Expected absences

Between "cancel" and "just don't turn up" sits the most common real-world case: the family can't make it this week and wants to say so. That's an expected absence, and it deliberately changes nothing about the money.

What it does

On My Account → Bookings, every upcoming booked date, single sessions and package dates alike, has a Report absence action available right up to the class's end time. Reporting:

• keeps the booking, the place and the payment exactly as they are;
• flags the date on the teacher's register, so the class list is honest before the lesson starts;
• records who reported it and when.

Before anything happens, the page asks first, naming the date and saying in as many words that this is not a cancellation. Report absence and Cancel sit near each other on the same card, and a parent who means one and taps the other should find out before it happens, not after.

An Undo is available until the class ends (unless the booking has since been cancelled or compensated), because plans un-change too.

Why it matters more than it looks

For teachers, the register arrives pre-marked with expected absences, so nobody stands at the door wondering whether to wait for Freya (The teacher register). For the office, absence patterns show up in reporting and on the dashboard's expected-absences view. And for families, it's a pressure valve: a low-friction way to be courteous that doesn't tempt them into cancelling a package date they'd actually rather keep.

Absence versus cancellation, in one line each

• Cancel (singles only, within the deadline): booking ends, place released, credit issued.
• Report absence (any booked date, until class end): everything stays as it was; the register knows.

Staff can see reported absences on the Bookings hub (there's a filter for it) and on each session's register view. Nothing about an absence needs office action; it's information, not a request.