Attendance Data Imports Explained

TrackEd’s attendance figures come from two main imports. The Student Summary import supplies each student’s total absences, and the OneSchool Absence List import supplies the attendance percentages. This article explains which number comes from where, how the percentages are calculated, and how to keep them current.

In this article

Detailed Guide

Where Each Number Comes From

Most questions about an attendance figure start with which import it came from.

Absence Totals (Student Summary)

The Student Summary import keeps each student’s total absences for this year and last year up to date, alongside the other data it brings in. Running it regularly is all that is needed.

At the start of the year, the “Rollover month for absence and behaviour total from Student Summary” setting (recommended: 1 February) keeps last year’s totals in place, so profiles, ClassMats and Datawalls prepared for teachers early in the year still show meaningful numbers. If you change the date, run the Student Summary again to refresh the totals.

Attendance Percentages (Absence List)

The Absence List is OneSchool’s official absence record, in half day increments. Each import replaces the year’s absences in TrackEd and converts them into weekly, term and year to date percentages. Queue it with the Dynamic Student List, which supplies enrolment dates so a new student isn’t counted for days before they enrolled.

The percentages follow the department’s guide to roll marking documentation. Arrived late, left early and non-penalty codes don’t count; penalty absences do. On the Colour Codes page in Settings, % Present (recommended) takes every penalty absence off, even when it has been explained, while % Present + Approved takes off only unexplained or unauthorised absences.

Keeping Percentages Current

TrackEd only calculates complete weeks, so import the Absence List on a Monday or Tuesday to pick up the week just finished. Each import replaces the last 5 weeks of percentages by default, which suits routine imports.

About once a term, and before attendance is sent home, choose “whole year” when you import. It takes longer, but picks up any historical changes made in OneSchool. Also check the date of your local show holiday on the Import Settings page each year so the show week is calculated correctly.

Start of the Year

The first Absence List import of the year replaces last year’s percentages, and TrackEd has no built-in way to get them back. Wait until the first full week of school is complete, because the import needs a full week of data, and until you are ready to replace last year’s figures.

If Your School Uses the Attendance Package Percentage Import

This optional import brings term and year to date percentages in from IDAttend or Daymap, so TrackEd matches your attendance package exactly. Weekly percentages still come from the Absence List, and the figures will differ from QParents, which uses OneSchool’s half-day record. Running it just before term or year to date figures are sent home keeps those figures current.

To turn it on, open the Import Settings page and set “Attendance package percentage import format” to IDAttend or Daymap. Also tick “When importing absence list, preserve the existing term values” and “preserve the existing year to date values”, or the next Absence List import overwrites the package figures. The import then appears at the bottom of the Frequent list on the Import page, with on-screen steps for saving the file (for IDAttend, save it from IDWeb as a CSV). When you drop the file in, select year to date or the matching term.

If Your School Uses the Old IDAttend Weekly Import

The IDAttend weekly import is an older, period based import that TrackEd no longer recommends. While the “IDAttend User” setting is ticked, the Absence List skips its weekly percentages so the IDAttend data is kept. To switch, untick “IDAttend User” on the Import Settings page, then run the Absence List import with “whole year”. For a comparison, see ID Attend vs OneSchool attendance.

Fixing Problems and Sharing Attendance

For how to run each import, see Getting Data into TrackEd. If an Absence List import is stuck, shows a warning, or leaves figures that look wrong, Import Troubleshooting covers the fixes and cleanup utilities. When the figures are ready to go home, see Email Functionality.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Why don’t TrackEd’s attendance percentages match QParents?
A: If your school uses the attendance package percentage import, TrackEd’s term and year to date figures come from IDAttend or Daymap and will differ by design. Otherwise, run a whole year Absence List import to pick up historical changes made in OneSchool.

Q: Why is this week missing from the attendance data?
A: TrackEd only calculates complete weeks, so an import run during the week leaves out the current week. Import on a Monday or Tuesday to pick up the week just finished.

Q: Can I get last year’s attendance percentages back after the first import of the year?
A: No. Once the Absence List import replaces them, there is no built-in way to revert. A backup copy of the previous year’s TrackEd file, saved from the server beforehand, can be opened to run historical reports.

Q: A new student’s attendance percentage looks too low. What should I check?
A: Check the enrolment date on the student’s profile, under the pink Extras tab. It should match the Dynamic Student List from OneSchool, which should be imported in the same queue as the Absence List.