SIMS: Duplicate Parents appearing on the system

If you have synced the data from SIMS, but some parents appear more than once, the usual reason is that there are duplicate records in SIMS, each linked to different children. You can follow the steps in this article to check things are set up correctly in SIMS.

Check the parent records in the system

Check the parent records via Data > Parents Click on each duplicated parent record and check the student(s) listed under Linked Students

• If all of that parent's children are listed on one parent record you will need to delete the duplicate parent contact records in SIMS. Then run a sync to clear the duplicates in Tes Parents' Meetings.
• If all of that parent's children are not listed on one parent record you need to correct the parent's contact records in SIMS to make sure that there is only one record, linked to all of their children. Then run a sync to update the record, and clear the duplicates, in Tes Parents' Meetings.

Check data in SIMS

1. Open SIMS and go to Focus > Person > Contacts.
2. Using the Search function find the parent's record.
3. There should only be only one record per parent. If there is more than one record you need to make sure that at least one of the records has all the relevant children showing under Associated Students.
4. Once you have edited as required to ensure that one record is linked to all children, click Save at the top left.
5. You can now delete other, duplicate records for that parent.

Check the sync settings and re-sync with SIMS

Once your data is correctly set up in SIMS, run another sync using the Parents Evening System SIMS Extract Tool to update the information on your system. If you have deleted duplicates in SIMS, they will be removed in Parents' Meetings. 

Under Step 3: Select Contacts, ensure to select the priorities of contacts which you wish to sync. You may choose to only sync contacts with Parental Responsibility with the Only Include Contacts with Parental Responsibility option. You may choose to include contacts with a Court Order in the sync with the Include Contacts with a Court Order option.

Once you have run the sync, again go to Data > Parents on the system to check that only one copy of the parent now appears, and that it is linked to all relevant students.