How to send absent s to parents automatically

Transcription

1 How to send absent s to parents automatically Send s out to parents of absent children where no reason for the absence has been recorded. This is a time saving tool for administrative staff as it means they can communicate with all the parents of children absent with the reason unknown in one go, rather than having to or call individually. Although the function will all the parents en-masse it still requires someone choosing to send the notifications, meaning that registers can be checked and updated before the s are sent. Note: Parents must have access to the Parent Portal for this function to be available. A number of procedures must be worked through for this function to work: 1. Parent Portal communication features must be configured to allow notifications. 2. Parents must have notifications switched on in their Parent Portal account. 3. Staff must take a register and mark absent pupils who have no reason for absence. 4. Send out parent notifications. 1

2 Open the Parent Portal Manager. Select Parent Portal Manager from the module directory on the left-hand side. Open the Features tab. 2

3 Select Attendance Options from the right-hand menu. The Attendance Options screen is displayed. 3

4 Select the Notifications tab and compete the Notifications settings. 1. Check the Registration s box to switch on the function. 2. Use the drop-down list to select whether parents opt-in or opt-out of notifications. It is recommended that this is set to 'Users Opt-Out of Notifications' (the default setting). This means that parents receive all notifications unless they opt-out of the feature when they log into the Parent Portal. 3. Check Registration SMS if you also want parents to receive notifications via text message. 4

5 Complete the Notification Options. 1. Check the Registration Absence box. This enables parents to be notified of their child's absence. 2. Use the drop-down list to select the Absent Codes to be included in notifications. Parents are only notified of their child's absence when this code is selected in the register. Hold Ctrl to 5

6 choose multiple codes. In most cases you would only have the 'N' code selected here indicating that a child is absent for no given reason. 3. Only check Registration Presence and select Present Codes if you want parents to be informed when their child is registered as present. In most cases this is not necessary. 4. Check the Registration Late box to inform parents when their child is marked late in the register. 5. Click Save Options. Check that notifications are on in the Parent Portal. Click the button in the top right of the screen to open the Parent Portal in a new browser tab. 6

7 Log in to the Parent Portal. If you have access to the Portal you can log in with your normal isams username and password. 7

8 Open the Communications menu and select My Notifications. 8

9 Check the Registration notification settings. If you have chosen for Parents to 'Opt Out' the Receive box will be checked by default. Parents would need to login and un-tick this box if they didn't want to receive these automatic notifications. There is no way of seeing if a Parent has ticked or un-ticked this box without going into the Portal and viewing as their login. Click Save Settings to save any changes that you make. 9

10 Sending the s to the Parents Once teaching staff have completed registers, administration staff can send out s to parents. Select Registration from the module directory on the left-hand side. 10

11 Select the Period View tab. Deselect any registration periods that you do not want to include. All registration periods are selected by default. 1. Click to deselect the periods that you do not want to include in your search for absent pupils. In this example, only the 'AM' registration period is left selected. 2. Today's date is selected by default, scroll through to another date if you need to. 11

12 Absence reasons are listed against each pupil. All of the pupils timetabled for registers in this period are listed and split into three colour coded sections: Absent. This section is expanded by default displaying the pupils listed as absent. Present. Not Yet Registered. Click Send Parent Notifications. Note: The notifications will only be sent for the Registration period selected 12

13 Select Yes to confirm that notifications are to be sent. 13

14 A list of the notification s is displayed. Icons indicate that notifications have been sent or have failed to send. 14

15 An example of the sent out to parents. 15