Last week we informed parents & students about a revamping of our attendance procedure. We have been in the Amnesty period this week and it has been extremely successful. Students have been upgrading their cards or replacing ones that have been lost.
To ensure the system is working we have been checking if students are in school if they are showing as absent. Each day there are a couple of students that had difficulties with their card. On 7th October this checking will cease and parents will be emailed.
For the full information please read below:
We are going to introduce a revised procedure of how we take attendance. The reason for doing this is because the increase in the student body is causing us to take a very long time to account for the location of students and we wish to speed this process up dramatically.
The procedure for the students
- Students must swipe in as they enter the school. If for any reason they do not have their card they must sign in at the desk set up by guards’ room
– If students sign in for more than three consecutive days they will be required to buy a new Smartcard - If they do not do this they will be registered as not being present and parents will be contacted by email within an hour of school starting.
- Staff will not take the role in Learning Team time as this has been proven to be inaccurate – one example being students swipe in very early when they come for a morning activity and then never make it to learning Team. The adviser marks them as absent as they have not seen the individual.
The procedure for the parents
- The parent of any student who is shown as not having swiped/signed in will be contacted by email within an hour after the start of school.
- The message will read:
Your child has not swiped in or signed in today. We are alerting you to this so that you can assist us with an accurate roll. If your child is absent due to illness please email us at office@dc.eu.hk. If you believe your child is in school please phone us on +852 3969 1000 so that we may follow this up immediately. - Parents: email reason for absence if due to sickness or phone if there is a concern about the whereabouts of their child.
- The front office will take the call and inform the secondary office, who will then take the necessary action to look for the student and phone back with a response
Timeline for the introduction
Friday 19 September – sharing of the process with students via Learning Advisers and parents via the Explorer
Monday 22 September – Friday 3 October Amnesty
- Students may get a replacement Smartcard for one they have lost without a charge – they go to the front office. If there is a delay between the request for a Smartcard and receiving it, students may sign in at the desk set up by the guards’ room
- Checks will be made by Learning Adviser but they will not change the status in the Gateway – students will have to return to the ground floor and swipe in
- Continuation of current process of communicating with parents via phone call
Friday 26 September – sharing of the process with parents again via the Explorer
Tuesday 30 September – an email reminder sent to parents
Tuesday 7 October onwards – System in full operation
If students are late to school
If they are late between 8.25am-8.35am they sign on the sheet by the guards’ office, and then SWIPE in as well
If they are late after 8.35am they sign in at the front office as they currently do