Cascade attendance - my registers are already filled with attendance marks

When managing attendance, you may find that absence marks recorded in an earlier lesson will flow into later lessons automatically. This is called cascading absence marks.

Please note that this setting will only cascade Authorised and Unauthorised absences (including N), not any other kind of attendance mark. You can see a full list of marks and whether they count as absence marks here: Attendance codes

For example, I have marked a student with an I (Illness) mark for the morning register. When the setting to Cascade absent marks is on:

• For primaries - Once the afternoon register is open it will set their afternoon mark to I (Illness) - the same absence mark as recorded in the morning. Absence marks in morning AM registers will flow into your afternoon PM registers.
• For secondaries - Once the register for Period 2 is open it will set their mark to I (Illness) - the same absence mark as recorded in Period 1. Absence marks in Period 1 will flow into Period 2, absence marks in Period 2 will flow into Period 3 etc. This will continue with each lesson throughout the day unless the mark is changed to a non-absence mark before the next register is opened.

When the setting to Cascade absent marks is off, attendance marks will not pre-populate in subsequent registers, unless otherwise set by admin/attendance team as a planned absence etc.

Managing this setting

Why is this on or off?

For primaries, this setting will be on by default.

For secondaries, we will have turned this setting off during your move to Arbor. As secondaries take lesson attendance multiple times during the day, a student could be absent in one class (but on site) and present in the next.

How do we switch this on or off?

This setting cannot be managed by School or MAT staff.

If you would like us to enable this or disable this for your school, contact:

• the Arbor Support Team if supported by Arbor
• your Support Partner if not supported by Arbor

Make sure you to cc in your data controller (usually your Head Teacher) if this is not you so they can authorise the request.

FAQ

Are planned absence marks overwritten by cascading marks?

No, any planned absence marks already put in will not be overwritten when marks are cascaded. 

For example:

1. A student has a planned absence recorded for this afternoon with the M (Medical/Dental Appointment) mark.
2. The student is recorded this morning with the I (Illness) mark.
3. The student's mark this afternoon will be set as M (Medical/Dental Appointment) once the register is opened.

Are cascading marks overwritten by planned absence marks?

Yes, the cascading marks will be changed to the mark used for the planned absence.

If a student has multiple absence marks, which will be cascaded?

If a student has multiple absence marks recorded (e.g. for two classes or an intervention and a class), whichever absence that was entered first will cascade.

If this is incorrect, you'll need to change the attendance marks of the session the marks cascaded from to the correct mark.

Are non-statistical marks cascaded?

No, only marks that are authorised or unauthorised absence marks are cascaded. This does not include D, X, Y, Z or #.

Can we amend cascaded marks?

Yes, cascaded marks can be amended in registers by teachers, from the student profile or from our Bulk attendance pages.

Any changes to marks here will cascade down to future lessons if the registers have not yet been opened.