Post 16 Attendance Codes

[AIOMG]

Hi all, wondering if you can help.

 

We are currently looking at a more rigorous way of recording P16 attendance but the codes don't seem to fit. For instance, recording independent study time, if they're not on site we can't mark them present, but could we use a B? it loosly falls into educated offsite but is it too much of a stretch? What about just putting an X in for the session? Does anyone have any ideas?

 

Its my own fault, I've sorted yr 7-11 now they'remaking me look at P16!

[bobsmith]

your session marks are the important ones - while post 16 attendance isn't one of the statutory reporting items I'd always be happier from a safeguarding point of view if the attendance was accurate.

 

If a student in present for any part of the AM or PM session they would receive a "/" for that session.

 

If they are offsite but still being educated I'd use a "B" for the session.

 

O is then available for true unauthorised absence.

 

Lesson marks however are pretty much whatever you want them to be.

[tombry]

We implemented sixth form tutor groups this year, which are mandatory, regardless of a lesson being in the morning/afternoon, it allows us a much more accurate picture of our sixth form attendance

[vikpaw]

You should be able to add attendance codes with meanings that you define, but which map to the statutory ones. Maybe that's an independent school thing, but i'm sure the reason it maps is to cover state schools.

 

e.g. a code you create to show independent study, so you can report on it, but maps to a present mark, for fire drill and general attendance purposes.

[AIOMG]

Thanks.

 

So if a P16 student has completed work for a set lesson but has gone home to study for another lesson, could a B code be used? Can the definition of the B code be stretched for P16 ?

[vikpaw]

If B is an empty unused code you can do what you like. I wouldn't double up or stretch meanings. The edit / define attendance codes area I'm thinking if lets you create new codes with unused letters that you could provide meaning to.

[bobsmith]

B isn't an unused code - it's a DfE standard code for educated off site.

 

If the student was present in the AM session - 8am to 11.59am then a "/" code is valid even if they go home for part of the session.

 

If they are still at home for the entirety of the PM session 12pm to 4pm then you could use a B code.

[CAM]

If B is an empty unused code you can do what you like. I wouldn't double up or stretch meanings. The edit / define attendance codes area I'm thinking if lets you create new codes with unused letters that you could provide meaning to.

 

B stands for Educated Off-Site and maps to Approved Educational Activity (so it will be counted if you bring up Attendance% Present + AEA).

 

X for Non-Compulsory School Age Absence seems the most truthful as it maps to Attendance Not Required instead of Out For Whole Session and present marks should be used for students on-site. Although with the guided learning hours thing going round, students shouldn't be getting an excessive amount of these as activities to make up for a deficit in hours should be provided.

[vikpaw]

Right, i think there's some confusion, when i say mapping i don't mean to the absence classifications like AEA, etc. I mean to a statutory code. This can bring with it whatever statistical meaning and physical meaning it has associated with it, for some codes this can be altered.

 

It must only be an independent thing. I'm going to Tools | Setups | Attendance Setup | Codes | Maintain Codes

Here you can add a New code if it's allowed by your type of installation.

 

For example, a K which you map to / could mean the student forgot their PE kit, you can track it, but it really means they earn a present marks.

 

Whether you use these codes, if you even can, is dependent on what you want to achieve. If it's for internal classification it's useful. For marking sessions, where they may be at home, you might want to seek guidance from the LA or the EWO/attendance person to make sure you're doing it right and using the correct underlying code.

[bobsmith]

In the maintained sector the session codes are statutory, but lesson marks can be whatever you want as long as they map to a statutory code as vikpaw mentions above.

 

I've heard of several schools doing exactly as vikpaw mentioned regarding PE lesson marks, my own department have found out about it from another school and they are clamoring for it!