Free duty roster template (and why spreadsheets eventually break)

The layout

One sheet per term. Rows are duty posts grouped by time block; columns are weekdays. Each cell holds the assigned staff name (or names, when the post requires two).

• Column A — Group (Morning, Lunch, Afternoon).
• Column B — Sub-group or division (Primary, Middle, Upper).
• Column C — Post name and location (Carline North, Cafeteria A).
• Column D — Time window, with a note for early-release days.
• Column E — People required (minimum, maximum).
• Columns F–J — Monday through Friday assignments.
• Final column — Notes (radio channel, rain plan, gate code).

Add a second tab called Load that counts each staff member's appearances across the grid. If you never build that tab, you will never know your schedule is lopsided until someone tells you it is.

Where the spreadsheet breaks

1. 1Same-day changes. A sub swap at 6:40 a.m. never makes it into the master file, so the file and reality diverge by week two.
2. 2Version drift. Three people have the file open, two download copies, and the office prints the wrong one.
3. 3No notifications. The spreadsheet cannot tell a teacher they are on duty tomorrow morning.
4. 4No history. When a duty goes uncovered, nobody can reconstruct who was supposed to be there.

None of these are spreadsheet flaws exactly — they are the cost of a shared document standing in for a live system. Use the template to get organized, then move it somewhere that can notify people and record what actually happened.