PRODUCT REVIEW – CACI, Delivering the best possible outcomes for your education services.

Impulse Nexus from CACI is modular by design, helping authorities to administer their education process in their own bespoke way

 

Administering the education process is a complex and multi-faceted task. There are so many moving parts, with countless unpredictable events occurring throughout it. Distilling this complexity down, focussing on individual tasks which feed into the overarching narrative, greatly helps authorities to complete tasks accurately and on time, whilst creating broader data maps that are beneficial to everyone involved in a child’s educational journey. Utilising the best available technology helps, be that for the entire process or parts of it. CACI’s Impulse Nexus software is designed with this in mind, available as a holistic solution or as a modular one which integrates with existing frameworks.

“We wanted to create a system that supports education services in the way that they need supporting,” says Phil Lucy, director of CACI’s Children and Young Persons division. “There’s no one-size-fits-all solution that can accommodate the nuances of each authority, then each process within each authority.”

Impulse Nexus’s modular approach means that authorities can use as much or as little of the system as they need. From admissions to SEND and ALN, Impulse Nexus can function as an authority’s sole system, or as a supporting tool in a wider technology ecosystem.

Based around Impulse Nexus’s core module, which collates all information relevant to a child’s educational journey, the system offers portal access to parents, schools, professionals and providers. This enables all relevant parties to be able to access and record relevant information. With real-time data uploads, all information is available instantly.

Joining the dots

Impulse Nexus is a single database application which allows multi-agency collaboration around the core module. “By doing this, all relevant parties to a child’s educational journey can contribute and collaborate in real time,” says Phil. “Via intelligent automation and specific rules matching for aspects such as data gathering, formatting and sharing, Impulse Nexus helps to ensure that the right information is available to the right people at the right time.” This is achieved with data regulations front and centre.

An example is the admissions module within Impulse Nexus. Administering this process can be incredibly complex, with bespoke oversubscription criteria per authority and different requirements governing aspects such as catchment areas dependent upon geographical location. Then there is the need to consider aspects such as whether a child is looked after or not, has siblings attending the same school or has medical records which need to be considered against the application.

Via its portals, Impulse Nexus enables all this information to be gathered and considered automatically against an authority’s bespoke criteria. Applications can be submitted by parents, considered by authorities and supported by professionals where necessary. This enables parents to submit supporting documentation, for example a signed document supporting entry into a faith school, and appeal any rejected places should they wish. Authorities and appeals panels will then have access to a central database to oversee why a decision was made. All communications to relevant parties in the process can be automated, helping to reduce the manual effort in administering the appeals process.

Flexibility and integration

The flexibility of Impulse Nexus is further evident here. If you only want to provide an access point to parents in submitting applications, supporting documents and appeals, then you can. Impulse Nexus will integrate with your overarching admissions process.

Similarly, in other areas of the educational journey such as SEND and ALN, Impulse Nexus can support every step of the journey. It helps with early observations and early identification of needs. Then, with support and provision across the child’s journey from 0-25.

Additionally, Impulse Nexus ensures seamless integration with numerous systems, ranging from social care to health. These systems include social care systems for care updates on looked after children, CACI’s ChildView management information system for youth justice, the NHS system for new birth data and document storage solutions for Electronic Documents and Records Management (EDRM).

“Our product roadmap is geared towards to continuous improvement, incorporating the latest technology and staying up to date with legislative changes in the education sector,” adds Phil. “In this way, we can continue to offer flexibility in how authorities can utilise the software, both in terms of its use case and how it integrates with their existing technology framework.”

Conclusion

Impulse Nexus is a complete, end-to-end education information management system that can cover every child’s journey from 0-25. It can be used as an authority’s entire system, or its modules can be deployed to underpin and enhance specific areas of the process.

This flexibility is Impulse Nexus’s main selling point. It’s not a one-size-fits-all solution; it can be implemented in a way that fits bespoke rules and needs. With an open architecture framework, it can integrate seamlessly with other systems, helping authorities to deliver the education services the children and families in their area need.

Every child has their own story and every authority has its own way of operating. Being adaptable to these nuances is essential in delivering positive outcomes across educational services. Impulse Nexus is well positioned to do just that.

For more information on CACI’s Impulse Nexus software, please visit https://www.caci.co.uk/software/impulse/