I’ve recently being getting deeper into the weeds (so to speak) with Power Automate. Whilst this product clearly isn’t a fully fledged programming model, it does sit very nicely in that “low code” methodology, and can be extremely effective when there is a need to quickly create and perform a specific task.

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Firstly, let me register that I much prefer writing raw SQL when interrogating iSAMS than using the official iSAMS REST API - there, I’ve said it!

However, I do entirely appreciate the necessity for an official API in order to cater for security, consistency, potential database schema changes & futureproofing etc. As such, the need to embrace the iSAMS API is I feel, something of a requirement.

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Like many people, I’ve tinkered with Power BI over the years but have never really dug deep into the weeds; the same can also be said for the iSAMS REST API. So recently I thought why not combine these two systems and see what can be achieved?

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Recently, I was asked whether I could provide some assistance with manipulating data, that had been exported from a CAT results test.  The problem, had slowly been driving a colleague of mine, very slightly crazy!

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During the summer of 2014, we migrated the St Mary’s Shaftesbury MIS (Management Information System) from Schoolbase to iSAMS.

Please note, that the reasons for instigating this major system change, and the processes involved (political & technical), are not covered in this blog post.

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At St Mary’s Shaftesbury, one of the many additional functions we have built, to work alongside our Schoolbase MIS (Management Information System), is the automation of a weekly ‘Rewards and Sanctions’ report.

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At St Mary’s we use Schoolbase from Furlong Solutions, for our MIS - we have done so for several years (indeed my understanding is that we were the second or third official school to have the system in production).

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