Taking attendance: manual, QR, and bulk methods

Method 1, Manual attendance (class list)

Manual attendance is the standard daily method for most settings. You see your whole class on one screen and mark each child in under a minute.

1. Go to Attendance from the sidebar and select the Daily Attendance tab.
2. Select your class section and confirm the date (defaults to today).
3. The class list appears with each student's photo (if uploaded), name, and a row of status buttons.
4. For each student, click the appropriate status: Present, Absent, Late, or any custom status you have set up.
5. For students marked Late, an optional arrival time field appears. Enter the time if you know it.
6. When all students are marked, click Submit Attendance. A confirmation banner confirms the record is saved.

Method 2, QR code attendance

QR code attendance is ideal for schools with a dedicated gate or reception area. Parents scan their child's unique QR code as they arrive, automatically marking the child as Present at the current time.

1. At the school gate or reception, open the QR Scanner on a tablet or phone: go to Attendance from the sidebar and select the QR Scanner tab.
2. The camera activates. Ask the parent to present their child's QR card or show it on their phone.
3. Hold the camera over the QR code. When it scans successfully, the child's name and photo appear on screen with a green "Arrived" confirmation.
4. The attendance record is created automatically: Present, current timestamp, arrival method = QR.
5. If the QR code belongs to a child from a different school or the code has been revoked, a red "Invalid" banner appears.

Method 3, Bulk attendance (date ranges)

Bulk attendance is used for events like school trips, closure days, or correcting a missed day of attendance.

1. Go to Attendance from the sidebar and select the Bulk Actions tab.
2. Select the class section and the date range (or a single date).
3. Select the status to apply to all students in the class for that range (e.g. "Field Trip" or "School Closed").
4. Optionally exclude specific students if they were not part of the bulk event.
5. Click Apply Bulk Attendance. A confirmation screen shows exactly which records will be created before you commit.
6. Click Confirm. Records are created for all selected students across all selected dates.

See article 3.6 for full bulk attendance documentation including how to undo a bulk entry.

Attendance cut-off and notifications

Your admin may have configured an attendance cut-off time, after which unmarked students are automatically flagged as Absent (not marked). Check your school's policy. The notification system sends an SMS or WhatsApp to parents when their child is marked absent, this happens automatically if your admin has enabled it in Settings → Notifications.

Common mistakes

• Forgetting to click Submit Attendance, statuses you click are not saved until you submit. If you navigate away before submitting, you lose all your work for that day.
• Taking attendance for the wrong date, always confirm the date shown at the top of the screen before submitting.
• Using bulk attendance to mark a whole class Present every day to avoid doing the daily register, this defeats the purpose of attendance tracking and will produce misleading analytics.
• Not marking late arrivals with the Late status, a child who arrives 45 minutes after school starts and is marked Present gives a misleading picture of their punctuality.