Insight CLA - Introduction and Overview

Insight CLA - Introduction

Insight CLA offers the virtual school user analysis of the large volumes of data available within Nexus specifically linked to the CLA cohort specified in the SSDA903 (and this can be further updated). It is designed to easily summarise, visualise and contextualise it for the user - reducing the need to spend lots of time looking at tables of numbers and potentially overlooking key information. 

The strengths of this area of Nexus are that users do not have to have experience of working with data, nor to understand the measures inside-out  in order to access and understand the summaries that are presented. This allows a Virtual School head to understand the strengths, challenges, trends and comparisons associated with their area in a matter of minutes. 

Since the Insight area of Nexus has been introduced, it has grown to reach a much wider audience. To help the wide range of users of Nexus and Perspective (LA Services) a new Insight Home Page has been added to the system. This page includes summary information on what can be found in each of the areas of Insight as well as links to specific analysis available. Users will see the new page when they click on 'Insight' or 'Home' on the menu bars.

The landing page is permissions based and so might look different to the screenshot below

You will note that under each card is a 'View' button which will tell you more about what is available in that area. For example, the 'view' button for the Pupil Groups card reveals:

Once you select an area of Insight that you wish to work in, there are some key elements that are common to all/multiple of the pages which are summarised below:

Printing & Help - All Pages

As you are already reading this guide, you probably won't need to click ABOUT THIS PAGE, but if you did, you'd find some basic information about the page you are viewing.

This also includes some links to useful information, like this guide, and an article that tells you whether the data you are viewing is Keypas or DfE sourced. (Keypas data is loaded by each LA and DfE sourced data is loaded centrally).

You have the option to print each Insight page to support a meeting or other event (you can also screenshot the relevant parts of the pages) but if you are copying or printing for someone else, you should possibly consider giving them access to Insight instead. This would allow them to access all the data they are interested in for themselves and removes the risk of data becoming out of date as it is updated or new sources become available. 

Headlines & Visualisations

The concept is explaining data in a simple manner with text snippets, different verbalisations and ways of explaining data that offer something more than repetitive explanations of percentages or scores. 

Strengths and Challenges

Mostly found in the Intelligence CLA page, the concepts of Strengths and Challenges are also found on other pages within Insight including Schools, CIN and Pupil Groups for users who also access those areas. Here groups of pupil results are tested for mathematical significance compared to a selected (or default) comparison group. These are then presented as strengths, challenges or of no particular significance. 

Education and CIN specific options

Nexus supports the work of staff involved with Education and School Improvement and Children in Need. Fundamentally these versions of Insight work in a similar ways to the CLA Insight, with similar styles and visualisations but including options and filters specific to Education or CIN. 

Key articles in this guide

Insight Headlines - Virtual School:  key data visualised and reinterpreted for access to a wider audience. 

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