FAQ
Frequently asked questions
How DutyRound works, what it takes into account, and what happens after your roster is generated.
- What is DutyRound?
- DutyRound is playground duty roster software for schools. You set up your staff, duty areas and school rules once, DutyRound helps you build the duty roster, and Today helps you manage the changes that happen during the school week.
- Who is DutyRound for?
- It is built for the person who makes and manages playground duty — usually a deputy principal, assistant principal, school administrator, or a teacher or coordinator with the duty roster in their portfolio.
- Does everyone at my school need an account?
- No. DutyRound is designed so one person can build and run the duty roster. Other staff can keep receiving the roster the way your school already shares it — printed, as a PDF, or pasted into a staff message.
- How does DutyRound create a fair roster?
- Duty is shared according to each person's duty load rather than evenly across a staff list. Hard rules — working days, times a person cannot take duty, how many staff each area needs — are never broken, and duties are spread across days, duty times and playground areas so nobody repeatedly gets the heaviest duty.
- Can DutyRound account for part-time staff?
- Yes. Duty targets are scaled to each person's load, and staff are only rostered on the days they work.
- Can staff be unavailable for particular duties?
- Yes. You can mark a staff member unavailable for a duty time — for every working day, or for a specific day such as Monday recess. Softer wishes are recorded separately as preferences.
- Does DutyRound account for different duty lengths?
- Yes. Each duty period has its own times, so a 30-minute lunch duty counts for more than a short before-school duty when duty is shared out.
- Can I change the generated roster?
- Yes. You can swap anyone by hand, ask for another suggestion for a position, or keep an assignment so regenerating leaves it alone. A capacity check also runs before you generate, so shortfalls surface early.
- What happens after I approve the roster?
- It becomes your school's regular roster and is protected from accidental edits. You can print it, and day-to-day changes are handled in Today without rewriting it.
- What happens when someone is away?
- On the Today screen you mark that person unavailable for the date. DutyRound shows the duties that need cover and suggests staff who are genuinely available under the same rules as the roster. It manages duty cover, not staff leave records.
- Can I add a casual teacher for the day?
- Yes. You can add a casual for a single day, note whether they can supervise independently, and use them to cover duty for that date only. They are not added to your permanent staff list.
- Do today's changes alter the regular roster?
- No. Daily cover sits on top of your approved roster as an overlay for that date only. Your regular roster stays exactly as it was approved.
- Can I print the roster?
- Yes. There is a printable weekly roster with standard and fit-to-one-page layouts, plus a compact daily sheet listing the day's changes. You can also copy the day's changes as plain text for a staff message.
- Can DutyRound create weekly and fortnightly rosters?
- Yes. You choose a weekly or fortnightly duty cycle, and fortnightly cycles let you set which duties sit in week A and which in week B.
- What is a playground duty roster?
- A playground duty roster sets out which staff member supervises which playground area during each break — before school, recess, lunch and dismissal — across a week or fortnight. It has to fit staff working days and workload while covering every area where students play.
- How do you create a fair playground duty roster?
- Work out how many duty positions your timetable requires, then share them according to each person's load rather than evenly across a staff list, so part-time staff carry proportionally less. Respect hard rules such as working days and times a person cannot do duty, and spread duties across days, duty times and playground areas.
- What problem does DutyRound solve?
- Playground duty rosters are usually built in spreadsheets, where staff availability, part-time days, workload fairness and year-group supervision all have to be tracked by hand. DutyRound holds those rules and applies them for you, then helps you manage the daily changes a spreadsheet cannot.
- Is DutyRound designed for Australian schools?
- Yes. DutyRound uses the language Australian schools use — recess, lunch, before-school and dismissal duty, playground supervision and casual relief staff.