Different versions of Ask arbor are available in different parts of Arbor so that the questions you can ask are always relevant to what you are already looking at. Simply click the Ask Arbor button on pages like a Lesson Dashboard or Year Group page to open the context-specific assistants.
Who can access this feature?
Any staff member can get access to Arbor AI features if they have the right permission. All schools get access to a free allowance of AI credit each month to use as they see fit.
If you cannot see the Ask Arbor button or specific AI features mentioned in this guide, but believe you need access for your role or want to enquire about getting access, please contact your school's admin team and refer them to this guidance on managing AI permissions.
The Different Assistants
The Main Assistant is the default version of Ask Arbor that appears in the top-right corner of most pages in the MIS. It searches whole-school data. Because it looks at the entire school, you must use specific filters in your commands (e.g., "Show me the attendance for Year 6") to ensure you get the responses you want.
Context-Specific Assistants (like the Classroom and Pastoral Assistant) act as a shortcut. Simply click the Ask Arbor button on pages like a Lesson Dashboard or Year Group page to open them. These assistants automatically filter the AI's focus to the exact group of students you are currently viewing, meaning you do not have to type out those filters in your prompt.
The Classroom Assistant
This assistant appears if you open Ask Arbor on a lesson dashboard. You can either use Ask Arbor the button in the top-right corner, or the Ask Arbor | Lesson in the right-hand menu, while viewing a Lesson Dashboard to access it.
- The Classroom Assistant focuses only on the students in that class, so if you ask the assistant a question, it will answer based on the students in the class (rather than the whole school) without you having to specify this.
You can tell that Ask Arbor is focused on a specific lesson by checking if you see a blue banner advising "This Ask Arbor can answer questions about Lesson: ... " above the chat.
What can I ask it?
- Who are the SEN students in this lesson?
- Where did the students come from before this lesson?
- Are there any pupil premium students in this class?
- Which students in the class are SEN?
- How does the attendance of Pupil Premium students compare to that of others in the class?
The Pastoral Group Assistant
This assistant appears on pastoral group dashboards, like Year Group/Registration Form/House/Custom Group dashboards (e.g. Year 6) accessed from Students > Enrolment > Pastoral > Year Groups/Registration Forms/House and Students > Enrolment > Ad Hoc > Custom Groups.
Whilst viewing a year/form/house/custom group page, you can either use the Ask Arbor button in the top-right corner or the Ask Arbor in the right-hand menu to access it.
- The pastoral assistant automatically focuses replies on assessments, demographics, and attendance for that group. This makes drilling down into the details of the group with Ask Arbor seamless when you need it.
You can tell that Ask Arbor is focused on a specific pastoral group by checking if you see a blue banner advising "This Ask Arbor can answer questions about ... " above the chat.
What can I ask it?
- How are Year 6 doing in maths?
- What is the attendance for these students?
- Which students have received behaviour incidents today?
- And how are the boys doing in maths compared to the girls?
Switching to the Main Assistant
At any point, you can open the Main Assistant by clicking. "If you are looking for the main Ask Arbor you can click here instead.” link in the Ask arbor slide over.
Please do note: This will start a new chat; the main assistant will not know what you discussed with the more focused assistant.
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