The headlines page gives you access to that key data for which you are frequently asked using visualisation and text commentary to make them accessible to a wider audience.
The text snippets and charts on the page can be easily copied and used to support your virtual school's reporting processes.
Users will access this material in slightly different ways depending on their roles and permissions in Nexus. Users who can only access CLA/Virtual School reporting will be taken to this page direct when selecting Insight/Headlines.
Users who also access wider school reporting will select Scope: Virtual School (CLA) to select this information from the available pick list.
Printing & Help
Though the content is covered in this article, you can also click About This Page to find some basic information about the page you are viewing. There will also be a link to this guide.
Clicking on Data Sources brings up a table that tells you the source for each key stage - Keypas or DfE.
If you want to print the page, you can do so via the Print button but you should consider whether the intended recipient should be given direct access to Insight instead, or whether you could screenshot the parts you wanted.
Options
Options opens automatically when you enter Insight: Headlines. After being closed, it can be re-opened by clicking the purple 'Options' button or any of the choices in the Area menu (which remains on screen).
As you notice from the screenshot below, you have a button to switch list view and card view (card view shown in the screenshot). No matter how the information is displayed, you can only apply the changes you have made to this screen by selecting an indicator (for example clicking the Good Level of Development card in the screen shot below). If you close the pop-up with the close button or the cross at the top of the pop-up, your selections will be discarded.
Academic Year
There will be a maximum of 3 academic years at any given point, the current academic year will be available as soon as absence data becomes available in Nexus.
Area
The default value for this option is Key Indicators this is a combination of indicators from all key stages, and also key absence and exclusions indicators. This is what is displayed on the options popup when entering Insight: Headlines. Selecting a specific area, such as key stage 2, will include all indicators for that area, not just those that are considered key indicators. You can also click directly on a specific indicator from the list/cards displayed in the options pop-up.
You will notice that the Area menu remains available in this page - even after you close the pop-up - and you can click on it at any time to display key indicators for a given reporting area when the pop-up opens again. However, you will not enable the full drill down into the value, trends and ranks sections until you select a specific indicator from the options available - only doing this will allow you to apply the changes you've selected.
If you want to know more about the indicators that are available in each area in Insight, take a look at the following articles:
Scope
If you're a virtual head who only has access to your virtual school, then you will only have one option here. Users with access to the schools area of Insight will have more options and would need to select Virtual School (CLA) in order to view that data.
Comparator
The default comparator is National (CLA). Changing the comparator will replace the national values on charts and in text, with your chosen comparator.
Value Section
This section will focus on the value of the indicator. We can see in the example below that a value of -1.26 was achieved in the Key Stage 4: Progress Indicator.
The value is visualised in a chart, while the accompanying text gives more context to this value.
The trend over academic years is shown in a bar chart, along with how your value compares to the CLA National, or other comparator you have selected. Once again, a narrative is included alongside the chart.
The adjacent text adds context to the data displayed in the chart.
Comparison Section
This section will show how the virtual school compares to the CLA National average, or CLA Regional average.
The gap between your value and chosen comparator is shown in the first chart. Up to 3 academic years are displayed, depending on the availability of data.
As in other sections, the accompanying text will add context to the data in the chart.
The second part of the comparison section is all about relative change - that is the difference between your value and the selected comparator over academic years.
For example, your LA value might have increased from one academic year to the next, but the national value may have increased even more, which this section makes apparent. In the example, your relative change can be negative, even when your value has increased between academic years and this is important context for your results.
Virtual School cohort sizes
In most Local Authorities the cohort size for the virtual school in any given assessment year will be substantially smaller than most schools in your area or across the country. Small cohort sizes, with pupils who have significant challenges in their lives and often additional needs, mean that results from year to year may show substantial variation. Large rises or drops in results should be seen in the context of that small cohort and their individual circumstances. As a virtual head you will probably wish to caveat any analysis on this basis.
Key articles in this guide
Insight Intelligence - Virtual School: overview and detail of significance testing of results and data.
Insight Data Sources & Methodology Virtual School: where data comes from and how significance is calculated
Insight CLA Cohort: contextual information from school census, SSDA903 and NPD attainment outcomes