After-school programme attendance
An after-school programme can track children arriving and leaving by recording a check-in as each child arrives and a sign-out as they leave, on a shared device at the entrance. Staff get a live list of who is still on site and a daily record with times, without a paper register.
What a programme usually needs
- Who has arrived today, so staff notice a child who was expected but hasn't turned up.
- Who is still here, as children are collected at different times.
- A record of times, in and out, for your own records or anyone you report to.
- Contact and emergency details with each child's record, visible to staff only.
Paper registers do this, but reading back last Tuesday's times, or answering "how many days did she come this term?", means someone digging through sheets.
How arrivals and departures work in RollCall
A tablet at the entrance runs RollCall's check-in. As a child arrives, they or a staff member type the first letters of the child's name and tap it. With Member Sign-Out switched on, the same happens on the way out: tap the name, press Sign Me Out.
The staff view then splits into children still on site and children who have left. Each child's record for the day shows time in, time out and time on site, and it's all kept in their attendance history and exportable to CSV.
What RollCall does not do
This matters for children's safety, so it's worth being precise. RollCall is an attendance and check-in tool. It does not:
- verify who is collecting a child, or check pickup authorisations,
- send notifications to parents or guardians,
- check anyone's identity.
Sign-out in RollCall is a self-service record of who was signed out and when. Treat it as a record, not a supervised collection process, and keep your programme's own handover procedures exactly as they are.
Setting it up
- Add each child, with a parent or guardian as their emergency contact, or import a list from a spreadsheet.
- Put a tablet at the entrance. It runs in the browser, and check-ins made during a brief wifi dropout sync afterwards.
- Turn on Member Sign-Out in Settings.
- Decide whether children tap their own name or a staff member does it. Both work.
RollCall records one attendance per child per day, which matches a daily programme. Children's details are visible only to your authorised staff; see the privacy policy.
Common questions
How can an after-school programme track children arriving and leaving each day?
Use a check-in on arrival and a sign-out on departure, on a shared tablet at the entrance. Staff get a live list of who is still on site and a record of each child's times. In RollCall this is the check-in screen plus the optional Member Sign-Out feature.
Does RollCall notify parents when their child arrives or leaves?
No. RollCall doesn't send notifications to parents or guardians.
Can RollCall check who is allowed to collect a child?
No. RollCall doesn't handle pickup authorisation or identity checks. Its sign-out is a self-service record of when a child was signed out, not a supervised collection process, so keep your own handover procedures.
Can staff check children in instead of the children doing it?
Yes. Anyone at the tablet can tap a child's name, so staff can check younger children in and out themselves.
How much does it cost?
RollCall is free forever for groups of up to 30 members, with no card needed. Larger groups use Pro at US$9.99/month (a launch price; standard $19.99), which includes 150 members and starts with a 14-day free trial.
Want to see how this could work for your group? You can try RollCall free. It's free for groups of up to 30 members, with no card needed.