Note: this feature is only active once permissions have been set. To configure these settings, please read 'How is it set up? Can I restrict this ability?' below.
Students and parents/guardians can log pre-explained absences in the Portal themselves. These can be for a specific Session or period of time.
Parents and guardians cannot access this article directly. If you wish to share information with them, please download the article here.
Benefits:
Saves countless hours of work by Admins and Managers adding Pre-Explained Absences into Clipboard manually.
Allows students and parents/guardians to be self-sufficient and provide notice of upcoming absences in advance.
Prevents double-handling by reducing time spent chasing up absent students and parents/guardians calling the school.
This improves the accuracy of attendance data, as students and parents/guardians can view absences in the Portal Calendar and add time-based absences.
Coaches and tutors can plan ahead and reschedule or cancel Sessions and update Team positions.
You can learn more about Pre-Explained Absences here.
How it works:
Students and parents/guardians log in to the school Portal.
They click on Calendar and select Log an Upcoming Absence.
They enter the details required, then click Save.
The absence is saved and appears on the Calendar for them to view. It also is saved in Clipboard and appears as below.
Upcoming absences created by students or parents/guardians will be visible on the calendar for all parties, and explanations for the absence will be included.
How is it set up? Can I restrict this ability?
Please note that you need IT Admin Access to complete this process
Allowing students and parents/guardians to log upcoming absences is configured under Settings > Permissions. You can restrict by year group who can log, edit, and delete upcoming absences. Simply:
Go to Settings > Permissions > Portal Options
Scroll down to Pre-Explained Absences
Click Edit
Tick the boxes of the students and guardians in the associated year groups who you want to be able to log, edit, and delete upcoming absences. Click Save.
Can I directly link parents and students to log an absence?
Yes, you can directly link parents and students to log absences via your Digistorm app or another school portal!
Simply add /calendar/log-absence to your Portal URL. You can find your unique Portal URL here.
Below is an example of what Clipboard College's URL looks like;
Can they edit or delete the absences?
Yes, students and parents/guardians can edit or delete the upcoming absences they have added. However, this depends on the access granted in settings to who can edit and delete upcoming absences. Permission can be granted to parents/guardians, students, and school staff to edit or delete absences.
It is recommended that Pre-Explained Absences manually added by students/guardians not be deleted once the date of the absence has passed, as they serve as records for roll reconciliation by staff.
Select Calendar.
Select the absence they wish to change.
Choose either edit or delete.
If edit is selected, they make the necessary changes and click Save.
If delete is selected, they confirm the deletion by clicking Delete again.
Note: Pre-explained absences that have been synced from the SIS cannot be edited or deleted in the Portal.
The ability to edit or delete an upcoming absence lies with the person who created it. For example, if a parent creates an absence for their child, the student can view the absence in their Portal Calendar but won't be able to edit or delete it, as they didn't create it. However, if the student had access granted in Settings to create upcoming absences, they could edit that absence from their own Portal Calendar.
How do staff view these absences?
There are three places staff can view absences logged by students and parents/guardians.
On the Attendance page, under the pre-explained absences card:
2. On the student's profile in the Student list, under the 'Attendance' tab:
3. On any roll during a session that is associated with the time of the pre-explained absence:
Why can't students and parents/guardians nominate a specific Activity for which their absence will be for?
It is time-based, so that if a student is scheduled across multiple Activities, the absence covers this, reducing the number of times the absence needs to be logged.
Will this absence logged by the student or parent/guardian mark the roll?
No, when a parent or student logs a pre-explained absence, they are not marking the student absent on the roll. The roll marking only happens by a Clipboard user. The pre-explained absence logged by the student or parent only indicates the student will be absent, it is up to the Clipboard user to mark the roll based on the reason given by the student or parent. Depending on what your school accepts as a reasonable absence, you may need to upskill your staff here and set expectations as to what constitutes an acceptable reason for a Staff User to mark a student as an 'explained absence.'