School Dates integrates with the daily roll, so must be accurate. If a roll is not to be taken on a particular day (i.e. teacher only days), then the school must be closed to prevent teachers taking the roll and to ensure accurate attendance data.
Note: you will also need to clear any attendance for relevant periods taken prior to closing the school.
In both New Zealand and NSW, Australia the Ministry/Department of Education require that a school provides a reason for closed days. Changes are uploaded to the respective departments.
TO CLOSE A SCHOOL DAY
1. Navigate to the Administration menu. If you have a wide-screen device this will already be visible on the left-hand side of your screen. If not, click on the Administration menu icon at the top left-hand side of your screen.
2. Under the heading Options click on School Dates.
3. Locate the date in the calendar. If the school is open the border will be green.
- 3rd is Open:
4. Click the date and the border will turn grey. The school is now closed on that date.
- 3rd is Closed
5. To re-open the school on this date (if the situation changes or a error has been made), continue to click the date until it goes fully coloured again. It will cycle through half-days open first.
RECORDING THE REASON FOR A CLOSED DAY
The NZ Ministry of Education and the NSW Department of Education require an uploaded record of all school days, including those that are closed for staff days or for special circumstances (e.g. strike)
1. When a day (within the term boundaries) is closed it is necessary to enter a reason. Click REPORT TERM TIME CLOSURES to enter or update a reason. This button will be RED if some holidays have no reason entered.
2. Each closed day will be displayed with the reasons entered.
3. Days requiring your attention will be displayed in red at the top of the screen. All other dates will be displayed in date sequence.
For schools in NZ - tap the spacebar to select the reason from the MoE predefined options. You can also edit an existing reason if it is no longer accurate.
Understanding NZ school closed-day reasons
This year, you will need to enter reason options for any full-day closure in your SMS calendar. There are six possible reasons for closure during term time:
• Curriculum and Assessment PLD – Closed for professional learning and development as approved by the Minister. (Up to 4 halfdays per year in 2026 and 2027)
• Discretionary (Board approved) – Board approved closed days. (Up to 4 half-days per year)
• Additional Discretionary (Minister approved) – Minister-approved closed days
• Emergency – e.g. Closed due to earthquake, flood, severe weather, power outage, health reasons
• Strike – Closed due to industrial action
• Regional Anniversary – Regional anniversary holiday observed by the school
Only one reason can be selected per closure. If you have more than one reason the school is closed, use the main reason for the closure. If you have a reason that doesn’t match these, check the Open and closing for instruction - public guidance in the first instance, or contact your Regional Office for advice.
For schools in NSW - type the reason for the closure and select ALL from the dropdown list. You can also edit an existing reason if it is no longer accurate.
3. Click SAVE to update.
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