You should be aware that the text you write to record the reason for excuses is entered into the database, and is ultimately emailed to the student as part of the process of them checking their data. So, for example, if a student tells you his or her father has just died of cancer, it is probably better to record the word ``bereavement'' than ``his father died of cancer''. Or if a student admits he or she overslept then just record ``overslept'' rather than ``the silly bugger was up too late and couldn't make it in on time''.