ArborPBI.com is the hosting site for my ongoing Power BI project for Arbor schools, bringing together resources, models, and reports that I continue to develop in my spare time. It grew from the collaborative problem-solving culture on Arbor HQ, where many of us shared examples and ideas, and where great community work can still be found today. Recognising that many schools simply don’t have the time or resources to create these tools themselves, I share these models and reports to make data more accessible and useful, because every student deserves to benefit from informed, data-driven decisions.
This project has benefited from the support, knowledge, and generosity of many members of the Arbor community.
Along the way, I have learned a great deal from the discussions, questions, answers, and shared resources posted on Arbor HQ. Many people have contributed indirectly through their willingness to share ideas, provide feedback, and help others solve problems.
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.