Session Management

Sessions in Youth Platform are templates for recurring activities. You create a session once, then generate specific dates (instances) when it will run.

Creating a New Session

1. Navigate to Sessions from the sidebar
2. Click Add Session
3. Fill in the session details:
   • Name - A descriptive name (e.g., "Friday Night Youth Club")
   • Description - What happens during the session
   • Day of Week - Which day the session runs
   • Start Time - When the session begins
   • End Time - When the session ends
4. Configure capacity and restrictions:
   • Capacity - Maximum number of young people
   • Age Range - Minimum and maximum age for attendees
   • Gender Restriction - Boys only, girls only, or mixed
5. Choose your registration mode
6. Select a check-in security level
7. Click Create Session

Term Time Only Option

Enable Term Time Only if the session doesn't run during school holidays. When generating instances, you'll be able to exclude holiday dates.

After creating a session template, you need to generate the actual dates when the session will run. These are called "instances".

How to Generate Instances

1. Go to Sessions and click on the session you want to generate instances for
2. Click the Generate Instances button
3. Select your date range:
   • Start Date - The first date to consider
   • End Date - The last date to consider
4. Review the preview showing which dates will be created
5. Click Generate to create the instances

Skipping Existing Dates

By default, the system will skip any dates that already have an instance. This means you can safely re-run the generator if you need to extend your date range - it won't create duplicates.

Instance Statuses

If your club runs sessions at multiple venues, you can set up locations and assign them to sessions.

Adding a Location

1. Go to Settings → Locations
2. Click Add Location
3. Enter the location details:
   • Name - A recognisable name (e.g., "Main Hall")
   • Address - Full address of the venue
   • Postcode - For mapping and directions
   • Capacity - Maximum capacity of the venue
   • Notes - Any additional information (parking, access, etc.)
4. Click Save Location

Assigning Locations to Sessions

When creating or editing a session, select the location from the dropdown menu. The location's capacity will be suggested as the session capacity, but you can override this.

Deactivating Locations

If you stop using a venue, you can deactivate it instead of deleting it. This preserves historical data while hiding it from new session creation.

The Rota Management page provides a calendar view of your sessions and allows you to assign session leaders to specific instances. This is separate from the default staff assignments on the session template.

Accessing Rota Management

1. Navigate to Rota from the sidebar
2. You'll see a calendar view showing all session instances
3. Use the navigation arrows to move between weeks/months

Understanding the Rota View

The rota page shows each session instance with:

• Session name - The name of the session
• Date and time - When the instance runs
• Default session leader - The staff member assigned by default on the session template
• Assigned session leader - The staff member assigned for this specific instance (may differ from default)
• Status indicator - Shows if the session is scheduled, in progress, completed, or cancelled

Assigning a Session Leader

1. Click on a session instance in the rota view
2. Click Assign Session Leader
3. Select a staff member from the dropdown
4. Click Save

Default vs Instance Assignment

There are two levels of session leader assignment:

You can assign staff members to sessions to control who can check in young people and view session information. There are two types of assignments: recurring assignments (staff automatically assigned to future instances) and one-off assignments (staff assigned to a specific instance).

Recurring Staff Assignments

Recurring assignments automatically assign staff to session instances when they are generated. This is useful for staff who regularly work on the same session.

1. Open the session and go to the Staff or Rota tab
2. Click Add Recurring Assignment
3. Select the staff member
4. Choose their role:
   • Session Leader - Can manage check-ins and view all attendee details
   • Team Member - Can check in young people but limited information access
5. Set the frequency:
   • Weekly - Every session
   • Fortnightly - Every other session
   • Every 3 weeks - Every third session
   • Every 4 weeks - Every fourth session
6. If not weekly, select which week pattern (e.g., Week A or Week B for fortnightly)
7. Optionally set start and end dates for the assignment
8. Click Save

Week Patterns for Fortnightly Assignments

When assigning staff on a fortnightly basis, you can specify which weeks they work:

Example: To ensure coverage every week with two part-time team members, assign one to "Week A" and another to "Week B". They'll alternate automatically.

Staff Access

Staff members assigned to a session can:

• See the session on their My Sessions page
• See their assigned sessions highlighted on the calendar
• Access the check-in page for that session
• View young people's details (based on security level)
• Record check-ins and check-outs
• Confirm or decline their assignment

Assignment Confirmation

When staff are assigned to sessions, they can confirm their availability:

• Pending - Assignment created but not yet confirmed
• Confirmed - Staff member has confirmed they can attend
• Declined - Staff member cannot attend (manager should find replacement)

Staff can confirm their assignments from the My Sessions page or from the calendar view where their assigned sessions are highlighted.

Each session has a registration mode that controls how young people can attend.

Sometimes you need to cancel a session instance (e.g., bank holiday, staff unavailable, bad weather).

How to Cancel a Session Instance

1. Go to Sessions and click on the session
2. Find the instance you want to cancel in the instances list
3. Click the Cancel button
4. Enter a cancellation reason (optional but recommended)
5. Choose whether to notify registered attendees
6. Click Confirm Cancellation

Notifying Guardians

If the session has pre-registered attendees, you can choose to send an email notification to their guardians about the cancellation.

After a session ends, you should finalise it to lock the attendance record and mark it as complete.

What Finalising Does

• Locks the attendance record - no more check-ins can be added
• Records who finalised it and when
• Includes the session in reports
• Ensures data integrity for safeguarding records

How to Finalise

1. Open the session instance
2. Ensure all young people have been checked out
3. Review the attendance list for accuracy
4. Click Finalise Session
5. Add any notes about the session (optional)
6. Click Confirm