This guide explains how to set up and use the AM/PM registration system in Involve Education to track morning and afternoon attendance for your students.

What is AM/PM Registration?

AM/PM registrations are special attendance sessions that track whether students are present in the morning and afternoon. Unlike lesson attendance, which tracks individual classes, AM/PM registration gives you a daily overview of student presence at school.

Benefits:

• Complete attendance picture alongside lesson-by-lesson tracking
• Automatic creation based on your timetable
• Direct sync with your school's MIS (Management Information System)
• Automated alerts for unexplained absences (if 3D attendance is enabled)

Getting Started

Prerequisites

Before setting up AM/PM registration, ensure:

• Registration groups are set up in your system (these come from your MIS)
• Year groups are properly configured
• Term dates are entered

Please also ensure that your MIS permissions have been opened up to allow Involve to write back into the MIS. For example, in ISAMS this setting can be found under the School Management API (named Registration Manager)

Setting Up AM/PM Registration Times (Only for cases where you don't have Registration Events already set up in your MIS)

Step 1: Set Week Timings 

1. Go to Settings > Week Timings
2. Scroll to the AM/PM Registration section

Step 2: Configure Registration Times

Set up your registration periods with these settings:

Morning (AM) Registration:

• AM Start time: When morning registration begins (default: 09:00)
• AM End time: When morning registration ends (default: 09:15)

Afternoon (PM) Registration:

• PM Start time: When afternoon registration begins (default: 13:00)
• PM End time: When afternoon registration ends (default: 13:15)

Important time rules:

• Each registration period cannot exceed 30 minutes
• These limits are strictly enforced by the system

Step 3: Set Which Days Apply

Days of the week:

• Select which days registration applies to (typically Monday-Friday)
• Useful if your school has different schedules on certain days

Week A/Week B (for two-week timetables):

• If your school operates on a two-week cycle, specify whether the times apply to Week A, Week B, or both

Year groups:

• Optionally apply different registration times to specific year groups
• Leave blank to apply to all year groups

How AM/PM Events Are Created

Automatic Creation

Once you've configured your times, Involve automatically creates registration events through a clever sync process:

1. Finds registration groups: Identifies all registration/tutor groups from your MIS
2. Matches to year groups: Links each registration group to its year group
3. Applies your timing rules: Uses your configured AM/PM times
4. Creates the events: Generates separate AM and PM registration events for each group across the entire term

When does this happen?

• Automatically when term timings are saved or updated
• When registration groups change in your MIS
• Events update automatically if you change the times

What Each Registration Event Contains

Every AM/PM registration event includes:

• Type: Registration (SESSION)
• Activity: AM or PM designation
• Students: All pupils in that registration group
• Teachers: The assigned form tutor(s)
• Duration: Based on your configured times (maximum 30 minutes)
• Date and time: Specific to that day's registration period

Creating Registration Events Manually

While the system creates events automatically, you can also create them manually if needed.

Manual Creation Steps

1. Create a new event
2. Select "Registration" as the event type
3. Choose registration type: AM, PM, or Boarding
4. Select registration groups: Pick which tutor groups to include
5. Set times: Must not exceed 30 minutes for AM/PM types
6. Save

Taking AM/PM Registration

How Teachers Mark Attendance

Teachers can mark AM/PM registration just like any other attendance:

1. Open the registration event for their tutor group
2. Mark each student:
   • Present
   • Absent (with reason code)
   • Late
3. Submit the registration

Attendance Codes

Present codes:

• / = AM Present (morning)
• ** = PM Present (afternoon)

Absence codes: Your school's standard MIS absence codes apply (illness, authorized absence, unauthorized absence, etc.)

Registration Status

The system tracks three states for each student:

• ✓ Present (green checkmark)
• ✗ Absent (red X)
• ? Not Set (orange question mark - registration not yet taken)

Viewing AM/PM Registration

Calendar View

Registration events appear in your calendar with:

• "Registration" label
• AM or PM designation
• Attendance status indicators
• Color coding based on completion status

Current Location Tooltip

When you hover over a student's name in various views, you'll see their current registration status:

• Green checkmark = Present this morning/afternoon
• Red X = Absent
• Orange question mark = Not yet marked
• The specific attendance code is also displayed

Attendance Dashboard

Attendance officers can access comprehensive attendance reports showing:

• Daily AM/PM attendance rates
• Patterns of absence
• Students with unexplained absences
• Historical attendance data

Attendance Alerts and Monitoring (if 3D Attendance is enabled)

Automatic Absence Alerts

The system continuously monitors attendance and sends automatic alerts to attendance officers when:

A student is absent from all activities:

• Checks if a student has been marked absent throughout a registration period
• Compares with MIS session attendance data
• Identifies unexplained absences requiring follow-up

How it works:

1. System checks attendance every hour
2. Identifies students absent from all lessons/events during AM or PM periods
3. Sends email alerts to designated attendance officers
4. Includes student name, time period, and attendance details

Setting Up Alerts

To receive absence alerts:

1. Go to Settings > Contacts & Approvers
2. Add staff to the Attendance Officers role
3. These officers will automatically receive absence alerts

MIS Integration

How Attendance Syncs

AM/PM registration attendance automatically syncs with your school's MIS:

iSAMS Integration:

• Fetches registration periods from iSAMS
• Writes attendance codes back to iSAMS registration sessions
• Matches AM/PM sessions based on configured times
• Includes Involve audit trail in sync comments

Wonde Integration:

• Syncs attendance codes with Wonde session data
• Maps your attendance codes to MIS codes
• Updates registration attendance in real-time

Benefits:

• Single source of truth for attendance
• No duplicate data entry
• Automatic DfE code calculation
• Complete audit trail

Different Registration Modes

Involve offers three registration modes to suit different school structures:

1. Standard Registration (Most Common)

• Creates events for specific registration/tutor groups
• Requires room assignment
• Used for regular morning and afternoon registration
• Best for: Traditional form time registration

2. Auto AM/PM Registration

• Automatically creates AM/PM events based on your term timings
• No manual room assignment needed
• Ideal for automated setup
• Best for: Schools wanting hands-off registration management

3. Duty-Based Registration

• Creates registration events requiring multiple teachers
• Configurable number of required teachers
• Used for duty-based registration systems
• Best for: Schools where multiple staff supervise registration areas

Choose the mode that best fits your school's registration structure.

Troubleshooting

Events Not Appearing

Problem: AM/PM registration events aren't showing in the calendar

Solutions:

• Check that term timings are configured in Settings > Week Timings
• Verify registration groups exist in your MIS sync
• Ensure the term dates are correct
• Confirm year groups are properly linked to registration groups

Duration Errors

Problem: Error message "AM/PM registration events cannot exceed 30 minutes"

Solutions:

• Check your configured AM/PM times in term timings
• Ensure end time is no more than 30 minutes after start time
• For manual events, adjust the times before saving

Attendance Not Syncing

Problem: Attendance marked in Involve isn't appearing in the MIS

Solutions:

• Verify your MIS connection is active (Settings > Integrations)
• Check that attendance code mappings are correct
• Ensure registration events have the correct activity type (AM/PM)
• Contact support if the issue persists

Missing Absence Alerts

Problem: Attendance officers aren't receiving absence alerts

Solutions:

• Check that attendance officers are assigned in Settings > Contacts & Approvers
• Verify email addresses are correct for those officers
• Ensure the student is actually absent (not just late)
• Check that AM/PM times are configured correctly

Validation Errors When Creating Events

Common validation messages and fixes:

"Please select at least one pod"

• You must select at least one registration group before saving

"Please select the registration type"

• Choose AM, PM, or Boarding as the activity type

"Start time must be before end time"

• Ensure your times are in the correct order

Advanced Configuration

Two-Week Timetables

If your school operates on a two-week cycle:

1. In term timings, specify which term starts on Week A or Week B
2. Configure separate AM/PM times for Week A and Week B if they differ
3. Check the appropriate boxes for each timing rule

The system automatically calculates which week it is and applies the correct times.

Year-Specific Times

Some schools have different registration times for different year groups:

1. Create multiple AM/PM timing rules
2. For each rule, specify which year groups it applies to
3. The most specific rule will be used (year-specific rules override general rules)

Example:

• General rule: 8:45-9:00 for all years
• Year 7 rule: 8:30-8:45 for Year 7 only
• Result: Year 7 registers 8:30-8:45, all others 8:45-9:00

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can I change registration times mid-term? A: Yes, but be aware this will update all future registration events immediately. Past events remain unchanged.

Q: What happens if a registration group changes in our MIS? A: Involve will automatically update the registration events to include the new students and remove those who've left.

Q: Can we have different AM/PM times on different days? A: Yes, create separate timing rules for different days of the week.

Q: Do boarding schools need special configuration? A: Boarding registration uses a separate activity type and doesn't have the 30-minute limit. Configure as needed for your boarding houses.

Q: What if a teacher is absent during registration? A: The system supports cover arrangements. When a teacher is absent, their cover teacher can mark the registration.