Recording absence slips

Absence slips are used by some organisations for recording unexplained absences from class. They are returned from classes or roll calls, and usually consist of student names.

Tip: If you use class lists with both the student's Synergetic ID and the student's name listed, the absence slips can be put in quickly using the absent student's Synergetic ID.

To record absence slips received for one or more absent students for a period of time:

Select Module > Students > Absence Events Maintenance from the main menu.
The Set Absence Events Search Criteria window is displayed.
Update the search criteria, if required. See Searching for absence events.
Click .
The Absence Events Maintenance window is displayed.
Click .
The Create Absence Event window is displayed.
If not already selected, select the Absence Slips mode.
Either:

• select the Period that the absence slips apply to
• type the Time of the absence slips.
Get one of the absence slips.
Type the first few letters of the student's last name in the Student ID/Barcode or Surname field.

Tip: You can use a barcode scanner to input the student.
Click .
The Student Search window is displayed.
If you need to, refine the search and click .
Select the student that is absent.
Click .
The Create Absence Event window is redisplayed with the selected student.

Note: Notification icons are used to indicate important information about the student. In this case the icons indicate Amanda Adamski has an active individual plan and an anaphylaxis alert. See Using notification icons in the Introduction manual.

Note: If the student has an active alert a popup message will display the details of the alert. See Current Student Maintenance - Alerts tab.
Add any additional details if available such as comments about the possible reason for the absence.

Note: The field selections in the Details area remain the same as the last entry. They are reset when you change modes (Absence Event Type).

Tip: You can organise the slips so that those with similar absence details are entered at the same time.
Click .
The absence event is saved and the Create Absence Event window is redisplayed ready for the next entry.

Note: When submitting a slip, Synergetic searches for any absence events that overlap up to an hour later. For example, a student is on an excursion starting at 2:20pm. The following message is displayed for a slip being submitted with a starting time at 2:00pm. Decide whether to supersede the absence slip or not.
Repeat steps 7 through 14 until all slips are completed for the period of time.

Tip: You can modify the previous absence event by double clicking on the Last Person in the Select Student area.

Create Absence Event window - Absence Slips key fields and buttons

The following fields and buttons are displayed on the Create Absence Event window when the Absence Slips mode is selected.

Fields

Field	Description
Absence Event Type (Mode)	The type of absence event, as defined in the luAbsenceEventType lookup table. See: Attendance concepts luAbsenceEventType lookup table in the System maintenance manual.
Absent Date	Date that the absence slips are entered for. Defaults to today's date.
Period	Period that the absence slips are for. Periods are defined in the luAbsencePeriod lookup table. See luAbsencePeriod lookup table in the System maintenance manual.
Time	Time that absence slips are recorded for. For example, some organisations record attendance in the morning and the afternoon only. If the Period field was selected, the start time of the period is populated from either the: Timetable, if timetables are used at your organisation. OverrideTime value for the period in the luAbsencePeriod lookup table. See luAbsencePeriod lookup table in the System maintenance manual. If neither of these is available, type in the start time of the period. Note: An optional 24 hour time format can be used. This allows for quicker data entry using the numeric keypad as the AM or PM does not need to be entered.
Reported By	Name of the person who provides the information about the student's absence. The person can be selected by: selecting r'ship and selecting a relation from the drop-down list selecting staff and selecting a staff member from the drop-down list typing the person's name in the free-text field when the person is not a relation or staff member.
Absence Type	The type of absence. Absence types are defined in the luAbsenceType lookup table. Note: New Zealand schools use the absence codes required by the NZ Ministry of Education (NZ MOE). See Attendance codes for New Zealand schools. Note: The field selections in the Details area remain the same as the last entry. They are reset when you change modes (Absence Event Type). Tip: You can organise the slips so that those with similar absence details are entered at the same time.
Reason	Reason for the absence.
Comment	Additional information available about the absence.
Contact Made	Select if you contacted the person specified in the Reported By field to confirm the details of the absence event.
Contact Rcvd	Select if the person specified in the Reported By field contacts you to confirm the details of the absence event.
Note Made	Select if a note has been created to send home with the student. Note: Your organisation may use this field for another purpose. For example, to indicate a diary entry has been created.
Note Rcvd	Select if a signed note has been received from the parent.
Approved	Select if the reason given for the absence meets the policy in force at your organisation. This field may not be active for this mode. Note: You do not need to select this field in New Zealand schools as the Absence Type field is used to determine whether an absence is approved by the NZ MOE or not. See Attendance codes for New Zealand schools. Note: This flag is only displayed if ShowApprovedFlag is selected for the absence event type in the luAbsenceEventType lookup table.
Student ID/Barcode or Surname	When selecting a student to record an absence event for, you can: type the student's Synergetic ID in the field scan the student's barcode, if available and configured type all or part of the student's surname and click click . Note: Some organisations have a second screen to view the photo of the student just scanned or submitted.
Show Second Screen	Most relevant with the Auto Sign In or Auto Sign Out modes. This allows a second screen to be displayed, when Synergetic is used for unattended signing in and out of students. The PC generally has: two barcode scanners attached, one in and one out a graphics adapter able to display two screens at once.

Buttons

Button	Description
	Select a student who is absent and who an absence event is being created for. If the Student ID/Barcode or Surname field: is empty, the Student Search window is displayed without students has a value that has been entered, the Student Search window is displayed with students that match.
	Launch Student Maintenance for the selected student. See Maintaining current students in the Current students manual.
	Save the details of the absence event without leaving the window.
	Save the current absence event details.
	Exit from the current window without saving your changes.
	Add a group of absence events records in bulk. For example, if a group of students is attending a school camp. See Group absence events entered in bulk.
	Set up a recurring schedule for this absence event. See Recording a recurring absence event.
	Send an email to the parent's email address if it is defined. Alternatively, if a second contact is displayed you can send them an email. The Send Email window is displayed to allow you to type a message.
	Automatically match unknown absence events with the event being added. If there are existing unknown events, they are displayed on the Auto Match window. You have the option to supersede the unknown event(s) with the current absence event. See Superseding unknown absence events. For example, three absence slips were entered for absences from morning classes. Subsequently you received a note to say that the student was at the dentist and expected in later in the morning.
	Use the teacher's feedback for the actual details of the absence event. The following dialog window is displayed. When a teacher submits a nonattendance using the Attendance window, any additional information they entered is also displayed in the Details area of the Create Absence Event window. This information is available in the Timetable area of the Create Absence Event window.

Actual tab fields and buttons

Note: Superseded absence events can be viewed on the Superseded tab. The fields on the Superseded tab are identical to those on the Actual tab.

Entries highlighted in yellow are today's entries. Only absence events with a start date a week before or after today's date are displayed.

Note: The date range is + or - seven days by default. This is configurable. See DayRange configuration setting in the System maintenance manual.

Fields

Field	Description
Mode	Abbreviation for the Absence Event Type (or mode) of the absence event.
Time	Either: In Time of the absence event Out Time if an In Time is not available.
Type	Absence Type description of the absence event.
Reason	Reason given for the absence event.

Buttons

Button

Description

Supersede individual absence events on the Actual tab, rather than Synergetic automatically matching.

To supersede an individual absence event:

Select the absence event to supersede on the Actual tab.

Note: You can select multiple records by holding down the Ctrl key and clicking on each record in turn. You can also use the Ctrl key to de-select records.
Click .
The Auto Match window is displayed.
Click .

Tip: You can view superseded absence events on the Superseded tab.

Timetable details fields and buttons

The student's timetable for the day of the absence event is displayed, along with any attendances marked, medical incidents and co-curricular activities.

Timetable area fields

Field

Description

Type

Filter the academic and co-curricular timetable entries based on their file type. For example:

A for academic subjects
M for music subjects
and so on, depending on the file types at your organisation.

By default all entries are displayed.

Year / Term

The Year and Term are used when modifying an absence event from a previous term or semester. You will need to adjust the fields to ensure that the correct timetable is displayed.

Grid area fields

Field	Description
Time	Start time of the period.
Period	Description of the period when the class is scheduled to take place.
Attended	The student's attendance for each class is either: marked as being absent marked as being present not marked yet.
Class / Description	Description of the: academic class co-curricular activity medical incident.
Staff	Staff code for the teacher scheduled to take the class.
Poss Type and Desc	Possible description of the reason for the absence.
Room	Room where the class is scheduled to be held.

Note: These grids are only displayed if the ShowAttendDetailsOnCreateFlag is selected in the luAbsenceEventType lookup table for the type of absence. See luAbsenceEventType lookup table in the System maintenance manual.