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.
Attendance
Parents can quickly see their children's attendance for today, and also look back over
the week and longer periods of time. Lateness to school or lessons can also be seen.
Using INSIGHT, parents can report reasons for their child's absence, and request term time absences.
show me
Assessments
Assessment grades can be viewed including
targets set, progress to date, homework
set with due dates, and key stage scores. This data can be viewed in tabular or simple
chart forms, allowing parents to take in their child's progress at a glance.
show me
Notices
Parents can receive school notices and share diary events from
SIMS. Dates and times of Parents' Evenings, school
clubs, sporting events and PTA meetings can be viewed.
You can even include General Documents from your Document Manager where appropriate.
Communication
INSIGHT provides the parent with a list of people and agencies associated with the
child including form tutors, teachers and pastoral contacts. A simple interface allows users
to communicate with the listed contacts, saving staff time and resources costs.
Exams
Users can access exam timetables, with or without seating arrangements, can check
examination entries, and even view results using INSIGHT. Result embargos are honoured, and there is a
locally definable delay between the importing of results and the publication.
show me
Parents Evenings
An optional component allows parents to book appointments for themselves at parent's evenings.
Staff too can book appointments where required, set unavailability times and access a range of reports.
Surveys
Staff can design their own surveys and invite selected parents to respond, adding comments
where required. Results can be shared with other staff, or if preferred can be restricted
to the survey's creator. Results are analysed automatically and can be viewed
with or without comments.
School Reports
School reports held in Assessment Manager, Profiles, PARS
or other sources can be viewed, both current and
historical, such as tracking, interim, progress and end of
year. A grade summary report for each subject can be viewed
including the attainment and effort levels obtained for each
term.
show me
Behaviour
A view of the child's
behaviour including achievements, awards and commendations as well as reprimands.
Episodes of being placed on report are detailed, as are any detentions or exclusions.
show me
Forums
Schools have complete control for the management of the forum and
can set topics for parents to post to, test opinions and set up FAQs.
Forums are sometimes used for school announcements, distributing
resources and other useful information to parents. This allows parents to
have a voice within the parental engagement framework.
Data collection
Keep your parental details up-to-date by letting your users amend their address,
email addresses, contact details, dietary requirements and more.
Changes are submitted online to the school for approval, and if approved are sent straight
to your SIMS system.
School Dinners
INSIGHT can link to popular cashless catering databases allowing parents
to see their child's menu choices, transactions and cash balances.
show me
Staff and students
Pupils can instantly see their: progress, test results, homework marks, teacher
expectations, behaviour, attendance. Staff can also view this pupil information at any
time online.
General Information
As well as information stored in your SIMS system, you can also publish other useful information for
parents, including RSS feeds from the likes of BBC Education and Sports,
local weather details and The Family Information Directory for
support and advice. Documents that are not specifically linked to individual pupils
such as Newsletters, school policy documents and reports
from the Local Authority or Ofsted can be shared too.
show me
Attendance
Timetable
The timetable displays all you need to know about which
lessons are taught where and when, and any recorded
attendance marks. As a parent, being able to view a live
timetable, including any late changes, helps ensure pupils
have the correct equipment for each lesson. Term dates,
school holidays and training days are also provided.
Attendance Summary
This provides an up to date summary of your child’s attendance
for the morning and afternoon statutory registers. Absences
together with their codes are displayed with the number of times
they were used.
Attendance Career
Attendance percentages per term for each year at school.
Assessments
Assignments
Homework assignments are viewed by subject together with any
attached supporting materials, the date issued and the date
it is due to be handed in. Homework marks can be shown.
Assessment
Any aspects can be selected and linked to a subject to be displayed
on this chart, clicking the I button shows the value of the grade issued.
Assessment Charts
Shows the selected aspect in a chart format, aspects can be linked
together for display in the same chart if required. This way of reporting
makes it easier for parents to understand view progress and attainment levels.
Exams
Examination Results
Any examination result can be selected and shared with parents. The
examination timetable shows the subject times and dates together
with their seating plans. Examination entries, coursework and key
stage results are available as required.
School Reports
School Reports
Completed reports held in your SIMS document server can be selected
for parents to view. Reports from Assessment Manager, Profiles and
PARS can be saved to the document server as a PDF and are then
available for selection.
Behaviour
Behaviour Achievements
The achievements (or good behaviours) are listed individually; the amount
of data viewed can be varied to suite individual requirements or outcomes.
Behaviour Comparison
Behaviours and Achievements are compared for each subject to show
any correlation between the subject and the behaviour.
Report Card
The contents of the report card can be shared with Parents.
School Dinners
School Dinners
School Dinners
School Dinners
School Dinners
General Information
RSS Feeds
RSS Feeds
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
"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.