Difference between revisions of "Attendance view"

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You may sometimes see a coloured icon at the top-left of an attendance mark. This shows that the pupil has received multiple attendance marks during that period (from two different classes, '''not''' from a teacher giving them one mark then changing it to another in the same class). Common causes for this are: <br> <br>
 
You may sometimes see a coloured icon at the top-left of an attendance mark. This shows that the pupil has received multiple attendance marks during that period (from two different classes, '''not''' from a teacher giving them one mark then changing it to another in the same class). Common causes for this are: <br> <br>
  
[[Image:alternatemarks.jpg|right]] <br> <br>
+
[[Image:alternatemarks.jpg|thumb|Alternative marks - blue means the marks are the same, purple means they are different.]]
  
 
*Pupils being added as an "unexpected arrival" in a different [[register]] to their normally scheduled register.
 
*Pupils being added as an "unexpected arrival" in a different [[register]] to their normally scheduled register.

Revision as of 09:47, 19 May 2014

Lock.gif| Permissions required
to access this module:
Section:
Attendance
Permission(s):
Access attendance menu
Access Attendance View menu item

Teachers will deal with attendance by taking registers. Attendance officers will usually require a more powerful tool, one which allows them to track down absent pupils, query questionable attendance marks, identify trends in attendance and contact parents. This attendance view page is the tool that attendance officers should use for this.

Attendance View should not be used by teachers as no restrictions apply when using attendance view i.e. which attendance codes staff are allowed to use or the ability to overwrite other people's marks.

This page is accessed via:
PARS main menu > Attendance > Attendance view

The attendance view page

You will not see any data when you first come to this page, as you need to select the pupils and date range that you are interested in. First click the "Students" button - this will allow you to select which pupils' attendance you wish to view. Next click the "Range" button to select the date range you are interested in. Finally click "Refresh".

Attview01.jpg

Attendance marks are colour-coded to make data easier to read. All present marks are green, authorised absence is pink, unauthorised absence is red, late marks are yellow and registers where the pupil is not required to attend are grey.

Attviewcolours.jpg

Please also see the group manager page for information about creating attendance alerts to track attendance for particular pupils or truants.

How to update attendance marks

To update attendance marks, you first need to disable mark protection - this is a feature that stops you overwriting certain attendance marks. To do this, click the "Protect" button on the top toolbar. This will open the mark protection window:

Attviewprotect.jpg

There are three levels of protection which are explained in the window. Typically you will use "No protection" when dealing with attendance marks - choose the desired level of protection. You can also quickly change the level of mark protection by clicking the Escape button (top right) on your keyboard to toggle the different levels of mark protection.

You now need to select the marks that you want to update. See the image below for guidance on selecting marks:

Attviewselectcells.jpg

Once you have selected the marks you want to edit, you can right-click to view a list of the available attendance codes. Click on the attendance code you want to use.

Attviewcodes.jpg

Additional functions

Besides updating marks, there are several things you can do from this page. These features can be accessed using the buttons in the top toolbar:

Attviewbuttons01.jpg

Adding comments

You can add attendance comments if necessary. To do this, first select the marks you want to add comments to. Next click the "Comments" button from the top toolbar. This will open a window where you can enter free text comments, or select comments from the comment bank.

Attcom.jpg

Identifying absentees and applying filters

When looking at attendance data you may find it useful apply filters. This means that you will only see certain pupils i.e. absentees or truants. To do this, click the "Filter" button from the top toolbar - this will open a window showing the available filters for you to use.

Attviewfilters.jpg

Selecting any of these filters will remove some pupils from your page, so that less are left. Each filter works differently so finding the best few for you is useful - try using the different filters to see what data they provide. Some of the more commonly used filters are:

Having a specific code

You choose an attendance code (or multiple codes). The filter will then show you pupils who have received that attendance code at least once in the date range you selected.

Post registration truants

This shows you any pupils who were present to AM and went missing at some point later in the day.

Pupils who have not attended school today with no reason 'N'

This will show you pupils who have been absent for the entire day with N codes

Contact

There are various 'contact' features that can be used via the Attendance View page. To access these, click the "Contact" button and more options will appear:

Attcontact.jpg


Notice

This can be used to query attendance marks. Select an attendance mark that you would like to query and then click the "Notice" button - this will open a window allowing you to send a message to the teacher of the class.

External contact

This button takes you to the external contact page which is used to contact parents. Click here for instructions and information regarding the external contact page.

Contact history

This button opens a report showing the cotnact history between the pupil and the school. This will include any outbound emails, SMS messages or mail merge letters that have been sent via PARS, as well as any phone calls or meetings that have been logged and possibly SMS replies (depending on your configuration).

Contact details

This button will open a report showing the home contact details for the pupil that you have selected.

Checking mark logs

PARS will keep a log of who entered attendance marks and when. This can be useful if you need to query attendance marks. To do this, single click on the mark you wish to examine. Next click the "History" button from the top toolbar. This will open a window showing you who has updated the attendance mark and when.

Atthist.jpg

Alternative marks

You may sometimes see a coloured icon at the top-left of an attendance mark. This shows that the pupil has received multiple attendance marks during that period (from two different classes, not from a teacher giving them one mark then changing it to another in the same class). Common causes for this are:

Alternative marks - blue means the marks are the same, purple means they are different.
  • Pupils being added as an "unexpected arrival" in a different register to their normally scheduled register.
  • Pupils having a future mark entered for a scheduled class (e.g. to record a planned medical appointment) and then being moved from that class into a different one. The mark is still associated with the old class at this point.
  • Lesson marks are all recorded with a class_period_id number that identifies the exact lesson period that the group's marks are recorded against. If the group in which the marks are recorded changes (e.g. the teacher is swapped or pupils leave the group) then the class_period_id number may also change as details of the timetable are changed in SIMS. In this case the mark has been recorded with a class_period_id number that is no longer valid.

Adding behaviour incidents

If required you can add a behaviour incident to pupils via the Attendance View page. To do this, first select the pupil(s) you wish to give behaviour incidents to. Next click the "Behaviour" button on the top toolbar - this will open the add a behaviour incident window.