secondary – DAISI EDUCATION

What If Your Year 7 Data Could Tell You More?

24th September 202613th October 2026 By mattwo Comment Closed

Every September, secondary schools welcome a new cohort of pupils armed with timetables, planners and ambitions for the years ahead. Alongside them arrives something equally valuable, yet too often overlooked: their KS2 SATs data. Most schools will review scaled scores. Some will analyse attainment groups. Others will invest time in baseline assessments to build an initial picture of their new Year 7 intake. The strongest secondary schools do something far more powerful. They go beyond the headline figures to understand them. The Conversation has Shifted. At a time when schools are expected to demonstrate a clear understanding of their pupils' starting points, the ability to articulate what learners know, where gaps exist, and how the curriculum responds has never been more important. The question is no longer: "What score did they achieve?" The question is now... "What does that score tell us about the learner and what are you doing about it?" Why Baseline Assessments Don't Always Provide the Full Picture For many pupils, the first weeks of secondary school...

QLA – The Tool You Can’t Afford to Miss.

1st April 202313th October 2026 By mattwo Comment Closed

As schools look for deeper insights from their assessment data, Question Level Analysis (QLA) is rapidly gaining traction across the country. When you drill down deeper, you can identify learning gaps, focus intervention where it's needed most, and find the small gains that drive big improvements. But if you think QLA is only about exam prep, think again. Its real power lies in what it can tell you about teaching, learning, and curriculum effectiveness. Let me explain... Examinations | Dive Deeper | Personal Learning Journey | Implement Change | Pass it Forward What does Question Level Analysis do? Question Level Analysis breaks assessment data down into groups – looking instead at topics and cohorts rather than the individual answers themselves. This aggregation allows you to identify patterns and trends that might otherwise go unnoticed. This approach can highlight specific areas where students are struggling or excelling, allowing educators to make targeted interventions. However, the real strength of QLA lies in its ability to guide evidence-based decision-making. By identifying...

What makes a Good Question Level Analysis?

23rd March 202313th October 2026 By mattwo16 Comments

Question Level Analysis (QLA) is becoming an essential tool for schools looking to turn assessment data into meaningful action. But not all QLAs are created equal. The most effective QLAs go beyond reporting results. They identify patterns, uncover learning gaps and provide the insight needed to drive improvement. With over 15 years' experience supporting schools and an attainment improvement rate of 80% over three years for schools using our QLA, we've learned one simple truth: The value isn't in the data. It's in the analysis. Here are ten questions to ask of any QLA. 1. Do you have to search in many places or is it delivered in one go? Remember the aim of this analysis is to save you time as a head/teacher so you are not searching through lots of data to find the answer. You need something that does all that for you. All DAISI QLA arrives as one PDF report sent direct to your inbox 2. Does the analysis look at Individual Questions or just...

Never Stop Learning

20th January 202113th October 2026 By mattwo14 Comments

In these new and uncertain times, pupils will have spent many months away from school due to the closures put in place as a result of Covid-19. Last year, schools in England were closed to all pupils except those of key-workers and vulnerable children on the 20th March. For the majority of the summer, most learning took part remotely. Huge strides in online education were made in months that perhaps previously would have taken years. Teachers created learning packs, online lessons and updated communication systems – rising to the challenge of how to educate their pupils without the the essential face-to-face contact and personal interaction. Then September arrived and the clamour for the reopening of schools returned. Pressure was on for schools to serve their communities once more. Parents were expecting pupils to return to "normal" schooling despite the Covid-19 procedures that needed to be followed... Now, in 2021, we sit once again in a lockdown with remote learning and home schooling....

Marginal Gains

14th October 202013th October 2026 By mattwo8 Comments

Back in 2012, at the heart of London Olympics, Sir Dave Brailsford repeatedly told people of his belief in the marginal gains principle. Speaking to the BBC, he said “The whole principle came from the idea that if you broke down everything you could think of, that goes into riding a bike, and then improved it by 1%, you will get a significant increase when you put them all together. There’s fitness and conditioning, of course, but there are other things that might seem on the periphery, like sleeping in the right position, having the same pillow when you are away and training in different places. They’re tiny things but if you clump them together it makes a big difference.” Brailsford believed that if it were possible to make a 1% improvement in a whole host of areas, the cumulative gains would end up being hugely significant. This principle has guided and driven the cycling team to great heights and Brailsford’s...

A Position of Knowledge

27th August 202013th October 2026 By mattwo8 Comments

When working within cycling both at the 2012 Olympics and onwards with the SKY or INEOS racing team, Sir Dave Brailsford employs a significant principal in all he does. The 1% principal is based on the small changes that TOGETHER make a big change. As Brailsford said, Speaking to the BBC… “The whole principle came from the idea that if you broke down everything you could think of, that goes into riding a bike, and then improved it by 1%, you will get a significant increase when you put them all together. There’s fitness and conditioning, of course, but there are other things that might seem on the periphery, like sleeping in the right position, having the same pillow when you are away and training in different places. They’re tiny things but if you clump them together it makes a big difference.” https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-34247629 He believed that if it were possible to make a 1% improvement in a whole host of areas, the cumulative gains would end...

Every child deserves a Champion

26th August 202013th October 2026 By mattwo8 Comments

When you visit a supermarket, you will often find a seconds aisle or money-off promotion. Buy-one- get-one-free or “money-saving” offers will entice you in and always make you buy that extra chocolate bar or that second beer you don’t need. You don’t look at the individual price anymore, just what you think you can gain. You usually end up spending more but feeling weirdly better off. The individual price has been removed, the label takes over. The power of a label is immense. We look at people differently because we label them as something else. Rumours, gossip.. “I didn’t know that!!” dominate social media and public culture. A politician or public figure’s career can be brought down to a shuddering halt by a label being attached. The individual has been removed, the label takes over. Are we in danger of doing the same thing within education regarding our reaction to COVID-19? Lockdown Lockdown has brought many difficulties and challenges. Pupils will have spend many months away...

Put the Personal Back

18th August 202013th October 2026 By mattwo12 Comments

And the most important first step is to put the personal connection back into the education system. Firstly, there are positives... Huge strides in online education have been made in months that perhaps previously would have taken years. Teachers have created learning packs, online lessons and updated communication systems - rising to the challenge of how to educate their pupils without the the essential face-to-face contact and personal interaction. However... Children have spent weeks and months away from the support bubble of a school, from their friends, from their safe place. Some will have thrived in a new family bubble – building new self-esteem and confidence. Others will have found it a challenge. Learning will have been lost but more importantly, their circumstances could have changed. They may have learned a deeper understanding of what it means to live in poverty, or encountered this for the first time. They may have learned to hide, to become invisible, to protect themselves from...

Home Learning

27th March 202014th August 2025 By mattwo63 Comments

We present a wide range of fun, educational and engaging resources schools can share with pupils and families. This long list of links and resources was put together over the summer of 2020 and has continued to grow ever since. Many thanks to those from around the world who have suggested ideas and links. We hope you continue to find them useful! “Such an Inspiring collection of Links & Resources” Learning Check out these links for Primary and Secondary age. Early Years Activities for 2-5 year olds - stories, craft and more Exploring See the world from space and live elephants in Africa... Craft Ideas 100s of ideas from a variety of sources.. Colouring Here are over 100 patterns and pictures to choose from.. Museums Visit the Louvre, British Museum and more... Fun Activities 100s of Ideas and Links "What a huge help for families!" Science Create giant bubbles, a rocket that blasts off and more.. Baking Loads of recipes and ideas from cupcakes to pizzas. Reading Escape to a new world with these reading links. Discovering Fascinating facts about Space,...

Ofsted Inspection Judgements and IDACI

15th January 20205th November 2021 By mattwo7 Comments

On 14 January 2020 Ofsted released data regarding its latest judgements as of 31 December 2019. Now that 4 months have passed since the introduction of the new Ofsted Inspection Framework, there are sufficient schools to do a meaningful analysis of trends under this new framework. There is a correlation between deprivation and attainment but is there one between deprivation and Ofsted's judgements, and has it changed from previous years? This article will use the IDACI measure as a measurement of deprivation and consider Ofsted's Full Inspections only. We have considered those inspections which resulted in an Overall Effectiveness judgement of Outstanding, Good, Requires Improvement or Inadequate, for Primary and Secondary schools. More details are at the bottom of this article. Overall Effectiveness Firstly, for these 619 schools, what is Ofsted's Overall Effectiveness judgement? The full details are in the table below: In headline terms, for primary schools, the chances of getting an Outstanding/Good judgement is 60%, whereas for secondary schools it is 45%. There is...