For reference - COVID-19 Guidance from March 2020 to April 2022

This article provides a comprehensive overview of Arbor's COVID-19 attendance guidance from March 2020 to April 2022, detailing attendance codes, management practices, and reporting requirements for schools during the pandemic. It highlights changes in attendance codes, the use of bubble classes, and the necessity of daily reporting to the DfE, along with specific instructions for handling absences related to COVID-19.

This article outlines past guidance from Arbor for taking attendance and managing your Arbor MIS, to be used for your reference.

From September 2021 - April 2022

• Two additional attendance codes were added:
  • • • X08 - Advised by Public Health Directors not to attend school (mapped to the statutory mark of X)
      • X09 - NHS test and trace required self-isolation (mapped to the statutory mark of X)
• Codes X03 and X04 should no longer be used.
• If students were required to self isolate due to contact with the Omicron variant, schools should have used the X09 code to record this.
• Secondary schools used the Y code for secondary pupils not expected to be attending school for lessons during the first week of term due to testing.

From March - August 2021

Managing the school

• Schools were advised to open again from 8th March 2021, including wraparound childcare and clubs. Students should return to standard timetable classes without separate bubble class registers.
• Schools will have needed to edit their timetable, or end their old timetables, and set up or import a new timetable in Arbor.
• Schools should continue to stagger start and end times and break times and lunchtimes where possible if required to keep children separate, without reducing the amount of overall teaching time.

Taking attendance

• For any student who was absent for covid-related reasons, schools could use these codes from 4th March 2021:
  • • • X - Non compulsory school age pupil or not required to be in school or Covid-related absence
      • X01 - Non compulsory school age pupil or not required to be in school (mapped to the statutory mark of X)
      • X02 - Self-isolating COVID-19 symptoms (mapped to the statutory mark of X)
      • X03 - Self-isolating internal exposure (mapped to the statutory mark of X)
      • X04 - Self-isolating external exposure (mapped to the statutory mark of X)
      • X05 - Quarantine requirement (mapped to the statutory mark of X)
      • X06 - Shielding (mapped to the statutory mark of X)
      • X07 - Government attendance restrictions (mapped to the statutory mark of X)
      • I - Illness
      • I01 - Non-covid-related illness (mapped to the statutory mark of I)
      • I02 - Covid-related illness (mapped to the statutory mark of I)
• Secondary schools should use the Y code for secondary pupils not expected to be attending school for lessons during the week beginning 8th March due to testing.
• Schools should have stopped using the C code for Covid-related absence from 8th March, as attendance was compulsory for students apart from those extremely clinically vulnerable.

From January - March 5th 2021

Managing the school

• Schools were advised not to end their timetables or add in holidays so blank marks could be filled with the X code each evening and all students would have the right attendance codes.
• Schools could set up 'bubble classes' to run alongside their normal timetable by splitting students into classes (recommended for primaries) or year groups (recommended for secondaries and larger schools to enable a breadth of the curriculum). These bubble classes needed to be discounted from the Spring Census return.
• Schools could stagger start and end times and break times and lunchtimes where possible if required to keep children separate, without reducing the amount of overall teaching time.
• Schools needed to continue to complete the DfE's daily form using our updated Covid-19 Dashboard to do so. Additional fields were added for reporting on FSM and requested on-site education numbers.
• Schools needed to use three custom groups for students with a social worker, vulnerable students and for students with a Key Worker guardian who requested a place to be able to report on the correct numbers of students in the Covid-19 Dashboard.
• They could choose to report on Statutory or Lesson attendance on the Dashboard.
• Schools could record consent for staff and student testing, then log tests and results. Staff could add their own test results.

Taking attendance

• Students who were not physically present on-site should have been marked with the correct covid-related absence code, regardless if they were attending online classes.
• We switched back on the 'auto-fill attendance marks' functionality that, once switched on, automatically set all attendance marks to X each night until this setting was turned off.
• For any student who was absent for covid-related reasons, schools could use these codes:
  • • • X - Non compulsory school age pupil or not required to be in school.
      • SII - Self-isolating internal exposure (mapped to the statutory mark of X).
      • SIE - Self-isolating external exposure (mapped to the statutory mark of X).
      • Sym - Suspected case of Covid-19 (mapped to the statutory mark of X).
      • Cov - Confirmed case of Covid-19 (mapped to the statutory mark of I).
      • C - Other Authorised Absence

From October 12th 2020 - December 2020

Managing the school

• Schools needed to continue to complete the DfE's daily form using our updated Covid-19 Dashboard to do so.
• Schools needed to continue to use their two custom groups for students with a social worker and for vulnerable students, to be able to select and report on these students in the Covid-19 Dashboard.
• The DfE advised that schools should continue to use ‘bubbles’.

Taking attendance

• We introduced two new SII and SIE codes to enable schools to track exposure to Covid-19 'in school' and 'elsewhere'.
• Schools needed to update any planned absences using the archived SI code to use the new SII or SIE codes.
• Totals on the Covid-19 Dashboard and the list of students contributing to the measure now excluded nursery students.
  
• For any student who was absent for covid-related reasons, schools could use these codes:

  • SII - Self-isolating internal exposure (mapped to the statutory mark of X).

  • SIE - Self-isolating external exposure (mapped to the statutory mark of X).

  • Sym - Suspected case of Covid-19 (mapped to the statutory mark of X).

  • Cov - Confirmed case of Covid-19 (mapped to the statutory mark of I).

From September 2020 - October 12th 2020

Managing the school

• Schools needed to continue to complete the DfE's daily form, tracking numbers of children who are suspected or confirmed cases of Covid-19, or who are remaining at home as a result of being in contact with a confirmed case. Schools could use our updated Covid-19 Dashboard to do so.
• Schools needed to continue to use their two custom groups for students with a social worker and for vulnerable students, to be able to select and report on these students in the Covid-19 Dashboard.
• The DfE advised that wherever possible, schools should maintain distinct groups or ‘bubbles’ that do not mix by splitting students into classes (recommended for primaries) or year groups (recommended for secondaries and larger schools to enable a breadth of the curriculum).

Taking attendance

• We switched off the ability to auto-fill attendance marks as all student year groups were expected to be in school. Schools needed to take attendance and record attendance marks in the normal way.
• Schools should have switched back to using the Y and C codes only for standard purposes.
• We retired the old codes of Iso (self-isolating due to Covid-19), Sh (shielding due to Covid-19) and C19 (Illness with Covid-19 symptoms).
• For any student who was absent for covid-related reasons, schools could use these codes:
  • SI - Self-isolating due to exposure to Covid-19 (mapped to the statutory mark of X)
  • Sym - Suspected case of Covid-19 (mapped to the statutory mark of X)
  • Cov - Confirmed case of Covid-19 (mapped to the statutory mark of I)

From June 2020 - August 2020

Managing opening

• Schools could begin to open to certain year groups from June 1st for Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 and from 15th June for Year 10, Year 12 and post-16.
• Schools needed to continue to complete the DfE's daily form but could use our new Covid-19 Dashboard to do so and to follow up with absent students.
• Schools needed to set up two custom groups, for students with a social worker and for vulnerable students, to be able to select and report on these students in the Covid-19 Dashboard.
• Schools needed to switch over to our new auto-fill functionality, which once switched on, automatically set all attendance marks to the selected code each night until this setting was turned off. The options were Closed (overwrote all with the # code), Partially Open (filled in blank marks with the X code), and Manual (no automation).
• Schools were advised to not remove any existing classes or registration forms set up, but to create new bubble classes as needed.
• Schools with KS3 or higher could select specific classes to display on the Covid-19 Dashboard to follow up with.

Taking attendance

• Schools were advised that teachers should access their registers (or new bubble class registers) in the normal way (ignoring any messages saying students are due to be out of lesson).
• For any year groups that were not required to attend, schools could use the auto-fill option, or mark them with the X code.
• For any students in a year group due to attend who was absent for covid-related reasons, schools could use these codes:
  • C19 (I- Illness with Covid symptoms) 
  • Sh - (Y - Shielding due to Covid-19 
  • Iso - (Y -Self-isolating due to Covid-19)
  • C - A student is not sick and is due to come to school, but their parent/guardian decides for them not to attend

From March 2020 - May 2020

Taking attendance

• Schools needed to stop taking normal attendance registers and submit a daily form to the DfE.
• We advised schools to mark all attendance registers with the # code and to not amend their academic calendar.
• We introduced a new 'auto-fill attendance marks' functionality that, once switched on, automatically set all attendance marks to # each night until this setting was turned off. This overwrote any existing attendance marks, planned absences and absence notes, but did not change club or trip attendance marks.
• Schools could fill in past registers with the # code using our bulk functionality on the Students > Attendance > Daily Attendance page.

Reporting

• Until Friday 20th March, schools who were closed to certain students could mark students with the Y code. Schools could report on these marks using the Students > Attendance > Admin > Raw Attendance Marks page or in a custom report.
• We created some out-of-the-box custom groups that then feed into one central custom report that Superusers could view in the Custom Report Writer:
  • EHCP Students - All students with a SEN status with an Education, Health and Care Plan.
  • Has Social Worker (CiN) - All students who's Child Protection Status is Child in Need.
  • Has Social Worker (LAC) - All students who are marked as Looked After (In Care).
  • Students with Critical Worker Parents/Guardians - All students who have at least one primary guardian who is a Key Worker.
  • Vulnerable (Child Protection Status) - All students who's Child Protection Status is Child protection plan, Monitoring, or Child in need.
• You could use our Free School Meal Students' Primary Guardian information for Supermarket Vouchers template in the Custom Report Writer to help arrange supermarket vouchers for the parents/guardians of free school meal eligible students. 

Student, staff and guardian details

• Schools could record new medical condition for students or staff of Corona Virus - COVID-19 (confirmed) or (symptoms), and create a custom report of all the students with these medical conditions.
• Schools could set guardians as key workers in order to flag that the child was a key worker child. This still applies, see here.
• Schools were advised that if they wanted to record details of students from other institutions, they should manage these students outside of Arbor. If they needed to record details, they could add the student as an applicant but not enrol them.