Schools today are overflowing with data. Academic results, wellbeing reports, attendance patterns, assessment insights, learning analytics... and more. Yet much of this data sits in silos, trapped across multiple platforms that don’t talk to each other. Teachers and leaders are left piecing together insights manually, while AI tools can’t make sense of fragmented information.
At the same time, privacy and data protection obligations make schools rightly cautious. The idea of sending sensitive student data to external AI tools raises valid concerns about trust, safety, and compliance.
The result?
Schools have an abundance of data, but very little context that AI can safely use to make a difference.
If you haven't yet come across Model Context Protocol (MCP), it's a new open standard that can bridge the gap between your school's private data and AI tools, which, when appropriately implemented, does so without compromising the safety or security of your data.
Think of MCP as both a translator and a guardian for your data:
It allows AI models (like ChatGPT) to understand the structure and meaning of your school data.
It ensures that no sensitive information leaves your secure environment unless explicitly allowed.
It gives your data team fine-grained control over what AI can access, when, and how.
In simple terms, MCP lets AI work with your data, but only on your terms.
This is where Intellischool comes in.
Intellischool already unifies the fragmented data landscape across your school, connecting systems like your MIS, LMS, assessment tools, and wellbeing platforms into a single, consistent data layer.
By integrating with MCP, Intellischool extends this capability further - giving your AI tools the context they need to be genuinely useful.
Together, they form a powerful combination:
Intellischool provides clean, structured, unified data, and a wrapper that ensures sensitive data is passed unsafely to an AI model.
MCP provides a secure bridge that connects this data to AI tools safely.
➡️ AI tools are only as smart as the context they understand, and Intellischool Data Ops with MCP gives them that context safely.
This partnership unlocks the ability for schools to explore AI-driven insights without sacrificing governance or security.
I can already hear the question coming: "ok, great. What's the real-world benefit here?"
The power of MCP is really only limited by the data that is available to it, and the associated context provided. Here’s what this could look like in practice:
| Role | Prompt | What happens |
| School leader | “Which year levels showed the greatest learning growth this term, and what interventions were most effective?” | AI analyses data across assessments, attendance, and wellbeing to highlight impact trends. |
| Teacher | “Show me students whose PAT/CAT-4 potential isn’t reflected in their latest formative assessment.” | AI cross-references student potential data with internal assessments to pinpoint learning gaps. |
| Student | “Give me a summary of where I’ve improved most this term, and where I can focus next.” | AI creates a personalised learning reflection from teacher feedback and performance data. |
| IT / Data Manager | “List all AI tools connected through MCP and their current data permissions.” | A governance-ready snapshot for compliance and security assurance. |
Every scenario starts with context. Context is what makes AI useful, safe, and human-centred in schools, and Intellischool Data Ops wraps your school's raw data in the context needed to generate useful, impactful AI responses.
Schools don’t need to choose between innovation and safety.
By combining Intellischool Data Ops with the Model Context Protocol, schools can confidently explore AI’s potential while staying firmly within their privacy, compliance, and duty-of-care boundaries.
This is the next step toward responsible AI in education: where insights flow securely, and where data finally works for teachers, students, and leaders.
AI isn’t the future of education — contextual, responsible AI is.
With Intellischool and MCP, schools gain the ability to bring their data together, empower their people, and safely open the door to the next generation of learning intelligence.
I'll be running workshops on MCP over the coming months at several events, including the Technology Readiness Council's European Summit - come and join to explore what's possible for your school.
Otherwise - please reach out! We don't bite, and we pride ourselves on not needing to hard sell... we let our products do the talking.