Contact parents of today's absentees

Written for: Attendance officers, office staff and attendance leads.

The attendance analytics page lists the pupils marked absent today, so you can see who to follow up, open each pupil’s parent and carer contacts, and download the list. This article explains how to find the list, what the contact window shows, and how to record the contact you make.

Find today’s absentees

1. In the sidebar, open Attendance and choose Analytics.
2. Click Act now.
3. Look at Today’s absentees. The number beside the heading is how many pupils are on the list.

Each row shows the pupil’s name, year and class, the attendance Code and the Reason recorded for today. Pupils are listed by year group, then by name, 25 to a page. Use Previous and Next to move between pages.

The list includes only pupils who have been marked absent today in a register. A pupil whose register hasn’t been taken yet isn’t on it, so check again after registration closes. The list also follows the filters at the top of the page: to see one year group, choose it first.

To download the list, click Export CSV. The file has each pupil’s name, year, class, code and reason. It holds pupil information, so store it securely and delete it when you’re done.

See a pupil’s parent and carer contacts

1. Click Contact beside the pupil.
2. A window opens with the pupil’s name. Under Quick communication, it lists their parents and carers, with the Primary Contact first, and each contact’s phone number and email address.
3. Use these details to contact the family, following your school’s attendance procedure.
4. Close the window when you’ve finished.

Click Open instead to go to the pupil’s profile on the Attendance section, where you can see their attendance pattern before you call.

Note: Texting and calling from this window are currently unavailable. If you click SMS and then Send SMS, you’ll see “SMS unavailable” and nothing is sent. Calls started from this window don’t connect either. Contact the family by phone or through your school’s usual messaging system instead.

Record the contact

Contact you make outside Student Radar isn’t logged automatically. To record it on the pupil’s record:

1. Click Open beside the pupil to open their profile.
2. Under Pupil sections, click Family.
3. Under Communication log, click Add entry.
4. Choose the Type (for example Phone call), the Direction and the Status, and add the Contact person, a Subject or Notes, and the Outcome.
5. Click Save entry.

The entry appears in the pupil’s communication log, so colleagues can see that the family has been contacted.

Other places to contact families

The same Contact button appears beside pupils in other attendance lists on the page:

• Act now → Pupils near the PA threshold. See Spot pupils close to persistent absence.
• Interventions → Attendance support: click a group, such as pupils below 90%, to list them.

If something doesn’t work

What you see	What to do
“No marked absences for this cohort today. Unmarked registers are not counted.”	No pupil in your selection has been marked absent today. Check that today’s registers have been taken, or clear the filters.
“Today’s absence records could not be loaded. Try again shortly.”	Reload the page after a minute.
“No parent/carer contacts are on file for this pupil.”	Student Radar has no contacts for this pupil. Check your MIS, where contacts are usually kept, or ask your school office.
“No contact information available”	The contact has no phone number or email address on file. Use another contact, or check your MIS.
“SMS unavailable” or “Failed to send SMS”	Texting from Student Radar is currently unavailable, and nothing was sent. Contact the family another way.
“Call Failed”	The call didn’t connect. Phone the family from a school phone instead.
“Add a subject or notes before saving.”	A communication log entry needs a subject or some notes.