In this article, we'll look into Google Calendar and how it can be an effective tool to help Room Leaders coordinate rota of tasks between their teams to ensure that it is fair, equal and supports our training goals to ensure all staff can do all
Key Points:
- Room Leaders have their own Google Workspace accounts for their rooms - this provides them with a work email, drive access and access to Google Calendar to view their own and shared calendars operated by the school management
| School Operating (Google) Calendars | Room Operating (Google) Calendars |
| Nursery Manager Primary Calendar (linked with Email) | Room Leader primary calendar (linked with email for default diary appointments to be sent to) |
| Settling In & Transitions Calendar - to diarise all settling in and transitions between rooms | Room Educational Routine - shared by manager but maintained and controlled by the room leader |
| Show Arounds Calendar - a calendar that links to our website and Hubspot sales system to book in all show around appointments | HR & Staffing calendar - shared by the manager and maintained by the manager and Ops team |
| HR & Staffing - all staff training / non contact time; supervisions / probation / induction schedules / staff meetings / staff socials etc | Settling IN & Transitions - shared by the manager and maintained by the manager |
| Room Educational Routines (shared with Room Leaders of the room in question) | Show Around Calendar - shared by the manager and maintained by the CRM / Sales system Hubspot |
| Operations Calendar - to diarise all operational events, such as H&S reviews, workmen appointments; safety checks and PAT reviews; fire alarms; delivery and collection dates and times for linen and food etc | Room Staff Rota calendar - owned by the Room Leader and managed by the room leader who shares with the manager via the settings function on Google Calendar |
| Parent Communications Calendar - for all parent termly reports; one-on-ones for progress updates; PTA sessions; | |
| Marketing Calendar - for all marketing activities and opportunities in the local community |
Scheduling
Managers are required to review their operating calendars every week to ensure that they have sufficient resource to meet the requirements of personnel movements across the subsequent week. They are responsible for ensuring that the operating calendars are delivered upon - so if people have non contact time booked, then the float has been informed that they will be stepping into their shift, and EY Man has been updated to ensure that this is clear both on staff deployment and for ratio analysis. Similarly, if the manager is in training; the deputy must be available to under take show arounds, requiring the float to step in to cover for the deputy during such instances.
Room Staff Rota Calendar:
Room Leaders are invited to create a new calendar in the settings of their Google Calendar for their own staff rota planning. This should be clearly accessible to the staff teams (you will need to share the calendar with the staff account westminsterstaff@ or canadastaff@ or citystaff@ to ensure that they can see the calendar on their own tablets and staff may need to be reminded to accept the invitation they would have received to the email to add the calendar into their own app)
Key rota points that might be considered to be mapped for fairness and equity include:
- Nappy changes and sleep checks - who is doing it on what day and is it fair?
- Set up and shut down checks
- Daily diaries
- Food & Clean up
- Lunch breaks
- Non Contact time (which can / should be copied from the HR & Staffing calendar for the staff team in your room - just go to the diary event on the HR &S staffing calendar, select the options to duplicate entry and copy to your own Room Rota calendar)
These workings should be undertaken whilst reviewing the educational routine to ensure that movements do not affect educational delivery. once agreed and devised, this rota should be shared with the school management team so that they can oversee / review rota for fairness