The SEN area within SIMS Discover pulls data from SIMS and provides SEND information in a graphical format. SIMS Discover enables you to easily overlay other key data, such as attendance, to analyse and identify potential areas for intervention. Graphs and Venn diagrams can be saved for future reference or exported for other key stakeholders to view.
Graphs
To use SIMS Discover to track SEND data, you need to:
- Navigate to the SEN section within SIMS Discover, represented at the top of the screen by a plus (+) icon
- Clicking on the SEN section gives you a selection of available data
- Everything within SIMS Discover works on a drag and drop basis. Make your selection, click and drag onto the white canvas. Having done this, you can easily see the desired data displayed in graphical format
- Clicking on the bar within the graph will provide a pop up containing the names of the pupils within each group. For ease of navigation, it is worth noting that within SIMS Discover, you can click and drag to move not only the graph itself, but also the entire canvas
Analysing SEND data
The key benefit of SIMS Discover, and when it is at its most powerful, is when you overlay additional data:
- For example, clicking on the calendar icon at the top will display the attendance data sets available within SIMS Discover
- Again, dragging an option onto the canvas will display a new graph.
- Importantly, it is also possible to drag information and merge data from one graph to another
- For example, with both the SEN Status graph and the % Attendance graph on your canvas, drag a bar from the SEN graph onto the Attendance graph to see how many pupils with an SEN status fall across various attendance percentages. You can repeat this process to view other SEN groups
- As you add more data a key becomes essential. To display the key, click on the arrow at the right-hand side of the graph
Save and export
SIMS Discover makes it easy to save graphs for reference, or export and share with others:
- If you have created a graph you wish to refer to later, you can save it on the system for reference. Click ‘Save’, name the graph, then select an area from a dropdown box, representative of the sections within SIMS Discover
- Once saved, your new graph will be listed when clicking on the chosen dropdowns at the top of SIMS Discover. Your new graph is dynamic so each time you open, it will be automatically updated with information from SIMS
- Sharing a graph with others is also possible. To share with those who have access to SIMS Discover, tick the share box when saving your graph. Or to share with those that do not have access to SIMS Discover, or to include in a report, click the copy button and this will enable you to paste directly into a document or email
To summarise, using SIMS Discover allows you to report on and share a variety of contextual information about your SEND pupils, supporting their safeguarding, progress, and welfare.
Further information regarding SIMS Discover and the SEN area of SIMS, can be found within the ‘Discover User Guide, ‘Setting up and Administering SIMS’ handbook and the ‘Special Educational Needs’ handbook, all of which can be accessed via the Documentation link in the top right corner of your SIMS homepage. You'll also find a range of other useful handbooks, tutorials, and quick reference sheets relevant to your role within the SIMS Documentation area.