Case Study · Homefield Preparatory School
How Homefield Prep halved the time it spends setting cover
In a four-week Cover Manager pilot, Homefield Preparatory School cut its weekly cover and duty administration from 11 hours 15 minutes to 5 hours 35 minutes, with far fewer emails about absence.
Homefield Preparatory School
Sutton, Surrey
What did this project address?
- The need
- Setting cover took an average of two hours a day, with absence requests arriving by email or in person and timetables checked in another system.
- The reported outcome
- Weekly cover and duty administration fell from 11 hours 15 minutes to 5 hours 35 minutes during a four-week pilot.
- Schools
- Prep school
- Cover Manager
- Staff absence and cover
- Duty cover
5 hours 40 minutes
Saved each week across cover and duties
Halved
Weekly time setting cover, from 10 hours to 5
35 staff
In the four-week pilot
Why does setting cover take so long?
In many schools, cover runs on email and spreadsheets. Staff report their absence by email or in person. Someone checks what has been approved. The gaps are found by hand, and the day's cover sheet is built separately. The timetable sits in another system, and duty rotas sit in another spreadsheet. The same people tend to be asked to cover.
Whoever sets cover needs to know what is approved, what is still unallocated, and that no lesson or gate is left without someone. Cover Manager puts absence requests, approvals, cover allocation and duties in one place, with the school's timetable alongside, and decisions are recorded there rather than in email.
What problem needed solving?
Before the pilot, absence requests, cover decisions and duties took 11 hours 15 minutes of administration a week at Homefield Prep, with setting cover taking 10 of those hours. Carys, the school's Assistant Head Academic, sets cover, and staff came to her by email or in person about absence.
How did the pilot run?
- Homefield Prep piloted Cover Manager from 14 September to 12 October 2026 with 35 staff, and 28 staff signed in
- Staff requested absence in Cover Manager, with the line manager and approvers shown before submitting
- Managers approved 36 absences in the same place, so each decision was recorded
- Cover Manager listed the lessons needing cover and ranked staff by suitability for Carys to approve
- Timetable data came from the school's management information system (MIS) through Wonde
What changed for the organisation?
- Weekly cover and duty administration fell from 11 hours 15 minutes to 5 hours 35 minutes
- Time spent setting cover halved, from 10 hours to 5 hours a week
- Fewer emails and in-person visits about cover requests
- Across 132 recorded sessions, 57 were covered and 75 were confirmed as needing no cover
How much time did Homefield Prep save each week?
Setting cover accounts for 5 hours of the weekly saving. Managing duties takes 25 minutes less, and the 15 minutes of approvals administration has gone.
| Task | Before | With Cover Manager | Saving |
|---|---|---|---|
| Setting cover | 10 hours | 5 hours | 5 hours |
| Sending duty sheets (see note below) | 10 minutes | 10 minutes | 0 minutes |
| Managing duties | 50 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Approvals administration | 15 minutes | 0 minutes | 15 minutes |
| Total | 11 hours 15 minutes | 5 hours 35 minutes | 5 hours 40 minutes |
Timings are the school's own, checked by Carys after the pilot. Carys still emails the duty sheets herself so she can add notes for staff. Cover Manager can send them automatically, but no saving is claimed for that. Managers still approve absences.
If the saving holds across 39 school weeks, it comes to about 220 hours a year of staff time. That is an estimate of time, not a cash saving.
“It has reduced the time I spend setting cover from an average of two hours a day to one, or even less, which over the course of the week is a big saving. This gives me time back in the school day to carry out the other parts of my role.”
What changed day to day
Screenshots show Cover Manager with example data, not Homefield Prep's records.
Fewer emails and visits about absence
Staff request absence in Cover Manager and a manager approves it there. Cover Manager then lists the lessons that need cover, so far fewer requests reach Carys by email, and fewer staff come to see her in person to discuss cover. The request form shows the line manager and approvers before the member of staff submits.
“One of the biggest benefits of Cover Manager for me has been the significant reduction in emails from staff regarding cover requests. Staff can now submit their absence requests directly through the system for approval, which has saved me a considerable amount of time. Once an absence is approved, the cover requirements are automatically generated, removing the need for me to manually enter the details and select the relevant periods in SIMS.”
Choosing who covers, quickly and fairly
For each lesson that needs cover, Cover Manager ranks staff by suitability, taking account of their teaching commitments and how much cover they have already done. Managers approve each suggestion before it is confirmed.
“Being able to see staff ranked according to their suitability makes allocating cover much quicker and easier, whilst helping to ensure that it is distributed as fairly and evenly as possible.”
Duty cover that follows the school's rules
Ed, the school's Assistant Head Pastoral, assigns duty cover. When a duty needs cover, Cover Manager suggests staff, taking account of each person's teaching timetable, their clubs and how much lesson and duty cover they have done recently. Each duty can also have rules about who may cover it, for example limiting Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) duties to particular staff.
“Assigning duty cover has been made so much easier using Cover Manager. I no longer spend a lot of time checking staff members' teaching timetable for the day, whether they have a club or not and how many lessons or duty covers they have done recently. Cover Manager takes all this into account and shows me the best suggestions to cover a duty. Being able to assign certain rules to the duties has also been a huge help, for example, only certain staff being able to do an EYFS duty to ensure we always comply with ratio requirements.”
Cover alongside the school timetable
Cover Manager pulls timetable information from the school's MIS through Wonde, so cover planning shows the subject, group, room and period for each lesson where the data is available. What is shown depends on the school's MIS, its permissions and the timetable data it holds.
“Having the timetable information alongside cover means I can see which lessons are affected and spend less time checking between systems.”
Support during the pilot
Nick at Education Host supported the pilot and adjusted Cover Manager as the school's comments came in. Afterwards, Carys wrote about the support she received.
“He has been incredibly responsive and supportive throughout, always responding promptly to any queries or issues we have raised. What has particularly impressed me is how quickly he has acted on our feedback and suggestions, making adjustments to ensure that Cover Manager works effectively for the specific needs of our school. Every issue we have encountered has been resolved quickly and efficiently. I really cannot fault the support we have received.”
Sources: Homefield Prep pilot business case (16 October 2026) and later feedback from Carys and Ed. Annual figure assumes 39 school weeks. Screenshots show example data, not Homefield Prep's records.
Explore relevant services today
Homefield Prep uses Cover Manager. These pages explain the platform and how schools set it up.
Frequently asked questions
How much time did Homefield Prep save with Cover Manager?
In a four-week pilot, weekly cover and duty administration fell from 11 hours 15 minutes to 5 hours 35 minutes, a saving of 5 hours 40 minutes. Setting cover fell from 10 hours to 5 hours a week. The timings are the school's own, checked by Carys, the Assistant Head Academic who sets cover.
Does Cover Manager choose cover automatically?
No. Cover Manager ranks staff by suitability, taking account of their teaching commitments and how much cover they have already done, and a manager approves each suggestion before it is confirmed.
Does Cover Manager tell staff about their cover automatically?
Yes, Cover Manager can email staff their cover automatically. At Homefield Prep, Carys still emails the duty sheets herself so she can add notes for staff, so the case study claims no time saving for that task.
Does Cover Manager work with SIMS?
Cover Manager connects to school MIS and timetable data, including SIMS, through Wonde. What is available depends on onboarding, permissions and the data held in the school's MIS. Homefield Prep's timetable data came through Wonde.
Can duties be limited to particular staff?
Yes. Each duty can have cover rules that limit it to named staff or keep named staff away from it. Homefield Prep uses this so that only certain staff cover Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) duties, to keep within ratio requirements.
Is the annual figure a cash saving?
No. If the weekly saving holds across 39 school weeks it comes to about 220 hours a year of staff time. That is an estimate of time released for other work, not a cash saving.
See how Cover Manager would work in your school
Book a demo to talk through your school's cover, duties and MIS setup. Pricing is confirmed once we have talked through your school's needs. If you would rather test it first, we can run a pilot: its dates, what counts as success and any charges are agreed with you before it begins.