SchoolDeck records attendance per period rather than per day, from a teacher’s phone, a biometric device or a card reader. The teacher app holds the register locally and syncs when signal returns, so marks taken in a basement laboratory appear timestamped when they were taken, not when the phone reconnected.
Biometric capture needs compatible hardware, which is bought separately and is not included in the per-student price.
A class teacher has about ninety seconds between arriving and the bell. Anything that takes longer than that gets done on paper and typed in later — which means the system is wrong all morning, and the person typing it in is doing the work twice.
A student present at assembly and absent by the fourth period is a different problem from one who never arrived, and only period-wise capture tells them apart. It is also what makes the attendance figure defensible when a shortfall decides eligibility for an examination.
The cost is more marking events, which is exactly why the marking flow has to be fast. Section-wide defaults with exceptions marked, rather than every student tapped individually, is what keeps it inside the ninety seconds.
Attendance percentage is not one calculation, and boards differ. These are set during implementation and then applied consistently, which matters more than which convention you choose.
| Decision | Options | Where it bites |
|---|---|---|
| Denominator | Working days, or days enrolled | Mid-year admissions look far worse on the first |
| Authorised absence | Counted absent, or excluded | Medical leave decides examination eligibility |
| Half days | Half a mark, or a full absence | Changes borderline cases at term end |
| Period vs day | Any period absent, or majority absent | Determines who appears on the shortfall list |
Phrased the way they arrive, answered so each one stands on its own.
Yes. The teacher app holds the register locally and syncs when signal returns. Marks are timestamped when they were taken rather than when they synced, so a laboratory period in a basement records correctly.
Yes, alongside or instead of app marking. Devices are bought separately and are not included in the per-student price. Most schools use biometrics at the gate and the app in class, because a device per classroom is rarely worth the cost.
By threshold, per student and per section, using the convention configured for your board. Alerts fire on a trend rather than a single day, so a student below the requirement for three consecutive days is flagged before the term-end calculation makes it irreversible.
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