How to use your primary onboarding workbook for key tasks and data cleansing

This article is designed for primary schools who are moving to Arbor. It details how to use their Onboarding Workbook to complete all key tasks needed for a successful migration and go live. 

What is the Onboarding Workbook

The Onboarding Workbook is the main resource that schools will use to perform key actions and track the progress of their onboarding during their implementation. It details key areas such as

• Onboarding Checklist: Used to track all key tasks that are need to be completed each week throughout their onboarding.
• Pre migration data cleansing: Used to track all key data cleansing tasks that need to be completed before your migration to Arbor.
• Data Counts: Used to verify the quantity of data has migrated correctly. This needs to be completed both before and after your migration to Arbor.
• Training Checklist: Used to track all key training to be completed before and after your migration to Arbor.
• Important Checks for Migration: Used for schools who are migrating from SIMs using Groupcall Xporter on Demand. It details all key tasks and prerequisites needed before your migration.

How to use the Onboarding Workbook

Arbor will send the school a copy of their Onboarding Workbook in the first week of their onboarding. This will be included in the initial email they receive the the Digital Onboarding team.

The onboarding workbook should be used by the 'project lead' to ensure that all key tasks are completed at the appropriate time in their onboarding journey. This is an internal tool and does not need to be shared with Arbor. 

Tasks are broken down into weekly sections so schools know what actions they need to complete each week. If schools feel that they need more time to compete tasks, or are falling behind with key actions, they should contact their onboarding team to discuss options, or get support and guidance. 

Note: If schools want to get ahead early they can download a copy of their system specific workbook from the bottom of this guide but it will not include any log in details to key areas of the Arbor MIS. 

Overview of the Onboarding Workbook

Your key tasks are listed in this guide if you are migrating from SIMs or in this guide if you are migrating from any other system. This help centre article is designed as a high level instruction guide on how to use each tab in the workbook. 

Onboarding checklist

The 'Onboarding checklist' is a list of all key tasks broken down into each week. It is the schools responsibility to review the checklist at the start of each week to ensure that they have time to complete all the necessary tasks for that week. Once a task is completed, it should be ticked off on the spreadsheet. 

Tasks include attending a training video, cleansing your data or engaging the wider team. These tasks could take a few minutes to a few hours depending on their complexity. 

If the project lead believes that they do not have time to complete the necessary tasks for that week, or needs extra support and guidance, they should contact their onboarding team at myonboarding@arbor-education.com

Pre migration data cleansing

Data cleansing is the process of detecting and correcting (or removing) corrupt, inaccurate, incorrectly formatted, duplicate or incomplete records from a schools current system before their migration to Arbor. While it may seem like an extra step, it is a critical task to ensure a successful migration for several key reasons:

• Improved Data Quality: Migrating data that has not been cleansed will simply move problematic data from one system to another. Poor data quality can lead to inaccurate reporting or incorrect decision making based on flawed analytics. Cleansing ensures the data in Arbor is reliable and trustworthy from day one.
• Reduced migration failures: A schools data migration might fail or encounter errors when there is inconsistent data. Incorrect data types, missing data or duplicate records could stop the migration. Cleansing mitigates these risks, leading to a smoother migration.
• Enhanced User Adoption: When a school starts using a new system filled with bad data, the trust in Arbor is eroded. This can lead to resistance and a failure to adopt. A clean, accurate dataset helps users quickly realise the benefits of Arbor.
• Census Compliance: Inaccurate or missing data can lead to non-compliance with your statutory reporting like census or GDPR. Cleansing ensures that sensitive data is correctly formatted, secure, and complete, helping you meet legal and regulatory requirements.

The Onboarding workbook includes a tab called 'Pre migration data cleansing'. This includes all recommended data cleansing the project team should perform before their migration. This also includes information on how to cleanse their data in their current system. Data cleansing should be started as soon as possible so schools should ensure they have appropriate time set aside to adequately cleanse their data. 

Note: There may be reports that you can run in your current MIS that will help you to check and update information in bulk however Arbor does not understand your current system enough to provide system specific guidance. 

Data Counts

Data counts is the process of accurately tallying the number of data items (ie students with SEN need, staff profiles) in your dataset. While a simple process, performing a precise count before and after migration is a critical step for several key reasons:

• Validation and Verification: The most fundamental reason for counting your data is to verify that all your data has successfully moved from your old system onto Arbor. A mismatch in counts indicates that data was either duplicated or not migrated
• Troubleshooting and Error Identification: If your counts don't match, it provides a clear starting point for troubleshooting. You can immediately investigate which specific data types are affected, narrowing down the scope of the problem.
• Confidence in Data Migration: Data counting provides quantifiable proof that the migration was successful. It's a key metric for signing off your data migration report and gives school team's confidence that Arbor is fully populated with their historical data.

The Onboarding workbook includes a tab called 'data counts'. This includes all recommended data counts the the project team should perform before and after their migration. Data counts should be completed as close to your booked migration date as possible and as early as possible after your migration to ensure accuracy in your counting. 

Note: It is normal to see small discrepancies in the data counts. This could be because a school has migrated over a weekend and still have access to their current system, or there were duplicates in the data. If schools are unsure whether there is a support team the best advise is to contact the Arbor support team or their support partner. 

Training Checklist

The 'Training Checklist' is a breakdown of all recommended onboarding training. This is called ‘Arbor Foundations’ training in the Training Hub. The checklist provides information should as:

• Description so schools can decide who from your school is best to attend.
• Course type so schools can see whether this is an E Learning course they can do in their own time or a live session with one of our Customer Education Specialists.
• Course length so schools can ensure their is enough time set aside for their training
• Status so schools can tick off when training is booked or completed. 

The 'Training checklist' may include training that some schools have not purchased. This is listed as 'Additional and Bespoke Training' on the training tab. The schools Partnership Manager should have discussed these options during the sales process however if schools want to purchase additional training, please contact customersales@arbor-education.com. 

Important Checks for Migration (SIMs schools only)

The 'Important checks for migration' tab is for SIMs schools who are migrating via the Groupcall Xporter on Demand tool only. This tab details each task or prerequisite they need to perform before their migration to Arbor. This tab details all the instructions that are detailed in this guide.  

What if you need help?

Your Onboarding team are available throughout this process to talk to if you get stuck. You can email them on myonboarding@arbor-education.com. If you would prefer them to call you back please mention that on the email and leave the best number to contact you on. 

Overview of key documentation

Onboarding workbooks will be sent to schools on their initial onboarding email from Arbor. If schools would like to get ahead with some of these key activities then each of the onboarding workbooks for each system type is listed below:

Note: Some key information such as log in details to key areas of the Arbor MIS have been removed from these versions.