Class substitution when a teacher is away
When a teacher is away, the Substitutions screen lists each period that needs cover and the teachers free to take it, best first. Teachers can also ask a colleague to cover or swap a period. The substitute takes that day's session and its register, and the weekly timetable stays as it is.
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Why it matters
In most schools, cover for an absent teacher is arranged in the staff room each morning from memory. The same few teachers end up taking every extra period. SmartMy School starts from the leave you have already approved and lists each period that needs cover. For each one it offers the teachers who are free, those who teach the subject first and the lightest day ahead of the busy ones. Teachers can also settle a swap between themselves, with the colleague's yes and your approval on record. The substitute gets the period's register, so the attendance is marked by the person in the room, and the weekly timetable is never touched.
The problem it solves
- At 7:45 the vice principal finds out a teacher is on leave and walks the staff room asking who is free in Period 3.
- The same willing teacher covers every absence, and the teachers with light days are never asked.
- Two teachers swap periods between themselves, the register is marked by the wrong person, and the attendance does not match the timetable.
- A substitute is told in the corridor, forgets, and a class sits without a teacher.
How it works
- A teacher's leave, once approved in SmartMy HRMS, shows as an absence on the Substitutions screen by itself. For anyone else, the office clicks Mark a teacher away, chooses the days and the reason.
- The principal, a head of department or the Administrator opens Timetable > Substitutions and picks the day. Under each absent teacher, every period shows with its class, its subject and how many are still to cover.
- For each period the screen offers up to eight teachers free at that time. Those who teach the subject come first, then the same department, then anyone free. Within each group, the lightest day comes first, and nobody away or already teaching is offered.
- The office picks a substitute. Cover arranged by the office is approved at once, and both teachers are told. When every period is taken, the teacher shows All covered.
- A teacher who needs to be elsewhere can ask instead: Cover my period, or Swap periods, which offers one of the colleague's periods in exchange. The colleague accepts or declines.
- An accepted request goes through your Class substitution approval chain, if you keep one. Once approved, the substitute takes that day's session and marks its register.
- The timetable itself never changes. Cancel gives the period back to its own teacher, as long as its register is not closed.
Everything it does
Who is away
- With SmartMy HRMS: a teacher's approved leave becomes an absence over its days by itself, marked from approved leave. A leave withdrawn or refused removes it
- Marked by the office: the teacher, from and to dates, and the reason: On leave, Sick, Other duty or Other, with a note
- Only the principal, a head of department or the Administrator marks a teacher away or removes an absence
- Who is away lists everyone away on the chosen day, with their periods and how many are still to cover
Finding a substitute
- Up to eight suggestions per period, each with why: Teaches the subject, Same department or Free then
- Within each group, the teacher with the fewest periods that day comes first
- Never offered: the period's own teacher, anyone away that day, anyone teaching at an overlapping time
- When a teacher asks a colleague, only colleagues who can sign in are offered, because they must answer
Cover and swap
- Cover: the substitute takes the period
- Swap: the substitute takes the period, and the teacher takes one of the substitute's periods the same day in return
- Arranged by the office: approved at once
- Asked by the teacher: Waiting for Colleague, then Accept or Decline (with a reason), then the approval chain
- Statuses: Draft, Waiting for Colleague, Waiting for Approval, Approved, Declined by Colleague, Rejected and Cancelled
- Reasons on a substitution: On leave, Personal request, Other duty or Other
Checks before a period moves
- The period must be on the timetable that day and not a holiday
- A period taken by an exam is not a class that day and cannot be substituted
- One live substitution per period per day
- The substitute must be free at that time; in a swap, the teacher must be free at the period given in exchange
- A substitution is for today or a later day
What happens on the day
- The substitute gets the day's session and its attendance register, made for them or moved to them if already made
- The period shows in the substitute's My periods today in the Campus app and on Class sessions as covering for the teacher
- The weekly timetable does not change; the next week is as before
- Cancel by the teacher who asked or by the office gives the period back, unless its register is already closed
Lists
- My substitutions: a teacher's own periods of the day and their requests
- Colleagues asking you: requests to accept or decline
- Waiting for approval: accepted requests not yet approved, for the office
- All substitutions: every substitution, with filters for cover, swap, waiting and approved
Who uses it
Principal, vice principal or head of departmentSees who is away, covers each period from the suggestions, approves or rejects teachers' requests.
Administrator (school office)Marks teachers away, arranges cover, keeps the Class substitution approval chain.
TeacherAsks a colleague to cover or swap a period, answers colleagues' requests, takes the periods given to them.
SubstituteTakes the class and marks its register, on the web or in the Campus app.
Where you use it
- Web: Timetable > Substitutions (the day's board) and the substitution records
- The Campus app, staff view: the substitute sees the period in My periods today and takes its attendance. Built and in testing, not in the app stores yet
- Not in the app: asking for, accepting and approving substitutions is done on the web
- Not told to families: parents are not sent a message when a period is covered
What you control
Settings
- Class substitution approval chain: the principal, heads of department and Administrators to start with; Approved at Once when the colleague's yes is enough
- Absences from approved leave: on by itself with SmartMy HRMS
- Reasons for an absence: On leave, Sick, Other duty and Other
Approvals
- Class substitution: for requests between teachers, decided by the principal, heads of department or Administrators to start with. The two teachers in the request never decide it, and cover arranged by the office needs no approval
Notifications
- Substitution Requested: to the colleague asked; phone notification, in the app and by email; sent at once
- Cover Assigned: to the substitute and the absent teacher when the office covers a period. Phone notification, in the app and by email; sent at once
- Substitution Update: to both teachers when a request is accepted, declined, approved, rejected or cancelled. Phone notification, in the app and by email; sent at once
- Request to Approve (level): to the approvers of the level; phone notification, by email and in the app
- The person who acted is not told of their own action
Works with
SmartMy HRMSA teacher's approved leave appears as an absence on the Substitutions screen, over the leave's days, without anyone typing it again.
Questions
Do we need SmartMy HRMS?
No. Without it, the office marks a teacher away on the Substitutions screen. With SmartMy HRMS, a teacher's approved leave shows there by itself.Does the timetable change when a period is covered?
No. Only that day's session moves to the substitute, with its register. The weekly timetable stays as it is, and the next week is back to normal.Can two teachers swap periods without the principal?
They can ask and accept between themselves. The swap then goes through the Class substitution approval chain. Set that chain to Approved at Once if the colleague's yes is enough at your school.Who marks attendance in a covered period?
The substitute. The session and its register are theirs for that day, on the web and in the Campus app.Can a substitution be undone?
Yes. The teacher who asked or the office clicks Cancel, and the period goes back to its own teacher. Once the register of that period is closed, it can no longer be cancelled.Can teachers ask for cover from the phone?
Not yet. Requests, answers and approvals are on the web, on the Substitutions screen. The app shows the substitute the period in their day and lets them take its attendance.Related features
TIMETABLE, HOMEWORK, NOTICESTimetable, holidays and lesson plansSet the periods of the day, the holidays and the weekly timetable once. Teachers, parents and students see the same week. Each day's class sessions and registers are made from it, and a teacher can tie a lesson plan to a period.ATTENDANCE AND LEAVEClass attendance, and attendance for parentsTeachers mark each period's register on the web or on their phone, starting from all present. Parents see the percentage, every absence and the figures by subject, and are told the same day when their child is absent.APPS AND PORTALTeachers' appThe staff view of the Campus app puts a teacher's day on the phone. Today's periods and registers, homework, leave requests, parent meetings and chat with families are there, and each teacher sees only the pages their role allows.ADMISSIONS AND STUDENT RECORDSStaff recordsKeep each teacher's and staff member's file in the school system: staff ID, joining date, qualifications, earlier jobs and family. With SmartMy HRMS the service dates come from HR and stay the same in both.ACROSS SMARTMY SCHOOLApproval chainsHomework, circulars, leave, certificates, fee structures, concessions, refunds and revaluations go to the right people in the right order. You set the chains up without code. Every decision is kept with who made it, when and why.ACROSS SMARTMY SCHOOLNotificationsSmartMy School tells parents, students and staff when something needs them: an absence, homework, a fee due, a result, a child leaving the gate. Every message also lands in one inbox in the Campus app and the portal. Each parent chooses their channels and their informational messages.
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