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Follow up a child missing from education

Work through alerts for ten missed school days: tell the council, then clear or dismiss each one.

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Every organisation can choose its own words for the people and roles it works with. When you are signed in, this guide uses your organisation’s words. Otherwise it uses the product’s own.

For DSLs, senior staff, managers and admins. Alerts appear when a child has missed ten school days in a row. If a child is in immediate danger, call 999 and phone your DSL directly.

Steps

  1. Open the page. Alerts are in three groups: open, awaiting clearance and resolved.
  2. Read each open alert: the days missed and when the child last attended.
  3. Check the attendance record before you act. Talk to the mentor.
  4. If the council must be told, press Notify LA.
  5. Add the council's reference under LA reference (optional) and press Confirm.
  6. When the child is back, press Resolve and choose Cleared (back in education).
  7. If the alert was wrong, choose Dismissed (false positive) and write the Reason.
  8. Check the resolved group to confirm it moved.

If it goes wrong

  • An alert stays until you resolve it. The night-time check does not close it for you.
  • If the child is on a planned break, dismiss with a reason such as authorised absence.
  • If you cannot find the child, tell your DSL and follow your missing child procedure.
  • If the list will not load, reload before treating it as clear.

How it links together

Alerts come from recorded attendance, so fix a wrong register first. DSLs, senior staff, managers and admins can see the page.

From missed days to clearedThe system raises the alert. You decide what follows.
  1. AttendanceTen school days missed
  2. AlertAppears as open
  3. Notify councilRecord it
  4. Awaiting clearanceUntil back
  5. ResolvedCleared or dismissed

Why this matters

A child out of school for a long time may be at risk of harm, neglect or exploitation. The law expects the council to be told when a child is missing from education.

How alerts appear

A check runs each night. It looks for runs of ten or more missed school days and adds an alert for each child. The page lists them as islands, with days missed and the last day attended.

The three groups

  • Open alerts need a decision.
  • Awaiting clearance have been reported to the council and wait for the child to return.
  • Resolved alerts were cleared or dismissed.

Telling the council

Notify LA records that the council was told and when. You may add their reference. The system records it. You still contact the council yourself.

Clearing and dismissing

Clear when the child is back in education. Dismiss when the alert was a false positive. Always write a reason.

Link to attendance

The alert is based on recorded attendance. If the register is wrong, fix it first. The alert may then be dismissed as a false positive.

Questions people ask

What triggers an alert?

Ten or more school days missed in a row, found by a nightly check.

Does pressing Notify LA contact the council?

No. It records that you did. Contact the council yourself first, then record it.

What is a false positive?

An alert caused by a recording error or an authorised absence. Dismiss it and write why.

Who can see these alerts?

DSLs, senior staff, managers and admins.

What if the child cannot be found?

Follow your missing child procedure and tell your DSL now. Record it afterwards.

Can I reopen a resolved alert?

The page does not offer it. Tell your DSL. A new alert appears if a new run of missed days begins.