirms how many tasks are outstanding. Click Continue.

5. Watch the status. Where several schools are exporting at once you are placed in a queue and given your position. The status then changes to in process, and finally to completed.

6. Click the download icon once it appears. The file saves to your downloads folder, ready to open when you deploy in SA-SAMS.

• Run the export on the school network.

• A username and password are provided to you in SA-SAMS when you come to deploy the database.

Frequently asked questions

An educator says their subject does not appear when they try to capture marks. Why?

They have not been given capturing rights for that subject. Go to My School > Curriculum > Curriculum Setup: Capturing Rights, select the educator, and move the relevant subjects from the left to the right to make them active. Remember to save.

How do I record a learner who was absent for an assessment?

Enter A in the mark field instead of a value. The system records the learner as absent for that assessment.

Why are there several tabs across the top of the marks screen?

Each tab is a subject group, in other words one of your classes for that subject. A subject taught to three classes shows three tabs, and you capture each one separately.

At which level should we capture marks?

Most schools capture at assessment level. Subject marks and task level are also available, but assessment level gives the detail the promotion formulas need.

Can I control when parents see marks on the d6 app?

Yes. Set the d6 App Mark Release Date under My School > Curriculum > Learning Programmes. Double-click the field and select the date from the calendar.

Can report cards be sent to parents without printing them?

Yes. Report cards can be emailed to parents as a PDF, which they can open and keep. This suits schools running a paperless process.

My SA-SAMS export says I am in a queue. Is something wrong?

No. Where several schools export at the same time you are placed in a queue and shown your position. The status changes to in process and then to completed, at which point the download icon appears.

A learner joined mid-year. How do I capture their previous marks?

Use Marks per Learner rather than Marks per Group. It is designed for learners who join mid-year and need their previous academic history captured for reporting.