How should schools plan cover for absence so work does not stop?

The first bell rings at 8.10 am. The Class 6 maths teacher has phoned in sick. Forty children are in a room with a notice board and no adult. The coordinator is on the stairs with a cover-slip pad and a decision to make in under five minutes. Who goes in?

Most schools answer that question afresh every morning. A good school answers it in advance. Planning cover is not about finding a body for the room. It is about deciding which absences can be absorbed, which need a qualified person, and which break the day if they are missed.

Print the period-wise grid for the whole school. Mark every slot where a teacher is free. Count the free-periods per teacher per week. Some will have none, such as a Class 10 science teacher with practical sessions back to back. Others will have three or four. That count is your first cover pool.

Then mark the slots that cannot be covered by a general adult. A chemistry practical needs a lab-assistant and a teacher. A Class 9 sport period needs the games coach. A special education resource-room session needs the shadow-teacher. Separate these from ordinary lessons where a worksheet and a calm adult are enough.

• Preschool and Montessori: a second adult for every room at all times. An absent ayah is as urgent as an absent teacher, because nap-time, toilet breaks and the rhyme circle cannot run with one adult.
• CBSE and ICSE day schools: subject-qualified cover for senior classes, and worksheet cover for lower classes. Pre-board weeks need extra protection for the teachers who set papers.
• State board schools: often larger classes and fewer free-periods, so cover leans on paired class-teachers who swap classes by agreement.
• International schools: an absent homeroom lead affects a whole stream, so a co-teacher must already know the lesson sequence.
• Residential schools: hostel wardens, night matrons and the study-hall prep-hour must be covered separately from teaching.
• Special education schools: therapist and shadow-teacher absences leave a child without support, so the plan must name who steps in and who is told.

See the pages for preschools and ICSE schools for how these patterns differ in day-to-day work.

1. 1

   Take the call before 7.30

   Teachers phone or message the coordinator, not a colleague. The coordinator logs the name, period list and any handover notes. No one is asked to find their own substitute.

2. 2

   Check the pool in a fixed order

   First the teachers on a free-period who know the class. Then the supply-teacher list. Then a paired class-teacher. Last, the coordinator herself. Write the order down so it does not become favour.

3. 3

   Write the cover-slip

   One slip per period: date, class, subject, absent teacher, covering adult, work set. The absent teacher leaves a lesson-plan note or the coordinator sets a worksheet from the unit folder.

4. 4

   Sign and return the slip

   The covering adult signs and brings it back at the end of the day. Missing slips are chased next morning. Do not leave this to memory.

5. 5

   Tally monthly

   Count slips per teacher, per class and per day of the week. Compensate heavy cover with a lighter week or a recorded adjustment, not with praise alone.

Date and day:
Absent staff member and role (teacher, ayah, lab-assistant, warden):
Reason noted (sick, family event, training day, unplanned):
Period and class affected:
Subject and topic planned:
Work left (worksheet, lesson-plan note, revision test):
Covering adult and the source (free-period, supply-teacher, paired class-teacher, coordinator):
Signed by covering adult:
Homework-diary entry made (yes or no):
Coordinator initials and time:

The coordinator fills this every morning. The principal glances at the tally on the first working day of each month. If one class-teacher appears as the covering adult in a third of the slips, that teacher is carrying the school, and will leave before long.

Some absences are known weeks ahead. Pre-board practical examinations pull lab-assistants and subject teachers out of ordinary lessons. Answer-sheet evaluation days remove senior staff. The annual day rehearsal consumes the dance and music teachers. Mark these on the calendar at the start of the term and plan cover as a block. Do not let them arrive as a surprise.

Hostels have their own peaks. A warden on leave leaves the night duty unmanned in a dormitory of children. Keep a rota of matrons and a nominated senior teacher who can sleep over.

The school types hub lists the other pressures common to this sector. The attendance, shift and leave process page covers how to record leave requests and approvals so that cover is planned before the morning. For how a board school keeps leave records clear, see the ICSE schools attendance process page.