Register

|	Permissions required to access this module:
Section:
Attendance
Permission(s):
Take registers for today

Taking registers is one of the core activities that teachers perform and should be done regularly so that attendance data is accurate in the case of a fire - as such registration is the most commonly used area of PARS. Both session (AM & PM) and lesson registers can be taken through PARS and various settings can be used to affect the way attendance data is handled.

The register screen can provide a large amount information about each pupil and can be used to quickly access other relevant screens such as those for grade entry and recording behaviour. From the register page you can also create seating plans. Registers can also be recorded manually by a teacher or automatically by using a biometric reader such as a fingerprint scanner.

Registers can be accessed via:

• Your homepage
• The register button in the quick launch bar
• PARS main menu > Attendance > Take a register
  
  

The PARS Connect register

How to take a register

You can take a register using either your mouse or your keyboard. To use your keyboard, simply press the button for the attendance mark you want to use i.e. N for absent or L for late. You can use either of the slash buttons ( / or \ ) or the space bar to mark pupils present. After you give a pupil a mark, PARS will move onto the next pupil for you.

Alternatively you can use you mouse by clicking next to the pupil that you want to give an attendance mark to. This will open a window showing all of the attendance codes that are available to you - click on one to give a pupil that mark.

You can also use some of the buttons on the top toolbar. If you click "All present" then every pupil who does not already have an attendance mark will be marked present. The "Recycle session" button will give every pupil the same attendance mark that they got in their last session (AM or PM).

Most schools use a setting that prevents staff from overwriting each other's marks, so if you see any attendance codes in your register you will probably not be able to overwrite them. You can always go back and alter marks that you have entered yourself.

Note that although you can typically only overwrite your own marks, anybody is allowed to overwrite "N" or "-" marks in a session register.

Once you have completed your register, buttons will appear at the top right of the page allowing you to save. Click "Save" to save the register but keep it open, or click "Save + Close" to save the register and close it at the same time. A register can never be saved if it is not complete.

What do the buttons at the top of the register do?

There are a number of buttons on the top toolbar when you are viewing a register. Each button is explained below:

	Seating	Click this button to access the seating plan for your class.
	All present	This will convert all missing ("-") marks to present.
	Recycle marks	This button will give all pupils the same attendance mark as they got in the most recent session (AM or PM - usually with a form tutor).
	Add an unexpected arrival	Use this button to add pupils who are not on your register but are supposed to be in your class. This is for one-off occurrences (e.g. a pupil being put in your class because of their behaviour in another class) - if the pupil is supposed to be in your class every week then contact your timetabler.
	Gender	Use this button to toggle split gender registration.
	History	This button will display previous registers for the current class only.
	Grades	Click here to open a grade entry page for your class. The grading system in PARS needs to be configured before this can be used.
	Assignments	Click this button to access the assignment diary for creating and recording homework.
	Reports	Click this button to run reports on your class. There are a few behaviour reports available, and reports to show a list of the pupils in the class, with or without photos.
	Email	Click this button to send an email to all students in your class.
	Details panel	This button can be toggled on and off. When the button is on, you can hover your mouse over pupils' names to see more information about them.

Homepage

The registers on your diary page include colour coding defining the meaning of the register.

These symbols appear throughout PARS wherever a register can be opened. They give information about the type of register as well as its current status:

	An unsaved lesson register
	An unsaved Session register or a lesson register that is mapped to a Session register.
	An unsaved lesson register that is being covered
	An unsaved Session register that is being covered
	The tick indicates that the register has been saved.
	The double tick indicates that the register has been saved and has affected marks in more than one register. It could be the first lesson of a double period or a mapped lesson period.
	An exclamation mark means that there was a problem saving the register. Open the register and make sure the attendance marks are correct.
	This means that the marks in more than one register were supposed to be updated but there was a problem updating the marks in one or both of the registers. Check if each register is correct.

Registers will appear on your diary as below. Simply click on the register to open it.

Information in registers

Information window

When you open a register, you will be presented with information about the pupils in your register. If there are pupils in your class who have detentions scheduled for later today or tomorrow, who are on report, who have messages relating to them, or who have outstanding homework, then PARS will present you with an information window when you open a register. PARS will also open one of these windows if the register you are viewing is not for today.

Information columns

To the left of pupils' names there will be columns giving you extra information about the pupils. The columns that you see and the way that they work are affected by your permissions and registration preferences so you may not see all of the columns described below. Each of the columns has a meaning and some can be used for additional features such as adding behaviour incidents.

	Notices	The column will contain an icon if the pupil has a notice intended for them - click on the icon to read the notice.
	Signed In/Out	The column will show the time that the pupil signed in or out. The cell will be green if the pupil is signed in, or red if the pupil has signed out.
	Merit Column	If the pupil has been awarded a merit in the current school day, a symbol will be displayed in this column. If the symbol is faded in colour it means that the merit was issued earlier today. Clicking on the column header allows you to add multiple behaviour incidents at once, or you can click next to a pupil's name in this column to issue a behaviour incident just to them.
	Demerit Column	See above.
	Neutral Column	See above.
	On report	If a pupil is on report, there will be a symbol in this column next to their name. Click on the symbol to enter on report grades.
	Detention	If the pupil has been placed on detention today or is due to serve a detention soon, a symbol will appear in this column. You can also click in this column to issue detentions to pupils.
	Removal	There will be an icon in this column if the pupil has been removed from the current lesson or is due to be removed from a later lesson in the day.
	Extra classes	If the pupil has an extra class soon, a symbol will appear in this column.

Detentions, Removals and Extra classes symbols

In the columns for detentions, removals and extra classes, there will be coloured shapes on top of the icons that give you further information:

	Yellow diamond	Detention/Removal has been recorded in the current lesson
	Blue diamond	Detention/Removal has been recorded today (but not in the current lesson)
	Red "down" arrow	Detention/Removal/Extra class is occuring right now
	Green "right" arrow	Detention/Removal/Extra class is occuring later today
	Combination of symbols	E.g. Detention awarded today to be served later today; Removal awarded in current register to take place now.

You can also hover over most of the icons to reveal additional information about what has happened:

Seating plans

Seating plans can be easily and quickly created from your registers. From your Seating Plan you can add attendance marks, behaviour, check pupil information and send emails. To access seating plans in PARS Connect, click the "Seating" button from the top toolbar. You will then be taken to the Seating Plan for your class.

Creating a seating plan

Click the "Edit" button from the top toolbar. You can then add chairs or desks to your seating plan individually, by using the "Chair" and "Desk" buttons. You need to have at least one chair per pupil, and you can have as many or as few tables as you like. You can add chairs and/or desks in bulk by clicking the "Auto Layout" button. This will open a window like the one below.

Click on "Chair" or "Desk", and then click the location on the seating plan where you would like to add the desk or chair. You can select existing chairs or desks by clicking on them, and create a copy of them by clicking the "Duplciate" button from the top toolbar. The "Clear" button will remove anything you have added to the Auto Layout window, and the "Apply" button will overwrite your existing seating plan with whatever is in the Auto Layout window.

Once you have chairs or desks on your seating plan, you can click on them to highlight and drag to reposition or click the "Duplicate" button to make a copy of the chairs and desks you have highlighted. Click the "Save" button once you are satisfied with the layout of your seating plan. Once a layout has been configured for a class in PARS Connect, any other classes taking place in the same room will use the same layout.

Assigning pupils to seats

You can manually assign pupils to seats by clicking the blue cross button on one of the chairs. This will give you more options. Click the green plus button to add a pupil to the chair or click the swap seats button to move the pupil from one seat to another.

Alternatively, you can click the "Assign" button on the top toolbar to randomly assign pupils to seats. When using the assign button, you can choose to sit naughty pupils nearer the front or back of the room, as well as separate boys from girls, or specific pupils from each other.

Additional details

You can see more detailed information about the pupils in your class by clicking the "Toggle details" button on the top toolbar, or by double clicking on the seating plan. This will change the view, so that more information is shown for each child.

You will be able to see each pupil's vulnerability groupings (e.g. SEN, Pupil Premium, FSM, etc.) as well as two of their grades. Typically schools will show the Working At and Target grades, but you can choose to show any two grades that you like. The grades that will be displayed are taken from one of your key indicator templates.

Student buttons

Next to each chair there is a green and a red box. These will show the pupil's positive and negative behaviour points respectively. The blue box will show the pupil's attendance mark, and you can click on this box to change the attendance mark if required.

Icon	Function
	This will send an email to the pupil using their email address from SIMS.
	Click this to assign a detention to the pupil.
	Add a note about the child. The note can be specific to the room, class, subject or teacher.
	This can be used to add an attendance comment.
	This will open the pupil information window for the selected pupil.
	Click this to switch this pupil with another pupil on the seating plan.
	This button can be used to assign a pupil to an empty chair.

Behaviour heatmap

There is a button on the top toolbar that allows you to view a heatmap of pupils' behaviour. The heatmap is to identify those pupils whose net points are low - that is their positive points minus their negative.

Click on the "Behaviour heatmap" button to see an overlay of the class:

Attendance marks automatically changing

Sometimes attendance marks will automatically change - there are a number of reasons that this may happen in PARS. When you save your register, marks may change in your register or in other registers.

You may find that a pupil who was marked absent in the morning will have their morning mark updated to a late if you mark them present in your register, or their AM or PM mark might change so that is the same as the mark that you give them in your register. These are optional features in PARS that can be turned off - if you do not want to use these features and they are affecting your attendance, please contact our helpdesk for advice.