Set up and record daily check-ins

Written for: Alternative provision staff.

Daily Check-ins is where staff score each pupil against a short set of measures, such as engagement or work completion, for every session they’re booked into. A provision leader chooses the measures and the score scale once. Staff then record what they saw in each session, and the page builds up a picture of how each pupil is doing over time.

Set up your check-in measures

The first time anyone opens Daily Check-ins, the page shows Set up check-in measures. Choosing the measures is for provision leaders.

1. In the sidebar, open Progress and choose Daily Check-ins.
2. Click Set measures. The Set check-in measures window opens with Student Radar’s suggested measures already filled in: Engagement, Work completion, Following requests and Respect towards others.
3. On Measures, give each measure a name and describe it under What staff should observe. You need between two and six. Click Add criterion to add one, or the bin to remove one.
4. On Score scale, set out the points staff choose from, lowest first. You need between two and five, each with a Label and What this means. The suggested scale is Needs improving, Good and Excellent. Click Add scale point to add one.
5. On Publication, check the Published version and Effective from date. The first time, Comparison rationale (required) is already filled in for you.
6. Click Save framework.

You’ll see “New check-ins will use the updated criteria and scale.”

Describe each scale point clearly, so that two members of staff watching the same session would choose the same score.

Change the measures later

Click Set measures above the pupil list. Existing check-ins keep the measures and wording they were recorded with. Under Publication:

• check the Published version, which is filled in with the next version number
• under Comparison with the previous version, choose Comparable only if the measures and the scale still mean the same thing. Otherwise choose Do not compare
• explain your choice in Comparison rationale (required), in 10 to 500 characters

Save any check-ins you’re part-way through first. Saving new measures clears check-ins that haven’t been saved yet.

Record check-ins for a session

1. Open Progress and choose Daily Check-ins.
2. Check the Session date. It starts on today, and you can choose an earlier date but not a later one.
3. Choose Booked sessions to see the pupils booked into a session that day, or All on-roll pupils to see everyone. Type in the search box to find a pupil.
4. Click the pupil. Each card shows how many of their booked check-ins are recorded.
5. In the window that opens, find the session. For each measure, click the score that matches what you saw. Hover over a score to see what it means.
6. Add a Note if it helps, for example what happened during the session.
7. Click Save all check-ins.

Only sessions with every measure scored are saved. A session with some measures missing stays unsaved until you finish it. Click Close check-ins to go back to the list.

Record only what you saw. If you didn’t see the pupil for part of a session, leave that session unrecorded.

Fill in several sessions at once

On a computer, you can fill in sessions where the pupil met your expectations in one go.

1. Tick Observed all measures beside each session where you saw every measure.
2. Click the button at the top of the page that applies the middle score to the selected sessions. With the suggested scale, it reads Apply Good to selected.
3. Check the scores, change any that aren’t right, then save.

It only fills measures you haven’t scored yet, in sessions that aren’t recorded. On a phone, the same button is under each session.

Correct a check-in

Open the pupil again, change the scores or note, and save. A saved session shows who recorded it. Once it’s saved, Evidence lets you see or add evidence for that session, if your role allows.

Previous observations, at the bottom of the window, lists the pupil’s earlier check-ins with their scores and notes.

Read the summary

Across the top of the page:

Tile	What it shows
Recorded	How many of the day’s booked check-ins are recorded.
Cohort average (14 days)	The average score across all check-ins in the last 14 days, out of the top of your scale.
Needing attention	Pupils whose recent check-ins are below what’s expected.
Unsaved	Check-ins you’ve started but not saved. Save them before you leave the page.

Ratings by measure shows how many check-ins on the chosen date got each score, for each measure. Averages use recorded check-ins only, so sessions nobody recorded don’t pull them down.

A pupil is counted under Needing attention, and their session shows needs attention, when the average of their last five check-ins falls below halfway between the lowest score and the middle score. With the suggested scale, that’s below halfway between Needs improving and Good. Recent trend in the pupil’s window shows that average and whether it’s going up or down compared with the five before.

These figures are prompts to look more closely, not judgements about a pupil. Read them alongside what you and your colleagues know, and talk to the pupil’s key worker before deciding what to do.

What the scores mean

Click What the scores mean to see every point on your scale with its description. A darker shade of your provision’s colour means more support was needed. Each check-in keeps the wording used when it was recorded, so older check-ins still make sense after the measures change.

Notes

• Who can do what: by default, provision leaders set the measures. Staff who work with a pupil can record their check-ins. If you don’t see Set measures or Save all check-ins, your role can’t do that.
• Bookings come from the rota: check-ins are recorded against the sessions pupils are booked into. If a pupil is missing from Booked sessions, check the rota. See Build your usual week and lay down the rota.
• Your provision’s words: the page uses your provision’s word for a pupil, such as learner.

If something doesn’t work

What you see	What to do
Check-in evidence “could not be loaded. Scores and totals are unavailable.”	Click Retry. Until it loads, the scores and totals on the page aren’t complete.
“You do not have permission to view provision check-ins.”	Your role can’t open check-ins. Ask a provision leader.
“No booked sessions on this date.”	Nobody is booked into a session on this date. Click Open rota to check the bookings, or choose All on-roll pupils to see history.
“Save or discard your current edits before changing the session date.”	Save your check-ins, or click Discard unsaved edits, before you choose another date.
“This saved check-in changed while you were editing.”	Someone else saved this session. Read their scores, then use the button under the message to load the saved values.
“This booking changed or is no longer available. Your original observation draft is retained.”	The session was changed or cancelled on the rota. Click Discard draft and review booking.
“confirmed. Unconfirmed and unfinished drafts are retained.”	Some check-ins didn’t save. Click Refresh saved check-ins, then save the rest again.
“Save at most 200 observations at a time.”	Save in smaller batches.
“Enter a comparison rationale of at least 10 characters to save.”	Click Open publication settings and explain in Comparison rationale (required) whether results can be compared.