Most schools don’t struggle to find data. If anything, it’s the opposite. The challenge is knowing what to do with it in classroom practice.
SHRN school- level reports are a good example of this. They offer a really clear, reliable picture of what’s going on across a school in terms of health and well-being. They’re used in planning, they inform discussions, and they often sit behind wider decisions. But they don’t always make their way into the classroom itself.
Over the past year, we’ve been exploring what happens when you shift that slightly. Instead of seeing SHRN data as something for senior leaders or reports, what happens if learners work with it directly? This aligns closely with the Curriculum for Wales, where learners are expected to engage with authentic data, develop ethical understanding, and connect learning across Areas of Learning and Experience.
The starting point has been deliberately straightforward. Take the school’s own SHRN report, choose a couple of charts that feel relevant, and build a single lesson around them. For teachers, the lesson plan is designed to be ready to use, requiring minimal preparation, with clear guidance on selecting suitable data and delivering the session within a standard lesson. There’s no new dataset, no new system, and no expectation that teachers redesign what they’re already doing. It’s simply about using what’s already there in a more visible way.
In practice, the lesson creates space for learners to look at their school’s data and make sense of it in a structured way. They’re asked to notice what stands out, think through why a pattern might exist, consider what the data can’t tell them, and suggest one realistic action a school might take. It’s a small shift, but it changes the dynamic. This supports a whole-school approach, particularly in relation to health and well-being, by linking classroom learning with school priorities and improvement planning. The task moves beyond reading a chart to thinking about how information could actually be used.
One of the things that has stood out in working with schools is how much difference it makes when the data is local. Conversations tend to feel more grounded. Learners are often more willing to contribute because the examples relate to their own environment rather than something more abstract. It doesn’t mean the discussions are always simple, and some topics need careful handling, but it does create a sense that the work is connected to something real.
From a teaching point of view, keeping it manageable has been key. The lesson is designed to sit comfortably within a standard hour, with a clear structure that doesn’t rely on lots of preparation. Teachers are supported through step-by-step guidance, prompt questions, and scaffolding that can be adapted for mixed-ability groups, making it practical to deliver across different classroom contexts. The scaffolding does much of the heavy lifting, particularly for mixed-ability groups. Rather than expecting learners to interpret data independently, it gives them a way into the task that feels achievable and consistent.
What’s been interesting is that the learning doesn’t stop at interpreting charts. Over time, learners begin to question what they’re looking at a bit more. They start to recognise that data shows patterns across groups rather than individuals, and that it always has limits. That awareness is useful in itself, particularly in a context where data and statistics appear so frequently in everyday life. This reflects the Curriculum for Wales focus on critical thinking, ethical enquiry, and responsible use of data.
The final step in the lesson, where learners suggest a possible action, often feels like the most important one. Even when the ideas are small, it shifts the task from observation to application. It also opens up a link, however lightly, between classroom learning and wider school decision-making. That connection isn’t always visible to learners, and this is one way of making it a bit clearer.
This approach wasn’t designed to be a large-scale intervention. It’s a relatively simple way of making better use of something schools already have. In a few cases, it has started to feed into other areas, such as tutor time or pupil voice work, but that hasn’t been forced. It’s just developed naturally where it’s felt useful.
There’s a lot of discussion at the moment about data skills, digital competence, and new technologies. Those are all important, but some of the most valuable learning sits at a more basic level. Being able to read information, question it, and use it carefully is still what underpins everything else.
SHRN data gives schools a strong foundation for that. Sometimes it just needs bringing a little closer to where the learning happens.
We’d like to thank Whitchurch High School, Cardiff for their support and insight in developing this work.