Introduction

Engaging parents is a powerful lever for raising a child's achievement through continual support and encouragement. Having the ability to share pupil data and interact dynamically with parents builds on the achievements in school and drives school improvement.

INSIGHT provides secure access to pupil data in your SIMS MIS, from attendance and behaviour and homework through to school reports, in a clear, easy to use and understandable manner. Now even non-technical parents can engage in their child's learning and participate in school life.

Pupils too can see information on their progress in school. In some cases the first thing they do is actually logon to INSIGHT to see the various information that staff have provided. Teachers too can log into INSIGHT to see clear and concise student information.

• Share your MIS data live

  INSIGHT links directly with your SIMS.net system, enabling your existing data to be shared in realtime, everything from the school calendar to pupil reports. As the link is two way, contact information and other key personal information can be collected, validated, and stored straight back into your SIMS database too.

• Cost neutral

  By sharing documents online, the costs of collating and printing are saved. It is not uncommon for pupils to receive 25 pages per year, in the form of paper reports and letters, the cost of which is approximately that of INSIGHT. If postage and school time are taken into account then savings may be made!

• Two-factor authentication

  Available for schools who wish to implement additional security during log in, without requiring extra hardware or infrastructure.

• Realtime access

  Sharing data in realtime means parents always have the most up-to-date information, eliminating disputes centred around obsolete data.

• Links to other systems

  Various Single Sign On options are available avoiding the complications of multiple passwords being used across systems. INSIGHT links to other software as diverse as cashless catering, to reporting from other systems external to SIMS.

• Flexible and easy to use

  INSIGHT can be customised by changing the colour and theme to suit your school, and by the inclusion of user defined pages. INSIGHT gives you the flexibility to choose the type and scope of data to share. Designed to be a very user friendly system, it is easy to navigate and simple to use requiring little or no training.

Features

INSIGHT gives you the flexibility to choose the areas and depth of pupil data you wish to share with parents, pupils and teachers.
INSIGHT displays this in a selection of easy to understand charts, tables and reports.

Case Studies

If you would like to discuss out products directly with any of the schools involved in the case studies, please contact us initially and we will be happy to contact the relevant member of staff, before passing on their contact details.

Sturminster Newton High School Author: Tim Weeks, Assistant Headteacher "It's a great asset for parents to keep in touch with how their children are getting on in school. Parents like the way information is presented in graphical format; it's easy to understand...the information they want is in one place..." Read more

Humberston Academy "I just thought I would pass on some feedback from our parents... 'The new website is excellent long may it continue.' 'I found it really easy to use and was very interesting to read. It was easy to log on to. I have found the previous gateway very disappointing.' 'I went on the website last night and found it very easy to get round the site and find the information. The attendance comparison on the graph is good as this gives a better understanding of a child against others.' 'I found the website very useful to keep track on behaviour as I have particular concerns in this area. It seems very easy to use and user friendly. I think being able to leave a message on the site for tutors is great as then we can be more supportive of the school and the student.' ...It has been a great product and please pass on my thanks to your team" Ellis Jacklin, Systems Development Leader

	Newent Community School "INSIGHT is without doubt the most feature rich, and customisable online reporting tool available on the market." Kevin Stacey, IT Manager
	Vicky Roberts, Attendance Co-ordinator "...can sign in online and update their contact details at times they find convenient. This has made a huge difference; we don't get notes being left with various teachers, never to find their way to the appropriate person!" Watch
	Dave Cooper, Subject Leader for IT "We have got students who are already coming into school first thing in the morning to logon to INSIGHT to see the various bits of information that staff have put on their about them." Watch
	Adrian Underwood, Head of Science "I was using INSIGHT yesterday with a group of students, they were asking me what their science module test mark was, I logged in to INSIGHT which picked them up from SIMS and was able to give them their mark straight away and the mark for all of their exams." Watch
	Jen Wells, Second in Maths (KS3) "...in terms of making my life easier, the link between SIMS and INSIGHT is fabulous, because once it's in SIMS then it's in INSIGHT (if you want it to be). You can decide exactly what you want it to show to the parents and from that, you know, the world is your oyster." Watch
	Ashley Mortimer, Advanced Schools teacher "I think that parents' evenings will be revolutionary, staff can have really meaningful discussions, because parents will have the information before they come. So to me INSIGHT has a huge, huge potential." Watch
	Kirsty Gordelier, Science teacher "...so I am finding it's very, very useful in terms of being able to access information very quickly, in one place, and to know what information parents are actually accessing. Parents are saying, '"It's brilliant!" It's really, really useful because they can talk to their children at the end of the day and actually see that they've received several house points." Watch
	Dawn Terry, PSHE & Citizenship teacher "..I thought 'oh no.. it's a technical thing and I'm not going to be able to use it'. I took a look at it and was really, really impressed with how easy it is to use, and I didn't need IT to teach me - I managed to have a look round it myself. Really easy to navigate, lots of information on there and I think it's fantastic!" Watch
	Del Hughes, Teacher of ICT & Progress Leader for Yr11 "...but INSIGHT is a massive tool! I can't talk highly enough about it if I'm honest, because, one of the main ways we are going to try and do this is obviously by increasing communication with parents at home and this tool really allows us to be able to do that so, so easily! Already, i've had parents ringing me to talk about their child's progress, not waiting for the reporting cycles to come round, not waiting for interim reports to go home, just ringing me up out of the blue to discuss CQs and have the sort of conversations that actually, we should be having, and they should be having with their children as well." Watch
	Mark Ellis, Development Leader of ICT "We really want to get this dialogue with parents going because in terms of raising achievement, that's what the core business is, you have to have these conversations. What INSIGHT does is present an interface to students that is really comfortable, without being patronising. Children can pick out their own historic records and they can see subjects against each other. They then become part of the conversation in a meaningful way." Watch
	Hamish Young, Head of Art "I am expecting students using electronic portfolio to actually access their feedback and their current progress levels in Insight. Students will access their current assessment information, and also comments about what's going on with their work and what they need to do to improve it." Watch
	Martyn John, Senior Pastoral Leader "Parents have access to information to know exactly what is happening with their child on a daily basis. In terms of their behaviour management and academic progress, and they can see exactly what their child has been 'up to' in school." Watch
	Lee Hampton, Parent "I have found the software very easy to use; nice and simple, and it's all categorised into various bits and pieces on the left. Nice simple menus to navigate your way through. I am really impressed with the software and can keep an eye on how he is going, without having to keep asking questions - that he gets very annoyed about!" Watch
	Kevin Stacey, Technical Manager "INSIGHT, has I think, started some very interesting conversations. Excellent feedback and engagement with parents, we are targeting specifically behaviour, attendance and assessment data but many other features are available. This flexibility gives you the ability to tailor solutions specifically for your school." Watch
	Glen Barber, Assistant Headteacher "Our particular area has been in the development of INSIGHT for online reporting. The on-going assessment data we collect in SIMS just feeds directly onto INSIGHT. We create our reports in SIMS and then our documents are linked for everyone to access. In fact, we are going to go paper free and get our parents to look at reports online." Watch

	Wolstanton High School Steve Wilkinson, ICT Coordinator "The feedback we’re getting is absolutely fantastic! [Parents] say they feel that they can help in the education of their children, that it has become a more open school and they know more about what's going on." Watch

Maidstone Grammar School Author: Stephen J. Moores "Parents and carers can now log in from home to a secure parents' portal and see a host of information about their child in real-time." Read more

Lode Heath School Mark Wilson, Deputy Headteacher "...this will give parents key information on student's attendance, behaviour, assessments and exams and it will also place greater emphasis on students and their progress, by enlisting greater support and contribution from parents. Our vision is that from this information, where we identify their achievements, we also identify any gaps in their learning." Watch

Sacred Heart High School Author: Gerald Haigh, Journalist, Assistant Headteacher "School and authorities like INSIGHT because it: works seamlessly with SIMS, adds value to a VLE, directly addresses the school improvement agenda, can grow with your requirements, is a no-fuss tool..." Read more

Michael Cousins, Deputy Headteacher "One of the most impressive things about INSIGHT is that it works, immediately. The data that is generated in schools is seamlessly packaged and prepared for parents and carers and presented in an accessible format. The main job for a school is to decide how much or how little information they want to make available. INSIGHT works as software should, to facilitate my role and improve the school, not create extra work for little return." Watch

FAQs

Here are a selection of the questions we are most commonly asked about INSIGHT...

How are passwords and usernames generated?

User names and passwords are generated automatically within the software based on parental contacts found in your SIMS database. INSIGHT can also query Active Directory to automatically generate logins for pupils.

How are passwords and user names distributed to parents and in what format?

User names and passwords can be distributed by email, text message or mail merge letters, produced by the system.

How secure is the system?

INSIGHT meets the requirements as requested by Becta in the Secure Remote Access and Data Security paper. Two-factor authentication can be set up if required.

Where does INSIGHT get its data from?

INSIGHT displays the data held in your SIMS .net database, your SIMS Document Server, and in some cases even external databses.

Does the system have staff access as well as parents' access?

Staff can be given access to view information in INSIGHT, if you wish.

Can I hide menu items?

Yes, in the configuration pages you select the items that you wish to display or hide to each type of user.

Can I produce student reports if I don't use Profiles?

Yes, if you use the individual reports in Assessment Manager, or even a non-SIMS report writing tool to create the report, then we can display this in INSIGHT.

Can parents print off any report viewed on INSIGHT?

Yes, there is a print button if you allow it.

How do parents access INSIGHT?

Access for parents is normally via a link on the school's web site.

Who can access INSIGHT to view information?

Schools have control of deciding who can access Insight to view information. Parents, pupils and school staff would commonly access Insight.

How is INSIGHT hosted?

INSIGHT is a web application that works as a stand-alone application and is hosted on the school's IIS Server, using standard Microsoft technologies. The software conforms to W3C standards and works on all of the most popular browsers and mobile devices.