Creating new Pupil Groups

Updated 1 month ago by James Pembroke

When Insight connects to your MIS it automatically sets up the main pupil groups you'd find in a DfE census file: FSM, SEND, EAL, Gender, etc. It also creates additional groups such as term of birth and 'joined in year' as well as prior attainment bands based on the the pupil's EYFSP or KS1 outcome, as applicable. These will satisfy most reporting requirements but schools will often want to set up their own groups, and that's where Insight's Pupil Groups feature comes in.

Pupil Groups allows schools to create as many bespoke pupil groups as they like. These might be subject teaching groups, targeted intervention groups, or groups based on specific pupil characteristics. Once these groups are created they can be used to filter and group reports just as with those that are automatically generated.

And, as you'd expect with Insight, it's easy to do!

There are two ways to set up Interventions/Groups: via the Enter Data button and in the Pupils section. The former is the best option if starting from scratch with a number of pupils to add to the new group; the latter is a good option if you want to assign a pupil to an existing group (although it can also be used to establish a new group, too).

Let's start with the Enter Data route.

1) Click on Enter Data and click Pupil Groups in the menu.

2) If you have already created some bespoke groups, they will be listed and you can click on one to add pupils to that group. To create a new group, click on the Add Pupil Group button.

3) A window will appear. Type the name of the group here.

4) On the next screen, you can add pupils to the group. Simply type the first letter(s) of their name and pick them from the list. You can rename the group at any time by clicking the 'Rename Group' button.

Time saving top tip: You can copy a list of names from Excel to save time. Just paste them into the pupil name search box when you create the group. Try creating a table report, filtered to show the desired list of pupils - SEN Support for example. Export this table to Excel and then copy and paste the column of names into the pupil search box in Interventions/Groups set up.

5) You are then asked to set a start date and an (optional) end date for each child. Once you have done this, click 'Add pupils to group' button. They will be listed below, where their entries can be edited and deleted.

Time saving top tip: You can set and change start/end dates for more than one pupil by clicking the tick boxes to the left of their names and then clicking any of the pencil edit buttons. To do this for the whole group, click the tick box to the left of 'Pupil' in the column header. That will select all pupils in the group.

6) Once you have added all the relevant pupils to the group, you can exit the tool. Pupils are saved automatically as you add them and the group is therefore created.

Viewing, editing and creating groups within the Pupils section

Click the Pupils button and head to the pupil's page to check that the new group is listed in their record

The pupil's section will now list that group. Scroll down to find the list of their Pupil Groups. This information appears beneath the pupil's assessment data.

You can edit the pupil's record (i.e. change the start and end dates), remove them from the group, or create and assign them to a new group from within their individual pupil section by clicking on the relevant link: edit, remove, or Add Group

Clicking on edit will bring up a window where you can change the dates.

Clicking on Add Group within the pupil page will bring up this window where you can add them to an existing group from the list or create a new group:

Note: Creating a new group from within the pupil page will only allow you to add that particular pupil to the group. The easiest way to add multiple pupils to the group is via the Enter Data route described above.

Applying Filters and Grouping options to reports

Our new group is now created and will be listed in the filter pupils and group pupils options in reports.

Click on the Filter Pupils and Group Pupils buttons in any report to apply settings and change the view of the report. Your new groups will be found in a submenu when you click on Pupil Groups (see above).

You can add any bespoke group to your Key Group list for inclusion in any report that is grouped by key group. Go to Admin/Change School Settings to add new groups to your key group list.

Creating new Pupil Groups

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