Tuesday, nine twenty. In the middle section, the welcome is over, the children are seated for snack time, and there is an empty spot. Sofia was here yesterday, but not today. No message, no phone call. The educator thinks of a fever that arrived during the night, and she is probably right. Then the morning continues, and the thought slips away.
Almost always, behind an unreported empty spot, there is a simple explanation: a difficult awakening, a visit to the pediatrician, a parent who forgot to notify. But there are mornings when the chain breaks: each parent thinks the other has dropped off the child, or the routine changes and no one notices. In this article, we will see how Easy.School's Abandonment Alert works, the automatic notification that reaches parents when a child is neither marked as arrived nor absent, and how to make it part of the morning organization along with the reporting of absences from the Easy Family app.
Why an unreported absence deserves a second look
The issue of forgetfulness among young children is delicate and should be treated with respect. It does not concern distracted or negligent parents: it involves busy mornings, changes in plans, fatigue, habits that break. This is precisely why in Italy, with the law of October 1, 2018, no. 117, the obligation of anti-abandonment devices for those transporting children under four years old was introduced, effective from November 7, 2019.
The nursery cannot and should not replace these tools. However, it can do something simple and valuable: notice that an expected child has not arrived and that no one has reported it, and inform the family in a timely manner. It is not an alarm; it is a circle that closes. If the child is at home with a fever, the parent already knows, and nothing happens. If there has been a misunderstanding, that message can arrive at the right moment.
How the Abandonment Alert works
The Abandonment Alert is an automation: at a time set by the facility, the system checks which children are neither marked as arrived nor absent and sends a notification to their parents. The check follows a precise sequence designed to avoid false alarms:
- Check that it is not a closure day. If the facility is closed, the check stops.
- Check that at least one child has arrived in the section. If no arrivals are recorded, the system assumes that the section is not operational and sends nothing.
- Identify children without recorded arrivals and absences and send the notification to their parents.
The notification only goes to the child's mom and dad, not to other associated family members or educators. There are two channels: an email, which always arrives, and a push notification on the Easy Family app, which arrives if the parent has installed the app and enabled notifications. The text is standard and cannot be customized: it invites the parent to check where their child is and to contact the facility.
Configuring it: time, days, and sections
The Abandonment Alert is set up from the coordinator's side, in the Settings → Automations menu. Each facility can have only one automation of this type active, with a start and end date. Then, for each section, the time of the check and the days of the week when it should trigger are chosen. Sections left without a time remain excluded.
Some choices make a difference:
- A time with a margin. The check should be set after the welcome closes, with a reasonable margin. If it is too early, you end up notifying parents of children who are simply late.
- Different times for different sections. If infants arrive later than older children, each section must have a time consistent with its own entry.
- Updated dates for each educational year. If the end date has passed, the automation stops working even if it is marked as active. It is advisable to include it in the September checklist.
- One day in advance. Changes to automations take effect the next day: if you configure it today, it starts tomorrow.
There is also a condition that is not in the settings but in habits: the alert is based on recorded arrivals. If in a section arrivals are recorded at the end of the morning, the check sees "missing" children who are actually there. For this reason, attendance records must be kept in real-time, with the educators' app or with QR code entries and exits. The complete step-by-step guide is in the Abandonment Alert guide.
The other half: absences reported by the Easy Family app
The Abandonment Alert works well when actual absences are already reported because then the notification only goes out for cases that deserve attention. This is where the Easy Family app comes into play: from the Attendance page, the parent can use Report Absence, choose the reason, the date, and optionally add a note.
The absence can be single, for one day, or multiple, over consecutive days, indicating the start and end date. It is the right solution for a week at the grandparents' or for a known illness: once reported, it covers the entire period, and the child does not appear as "missing" on subsequent days.
For the facility, the advantage is twofold. In the morning, you already know who will not come, and you can organize the day. And the absence enters the record with the date, reason, and name of the family member who reported it, without a paper form to update manually. We have also discussed this regarding the attendance register as proof.
What the Abandonment Alert does not do
Knowing the limits of a tool is the best way to use it well. Here is what the alert does not cover:
- It does not check exits. It only reports the lack of registration for arrival and absence, not children who have arrived but for whom no exit is recorded.
- It captures a moment. If the parent reports the absence after the check time, the notification has already been sent.
- It does not notify educators. The notification goes to parents. In the facility, you can consult the history of alerts sent, with date, time, child, and adult notified.
- It does not replace the attention of people. If a child who never misses has not arrived and the family does not respond, a phone call from the facility remains the simplest choice.
Think of it as an extra net beneath the morning, not as the morning itself.
How to present it to families
A notification that arrives without explanation can be frightening. For this reason, it is advisable to present it at the beginning of the year, at the meeting with parents or with dedicated communication, in a calm tone: it is not a check on families; it is a way to ensure that no empty spot is left without an explanation.
Three concrete requests help it work:
- Report absences from the app, even those expected, before the entry time.
- Activate Easy Family notifications on the phone: the email arrives anyway, but the push notification is seen first.
- Keep contacts updated, especially the email address of both parents.
Explained this way, the message is experienced for what it is: an extra attention from the facility, which notices when someone is missing.
In summary
The Abandonment Alert checks, at a chosen time for each section, the children who are neither marked as arrived nor absent and notifies mom and dad via email and with a notification on the Easy Family app. It works best when arrivals are recorded in real-time and families report absences from the app, even for multiple days. It does not replace the attention of people but adds a second look at the busiest moment of the day.
Do you want to organize attendance, absences, and notifications to families in one place? Try Easy.School for free.
