"Today, with A+, schools can easily and quickly capture student attendance and absence information directly from and into their First Class timetable".

Background
Recording of student absences from classes has always been a difficult task for secondary schools. Students come and go in a number of rooms during the day. The challenge is how to record accurately, quickly and often, without impeding the teaching curriculum.

Several methods for roll marking have been developed over the years. Examples are student bar-coded tags or bar-coded forms, paper based rolls and even computers within the classroom. While these systems offer some degree of success they are usually labour intensive and data is rarely up-to-date. The major flaw in all these systems is the absence of an integrated solution. And, as the basic organisational unit is the school timetable, interfaces were always complex and awkward. Solutions that also created their own problems! Not to mention the expense!

The challenge
Create a simple and effective integrated solution that can be used throughout the school with a choice and variety of input methods, use the existing school timetable and have a central database.

Our solution

Using the latest mobile device technology or a browser, schools can quickly and easily record student absences and attendances directly from and into the latest daily school timetable.

A+ automatically synchronises with the school timetable for the day. This is done with a PDA in real-time mode using wireless connections or update mode when the PDA is returned to a cradle. Alternatively, rolls can be marked using the classroom PC/laptop.

Teachers mark any absences or late arrivals in their classroom. The results are then delivered back to First Class for instant recording and reporting. Any alterations can be done at this stage.

Late passes can be issued by a thermal printer at the front office. Within a few seconds, a late pass including all the school details and the student photo can be produced, updating the roll at the same time.

Any absences recorded prior to the day's classes are available to the teacher to assist in the roll marking. Optimised routes for "monitors" to deliver shared PDAs speed up the process, on average one class per minute.

Solution benefits A+ is a totally integrated module within First Class that provides a solution for recording absences, attendances and alerts. Rolls can be marked using PCs, Laptops, PDAs (including wireless), hardcopy or a combination of all three. Alternatively, parents can be notified by email, SMS or form letter of their child’s absence. Late passes can be issued by a thermal printer located at the front of the office. Within a few seconds a late pass, including all the school details and the student photo can be produced updating the roll at the same time. Entering data in A+ Student absences can be either recorded directly in your First Class timetabling software or entered via a PDA, PC or laptop.     EXAMPLE: Click on the picture below to see how can you identify a teacher's unmarked classes.

Go directly into roll marking. Class can be selected by choosing a teacher and a period. View a day's timetable for a teacher and optionally mark the roll for a class. View a student's timetable and absences for a day. View all classes for a period sorted by teacher and optionally mark a class. Summary of today's data. Statistics and useful information Options to set-up and configure A+ Synchronise data between the PDA and First Class About screen Start a route so a student can take a PDA between classes to be marked.