ClassCover procedures
Direction and guidance for principals and casual teachers on using ClassCover, the department’s preferred online casual teacher booking solution.
Audience
Teachers seeking casual employment in NSW public schools, and school executive and school support staff who require casual teachers to cover classes.
| Version | Date | Description of changes | Approved by |
|---|---|---|---|
V01.0.0 |
02/09/2024 |
Under the 2023 Policy and procedure review program, new policy document consolidating existing instructions and improving clarity and readability. |
Chief People Officer |
| Ongoing union consultation is occurring and amendments may be made from time to time. |
About the policy
Under the Recruitment and onboarding policy, the department is committed to fair and equitable recruitment and comprehensive onboarding practices in its workplaces by:
- attracting and hiring the best applicants so they can deliver the department’s organisational and strategic objectives
- screening job applicants appropriately to ensure the safety, welfare and wellbeing of learners and employees.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
Casual teachers |
Casual teachers are employed on a day-to-day basis to meet relief needs within schools. Casual teachers are paid a daily rate based on their years of training and experience, which is loaded to include a component for sick leave and holiday pay. |
ClassCover |
An online service for:
|
Casual teachers:
- must have approval to teach in NSW public schools. This includes:
- completing teacher education studies at a recognised Australian teacher education institution
- obtaining teacher accreditation with the National Education Standards Authority (NESA)
- holding a valid Working with Children Check (WWCC)
- passing a suitability interview
- must keep up to date with mandatory training in MyPL. ClassCover allows casual teachers to check their mandatory training status in their profile
- deliver the NSW curriculum, supervising classes and ensuring the safety and wellbeing of students at all times.
Principals:
- may delegate the responsibility of organising casual teachers to the head teacher, deputy principal, assistant principal, school administrative manager or business manager
- may only employ casual teachers for full-time vacancies for up to 4 weeks or part-time vacancies for up to 2 terms. If vacancies exceed these limits a temporary teacher must be engaged
- must employ casual teachers for at least 2 continuous hours
- must ensure that casual teachers initially engaged for a full day, whose engagement is then ended early, are paid for at least 3 hours
- ensure that casual and temporary engagements are managed in accordance with the Crown Employees (Teachers in Schools and Related Employees) Salaries and Conditions Award 2022.
What needs to be done
Schools that do not use ClassCover to source casual teachers do not need to follow this procedure.
ClassCover is an online tool that gives principals access to casual teachers and gives casual teachers direct access to hundreds of schools. It saves principals time and energy in the search for casual teachers to cover classes.
1. Instructions for casual teachers
1.1 Create a teacher profile
Visit ClassCover. To create a free profile, select the ‘I’m looking for work’ button, then ‘Get started’.
Enter important details, including qualifications, teaching levels and preferred subjects (use the ClassCover checklist as a guide).
Casual teachers should select ‘yes’ when asked if they currently teach in – or are looking to teach in – NSW public schools.
1.2 Verify profile and complete mandatory training
The casual teacher must verify their ClassCover profile, confirming they have:
- approval to teach
- completed their mandatory training.
Once verified, the profile will receive either:
- a green tick – indicating to schools that the casual teacher is ready to teach
- an orange tick – indicating they have approval to teach, but their mandatory training is not yet complete. A school may choose not to book a casual teacher if their mandatory training is incomplete.
For further information, refer to ClassCover’s What does the verification symbol next to a teacher's name mean? (NSW only).
1.3 Turn on portfolio
To make their profile visible to schools, the casual teacher must:
- login to ClassCover
- in their profile settings, select 'Profile viewable to every school'.
1.4 Update availability
The casual teacher must update their availability so schools know when they can book the casual teacher. There are 5 statuses:
- available
- unavailable
- haven’t indicated
- booked (within a NSW public school)
- booked elsewhere (outside of a NSW public school).
1.5 Get added to a school’s list
The casual teacher can get added to a school’s list by either:
- requesting to join a school’s list on ClassCover
- through ClassCover Jobs
- applying to join a school’s list outside of ClassCover.
Most schools look at their list before posting a job, so this is an important part of getting booked as a casual teacher.
For more information, refer to ClassCover’s How Do I Get Added to a School's List?.
1.6 Accept a booking
The casual teacher may accept bookings by phone messaging (SMS), ClassCover App push notifications or via email.
Refer to Step 4: Accepting bookings on ClassCover in Everything you need to know to get booked as a relief teacher on ClassCover.
1.7 Check school profile for induction information before the first day
The casual teacher is encouraged to check the school’s profile for induction information before their first day.
2. Instructions for principals and delegates
2.1 Create a school profile
Either visit ClassCover and create a free profile for the school or complete the Casual Teacher Resourcing Solution form to get started.
2.2 Explore and customise the platform
ClassCover will get in contact to guide the school through the platform and help customise it to suit a school’s specific needs.
The principal or delegate can also choose to attend webinar training sessions or use the live chat to get more information about how ClassCover works.
2.3 Supply additional information for school profile
To help casual teachers understand the school and prepare them for their first day, it is recommended that principals fill out their school’s profile with:
- a timetable
- evacuation routine
- welcome letter
- onboarding documentation.
2.4 Post job or issue general callout to generate interest for casual teachers
Principals can either:
- post a job on ClassCover
- issue a general callout to generate interest for casual teachers for the coming terms.
2.5 Find and add casual teachers and build a school list
Add casual teachers to your school list in ClassCover. These can be either casual teachers the school has employed in the past or teachers found on ClassCover.
Find teachers on the platform by filtering by date, distance, subjects and levels (for example, primary or secondary).
For more information, refer to ClassCover’s How to add and build your list of teachers on ClassCover.
The department generally advises that schools hire casual teachers who have completed mandatory training (identified by a green tick on their profile). If a school hires a casual teacher who has not completed their mandatory training (represented by an orange tick on their profile) the principal is accepting a level of organisational risk in their school.
2.6 Send a request
Principals or delegates can:
- send a request directly to a casual teacher
- send messages to their school list on a time delay. For example, if the first priority casual teacher does not reply within 4 hours, ClassCover will automatically email the second choice, and so on, until a match is found
- send requests to the entire list all at once if a casual teacher is needed at short notice. This is not generally recommended.
2.7 Confirm the booking
Confirm the booking with the chosen casual teacher.
For information on setting up and managing a ClassCover account, visit the ClassCover support portal or call 1300 650 442.
Mandatory tools and templates
Supporting tools, resources and related information
Casual teachers:
- To get the ClassCover app – Getting started with ClassCover
- Everything you need to know to get booked as a relief teacher on ClassCover
- How Do I Get Added to a School's List?
Principals:
Policy contact
Casual Workforce Team
casualworkforce@det.nsw.gov.au
ClassCover support
ClassCover Support Portal
1300 650 442
The Director, HR Operations Policies and Systems monitors the implementation of this procedure, regularly reviews its contents to ensure relevance and accuracy, and updates it as needed.