Confirm the absence, pick a free teacher for each period, tell them and the class, and keep attendance and diary going. EDUBase handles leave, staff attendance, class assignment and notices; the cover choice stays with the school.
What does a good substitute teacher arrangement involve?
A good arrangement answers four questions before the first bell: who is absent, which periods are affected, who is free to cover them, and how everyone finds out. Schools that decide this at the last minute usually end up with unsupervised classes and missed lessons.
The decision about who covers a period is a human one. It depends on workload, subject knowledge and fairness between teachers. Software can make the information around that decision faster to get and easier to record.
- Know early who is absent, ideally from an approved leave application.
- List the periods and classes that lose a teacher.
- Choose cover from teachers who are free, not from those already teaching.
- Tell the cover teacher, the class and, where needed, the parents.
- Record what was taught so the lesson is not lost.
How do you find out a teacher is absent early enough?
The best warning is an approved leave request. In EDUBase, staff apply for leave from the Teacher App and managers approve it on the web portal or in the Owner App, so the principal can see planned absences before the day starts.
For unplanned absences, staff attendance is the signal. Employee Attendance can be marked from the register, the app, QR cards, biometric or face devices, or geo-fenced app punches. Attendance alerts can also tell you when an employee has not been marked by the expected time, which gives the coordinator a prompt to start arranging cover.
- Approved leave gives advance notice.
- Staff attendance marks show who has not arrived.
- Attendance alerts flag employees not marked by the expected time.
How do you choose and brief the cover teacher?
Keep a simple routine: the coordinator lists the affected periods, checks which teachers have a free period, and assigns one cover teacher per period. Spread the load so the same few people are not always asked.
Brief the cover teacher with the class, the room, the topic to continue and any work left by the absent teacher. A short message or a staff notice is enough. The Employee notice board and Staff SMS in the HR module can carry the instruction, and the Communication Center lets the school message staff inside the platform.
- Prefer teachers of the same subject or level where possible.
- Give the cover teacher the lesson plan or revision task.
- Send the arrangement to staff in writing so it is not disputed later.
How do attendance and the diary continue during cover?
A cover period should not become a gap in the records. Student attendance can still be taken by class, in bulk across classes, or from the Teacher App, and QR or face gates mark students in regardless of who is teaching.
Teachers write the daily diary for their assigned classes in the Teacher App. Classes and subjects are assigned from the employee record, so if the cover teacher needs to enter attendance or a diary entry for a class that is not normally theirs, ask your administrator to check that the class is assigned to their login. The office can also view or print the diary, so the absent teacher's work is recorded.
- Confirm the cover teacher can open the class in the Teacher App.
- Take attendance in the usual way, so parent alerts still work.
- Record what was covered in the diary for that day.
How should extra cover lessons be paid or recognised?
Policies differ. Some schools treat cover as part of the normal workload, others pay extra or give time back. Decide the rule first and apply it consistently.
If you employ visiting faculty, Lecture-Wise Salary lets you record lectures delivered in a lecture register, approve them, and pay exactly what was approved with a breakdown on the payslip. This suits colleges and academies where a visiting teacher takes a lecture for an absent colleague.
- Write down the cover policy for staff.
- Use the lecture register and approval for lecture-based pay.
- Staff attendance and leave feed the salary calculation, so absences are reflected in payroll.
How can the principal keep oversight without extra paperwork?
The principal needs to see that the arrangement happened and that classes were not left empty. Staff attendance reports, student attendance reports and the User Logging page show what was marked and by whom.
The Owner App also lets the owner or principal approve leave and see attendance across campuses, which helps multi-campus schools where cover may come from another site.
- Review staff and student attendance at the end of the day.
- Check the diary for covered classes.
- Use User Logging if a record needs to be traced.
Steps in arranging cover and where EDUBase supports them
| Step | What the school decides | How EDUBase helps |
|---|---|---|
| Learn of the absence | Whether leave was approved or the absence is unplanned | Leave approval from the Teacher App; Employee Attendance and attendance alerts |
| List affected periods | Which classes and periods lose a teacher | The school prepares this from its own timetable |
| Choose cover | Who is free and suitable | The decision stays with the school; staff records show departments and designations |
| Inform the cover teacher | How and when to brief them | Employee notice board, Staff SMS and Communication Center |
| Run the lesson records | Attendance and diary for the class | Student Attendance, Teacher App and Student Diary |
| Pay or recognise cover | Extra pay, time back or none | Lecture-Wise Salary for visiting faculty; payroll uses attendance and leave |
Related modules
- Employee Attendance — Daily or monthly staff attendance from the register, the app, QR or a device, locked once payroll runs.
- Staff Management (HRM) — Employee records, shifts, documents, letters, leave and the Teacher App login, in one place.
- Student Attendance — Mark attendance from the class register, the Teacher App, a QR scan or a gate device, and tell parents instantly.
- Daily Diary, Notices & Houses — Homework diary from the Teacher App, notices to parents, complaints handling and house system.
- Lecture-Wise Salary — Pay visiting faculty per lecture with a rate card, a lecture register and approval.
- Communication Center (Messages) — Secure in-app messaging between teachers, parents, students, admins and the owner, with a record.
- QR, Biometric & Geo Attendance — Automatic in/out marking from QR cards, biometric machines and phone location.