Reporting periods

A school year is divided into terms. A term can be divided again into checkpoints. Terms carry the dates. Checkpoints carry the due date, and they are where marks are entered. A checkpoint is what MarkBook calls a reporting period, and that is the name on the page.

Where: Configuration → School year → Reporting periods

Who can change this

A manager, or a person whose role includes Academic years and periods. Locking needs a separate permission. See Locking a Period.

Terms and checkpoints

	Term	Checkpoint
Also called	School interval	Reporting period, "Term 1A"
Carries	A start and an end date	A due date
Created on	Academic years	Reporting periods
Marks entered here?	Only if it has no checkpoints	Yes
Label on the page	Derived	Name and code

The page shows one card per school year. Each card has a timeline of the year and a list below it. Terms appear as derived rows and are edited on the Academic Years page. Checkpoints are indented under their term.

A term with no checkpoints counts as its own checkpoint. A flat year of three bare terms works.

Why split a term?

Many schools report twice per term, or chase marks at half term. With checkpoints you can:

• give each part its own due date, which appears on the Dashboard as a deadline;
• record separate grades for each part (a "Current Grade" in Term 1A and another in Term 1B);
• lock the first half when its marks are final, while the second half stays open.

Parents and reports can still show the whole term. Attendance for Term 1A + Term 1B adds up to Term 1.

Adding a checkpoint

1. Go to Configuration → School year → Reporting periods.
2. On the year's card, select Add reporting period.
3. Fill in:
   • Name, for example Term 1A.
   • Code, a short form such as T1A. It appears in column headings.
   • School interval: the term it belongs to. This is required.
   • Due date: the date marks are due. It must fall inside the term's dates.
4. Select Save.

Always set a due date

A checkpoint with no due date never appears among the Dashboard deadlines. MarkBook lists these checkpoints at the top of the page as "No due date" until you set one.

Example: three terms, each split in two

Term	Dates	Checkpoint	Due
Term 1	1 Sep – 19 Dec	Term 1A	24 Oct
		Term 1B	19 Dec
Term 2	5 Jan – 27 Mar	Term 2A	20 Feb
		Term 2B	27 Mar
Term 3	13 Apr – 10 Jul	Term 3A	29 May
		Term 3B	10 Jul

A checkpoint's stretch of time runs from the previous checkpoint's due date to its own due date. Term 1B therefore covers 25 October to 19 December.

How checkpoints affect the grid

When you build a markbook template, columns of the kind "repeated in every reporting period" (for example Current Grade or Effort) appear under every checkpoint. Columns of the kind "only in the final reporting period" (for example End of Year Grade) appear under the last checkpoint. Columns set once for the year (targets) appear at the left, before the checkpoints. See Markbook Templates.

A template can use all the checkpoints of the year or only some. On the template's settings, leave Reporting periods empty to use every period, or add the ones you want.

Editing and deleting

• Hover over a checkpoint and select the pencil to edit its name, code, term or due date.
• Select the bin to delete it. MarkBook asks you to confirm.
• A checkpoint that holds marks cannot be deleted, and its year and term cannot be changed. This protects the marks.

Checkpoint status

Each checkpoint shows Open or Locked. Lock a checkpoint to freeze its marks. See Locking a Period.

Edge cases

• Changing a due date after marking has started. This is allowed. The Dashboard and the "closes" date for family visibility follow the new date.
• Changing from terms to semesters mid-year. Do not edit the terms. Create a new academic year or a new template. Existing marks stay with the checkpoints they were entered against.
• The dashboard shows the wrong checkpoint. The Dashboard works on a checkpoint. It picks the one whose dates (or whose term's dates) include today, else the next one still due, else the most recent one that was due. If no checkpoint has a due date it cannot pick.

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