Substitute teachers in a school: managing cover without phone calls

The short answer: managing substitute cover in a school works when there are four fixed steps: an early report of the absence, a proposal of a substitute by known rules, the substitute's approval, and a record of every hour. When every step happens in one place, the seven o'clock chain of phone calls ends, and at the end of the month there is an exact list for payroll.

This guide suits deputies, timetable coordinators and anyone who holds the phone of "who is covering today". It assumes there is a published timetable. If there is not, start with the complete guide to building a timetable.

Who reports and how

The first rule: the earlier the report, the easier it is to find a substitute. An absence that is known on Sunday for Wednesday is a small problem. An absence discovered at half past seven in the morning is a crisis.

There are two ways to report, and both need to arrive at the same place:

• The teacher reports herself. In Teaching School this is done from the phone, in her personal area, under "I won't be at school": a date, all day or certain periods. The person who arranges the timetable receives a notice, and the teacher later sees who is covering her in each lesson.
• The timetabler reports on her behalf. When a teacher calls in sick, the timetabler opens "Report an absence", chooses the teacher, a date or several days, all day or only certain periods, and presses "Report and find substitutes". You can add a reason, and only whoever runs the school sees it.

Right after the report the system finds all the teacher's lessons on those days, according to the published timetable. There is no need to search a table for what she had on Wednesday in the third period.

How to choose a substitute

Choosing a substitute "by whoever answers the phone" creates two problems: the same three teachers cover all the time, and lessons are filled by a teacher who does not know the material. It is better to work by fixed rules, and publish them to the staff.

Step 1 - filtering. Who can at all:

• Free at that hour (no lesson and no absence)
• Meets their own constraints (for example not available that day, or already at the maximum hours a day)

Step 2 - ranking. Among those who are free, who suits better. In Teaching School each candidate receives a score:

A made-up example: a math teacher in eighth grade 2 is absent in the third period. Danny is free, teaches math and is qualified for eighth grade: 3+2, that is 5 points. Michal is free, teaches literature, is qualified for eighth grade and is the homeroom teacher of eighth grade 2: 2+2, that is 4 points. Danny is proposed first, and Michal after him. On the screen you see the score and the reasons next to it, so the decision is transparent and does not look arbitrary.

The last point, fairness, matters more than it seems. It pushes the cover to be shared among the teachers during the month, and not fall on the same person every time.

One-tap approval, and a yes/no answer from the substitute

After the system proposes, the timetabler sees a table of all the lessons that need a substitute in the day, and for each lesson:

• "Approve" - the proposed substitute receives an email with the lesson (date, period, class, subject, in place of whom) and two buttons: "Yes, I'll cover" or "No, I can't". No password and no logging in. The link works until the lesson starts.
• "Confirmed by phone" - when you settled it orally, you mark that it was approved.
• "Next candidate" - after a refusal, you move to the next candidate in the ranking.
• "Choose a substitute" - you choose by hand from the list of those who are free.

Whoever wants fewer taps can turn on "Approve the first proposal automatically". The first proposal for each lesson is sent to the substitute without a tap, the substitute still has to answer "yes", and refusals return to the timetabler.

At the top of the screen there is a summary of the day: how many lessons, how many approved, how many waiting, how many with no substitute. If the absence is cancelled, or a certain hour is no longer needed, you cancel it and the substitute receives a notice.

A lesson with no substitute: do not make it disappear

Sometimes no teacher is free. The common mistake is to leave it in somebody's head. Such a lesson needs to be visible to everyone, so that someone decides what happens in it.

In Teaching School a lesson with no candidate is marked "No substitute found" and stays on the screen, it is not swallowed. The absent teacher too sees on her side "No substitute yet, the school knows". What to do with the lesson in practice (merging classes, an early release, another activity) is a decision of the school according to its procedures.

A short procedure for the staff

Rules work only when everyone knows them. It is worth sending the staff at the start of the year a procedure of a few lines. Sample wording:

Cover at our school: whoever knows they will be absent reports at once, from the phone, and not in a private message. The substitute is chosen by fixed rules: free, knows the subject or the class, and fairness among the teachers over the month. Whoever receives a request answers "yes" or "no" in the link, as quickly as possible. Every cover that was approved is recorded and goes into the monthly report.

Common mistakes

• Approving by phone and not recording. The cover took place, but it did not enter the report, and the substitute is not paid for it.
• Always proposing the same teachers. They wear out, and the rest do not learn to cover. That is why there is a fairness rule.
• Waiting for the morning. An absence that is known in advance should be entered in advance.
• Leaving a lesson "in the air". A lesson with no substitute needs a decision, not hope.

What is left for the end of the month

Every cover that was approved is recorded in the log: date, period, class, subject, who was absent, who covered, who approved and when. From this log the payroll report is built at the end of the month, with nothing typed again. What such a report needs to contain is explained in the guide to the substitution hours report.

And if you are still comparing tools, it is worth asking every vendor how it handles substitutions. We have 8 questions before you choose timetable software.

Written by the Teaching team · Updated on 14 October 2026.