Learner Attendance

Learner Attendance

The Attendance page (school/attendance) is a per-section daily register. You pick a section, a date, and a session; the section's enrolled roster loads into a grid; you mark each learner present, absent, late, or excused, then save the whole class in one click. It is deliberately simple, built for a homeroom adviser to run at the start of every school day.

Who can take attendance

The page itself opens for anyone with the school_attendance permission, so an adviser or office staff can review the records. To actually encode and save marks you additionally need school_attendance_update. Without the update permission the register renders read-only — you can look, but the save button is not available.

school_attendance

Opens the Attendance page and the records browser (view).

school_attendance_update

Lets you mark statuses and bulk-save the register. This is the encoder permit.

Teachers and advisers are the everyday users — see the Teacher & Adviser Playbook for how attendance fits into the school day.

Where the roster comes from

You never build the attendance list by hand. When you choose a section, the register is filled with that section's enrolled learners for the current school year — the same roster the registrar materialised when the enrollment application was approved. Two things therefore have to be true before a learner shows up on the register:

Take the daily register

The whole flow is one screen. Pick the class, load the grid, mark it, save.

1. Choose the section, date, and session

   Select the section, set the date (defaults to today), and pick the session — the default is whole (whole-day). The register grid loads the section's enrolled roster; any marks already saved for that exact section + date + session are shown so you can correct rather than duplicate them.

2. Mark each learner

   For every learner set one of four statuses: present, absent, late, or excused. The colours make an at-a-glance scan easy (see the legend below). A learner left untouched defaults to present.

3. Add a reason for absent or excused

   When you mark a learner absent or excused, choose a reason from the attendance-reasons list (for example a medical or family reason). The reason is stored with the record and shown in the records browser.

4. Enter a time-in for late

   When you mark a learner late, enter the time in — the actual arrival time. (Reasons apply to absent/excused; time-in applies to late.)

5. Bulk-save the register

   Click save to write the entire class at once. Each learner's mark for that section + date + session is created or updated, and the encoder (you) is recorded on every row. The screen confirms how many records were saved.

The four attendance statuses

Every mark is one of these. This is the complete list — there are no other states.

Browse saved records

Below the register is a records browser that lists saved attendance rows so you can review history, follow up on repeated absences, or check who encoded a mark. You can filter by status to isolate, say, every absence.

Common questions & mistakes

The save button isn't there

You have school_attendance (view) but not school_attendance_update (encode). Ask your administrator to grant the update permit.

I picked a section but the grid is empty

No learners are enrolled in that section for the current school year. Confirm the enrollment was approved and that the right School Year is current.

I marked absent but couldn't pick a reason

The attendance-reasons list is empty or the reason field wasn't shown for that status — reasons apply to absent and excused only.

Yesterday's marks changed when I saved today

They wouldn't — records are keyed to a specific date and session. Saving today only touches today's rows.

Where attendance flows next

A learner's attendance summary also surfaces to families: once a parent or student portal account is linked, it shows the child's attendance summary alongside released grades and the active enrollment. See Administration & Settings for how those portals are enabled.