Introduction
Arbor holds a wealth of information about students, from attendance and behaviour to assessment and beyond, and its built-in reporting serves the needs of a wide range of schools. Every school, however, has its own context, priorities and questions. With the Snowflake connector and Power BI, that data can be explored in new ways: combined across areas, shaped around your own setting, and viewed from different angles. Asking one question often leads to several more, and that is part of the value. Each answer brings a clearer picture, and those insights can help guide the actions that improve student outcomes.
ArborPBI.com is a free collection of Power BI models and reports built on the data available through Arbor’s optional Snowflake connector. Whether you use them as they are or as a starting point for your own, they offer a ready-made way to get value from your data sooner. Later versions also include a full set of supporting documentation.
The models and reports began on Arbor HQ, the Arbor community forum, where many of us shared examples, ideas and solutions, and where great community work can still be found today. As they grew in number, I moved them here, so everything is in one place and easier to find, rather than spread across individual forum posts and pages.
This is a personal project, developed in my own time alongside my full-time role, so progress can sometimes be slower than I would like. I can’t always add new features or enhancements straight away, but I welcome feedback, suggestions and requests, as they help keep the project moving forward. Bug reports are always treated as a priority, and I aim to investigate and resolve them as quickly as possible.
It is important to note that ArborPBI.com is not affiliated with, associated with, authorised by, endorsed by, or sponsored by Arbor Education Partners Limited (“Arbor”). The use of the name “Arbor” on this website is solely for the purpose of identifying compatibility with Arbor’s MIS platform and describing the intended use of the resources provided.
All trademarks, service marks, trade names, logos, and other intellectual property relating to Arbor remain the property of their respective owners. Any references to Arbor are made for informational purposes only and do not imply any relationship, endorsement, approval, or recommendation by Arbor.
Credits
There are also several individuals who took the time to engage with me personally, offering guidance, encouragement, constructive feedback, and practical support along the way. Their input has helped shape both the technical aspects of the project and given me the confidence to see it through to completion. While it would be impossible to thank everyone individually, I would particularly like to acknowledge the following:
- Russel Barnes, for his expertise in SQL and for patiently answering my many questions whenever I found myself stuck.
- Steve Beard and Ian Gladden, for sharing ideas, providing feedback, and offering encouragement that helped shape the earlier models and reports which ultimately evolved into this collection.
- Rob Wall, Tim Mockford, and Emlyn Harrison, whose posts, templates, screenshots, and shared knowledge on Arbor HQ provided both inspiration and practical ideas for report content and layout.
- Tim Moore, for the wealth of information he continually shares on Arbor HQ, along with the advice and feedback he has generously provided. I would highly recommend his Power BI data quality post on Arbor HQ, which includes a useful template for assessing data quality within Arbor, as well as a valuable URL feature that can open records directly within Arbor to support further investigation.
- Steve Livesey, for the many conversations, shared ideas, and code discussions that contributed to the development of this project.
- Jonathan Lloyd, for his support, encouragement, and motivation at a time when completing this project felt particularly challenging. His willingness to offer encouragement and perspective made a genuine difference and helped me keep moving forward.
- Matt Breakwell, who has remained enthusiastic about exploring the potential of Power BI and has provided valuable feedback, suggestions, and feature requests throughout the project.
- Lisa Wood, my wife, whose patience and support made this project possible. Over the seven months it has taken to design, build, test, and refine this model and report collection, she has willingly given up countless evenings and weekends while I disappeared behind a screen. Her understanding and support throughout that time have been invaluable.