The Department of Education requires that learner absences are confirmed every day to ensure that the capturing of absences is complete. The system displays a task for the register class teacher if the day's absences have not yet been confirmed.

• Note: Refer to the User Rights section below for the applicable rights required for absence and late arrival functions.

How do I confirm learner absences per day?

My School > People > Learners > Attendance: Attendance Confirmations

1. Select the Year, Grade, Status and the selected date.

2. All unconfirmed classes with the number of absences appear in the list. Click on the number to view or change the captured absences for the day (the screen shows all absences for the week).

3. Click No under the Confirm column to make the checkbox visible.

4. Save changes.

5. Click Confirm all to confirm all unconfirmed classes simultaneously for a selected day.

• Warning: Once absences are confirmed, entries can no longer be removed or changed unless a user with Confirmation Rights unconfirms the day.

How do I unconfirm absences to allow changes?

My School > People > Learners > Attendance Confirmations

1. Select the Grade, Status and Register class for the date.

2. Click on the confirmed class row to display the checkbox to unconfirm all entries for the day.

3. Save changes.

How do I capture learner absences?

My School > People: Learners > Attendance: Absences

1. Click Load Absences.

2. Capture absences per Register class or per Learner.

3. Select the date of the Monday of the week for which you want to capture.

4. Select Yes to show all learners or No to add a single learner via a row.

5. Register class teachers can add and confirm absence entries for their own class without additional user rights.

6. If SMS messages for absences have been set up, the system automatically creates SMS messages for the relevant parents but they are not sent directly. Go to My Home > My Information > My Tasks > Communication Tasks to release the absence SMS messages. Certain SMS messages can be removed before release.

How do I remove an absence entry?

My School > People > Learners > Attendance: Absences

1. Click the blue bin icon next to the entry to remove it.

2. If the blue bin icon does not appear, the entry has already been confirmed. A user with Learner Attendance Confirmation Rights must first unconfirm the day before the entry can be removed.

Note: Absences can also be captured via My School > Learners > Late Arrivals. Search for the learner's name.

User rights required

• 1.3.2 Learner Absences: Can add and remove absence entries for classes/dates not yet confirmed. Register class teachers without this right can still add/remove absences for their own class (unconfirmed) and confirm their own class's attendance on the current date.

• 1.3.3 Learner Attendance Confirmation Rights: Can confirm/unconfirm absence entries and remove confirmed entries.

• 3.2 Learner Discipline rights (for Late Arrivals): Required for schools that link late arrivals to discipline entries at My School > People > Learners > Attendance: Late Arrivals.

Frequently asked questions

Why can I not capture absences on certain days?

Two possible reasons: (1) Terms are not set up correctly — absences can only be captured for a configured term. Go to My School > General > Terms to correct this. (2) The day's absences have already been confirmed — a user with Confirmation Rights must unconfirm the day to allow changes.