Management Information System (MIS) for schools
Expert ideas for a better working life at your school or trust
Product updates
Category : Blog
With winter coming to an end and spring is just around the corner, we’ve got a bunch of exciting things to share with you! – What’s new for schools At Arbor, we’re on a mission to transform the way schools work for the better. Here are just some of our recent launches and updates: Bulk
With winter coming to an end and spring is just around the corner, we’ve got a bunch of exciting things to share with you!
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At Arbor, we’re on a mission to transform the way schools work for the better. Here are just some of our recent launches and updates:
Bulk Add Assessment Columns in the Custom Report Writer
Want to add columns for Summative or Ad Hoc assessments to a Student Custom Report Writer in one go? You now can! Plus, add different components for Summative assessments, such as Baseline, Predicted Mark, and Year Target.
Learn more here
New layout and tools for tables
We’re very excited about the new tables in Arbor! The new tables are much more than just a visual change, they’re a whole new tabling tool. We’ve now removed the toggle to switch back to the old table format, and we’re focusing on improving important areas like spacing and readability. We’re looking to add even more functionality in the future – but we can only do so with the old tables switched off. Learn more here
Here are some of the things you can do in the new tables that you may have missed:
Based on your feedback, here are some recent improvements we’ve made this month:
What’s coming up next for tables:
We always want to hear your feedback – if you’ve got something you’d like to see in the new tables, leave a comment on our Product Roadmap.
MAT MIS is custom-built for better collaboration across your trust, with tools that make it easy to work together as one organisation.
New and improved Single Central Record
We’ve made some updates to Single Central Record (SCR) so you can easily and quickly keep staff details up to date across your trust. Choose which columns you want to see in your SCR, and email staff members directly. Plus a small change we know will have a big impact, we’ve added the category of Business Role to the filter options!
To keep up-to-date with all our latest releases visit our Change Log or to see what we are working on next and to give feedback visit our Product Roadmap.
And just like that, it’s the end of January and 2023 has officially started. No time for any January blues here, we’ve released some very exciting features that we can’t wait to share with you! What’s new for schools At Arbor, we’re on a mission to transform the way schools work for the better.
And just like that, it’s the end of January and 2023 has officially started. No time for any January blues here, we’ve released some very exciting features that we can’t wait to share with you!
Apple Pay and Google Pay are here
If your school has our Payments Plus module, you can now give parents the flexibility to pay the way that suits them! No more re-entering card details every time on the Arbor App. Learn more here
School Shop Orders dashboard
Our new School Shop dashboard gives you an overview of orders, payments and refunds without needing to go into each item individually. Plus we’ve added a new School Shop: Administer permission. Learn more here
Behaviour comms templates
Create SMS and email templates to notify guardians about behaviour incidents or detentions. Add detail with our built-in merge fields, or set different messages for different severity levels. Learn more here
Random Student Picker
There is always that activity in the classroom where you need to choose a student at random. You now can with the new Student Picker. Engage your students and choose them fairly, the student picker spins to select a random student from your class – perfect for projecting on the board. Learn more here
School Staff Absence Reporting
School staff are now included in Staff Absence reporting in MAT MIS, eliminating the need to make a custom report. We’ve also added some extra bonus fields like Bradford Factor reporting and the option to include only workforce census-eligible staff. Learn more here
Also this January, we welcomed hundreds of schools to #ArborFest, where our Head of Product, Hilary Aylesworth, took us through what was coming up next in the Arbor roadmap.
Keep an eye on our Twitter and LinkedIn for insights from the day!
To round off autumn, we’re highlighting some of the most exciting updates we’ve released this past term. We update Arbor fortnightly, listening closely and responding to what you tell us. What we released for schools Rotating meal menus and Parent Portal meal choices Payments Plus got even better this term with the ability to
To round off autumn, we’re highlighting some of the most exciting updates we’ve released this past term. We update Arbor fortnightly, listening closely and responding to what you tell us.
Rotating meal menus and Parent Portal meal choices
Payments Plus got even better this term with the ability to create menus that rotate on a periodic basis, and allow parents to make meal choices for their children via the Parent Portal. Learn more.
Emergency Alert
Get help with the click of a button by sending an instant notification or email to staff who are on call. Plus, report on past alerts and view them on the student profile. Learn more.
Calendar update on the Arbor App
Parents can now see their child’s calendar for the whole day on the Arbor App! Parents and guardians can see exactly where their child is at any point in the current day, rather than just the lesson before and after. Learn more.
CRB Cunninghams Cashless Catering integration
Arbor integrates with CRB Cunninghams! Our cashless catering integrations let you manage cashless catering payments directly from your MIS – without needing a separate payments system as well. The integration is included in our MIS Payments module, and is also part of our Arbor Perform package. Learn more.
Live National Benchmarks
See live national data from other Arbor schools in your MIS. Starting with attendance data, you can see real-time National Average and National Percentile data so you can compare yourself to similar schools and see where you sit. Learn more.
School staff are now included in Staff Absence reporting, eliminating the need to make a custom report. We’ve also added some extra bonus fields like Bradford Factor reporting and the option to include only workforce census eligible staff. Learn more.
National Arbor Average benchmark
We’ve added a new benchmark in MAT MIS to Whole School Attendance, Authorised Absence and Unauthorised Absence KPIs. It’ll show you how your schools compare with other schools using Arbor. Learn more.
New PowerBI Datasets
This term we’ve added lots of new datasets to our PowerBI connector to give you more bespoke reporting options. You can now analyse Academic Units, Timetable Slots, Student Academic Year Enrolments, User Defined Fields and more! Learn more.
Import Assessment Marks
Have you rolled out assessments to the schools in your trust? Instead of logging into individual school sites or sending assessment data to your school data managers, you can now use an import spreadsheet in MAT MIS to input the school data yourself. Learn more.
Your schools can now see live national data from other Arbor schools in their MIS. Starting with attendance data, you can see real-time National Average and National Percentile data so you can compare yourself to similar schools and see where you sit. Learn more.
Don’t forget to visit the Arbor Change Log for all things new in the MIS. Make sure to bookmark the page for easy access!
If you haven’t already, book your free ticket to join us at ArborFest 2023 – our biggest in-person customer conference to date! Meet school and trust leaders from across the Arbor Community for a day packed with inspiring talks and workshops – all exploring the theme “Transforming the way schools work.”
If you don’t yet use Arbor, we’d love to speak to you: email hello@arbor-education.com and one of our team will be in contact.
And just like that, it’s the end of November and the holiday season is approaching. We released some very exciting features in November that we can’t wait to share with you! What’s new for schools At Arbor, we’re on a mission to transform the way schools work for the better. Here are just some of
And just like that, it’s the end of November and the holiday season is approaching. We released some very exciting features in November that we can’t wait to share with you!
Live National Benchmarks are here
You can now see live national data from other Arbor schools in your MIS. Starting with attendance data, you’ll be able to see real-time National Average and National Percentile data so you can compare yourself to similar schools and see where you sit. Learn more here
Parents can now see their child’s calendar for the whole day on the Arbor App! Parents and guardians can see exactly where their child is at any point in the current day, rather than just the lesson before and after. Learn more here
New Marksheet Analysis Fields
We’ve added new marksheet fields so you can see student progress at a glance, including:
Import Assessment Marks in MAT MIS
Roll out assessments to the schools in your trust. Instead of logging into individual school sites or sending assessment data to your school data managers, you can now use an import spreadsheet in MAT MIS to input the school data yourself. Learn more here
New Power BI Datasets
In November we added even more datasets to our Power BI connector to give you more bespoke reporting options. You can now analyse Academic Units, Academic Unit Enrolments, Timetable Slots and Timetable Slot Staff. Learn more here
– At Arbor, we’re on a mission to transform the way schools work for the better. And it starts by giving everyone the right tools and technology for the job. We’re constantly evolving and looking at the different ways we can help support schools and MATs to thrive. In the Summer Term, we released: 42
At Arbor, we’re on a mission to transform the way schools work for the better. And it starts by giving everyone the right tools and technology for the job.
We’re constantly evolving and looking at the different ways we can help support schools and MATs to thrive. In the Summer Term, we released:
Click here to find out exactly what these features included.
In a recent survey carried out by The Key, Arbor has the highest percentage of customers saying they are “extremely satisfied” with their MIS functionality. View full report here.
Our product vision at Arbor is to ‘Give school leaders, teachers, admin staff and parents the tools they need to work faster and smarter – together’. This vision sits across our three development themes for Autumn Term:
The data that sits in your MIS is a powerful resource. We want schools and MATs to have this data at their fingertips, so that they can make data-driven decisions quickly and easily. To do this, data needs to be consistent, efficient and actionable.
Here’s three key releases due in the coming months, which will help you make actionable decisions from your data:
It’s not worth having an MIS packed with brilliant features if they are difficult to find or use. Our second theme is all about making sure Arbor continues to be the UK’s most intuitive MIS, for both staff and parents.
Here’s my top three features to look out for which will make our MIS even easier to use:
Collaboration is key to any school or trust, whether you’re joining up processes across your team or streamlining communication with parents.
With so many exciting new features to come under this theme, I’ve given you my top five to keep an eye out for:
If you have an improvement or an idea for a new feature we should develop, we’d love to hear it. There are four ways you can share it with us:
I’m looking forward to hearing all your thoughts and suggestions so we can continue to make Arbor the best it can be for our schools! And I hope you are as excited about our Autumn Roadmap as I am.
View the recording of our Autumn Product Roadmap Reveal webinar here.
Welcome back from Half Term! We hope you had a restful break – we’ve got lots of treats for you in this month’s blog. – What’s new for schools At Arbor, we’re on a mission to transform the way schools work for the better. Here are just some of our recent launches and updates: Product
Welcome back from Half Term! We hope you had a restful break – we’ve got lots of treats for you in this month’s blog.
Product Roadmap Reveal webinar
We’re excited to share Arbor’s product roadmap for Autumn Term! On Wednesday 9th November, Hilary (Head of Product at Arbor) will take you through our vision for Arbor and the themes we’re focusing on this term for product improvements and new features. Book your free spot here
Post-16 Census report
You can now generate a quick summary report of your Post-16 data to ensure you receive all your funding from the School Census, either for yourself or to send to a third party. Learn more here
Arbor now integrates with CRB Cunninghams! Our cashless catering integrations let you manage cashless catering payments directly from your MIS – without needing a separate payments system as well. The integration is included in our MIS Payments module, and is also part of our Arbor Perform package. Learn more here
Manage school events in bulk
We’ve added two new pages to manage events more easily. Go to School > Timetable > School Events to update staff, location, and cover requirements in bulk. Learn more here
New PowerBI Datasets Another month and another group of datasets have been added to our PowerBI connector. You can now analyse Student Academic Year Enrolments, User Defined Fields (created at both MAT and school level), and User Defined Records. Learn more here
If you haven’t already, we’d love for you to join in the #WhyMySchoolSwitched campaign and share your “switch stories” with us on social media!
Over the past year, we’ve added lots of exciting new features and integrations into our cloud MIS! We update Arbor fortnightly, listening closely and responding to what you tell us. Below are just some of our top picks of everything our team have been working hard on for the past year. Advanced Report Calculations Approve
Over the past year, we’ve added lots of exciting new features and integrations into our cloud MIS!
We update Arbor fortnightly, listening closely and responding to what you tell us. Below are just some of our top picks of everything our team have been working hard on for the past year.
Advanced Report Calculations
Approve and lock assessment marks in bulk
Improved keyboard accessibility
Wraparound Care Clubs
Bulk copy Assessment marks
New MAT MIS homepage
Improvements to Contributing EEP Hours
Attainment Over Time in MAT MIS
Prevent Attendance from being overwritten
Bulk update Core Learning Aims
Share report cards with students
User Defined Fields (UDFs)
School-led tutoring hours
External report cards
Guardians of applicants can access Parent Portal
Clickable hyperlinks in In-App Messages
Custom Group Alerts
Attendance KPIs in MAT MIS
Pay by childcare voucher
Show RANK order on Marksheets
Track Learner Engagement
Suspend lessons
Send emails via bulk action in MAT MIS
Civica cashless catering integration
School Shop
Census Audit in MAT MIS
Shared Teaching
New Marksheets
Creating templates for In-App Messages
Live Register cashless catering integration
Automatic Assessment target-setting
Ad Hoc permissions in MAT MIS
Options import from TimeTabler
Have your say in where we go next and help us shape the UK’s most-loved school MIS by adding to our roadmap.
Want to stay in the loop of all our new features? Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn where we post the link to our monthly updates.
Assessments | Product updates
With summer holidays on the horizon, now is the perfect time to start thinking about how you can get the most out of Assessments in Arbor, ready for the new school year. We know how important it is to get Assessments right, so we’ve put together our five favourite tips to help make the process
With summer holidays on the horizon, now is the perfect time to start thinking about how you can get the most out of Assessments in Arbor, ready for the new school year.
We know how important it is to get Assessments right, so we’ve put together our five favourite tips to help make the process a little easier. Keep an eye out for some of the exciting features that we’ve added this year!
Say hello to super speedy data entry in Arbor’s marksheets. Our marksheets have Excel-like functionality, including keyboard entry, custom filters, and copy and paste, making life quicker and easier for staff.
Find out more here.
Schools can easily spend hours in the initial setup of Assessments creating baselines and entering targets. With our Copy Annual Policy feature, schools can quickly copy the previous years’ data, including student groups, Baselines and Targets for maximum time-saving.
By using a SUM calculation, schools can recreate things like AQA Maths or Question Level Analysis (QLA) within Arbor. This means that all your Assessment data can be in one place, rather than spread across different Excel spreadsheets.
Report cards are a key link between students, parents and your school’s Assessment system. In Arbor, you can use a report card template to set up your reports and then copy over the information you need when setting up for the following term. This means you can complete Spring and Summer reports in less than 10 minutes and easily share them with guardians.
Want to use your own report card design and layout? Use Arbor’s ‘External Report Card’ feature to bulk upload report cards generated elsewhere, such as Microsoft Word, and easily share them with guardians and students.
We’ve made it easier to create broadsheets with Assessment data in Arbor’s Custom Report Writer! Use our simple slide-overs to bulk add Summative and Ad Hoc Assessment columns to your reports.
Every school’s Assessment model is different, so take advantage of the features and training that will most help your school. But don’t take it from us… hear from Kate Ferris, Data Analyst at Baxter College, about how their adoption of Formative Tracking transformed the way their school thinks about Assessment.
Click here to find out more about Assessments training, or to discuss how it can benefit your school, please contact your Account Manager.
Looking for more tips and tricks? Keep an eye out for our #ArborSpotlight series on Twitter and LinkedIn. for weekly pointers on how to make the most out of our cloud MIS.
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