Session Templates & Auto-Fill Hours

What are Session Templates?

Session templates define common attendance patterns that can be quickly applied to children. They save time when setting up attendance schedules and ensure consistency across children with similar care arrangements.

Template Scope

• Global Templates - Available to all nurseries (Head Office only can create)
• Nursery-Specific Templates - Only available to that nursery

Accessing Session Templates

1. Go to Admin > Session Templates
2. View the list of all templates (global templates appear first)
3. Use filters to show inactive templates or filter by nursery

Creating Templates

1. Click 'Add Template'
2. Enter the following details:
   • Name - Descriptive name (e.g., 'Morning Session', 'Full Day')
   • Description - Optional details about when to use this template
   • Start Time - Session start (e.g., 08:00)
   • End Time - Session end (e.g., 12:00)
   • Hours - Number of funded hours (can differ from actual time)
   • Is Funded - Whether these hours count as funded hours
   • Nursery - Leave blank for global, or select a specific nursery
   • Display Order - Position in template lists (lower numbers first)
3. Click 'Save'

Example Templates

Using Templates on Child Records

When setting up a child's attendance schedule:

1. Go to the child's record and click 'Attendance' tab
2. Click 'Add from Template'
3. Select the template from the dropdown
4. Choose which days to apply it to (checkboxes for Mon-Fri)
5. Click 'Apply'
6. Review and adjust individual sessions if needed

Auto-Fill Hours Feature

The system automatically calculates total funded hours per week based on the child's attendance sessions. This value appears in:

• The child's funding details summary
• Funding submissions (auto-populated from child record)
• Excel exports for local authority submission

Managing Templates

• Edit - Modify template details (does not affect existing child schedules)
• Deactivate - Hide from template selection without deleting
• Delete - Only possible if template is not in use by any children

Additional Costs

Session templates can have default additional costs attached (e.g., lunch fees, activity fees). These are configured per template and automatically applied when the template is used.