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Student Profile Overview

The student profile is the central hub for all information about a student’s safeguarding journey. It combines demographic data, group memberships, and a complete chronological timeline of incidents, actions, and alerts.
Student profiles are accessible throughout Signal. Click any student’s name anywhere in the system to view their profile.

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Accessing Student Profiles

  1. Click Students in the main navigation
  2. Search or browse for the student
  3. Click the student’s name to open their profile

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Profile Sections

The student profile is organized into several key sections:

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Header Section

The profile header displays essential at-a-glance information:

Student Photo

Photo from MIS or manually uploaded

Basic Details

Name, DOB, year group, student ID

Group Badges

Visual badges for all student groups
Additional Header Information:
  • Current age (calculated from DOB)
  • Active alerts count (red badge if any)
  • Open actions count (amber badge if any)
  • Quick action buttons (Log Incident, Create Action, Add Note)

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Demographics Tab

View and edit (if permitted) student demographic information:
  • Legal name and preferred name
  • Date of birth and current age
  • Gender
  • Ethnicity
  • First language
  • Nationality
  • Student ID and UPN (Unique Pupil Number)
  • Year group and form/house
  • Admission date
  • Expected leaving date (if applicable)
  • Current enrollment status (Active, Deactivated, Transferred)
  • SEN status (None, SEN Support, EHC Plan)
  • Primary need category
  • Support details
  • Free school meals status
  • Looked after status (Children in Care)
  • Medical information and allergies
  • Any custom fields configured by your organization
If the student is synced from your MIS, most demographic fields cannot be edited in Signal. Update them in your MIS system instead.

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Contacts Tab

View parent, carer, and emergency contact information:
  • Primary Contact: Main parent or carer with phone and email
  • Secondary Contact: Additional parent or carer
  • Emergency Contact: Designated emergency contact person
  • Additional Contacts: Other authorized contacts
Each contact shows:
  • Name and relationship to student
  • Phone numbers (mobile and home)
  • Email address
  • Authorized to collect from school (yes/no)
  • Parental responsibility (yes/no)
Accurate contact information is crucial for incident notifications and parent communication. Regularly verify this data is current.

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Groups Tab

See all student groups this student belongs to:
  • Group name and type (Vulnerability, Organizational, Support)
  • Date added to the group
  • Whether membership is automatic (via auto-update rules) or manual
  • Quick link to view other students in each group
Quick Actions:
  • Add to additional groups
  • Remove from groups (if you have permission)
  • View group details and settings

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Timeline Tab

The timeline is the most important section for safeguarding purposes. See Student Timeline below for full details.

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Student Timeline

The student timeline provides a chronological view of all safeguarding-related events for a student. This is where patterns, escalations, and intervention effectiveness become visible.

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What Appears on the Timeline

Incidents

All safeguarding incidents logged for this student

Actions

Follow-up actions created and their completion status

Alerts

Automated alerts triggered based on incident patterns

Notes

Staff notes and observations not linked to incidents

Transfers

Incoming and outgoing safeguarding record transfers

Group Changes

Changes to student group membership

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Timeline Views

Most recent events first
  • Newest events at the top
  • Scroll down to see older history
  • Quick overview of recent activity
  • Best for: Current concerns and monitoring

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Using Timeline Filters

1

Click Filter Button

In the Timeline tab, click Filter in the top right
2

Select Filter Criteria

Choose what to include:
  • Event Types: Incidents, Actions, Alerts, Notes, Transfers
  • Date Range: Last 7 days, 30 days, term, year, all time, or custom
  • Categories: Specific incident categories
  • Staff: Events logged by specific staff members
  • Status: For actions (Open, Completed, Overdue)
3

Apply Filters

Click Apply to update the timeline view
4

Save or Clear

  • Save Filter: Save commonly used filters for quick access
  • Clear All: Remove filters and show everything

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Timeline Event Details

Click any timeline event to expand and view full details: For Incidents:
  • Full incident description
  • Category, location, and date/time
  • Staff member who logged it
  • Attached files (photos, documents)
  • AI-generated summary and risk assessment
  • Related actions created from this incident
  • Edit or delete options (if permitted)
For Actions:
  • Action description and assigned staff
  • Due date and completion status
  • Notes added during action completion
  • Link to the originating incident
  • Mark complete or reassign options
For Alerts:
  • Alert trigger reason (e.g., “3 incidents in 7 days”)
  • Alert type and severity
  • Who was notified
  • When the alert was triggered
  • Link to related incidents

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Exporting Timeline Data

Generate reports or exports of a student’s timeline:
1

Open Timeline

Navigate to the student’s profile Timeline tab
2

Apply Filters

Filter the timeline to show only the data you want to export (optional)
3

Click Export

Click Export in the top right
4

Choose Format

Select your export format:
  • PDF: Formatted timeline report (best for printing or sharing)
  • CSV: Spreadsheet data (best for analysis)
  • Word: Editable document (best for case notes)
5

Configure Options

Choose what to include:
  • Include photos and attachments
  • Include AI summaries
  • Include staff notes
  • Redact names (for data protection)
6

Download

Click Generate Export and download the file
Data Protection Reminder:
  • Timeline exports contain sensitive safeguarding data
  • Only export what’s necessary for the intended purpose
  • Store exports securely and delete when no longer needed
  • Follow your organization’s data protection policies

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Parent Mode

When reviewing a student’s profile with parents or carers present, use Parent Mode to hide sensitive information:
1

Enable Parent Mode

Click the Parent Mode toggle in the top right of the profile
2

Review with Parent

The profile now hides:
  • Staff notes and internal communications
  • Sensitive incident categories (as configured)
  • AI risk assessments and pattern analysis
  • Other students’ names in linked incidents
3

Disable When Done

Toggle Parent Mode off to restore full view
Learn more about configuring Parent Mode settings in Parent Mode.

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AI Insights on Student Profiles

Signal’s AI analyzes each student’s timeline to provide insights:

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Pattern Recognition

Displayed at the top of the Timeline tab:
  • Trends: Increasing, decreasing, or stable incident rates
  • Recurring Categories: Most frequent incident types
  • Time Patterns: Days or times when incidents commonly occur
  • Location Patterns: Where incidents frequently happen
  • Relationship Patterns: Common peers or staff involved
Click on any AI insight to see the supporting evidence (specific incidents that contributed to the pattern).

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Risk Assessment

For students with multiple recent incidents, Signal generates a risk indicator:
  • Green: Low concern - typical safeguarding baseline
  • Amber: Moderate concern - patterns emerging, monitor closely
  • Red: High concern - escalation detected, immediate review recommended
AI insights are decision-support tools, not diagnoses. Always apply professional judgment and use AI analysis as one input among many in your safeguarding decisions.

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AI Summary

Get a natural language summary of the student’s safeguarding journey:
  1. Navigate to the Timeline tab
  2. Click Generate AI Summary
  3. Select the time period (e.g., “This term” or “Last 6 months”)
  4. Review the summary
The AI summary includes:
  • Overview of incident frequency and types
  • Key events or turning points
  • Effectiveness of interventions
  • Suggested next steps or areas to monitor
AI summaries are regenerated each time you request them, so they always reflect the most current data. Previous summaries are not stored.

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Best Practices for Using Profiles

Schedule regular reviews of vulnerable students’ timelines (e.g., monthly for Child Protection, weekly for high-concern students). This helps spot escalating patterns early.
When meeting with external agencies, filter the timeline to show only relevant incident categories. This keeps discussions focused and protects student privacy.
Before safeguarding meetings or supervision sessions, review the AI insights. They often highlight patterns human reviewers might miss.
When building formal case files or making referrals, export the timeline to PDF. This creates a point-in-time record of the student’s safeguarding journey.
Regularly verify parent/carer contact details are up to date. Out-of-date information can delay critical communications.
Always enable Parent Mode when reviewing records with parents. This prevents accidental disclosure of sensitive staff notes or other students’ information.

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Permissions

Different roles have different access to student profiles:
FeatureOwnerAdminDSLDeputy DSLViewer
View profileAll studentsAll studentsAll studentsAll studentsPermitted students
Edit demographics✓✓✗✗✗
View full timeline✓✓✓✓Limited*
Export timeline✓✓✓✓✗
View AI insights✓✓✓✓✗
Log incidents✓✓✓✓✓
Create actions✓✓✓✓✗
Add notes✓✓✓✓✗
View contacts✓✓✓✓✓
Enable Parent Mode✓✓✓✓✓
*Viewer role may see filtered timeline events based on user group access and data protection settings.

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Troubleshooting

Possible reasons:
  • Access restricted: The student may be in a group you don’t have access to. Contact your DSL or Admin.
  • Student deactivated: Deactivated students don’t appear in standard searches. Filter to show deactivated students.
  • Wrong spelling: Try searching by student ID instead of name.
Check the following:
  • Filters active: Clear all filters to see the full timeline
  • Date range: Expand the date range to “All time”
  • Permissions: Staff and Viewer roles may not see all event types
  • Transferred records: If the student transferred in, historic incidents may be in a separate “Transferred Records” section
  • MIS synced: If the student is synced from your MIS, edit the information in your MIS instead
  • Permissions: Only Admins and DSLs can edit student demographics
  • Field locked: Some fields (like UPN) may be system-locked to prevent errors
AI insights require:
  • At least 3 incidents in the selected time period
  • Sufficient data to identify patterns
  • The student to be active (not deactivated)
If conditions are met but insights still don’t appear, try refreshing the page or contact support.
Check your Parent Mode configuration:
  1. Go to Settings → Parent Mode
  2. Verify which categories should be hidden
  3. Ensure Parent Mode is enabled (toggle in top right of profile)
If properly configured but still showing sensitive content, this may indicate a bug. Contact support.

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Need Help?

Creating Incidents

Learn how to log incidents from student profiles

AI Insights

Understand AI-generated insights and analysis

Parent Mode

Configure what’s visible when reviewing with parents

Support

Contact support for profile-related issues