Absence Alerts allow your school to send bulk notifications to parents based on a student’s total number of absence days.

For example, if your school needs to notify all parents where a student has been absent for 20 days or more, you can quickly:

• Filter the list
• Review the students
• Select your template
• Send notifications in bulk

This functionality is typically required for compliance with TUSLA and the Department of Education, particularly where schools must formally notify parents once a student reaches certain absence thresholds (e.g., 20 days).

Why Use Absence Alerts?

⏱ Massive Time Saving

Traditionally, schools would:

• Extract data from their attendance system
• Filter and sort manually
• Draft letters or emails
• Print and post them

What could take 2 hours (or more) now takes 2 minutes.

💰 Cost Saving

• No printing costs
• No postage costs
• No administrative hours preparing letters
• Fully included within your Unique Schools package
• Time is money — this feature significantly reduces both.

📲 All Communication in One Place

• Notifications are sent via the official school app
• Messages are saved directly to the student profile

You can see:

• If the message was delivered
• If it was read
• Unlike letters or standard email, this gives full visibility and accountability.
• It also strengthens parent engagement with the school’s official communication platform.

⚠️ IMPORTANT – Initial Setup Required

Before sending any alerts, you must first:

✅ Set Up Your Thresholds & Templates

This ensures:

• The correct absence thresholds are applied (e.g., 10 days, 20 days, etc.)
• Your notification wording is approved and ready to send

👉 See separate guide: Setting Up Absence Thresholds & Templates

Once your thresholds and templates are set up, you can begin sending alerts.

Step-by-Step: Sending Absence Alerts

1. Log In

If you are not already logged in:

• Go to uniqueschoolapp.ie
• Enter your login details

If already logged in, proceed to Step 2.

2. Navigate to Attendance Alerts

From the main dashboard:

• Under Attendance Overview
• Click TUSLA Notifications
  (Soon to be renamed “Attendance Alerts”)

By default:

• Students with the highest cumulative absence days appear at the top of the list.

3. Apply Your Filters

Use the available filters to refine your list.

Cumulative Days Over

Select the threshold you wish to apply:

• 5+ days
• 10+ days
• 15+ days
• 20+ days
• etc.

You can also filter by:

• Year
• Class

Click image to enlarge

 

4. Review the List Carefully

Before sending:

• Review all students shown
• Ensure the list is correct

Use the Select All checkbox beside the Student Name column if appropriate

5. Exclude Students (If Necessary)

If you do not wish to send the alert to a particular student:

• Option A – Untick
  • Simply untick the student from the selection list.
• Option B – Disable Alerts for That Student
  1. Click on the student’s name
  2. Go to their profile
  3. Disable “TUSLA Personal Notifications”
     (Soon to be renamed “Absence Threshold Alerts”)

Click image to enlarge

 

This is useful for:

• Sensitive cases
• Situations where direct contact has already been made

After adjusting, press the Back button on your browser to return to the list.

6. Send the Alert

Once you are satisfied with the list:

• Click Send TUSLA PN
  (Soon to be renamed “Send Alerts”)

Click image to enlarge

 

7️⃣ Choose Template & Preview

• Select the appropriate template
• Review the preview carefully
• Click Submit
• The notification will then be sent to parents via the school app.

Click image to enlarge

 

Best Practice Tips

• Always review the list before sending
• Use consistent wording aligned with school policy
• Send alerts regularly (e.g., weekly or monthly)
• Keep templates formal and aligned with TUSLA guidelines
• Use the read/delivery tracking for follow-up conversations