Business Intelligence Team

The Business Intelligence Team provides a comprehensive data support service for all children and young people. The team provides support across Education, Early Help and Children’s Social Care Services.  The Education part of the team supports schools as well as council teams and is known as the School Management Support Team.

The team collect and analyse data relating to:

• local authority, school and pupil level performance – from Early Years up to A Level;
• school and pupil context – pupil numbers, pupil characteristics;
• school place planning – including support to Admissions and School Commissioning teams.

The team is responsible for various Statutory Returns involving collection of data from schools, including:

• School Census;
• School Workforce Census;
• School Capacity Return;
• Early Years Foundation Stage Profile results;
• Phonics Check results;
• Key Stage 1 (non statutory from summer 2024); and
• Key Stage 2 Teacher Assessment.

For all statutory returns the team:

• provide guidance to schools to create the data returns (alongside ICT);
• work with schools to check and validate the data;
• resolve any queries or errors; and
• offers to check the Census returns for academies to ensure accuracy of data, although not required to.

Details about the data collections and statutory returns are published in the School Bulletin. These Bulletin articles will give details of return deadlines. For most collections there are also webinars or training sessions available to support schools; some of these are run by ICT and supported by the School Management Support Team.

Services available to all schools at no extra charge

A limited range of performance analysis and data packs are provided to all schools at no extra charge.

• Data checking packs for statutory returns (EYFSP, phonics etc.).
• BASICS report (Buckinghamshire Alerts & Signposts for Intervention, Challenge or Support).
• School Indicators System.
• Local Authority level results and key headlines, reported via PEB and BASH.

Traded Services

A full range of detailed analysis and benchmarking systems are available to schools as part of an annual buyback package. Further analysis, reports and maps can be commissioned individually if required. Schools can also access discounted FFT Aspire Subscriptions (https://fft.org.uk/fft-aspire/) through the team. A Free School Meal Eligibility Checking Service is also available.

Key Contacts

SchoolsWeb: https://schoolsweb.buckscc.gov.uk/school-management-support/

For general service enquiries contact smst@buckinghamshire.gov.uk

Sarah Sewell
Business Intelligence Business Partner (Children’s and Traded Services)
01296 382640
Sarah.Sewell@buckinghamshire.gov.uk

Gareth Thomas
Business Intelligence Specialist
01296 382632
Gareth.Thomas@buckinghamshire.gov.uk