A teacher reports sick on WhatsApp before 7 AM, and the automation finds their lessons in the timetable, asks free colleagues one at a time and escalates open lessons at 7:40. The cover sheet reaches the office and staffroom, and covers are logged for pay.
Typical results
≈5 hrs/wk
Assistant principal's morning calls saved
≈70%
Covers taken by a same-subject teacher
100%
Covers logged for the monthly cover-pay report
Figures reflect typical results for this kind of automation.
The challenge
On every morning with an absence, the assistant principal starts at 6:30 with the timetable and a phone, calling teachers who might be free and waiting for answers. Same-subject cover is hit or miss, some lessons start with no teacher, and at month end the office rebuilds who covered what from notes and messages to calculate cover pay.
Before and after
Minutes to cover a day's absences
−75%Lessons uncovered at the first bell, per month
−83%Hours per month preparing the cover-pay report
−88%The automation
Absences come in on WhatsApp or a short form before 7 AM. The automation reads the teacher's lessons that day from the timetable and lists colleagues free at each time, same-subject teachers first. Requests go out on WhatsApp one at a time, moving on after 5 minutes without an answer, and lessons still open at 7:40 escalate to the assistant principal. The cover sheet goes to the office and staffroom screen, and each cover is logged for cover pay.
How it works
- 01
Absence reported before 7 AM
A teacher who is sick sends a WhatsApp message or fills in a short form any time before 7 AM.
- 02
Lessons found in the timetable
The automation finds that teacher's lessons today and the colleagues with a free period at each time.
- 03
Requests sent one at a time
Same-subject teachers are asked first on WhatsApp. After a decline or 5 minutes without an answer, the next colleague is asked.
- 04
Escalation at 7:40 AM
Any lesson still open at 7:40 goes to the assistant principal with the list of who was already asked.
- 05
Cover sheet and pay log
The confirmed cover sheet goes to the office and the staffroom screen, and each cover is logged for the monthly cover-pay report.
Starts from
- Absence report on WhatsApp
- School timetable
Delivers
- Cover requests one by one
- Daily cover sheet
- Monthly cover-pay report
The impact
A typical day's absences are covered in about 15 minutes, before the first bell, and roughly 70% of covers go to a same-subject teacher. The assistant principal stops making morning calls, uncovered lessons become rare and the cover-pay report is ready at month end without rebuilding it by hand.
Questions about this automation
How does it know who is free to cover?
It reads the school timetable, so it knows every teacher's lessons and free periods for each day of the week. For each lesson that needs cover, it lists the teachers free at that time, puts same-subject teachers first and skips anyone who already has two covers that week, a limit the school can change.
What if nobody accepts a cover request?
Each teacher has 5 minutes to accept or decline before the next one is asked. If a lesson is still open at 7:40 AM, the assistant principal gets a WhatsApp alert with the lesson, the room and everyone already asked, and can assign it directly or arrange a supervised study period.
What does the school need to hand over?
The timetable in a readable format, such as an export from the scheduling software or a Google Sheets copy, plus staff WhatsApp numbers and the cover rules the school already follows. This is a multi-step build, usually rolled out in stages, starting with absence reporting and the daily cover sheet.