About SchoolRota
SchoolRota is duty rota and cover software from Syba LLC, hosted in London, for the person who rebuilds the sheet before the bell.
Most schools still run break, lunch and same-day cover from a spreadsheet that one person understands. The phone goes at about 07:40, the file opens, the rota is rewritten, and someone prints it before the first bell. SchoolRota is the board that does the mechanical part of that morning: propose a name, keep the record, publish one PDF.
The rota costs more than the software
In a worked example of a 15-staff English primary, building the sheet, covering sickness and sending it out comes to at least 5 hours a week. An 88-staff secondary is about 8. A five-school trust in the same model is about 35, because each school has the job and the centre spends time chasing which file is current. Those are models, using published pay, not quotes from a named customer. The breakdown is on savings.
The hours usually sit with a head, a SENCO, an assistant head or an office colleague, because the decision needs first aid, job level, and who is already teaching. The software does not remove that judgement. It stops the reprinting and the chasing being the whole job.
What the board covers
One board for the jobs the rota person does:
- Duty: playground, hall, gate, corridor, break and lunch, including split sittings
- Lesson cover when a teacher is absent, checked against the teaching timetable you import
- Interventions and PPA as staff time, so a pulled TA shows up as a missed session rather than a gap in someone's memory
- A published PDF that staff can open without a login, plus calendar updates where you connect them
It is used for primary, secondary and multi-academy trusts. Each school keeps its own board. A group shares login, billing and a seat pool. Duty rota, cover and MAT rota go into each of those in more detail. Every plan has every feature. The differences are staff seats and price, on the pricing page.
Who it is for
The person who currently owns the file. That might be a TA lead, an office colleague, a cover supervisor or an assistant head. Around them: class teachers who need to know where they are without checking a wall that was printed yesterday; SENCOs who need an intervention to happen; heads who get asked for coverage numbers; trust staff who do not want five versions of the same sheet.
It is not a curriculum timetabler, a MIS, or an agency. Your MIS stays in charge of staff and pupil records. Teaching slots are imported so duty sits around lessons. Supply can be marked on the day so the PDF is right. Booking the agency is still yours.
Who makes it
SchoolRota is a product of Syba LLC. The line we use on the site is accurate: it is built by teachers for teachers, for the morning routine rather than for a generic staff-scheduling diagram. The same company makes Inclusion Loop, which is SEMH provision software and a separate product. SchoolRota does not hold pupil inclusion records.
If you want the product story from the point of view of the sheet it replaces, SchoolRota vs spreadsheets is the comparison. Practical guides live on the blog.
Hosting and access
- Production hosting in London
- Cyber Essentials, certified on Syba LLC
- A standard data processing agreement for every school
- School login through Microsoft Entra ID, Google Workspace, Okta and other OIDC providers, with optional SCIM
- An audit trail of changes to the published day
- No pupil register. Staff names, roles and timetables are the data the board needs
Security detail, including tenant isolation and site-scoped access for trusts, is on the security page. The DPA is linked from the footer.
What a first week looks like
You bring the current rota, the staff who appear on it, and the times the bells actually ring. Setup can read a pasted sheet and draft the posts. You correct the names it got wrong, especially the people who must not be moved. You publish one day. Midday staff get the PDF. You compare it with what you would have printed. If a post is wrong, you fix the rule, not the PDF by hand, and publish again.
A second person should be able to do that without you in the room. If they cannot, the trial has not worked yet, even if the PDF looks tidy. That is the test we would rather you run than a demo on invented staff. Schools with more than one site should talk to us before opening five trials that do not share a login.
Try it on your own school
A 30-day trial uses your staff and your duty areas. No card. A small primary can be set up in a sitting if the current rota is to hand. You can paste that rota during setup and check the draft before anything is published. If you are rolling out more than one school, contact is the better start than five separate trials.
Common questions
- Is SchoolRota a UK company?
- SchoolRota is made by Syba LLC. The product is written for English and UK schools first, and production hosting is in London. US schools can use the same product with roster wording.
- Do you store pupil data?
- No. SchoolRota works from staff names, roles and timetables. It does not name pupils, hold an EHCP or SEND register, or act as a pupil attendance register.
- Is there a free trial?
- Yes. Every plan starts with a 30-day trial on your own school. No card is required. Online signup is currently available to UK schools.
Start a 30-day trial on your own school. No card.